East Notes: Mets, Yanks, deGrom, Thor, Vlad Jr., D. Murphy, Franco
With the Mets looking more like bottom feeders than contenders, there has been speculation that they could listen to proposals for two of their best players, co-aces Jacob deGrom and Noah Syndergaard. The 29-year-old deGrom is under control through 2020, while Syndergaard, 25, is wrapped up through 2021, meaning each would bring back a significant haul in a trade. Of the teams that could go after either, the Yankees perhaps stand out as the most logical suitors, and Buster Olney of ESPN opines that the Mets would have to strongly consider offers from their crosstown rivals. While it would hurt the Mets and their fans in the near term to see one of those starters thriving with the Yankees, the return they’d get back would ease the pain, Olney contends. Ultimately, however, Olney doesn’t expect a deal between the teams to come to fruition, and he goes on to name several other starters the Yankees could pursue prior to the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline if they attempt to upgrade their rotation.
More from the East Coast:
- Forget about seeing Blue Jays super prospect Vladimir Guerrero Jr. in the majors in the immediate future. The 19-year-old third baseman, who went on the Double-A disabled list this week, has a strained patellar tendon in his left knee, Gregor Chisholm of MLB.com tweets. The Jays will bring Guerrero along slowly in his recovery and re-evaluate him in four weeks, Chisholm adds. The injury has derailed an incredible year for Guerrero, who pushed for a major league promotion with a .407/.457/.667 line and 11 home runs in his first 235 Double-A plate appearances.
- Nationals second baseman Daniel Murphy could come off the DL and make his 2018 debut Tuesday, Mark Zuckerman of MASNsports.com reports. Murphy has been working back from the right knee surgery he underwent last October, and while he hasn’t been at full speed during his Double-A rehab games, the assignment’s only allowed to continue through Thursday. Thus, with the Nats set to play in AL parks from Tuesday through Sunday, they could opt to bring Murphy back and use him as a designated hitter for the week.
- Third baseman Maikel Franco has lost his grip on an everyday job, the latest sign that his days with the Phillies may be numbered, Todd Zolecki of MLB.com observes. Franco and fellow third base options J.P. Crawford and Scott Kingery have each offered poor production this year, so the Phillies may seek an outside solution at the hot corner by the deadline and/or in the offseason, posits Zolecki, who suggests that Franco could be dealt thereafter. For now, even though Franco’s not accustomed to a part-time role, the 25-year-old tells Zolecki that he’s trying to make the best of it. Regardless of whether Franco sticks with the Phillies, the career .247/.299/.425 hitter has two more arbitration-eligible seasons remaining after this one.
East Notes: Yankees, H. Harvey, Soroka, Cespedes
It turns out top prospect Justus Sheffield might not be the next minor league pitcher in line to join the Yankees‘ rotation, as Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reports in his latest video that the club nearly promoted 23-year-old Jonathan Loaisiga for a spot start during a doubleheader, until rain altered their schedule. Rosenthal notes that Loaisiga had never pitched above Low-A ball until this season. It seems like he’s met little resistance this year, though, as he’s posted a 3.13 ERA this season while striking out 10.96 batters per nine against an equally impressive 1.17 walks per nine. Of course, plenty could change by the next time the Yankees need another starter. It’s certainly worth noting that promoting Sheffield last Monday might have improved his chances of making the Super Two cut, had he impressed enough to stick in the rotation from there on out. There will certainly be some entertaining suspense surrounding this situation from here forward.
Other items fresh off the East coast…
- Orioles prospect Hunter Harvey was scratched from his most recent Double-A start due to a shoulder injury, Dan Connoly of baltimorebaseball.com reports. Harvey’s dealt with plenty of injury issues in his career already, and this latest case (described as “posterior shoulder instability) has left him on an unknown timetable to return to the rotation. Harvey also had Tommy John surgery on his throwing elbow in 2016. Even when on the field, he hasn’t been particularly impressive this year. His 5.57 ERA across 32 1/3 innings on the season is an eyesore.
