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Rangers Release Ike Davis; Deal With Yankees Close

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12:54pm: The Yankees are nearing a deal with Davis, according to Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News (on Twitter).

12:40pm: There has been contact between the Yankees and Davis’ representatives, reports Ken Davidoff of the New York Post (Twitter link).

11:12am: The Rangers have released first baseman Ike Davis from his minor league contract, Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News was among those to report (Twitter link). Davis joined the Rangers in February after receiving interest from multiple clubs, and he could find another taker on the open market.

Interestingly, the Yankees were among the teams that pursued Davis in the winter. Injuries have beset the Bombers at first base – where Mark Teixeira, Chris Parmelee and Dustin Ackley are all on the disabled list – so they once again look like a fit for Davis. The 29-year-old wasn’t all that effective at the Triple-A level for the Rangers, though, batting .246/.329/.406 with four home runs in 158 plate appearances.

Davis spent last season with the Athletics and hit a subpar .229/.301/.350 with three homers in 239 PAs. Those numbers are a far cry from his output during the first few years of his career. In his best three-year stretch (2010-12), Davis put up an above-average line of .252/.336/.461 and amassed 58 HRs in 1,334 trips to the plate with the Mets. In the last of those three seasons, he hit a career-high 32 balls over the fence. It’s worth noting that the lefty-swinging Davis has a significant platoon split as a major leaguer, having compiled a solid 122 wRC+ in 1,883 PAs against right-handers and a horrid 61 wRC+ in 494 PAs versus southpaws.

Rosenthal’s Latest: Lucroy, Rays, Cubs, Nats, Reyes

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Although the catcher-needy Rays covet Brewers backstop Jonathan Lucroy, their aversion to trading prospects makes them unlikely to acquire the 29-year-old if Milwaukee shops him, FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal reports (video link). The Cubs, like the Rays, are also a poor bet to land Lucroy. Chicago inquired about Lucroy’s availability during the offseason and even explored the idea of involving a third club to help make a trade happen with the division-rival Brewers, says Rosenthal, who adds that talks didn’t get serious then and probably won’t around the deadline. As Rosenthal notes, the Cubs have $14MM catcher Miguel Montero at the major league level, and highly regarded prospect Willson Contereras is laying waste to Triple-A pitching.

Even if the Rays and Cubs aren’t in the running to pick up Lucroy, there should still be plenty of suitors for him, as MLBTR’s Mark Polishuk detailed Friday.

More from Rosenthal:

  • The Nationals’ top priority before the trade deadline is to acquire a dominant reliever like the Yankees’ Aroldis Chapman or Andrew Miller (as Bill Ladson of MLB.com reported last weekend), but the Bombers might not make either available and the Nats could balk at their asking price if they do, according to Rosenthal. Nationals relievers entered Saturday with the league’s fifth-best ERA (3.11) and sixth-ranked K/BB ratio (3.16), for one, and the organization has a pair of hard-throwing potential reinforcements in Double-A prospects Reynaldo Lopez and Koda Glover. The latter was an eighth-round pick just last year.
  • The Rockies have until Wednesday to either add shortstop Jose Reyes to their roster, trade him or designate him for assignment, and executives tell Rosenthal that Colorado is continuing to shop the 32-year-old. However, there are plenty of questions about how much he’s capable of contributing in the majors at this point, per Rosenthal. Reyes, who served a domestic violence suspension through May, is coming off arguably the worst season of his career and is still owed upward of $40MM – including a $4MM buyout in 2018.

Injury Updates: Teixeira, Felix, Hill, Dodgers

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Yankees first baseman Mark Teixeira, who went on the disabled list last Saturday with a cartilage tear in his right knee, is progressing toward a return and expects to start running next week, he told Randy Miller of NJ Advance Media. Teixeira didn’t reveal when he could rejoin the Yankees, but the fact that it’s a possibility is undoubtedly welcome news for him and the team. The fear when Teixeira suffered the injury was that he’d need surgery. As of now, though, it appears the 36-year-old will avoid going under the knife. In addition to Teixeira, the Yankees have recently lost two other first base options – Chris Parmelee and Dustin Ackley – to injuries.

Here’s more on some big-name players dealing with health troubles:

  • Mariners ace Felix Hernandez is making progress with his strained calf, but there remains no timetable for his return, said manager Scott Servais (Twitter link via Greg Johns of MLB.com). Hernandez, who landed on the DL retroactive to May 28, was originally supposed to miss only two starts with the injury. But he’ll now need to go on a rehab stint when he’s deemed healthy enough to return to the mound, tweets Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times. Hernandez posted a 2.86 ERA, 7.57 K/9 and 3.71 BB/9 in 63 innings prior to going on the shelf.
  • Athletics left-hander Rich Hill won’t throw off a mound until the middle of next week at the earliest, per John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle (on Twitter). Before hitting the DL on Thursday with a right groin strain, the 36-year-old threw 64 frames of 2.25 ERA, struck out 10.41 batters per nine innings and established himself as an appealing summer trade candidate.
  • Dodgers starters Hyun-jin Ryu and Brandon McCarthy will both begin four- to five-start rehab assignments this weekend, according to manager Dave Roberts (via Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register). This will be the second time Ryu has attempted a rehab assignment; in May, he suffered a setback in his surgically repaired left shoulder after making three rehab starts. The 29-year-old southpaw underwent surgery on a torn labrum in May 2015 and hasn’t appeared in a major league game since October 2014. Given the time Ryu has missed, he’ll need to prove himself worthy of a rotation spot, Roberts said. McCarthy, meanwhile, had Tommy John surgery a year ago after racking up just four starts on the season.

AL East Notes: Yankees, Tulowitzki, Groome

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With Chris Parmelee now on the DL with a hamstring injury, the Yankees have no first basemen, Jared Diamond of the Wall Street Journal writes. Parmelee joins Mark Teixeira, Dustin Ackley and Greg Bird as first basemen who’ve gotten injured, and the team now has infielder Rob Refsnyder and catcher Austin Romine manning the position. Refsnyder had never appeared at first in a professional game before last week. Veteran Nick Swisher remains at Triple-A, but he’s batting just .238/.266/.339, and the Yankees don’t appear to have any plans to promote him. Here’s more from the AL East.

  • Blue Jays shortstop Troy Tulowitzki suffered a setback in his return from his quadriceps injury, writes Sportsnet’s Ben Nicholson-Smith. Tulowitzki left an instra-squad game on Friday with discomfort. “It’s not like he re-injured it, but just seems a little hesitant or something,” manager John Gibbons explained. Tulowitzki had been scheduled to rejoin the Blue Jays Monday, but that now appears unlikely. He’s been out since May 27. The five-time All-Star is batting .204/.289/.383 in his first full season in Toronto.
  • The Red Sox got an unusual talent with the 12th overall pick in the draft in New Jersey high school hurler Jason Groome, but he comes with question marks, the Boston Herald’s Jason Mastrodonato writes. Groome’s draft stock fell due to questions about his makeup, although their nature mostly remains in the shadows. Mastrodonato writes that Vanderbilt University, to which Groome had previously been committed, lost interest in Groome for reasons that did not have to do with his baseball ability. Nonetheless, the Red Sox were enthused about his upside and unfazed by makeup questions. “We’re very comfortable we know who Jason Groome is,” Red Sox scouting director Mike Rikard says. Prior to the draft, MLB.com rated Groome the top talent available, noting his 6-foot-6 size, good velocity and potential to throw three quality pitches.

Heyman’s Latest: D-Backs, Villar, Mets, Yanks, Gibbons, Ramos

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Diamondbacks GM Dave Stewart tells Jon Heyman of todaysknuckleball.com that the organization is “not giving up” despite a dismal start to the year. He did acknowledge that “the signs are not real good right now,” though. And in suggesting that the team thinks there’s a chance A.J. Pollock could return by September, Stewart added, somewhat ominously: “Hopefully, we’re still in it.”