- Rookie Mike Soroka is set to come off the DL and start Wednesday for the Braves, reports David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. O’Brien adds that manager Brian Snitker plans to hold Soroka to a pitch count of 85-90. Soroka is widely considered to be one of the best right-handed pitching prospects in the game, and he’s backed that up by pitching to a 2.77 FIP in three starts this season while striking out more than a batter per inning.
- Injury news isn’t looking so good for a division rival, however, as the Mets‘ Yoenis Cespedes reportedly left his rehab start tonight with tightness in his right quad. He’ll be re-evaluated tomorrow, but even a small setback is certainly discouraging; Cespedes has been riddled with injuries since signing a four-year, $110MM pact with New York following the 2016 season.
Quick Hits: Tanaka, Machado, Phillies, Mikolas, Twins, Padres
The Yankees have placed right-hander Masahiro Tanaka on the disabled list with mild strains of both hamstrings, according to the team, which recalled infielder Ronald Torreyes in a corresponding move. Tanaka suffered the injuries on the base paths during the Yankees’ game against the Mets on Friday, forcing him to depart after five quality innings. He’s now the second member of New York’s season-opening rotation on the DL, joining lefty Jordan Montgomery, who’s out for the year.
Tanaka will miss “weeks,” manager Aaron Boone told Bryan Hoch of MLB.com and other reporters, though it’s unclear whom the Yankees will call on in his absence to join Luis Severino, CC Sabathia, Sonny Gray and Domingo German in their rotation. Two Double-A prospects – Domingo Acevedo and Jonathan Loaisiga – as well as Luis Cessa (who’s nearing a return from the DL, Brendan Kuty of NJ.com tweets) and A.J. Cole seem to be their most realistic 40-man options. The club has an open 40-man spot, however, and could take advantage of that by selecting the likes of Justus Sheffield, Chance Adams or David Hale from Triple-A.
A bit more from around the majors…
- The Phillies are genuinely interested in Orioles shortstop Manny Machado, Todd Zolecki of MLB.com hears. Zolecki’s report jibes with one from FanRag’s Jon Heyman, who noted this week that Philadelphia had already reached out to Baltimore in regards to Machado. The 32-30 Phillies have been slumping lately, however, and may not be serious contenders when the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline arrives. Whether they end up vying for Machado and other veterans around the deadline will be determined over the next several weeks, general manager Matt Klentak suggested. “How we come out of June and how we transition into the month of July and what our placement in the standings is in the month of July will be what really dictates what our Trade Deadline strategy is,” Klentak said. “If we are contending and in a legitimate spot to make a run, then I would expect to address that and make moves. We just have to maintain the proper perspective on that and adjust as our performance suggests we adjust.”
- Along with the previously reported Rangers, the Twins and Padres were among teams with offseason interest in right-hander Miles Mikolas, per Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe. Mikolas, who pitched in Japan from 2015-17, ended up signing a two-year, $15.5MM deal with the Cardinals. The 29-year-old is no stranger to the Padres, who selected him in the seventh round of the 2009 draft and then had him on their roster for parts of the 2012 and ’13 seasons. Mikolas was unheralded in San Diego, but he has turned into one of the NL’s most effective starters during his stint in St. Louis. Across 79 1/3 innings this season, Mikolas has notched a 2.27 ERA with 6.58 K/9, 1.02 BB/9 and a 50.2 percent groundball rate.
Yankees Sign First-Rounder Anthony Seigler
The Yankees have signed their first-round pick, 23rd overall choice Anthony Seigler, George A. King III of the New York Post reports. The high school catcher’s bonus is worth $2.815,900, the exact value of the pick, Jim Callis of MLB.com tweets.
Seigler, an 18-year-old Georgia native, ranked among the top 50 prospects entering the draft, according to FanGraphs (28th), Baseball America (41st), ESPN’s Keith Law (43rd) and MLB.com (46th). Seigler’s “agile behind the plate, has a quick transfer that helps his arm play as plus at times and shows promise as a receiver and pitch framer,” per MLB.com, which likens him to Austin Barnes of the Dodgers. Barnes has shown an ability to play second base, and Seigler also has the athleticism to line up at the keystone, according to MLB.com.