Here are some more notes from the column:

  • When asked whether the Brewers would consider dealing shortstop Jonathan Villar this summer, GM David Stearns suggested it would be unlikely. “We are looking to acquire players like that,” he said. It’s been quite a turnaround for the 25-year-old since he followed Stearns from the Astros to Milwaukee. Over 250 plate appearances, Villar owns a .306/.405/.450 batting line with a league-leading 22 steals. Better still, he’ll likely fall shy of Super Two status next year, so there’s plenty of cheap control remaining.
  • The Mets haven’t tried to open extension talks with either Noah Syndergaard or Jacob deGrom, per Heyman. It seems the same holds true of Matt Harvey, who is further ahead in service time, with a source telling Heyman that the star righty is highly unlikely to be retained past his arb eligibility. It is a bit surprising to learn, though, that the team hasn’t at least looked into whether there might be a bargain to be had amongst the pre-arb righties — deGrom in particular, since he is somewhat older and might be more willing to settle for a team-friendly rate.
  • The Yankees, meanwhile, won’t sell in the near-term, but will reconsider in the run-up to the trade period. That’s not surprising to hear; the team is, after all, still treading water in the division.
  • While the Blue Jays don’t have any inclination to part with John Gibbons at present, Heyman suggests it’s unlikely he’ll be retained past the present season. A “huge year” could change that, though.
  • The Nationals dabbled with the idea of upgrading over Wilson Ramos over the winter, but decided against it — or, at least didn’t find a deal to their liking. That’s turned out to be wise in retrospect, as the big Venezuelan is off to a notable start at the plate: .345/.392/.554 with eight home runs and just 21 walks against 13 strikeouts over 181 plate appearances. The pending free agent remains an interesting player to watch the rest of the way.

Yankees Designate Tyler Olson, Select Anthony Swarzak

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The Yankees have designated lefty Tyler Olson for assignment, per a team announcement. The club selected the contract of righty Anthony Swarzak, who takes Olson’s 40-man slot, and optioned fellow righty Luis Cessa to open an active roster spot.

The 30-year-old Swarzak returned to American ball on a minor league pact with the Yankees after spending the bulk of 2015 pitching for Korea’s Doosan Bears. He’s a veteran of six big league seasons, all of which have come with the Twins with the exception of 2015, which he began with the Indians and finished in Korea. Swarzak, a former second-round pick and well-regarded prospect, never established himself as the starter Minnesota had hoped when Baseball America rated him as the game’s No. 100 overall prospect prior to the 2006 season. However, he did settle in as a useful long reliever/spot starter for the Twins for a few seasons, working to a 4.21 ERA with 5.5 K/9 against 2.5 BB/9 in 380 2/3 innings from 2011-14. His best season was a 2013 campaign that saw him post a 2.91 ERA in 96 1/3 innings for Minnesota.

Olson, 26, worked 2 2/3 innings for the Yankees this season and allowed a pair of earned runs. He’s also recorded 27 1/3 innings at the Triple-A level, though his 5.27 ERA there is lackluster as well. New York acquired Olson from the Dodgers alongside Ronald Torreyes this offseason, but he’ll now be faced with his third DFA since the end of the 2015 campaign. The former seventh-rounder has a 3.99 career ERA in the minors.

Injury Notes: Ross, Teixeira, Salazar, Soler, Angels

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While Padres righty Tyson Ross is progressing through his throwing program, he is not expected to make it back until after the All-Star game, AJ Cassavell of MLB.com tweets. The expectation is that Ross will begin throwing bullpens in a few weeks, and his timeline should gain more clarity once he reaches the mound. A return in mid-July could in theory put him in play at the trade deadline, but it seems increasingly likely that Ross won’t be shopped until after the season.

Here are a few more injury notes from around the game:

  • Yankees first baseman Mark Teixeira will forego surgery on his right knee in hopes that he’ll be game-ready in three weeks’ time, as Roger Rubin of ESPNNewYork.com reports. That doesn’t necessarily mean that he’ll be expected at the major league level at that point, as the length of his layoff could require at least a brief rehab stint. The struggling veteran has already been placed on the 15-day DL after being diagnosed with a cartilage tear.
  • Indians righty Danny Salazar will miss his next start due to shoulder fatigue, the club announced. It seems that the hope is it won’t be much more than that, as he’d likely be placed on the DL to free a roster spot otherwise. Salazar’s status remains worth watching, however. The 26-year-old has been outstanding in his first 11 starts. Cleveland will go to Cody Anderson for the spot start. While he’s struggled at times this year in the majors, Anderson has dominated in three Triple-A starts and is as good an insurance policy as you’ll find around the game.
  • The Cubs had to pull outfielder Jorge Soler from tonight’s action due to a hamstring injury, as Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times reports. He’s headed in for an MRI tomorrow, but it seems as if a DL stint could be in his future. Veteran minor-leaguer Matt Murton could get consideration if that proves necessary, but skipper Joe Maddon also suggested that prospect Albert Almora could receive consideration.
  • Meanwhile, the Angels continue to sort through a host of pitching ailments, as Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register reports. Of immediate concern, set-up man Joe Smith is hoping to stave off a trip to the DL with a hamstring injury. Starters Tyler Skaggs and C.J. Wilson are both in different stages of the rehab process. The former is expected to head out on a rehab assignment after a five-inning extended spring appearance tomorrow. And the latter hopes to re-start a throwing program this week.
  • The Angels are also waiting for some position players, as Fletcher further covers. Shortstop Andrelton Simmons (thumb surgery) could return to the majors as soon as Friday; outfielder Daniel Nava (groin) has only just returned to baseball activities; and catcher Geovany Soto (knee surgery) is throwing but has yet to hit or get into the crouch.