Offensively, the switch-hitting Seigler is a contact hitter capable of using all fields, and he could develop into a double-digit home run threat, MLB.com notes. He’s also relatively fast for a catcher. Interestingly, like major leaguer Pat Venditte (also of the Dodgers), Seigler has switch-pitching capability. He brings upper-80s heat and equal effectiveness from both sides, though he’ll sink or swim in the pros as a catcher.
AL Notes: Tanaka, Hamels, Kiermaier, Orioles
Yankees right-hander Masahiro Tanaka left his start against the Mets on Friday after five innings because of stiffness in both hamstrings. He’ll undergo an MRI on Saturday to determine the severity of the issue, though odds are he’ll require a stint on the disabled list, Randy Miller of NJ.com suggests. Tanaka suffered the injury on the bases, thus cutting short a performance in which he allowed one run on one hit and a walk and struck out eight. The 29-year-old’s amid a second straight underwhelming season from a run prevention standpoint (4.58 ERA), but losing him would still be a significant blow for the starter-needy Yankees, who already lost lefty Jordan Montgomery for the season (and some of 2019) earlier this week.
- Given that it’s likely in the market for a starter, New York has come up as a speculative fit for Rangers left-hander Cole Hamels in advance of the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline. However, if Hamels’ home run issues don’t subside, the Rangers will have trouble getting much back for him in a trade, Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News observes. The 34-year-old is currently yielding 1.93 homers per nine, well above his career mark (1.04) and the American League average for starters (1.23). Hamels has still logged a respectable 3.86 ERA, but his secondary numbers are less encouraging. He’s not exactly teeming with trade value, then, especially considering Hamels’ ability to block deals to 20 teams and his $22.5MM salary this season (plus either a $20MM club option or a $6MM buyout in 2019).
- Rays center fielder Kevin Kiermaier expects to return from the disabled list around June 20, according to Bill Chastain of MLB.com. The defensive standout has been on the shelf since suffering a torn ligament in his right thumb on April 15, thus limiting him to 48 plate appearances so far. Fill-in Mallex Smith has performed respectably in the aggregate (.271/.340/.351 with 11 steals in 211 PAs), but his production has dropped off a cliff this month. The Rays, meanwhile, have lost eight in a row since May 31 to fall six games below .500.
- The Orioles will activate reliever Darren O’Day from the DL on Saturday, per Keegan Matheson of MLB.com. O’Day has been out for over a month with a hyperextended right elbow. With Baltimore well out of contention, the 35-year-old O’Day could spend the next several weeks auditioning for other teams as the deadline nears, though he’s still under contract at $9MM for next season. Meanwhile, teammate and impending free-agent reliever Zach Britton could return as early as Monday, Matheson notes. Britton hasn’t pitched at all this season after suffering a ruptured Achilles during the winter.
Jordan Montgomery Undergoes Tommy John Surgery
June 7: The Yankees announced that Montgomery underwent Tommy John surgery today, adding that Dr. Christopher Ahmad also discovered a loose bone chip that was removed as well.
June 5: Yankees left-hander Jordan Montgomery, who has been on the 10-day disabled list with an elbow strain for a bit more than a month, will undergo Tommy John surgery on Thursday this week, the team announced to reporters (Twitter link via MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch).
Obviously, the news comes as a blow to a Yankees club that was already likely to be in the market for rotation help on the summer trade market. With Montgomery now out of action for the balance of the 2018 season and a significant portion of the 2019 season as well, that need will only be emphasized more strongly by general manager Brian Cashman and his staff.
[Related: New York Yankees depth chart]
The 25-year-old Montgomery entered Spring Training 2017 as a dark-horse candidate for a rotation spot but forced his way into the organization’s plans and appeared to seize a long-term rotation spot with a very strong rookie showing. In 155 1/3 innings last year (29 starts), Montgomery notched a 3.82 ERA with 8.3 K/9 against 3.0 BB/9 and 1.2 HR/9. He started six games for the Yankees in 2018, working to a 3.62 ERA in 27 1/3 innings, though his final outing lasted just one inning, and he’s been on the DL since.
Montgomery will still accrue service time in both 2018 and 2019 as he mends on the 60-day disabled list. By the time he’s likely to be healthy enough for a full season of work in the rotation (2020), he’ll quite likely have gone through the arbitration process for the first time as a Super Two player. Montgomery entered the season with 153 days of Major League service time, so he’ll be at two years, 153 days once the 2019 season wraps up. That makes him a virtual lock for Super Two designation, and he’ll be controllable for the Yankees all the way through the 2023 campaign.
With Montgomery now done for the year, the Yankees will continue to lean on Domingo German in the fifth spot of their rotation for the foreseeable future. He’ll fall in line behind Luis Severino, Masahiro Tanaka, Sonny Gray and CC Sabathia, though it’s possible that the Yankees will ultimately turn to another option in the five-spot — at least until a presumptive trade acquisition comes together.
German, 25, threw six no-hit innings in his first MLB start back on May 6, but he’s been rocked for 19 earned runs in 21 innings since that time. Top pitching prospect Chance Adams has struggled with the Yankees’ top affiliate this season, though lefty Justus Sheffield has been more impressive and could conceivably earn a look in the coming weeks as the Yankees plot a new trajectory in the wake of Montgomery’s unfortunate diagnosis.
Yankees Option Tommy Kahnle
The Yankees announced after Game 1 of today’s doubleheader that they’ve activated right-hander Adam Warren from the 10-day disabled list and optioned right-hander Tommy Kahnle to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
The decision to send Kahnle to the minors would’ve seemed unfathomable following the 2017 season. The flamethrowing righty was a huge part of a July blockbuster with the White Sox and pitched to a combined 2.59 ERA with 13.4 K/9, 2.4 BB/9 and 0.57 HR/9 with a 40.7 percent ground-ball rate in 62 2/3 innings. Kahnle trailed only Craig Kimbrel, Kenley Jansen and teammate Chad Green in terms of K-BB%, and his 16.7 percent swinging-strike rate was the eighth-best of any qualified reliever in baseball.
So far, 2018 has been an entirely different story for the 28-year-old Kahnle, however. His average fastball velocity plummeted from 97.9 mph to 95 mph, and while that’s still plenty of heat, the near-three mile per hour drop is concerning all the same. Kahnle spent more than a month on the disabled list due to tendinitis in his right shoulder, and he’s allowed seven runs on six hits and a troubling 10 walks in nine innings when healthy. In addition to those 10 free passes, Kahlne has also snapped off a pair of wild pitches and seen his first-pitch strike rate drop from 62.1 percent in 2017 to 52.3 percent in 2018.
While it seems likely to be a short-term stay, the potential for service time ramifications does exist. Kahnle entered the season with just three years, 15 days of big league service time, meaning he’d need 157 days of service in 2018 to reach four years of service time and stay on track to become a free agent following the 2020 season. If he spends more than a month in the minors, that timeline would change, though it seems reasonable to expect the Yankees are hoping for a minimal stay in Scranton to get Kahnle’s command back on track.
Yankees Release Oliver Perez
The Yankees have released veteran lefty Oliver Perez, according to Bryan Hoch of MLB.com (via Twitter). He had joined the organization on a minors deal right at the start of the season after spending spring camp with the Reds.
Perez, 36, received a June 1st opt-out date by virtue of being an Article XX(B) free agent. He spent the past two years with the Nationals, making 114 appearances but throwing only 73 total innings of 4.81 ERA ball with 10.5 K/9 and 3.9 BB/9.
Thus far in 2018, Perez has allowed just four earned runs in his 12 1/3 frames at Triple-A. He has recorded 13 strikeouts against three walks in that span. While there wasn’t an opening for him in the New York pen, it wouldn’t be surprising to see the 15-year MLB veteran sign on with another organization that has a greater opportunity available.