AL East Notes: Yankees, Sanchez, Sox, Kim

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There’s been plenty of ink dedicated to the idea of the Yankees parting with one of their left-handed bullpen aces, Aroldis Chapman or Andrew Miller, but the club’s top execs aren’t planning on trading anyone in the near future, reports Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports. Heyman cites “senior Yankees executives” in conveying that the team’s top decision-makers held a conference call last night and determined that there won’t be any action in the near term, though the club could reevaluate that line of thinking closer to the end of July. Many have speculated that the Yankees, in need of rotation depth as well as some help at the infield corners, could deal Chapman or Miller to add a younger big league piece elsewhere on the roster. Carlos Beltran’s name also crept up in speculation last month, but it would appear that the Yankees, currently 26-30 and 6.5 games back in the division, will stay the course for the time being.

Here’s more from the AL East…

  • Aaron Sanchez’s breakout season will leave the Blue Jays with some tough decisions in a couple of months, writes Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet. The Jays clearly made the right call by entrusting Sanchez with a spot in the rotation this spring, Nicholson-Smith points out, but the team also said back in March that he’d eventually transition to the bullpen later this season as a means of managing his innings total. Sanchez has been dominant in 2016, posting a 2.99 ERA with 8.0 K/9, 3.1 BB/9 and a lofty 58.5 percent ground-ball rate across 72 1/3 innings. Pitching coach Pete Walker tells Nicholson-Smith that the Jays typically map out their plans for the pitching staff a month in advance, so he’s taking the Sanchez debate on a month-to-month basis. The 23-year-old Sanchez totaled just 102 innings between the Majors and minors last season, so it’s understandable that Toronto isn’t thrilled with the notion of seeing one of its most valuable long-term pieces double his 2015 innings total with a full season of starts.
  • The struggles of Eduardo Rodriguez in yesterday’s loss underscores the Red Sox’ need to trade for rotation help, opines Michael Silverman of the Boston Herald. Silverman notes that the club has watched Rick Porcello slow down considerably since an explosive start to the season, while David Price has yet to hit the stride that most expect of the former Cy Young winner. Beyond that, Clay Buchholz and Joe Kelly have pitched themselves out of rotation jobs. Steven Wright has been a pleasant surprise, but his breakout alone won’t sustain a four-man rotation that already needs a fifth option. Boston has already seen one trade option come off the market, as the White Sox picked up James Shields from the Padres with a rare early-June trade of fairly significant magnitude.
  • Hyun Soo Kim’s turnaround since Spring Training has been remarkable, writes Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com, who spoke to a scout from outside the Orioles organization that said he’s had to tear up the March scouting report he’d compiled on Kim. Baltimore signed Kim to a two-year, $7MM contract this winter on the heels of an impressive run in the Korea Baseball Organization, but the man nicknamed the “Hitting Machine” in Korea looked overmatched (or “scared,” as the scout put it to Kubatko) at the plate in Spring Training. To say Kim, who is hitting .377/.449/.493 through an admittedly small sample of 78 plate appearances, has adjusted nicely would appear to be an understatement. Manager Buck Showalter praised Kim for his adjustments to harder velocity and said he routinely checks in with Kim and his interpreter to see if there’s anything the club can do to continue to ease the transition from Korea to America. Kim, however, tells Showalter that he’s “having the time of his life” now that he is getting a chance to contribute in the Majors.