AL East Notes: Hanley, Kelly, Vlad Jr., Happ
As Rob Bradford of WEEI.com reported last night, Hanley Ramirez is going through release waivers at the moment, which makes it likely that he’ll clear and become a free agent tomorrow afternoon. Red Sox skipper Alex Cora appeared on MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM this week to discuss the team’s decision to cut ties with Ramirez in one of the highest-profile DFAs in recent memory (Twitter link, with audio). Per Cora, the decision came down to one of roster flexibility and a desire to get Mitch Moreland‘s left-handed bat and superior glove into the lineup with more regularity.
“We’ve been talking about when Pedroia comes back since February,” said the Red Sox’ skipper. “We had different scenarios, different options, and at the end, I talked about being flexible as far as versatility — being able to maneuver the last part of the game with pinch-hitters, pinch-runners, defensive replacements and being able to match up with the opposition. It’s nothing against the player, because Hanley is a good player. He was going through a slump. That’s part of it. Everybody goes through it. … I did feel as an organization, our roster was going to be a little bit tight with him not playing every day.”
More from Boston and from the division…
- Bradford spoke with setup man Joe Kelly about the manner in which the right-hander has now fully embraced his role as a reliever. Kelly wasn’t exactly keen on the idea of moving to the bullpen earlier in his career and had preferred to remain in the rotation, but he’s thriving in and enjoying his role as a late-inning weapon for the Red Sox. Kelly, a free agent at season’s end, said he wouldn’t reject the idea if a club approached him about returning to the rotation this offseason, but it doesn’t sound as if that’ll be a priority for him, either. “I like the job I’m in right now,” he said. “I kind of like the thrill, the adrenaline rush.” Kelly and Bradford also discuss the different mindsets that come with pitching in different roles, his move from the outfield to the mound during his amateur days, and his stress-free approach to his impending free agency in a candid interview that’s well worth a full read.
- Buster Olney and Keith Law of ESPN discussed the timeline for Vladimir Guerrero Jr.‘s promotion in the latest Baseball Tonight podcast (audio link, with Guerrero talk beginning around the 7:30 mark). The pair agrees that Guerrero Jr. should be in Triple-A already and should be called up this summer, despite the fact that some execs with other teams have opined to Olney that the Blue Jays would be ill-advised to lose the year of service time they could gain by delaying his promotion until early 2019. Olney and Law discuss Guerrero Jr.’s defensive and offensive development as well as the marketing opportunities the Jays would have in both 2018 and 2019 by promoting him to the big leagues.
- For all the speculation surrounding the Yankees and Cole Hamels, Joel Sherman of the New York Post argues that J.A. Happ should be every bit as much on New York’s radar this summer — if not more. Happ, unlike Hamels, doesn’t have a no-trade clause that includes the Yankees, and he’s also earning a more reasonable $12MM this season that aligns with the team’s luxury tax goals. Moreover, though, Sherman notes that Happ simply isn’t separated by Hamels in terms of talent as much as the pair’s reputation would suggest. The 36-year-old reinvented himself following a 2015 trade to the Pirates, and he’s posted better numbers in recent years (and again in 2018) than Hamels. The general thinking extends well beyond the Yankees, of course. If the Blue Jays decide to make Happ available to other teams this July, the southpaw would be one of their most attractive rental chips and would fit on virtually any contender looking to bolster its rotation.
Minor MLB Transactions: 5/27/18
Keeping track of Sunday’s minor moves from around baseball…
- The Yankees have outrighted left-hander Ryan Bollinger to Double-A, per a team announcement. Bollinger had a short stint with the Yankees, who selected his contract in time for Wednesday’s game against the Rangers and then optioned him afterward. The well-traveled 27-year-old will continue in Trenton, where he has logged 20 innings this season and posted a microscopic ERA (.90) with 5.9 K/9 against 1.8 BB/9.