Quick Hits: Miller, Schwarber, Yankees, Giants, Daniels

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Here are some items from around baseball as we head into the new week…

  • The Cubs wouldn’t trade Kyle Schwarber for Andrew Miller, a source tells Joel Sherman of the New York Post.  Sherman pegs the Yankees and Cubs as good trade partners given Chicago’s possible weakness in the back of the bullpen and New York’s need for young position player talent.  Schwarber, of course, is out of action until 2017 after undergoing season-ending surgery in early April but is still one of the game’s most highly-touted young sluggers.
  • Sherman’s piece outlines several younger players from around the league who could be Yankees targets if the Bombers indeed decide to become deadline sellers.  While Miller or Aroldis Chapman have been heavily cited as the most obvious trade chips, Sherman suggests New York could explore the market for a wide range of players, including Carlos Beltran, Brett Gardner, Brian McCann, Nathan Eovaldi, Michael Pineda or even Dellin Betances.
  • The Giants could trade “for a complementary player,” Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle opines (Twitter link), but he doesn’t think the club will swing a major deal at this time of the year.  With Hunter Pence gone for at least two months following hamstring surgery, the Giants have already been discussing trade targets, though they have a number of outfield options already on the roster.
  • Rangers GM Jon Daniels talks to Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News about the 2006 draft, which was Daniels’ first in charge of the Texas front office.  While the Rangers found some good talent in that draft class, their first-round pick was rather a notable miss.  Daniels said his team was eyeing Tim Lincecum with the 12th overall selection but the Rangers were surprised when the Giants drafted Lincecum tenth overall.  Texas instead took high school lefty Kasey Kiker, who never made it higher than Double-A and has been out of pro ball since 2012.

Pitcher Notes: Nats, Chapman, Miller, Reds, Felix

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Improving their bullpen will be the Nationals’ “top priority” as the Aug. 1 trade deadline approaches, a source told Bill Ladson of MLB.com. The Nats aren’t close to acquiring anyone at this time, reports Ladson, who writes that they are hoping the Yankees will put lights-out lefties Aroldis Chapman and Andrew Miller on the block. Both have been connected in the past to the Nationals, who aren’t content with Jonathan Papelbon serving as their closer. Papelbon has fared well this year, having converted 14 of 16 save chances and posted a 2.91 ERA, 7.06 K/9 and 2.08 BB/9 in 21 2/3 innings, but he’s undoubtedly inferior to both Chapman and Miller. Even without either of those two in the mix, Washington’s bullpen entered Sunday ranked third in both ERA (2.85) and K/BB ratio (3.51).

More pitching notes:

  • In unfortunate news for the Reds, their top starter, right-hander Raisel Iglesias, will work out of the bullpen when he returns from a shoulder injury in a few weeks, reports Zach Buchanan of the Cincinnati Enquirer (Twitter link). The door isn’t closed on the 26-year-old rejoining the Reds’ rotation down the line, but he’ll have to show that his shoulder can hold up, per Buchanan. From a financial point of view, Buchanan notes that the likelihood of Iglesias opting out of his $27MM contract when he becomes eligible for arbitration will decrease if he doesn’t go back to starting (Twitter links). Iglesias has 154 days of major league service time under his belt and will soon reach the 172-day mark necessary for a full year, but he’s still a good distance from the three years needed to take a crack at arbitration. The Cuba native has so far made 23 big league appearances (21 starts) and compiled a 4.00 ERA, 9.68 K/9 and 2.55 BB/9 in 123 innings.
  • On the bright side for the Reds, righty Anthony DeSclafani is likely to make his 2016 debut during the upcoming week – perhaps Friday – tweets Buchanan. The 26-year-old has been out all season with an oblique issue. He performed well in 2015, his first full big league campaign, totaling 184 2/3 innings of 4.05 ERA/3.67 FIP/3.97 xFIP pitching.
  • The Mariners’ Felix Hernandez might not return from the disabled list when he’s eligible on June 12, reports Bob Dutton of the Tacoma News Tribune. “Fingers crossed, but he may miss a couple (of more starts). We’ll see,” said manager Scott Servais. The hope when Hernandez landed on the DL with a straight right calf muscle was that he’d only miss two starts, but he still isn’t moving well and hasn’t resumed throwing. King Felix posted a 2.86 ERA, 7.57 K/9 and 3.71 BB/9 in 63 innings prior to going on the shelf.
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