East Notes: Brown, Margot, Hamels, Mujica, Tanaka
The Phillies have optioned former All-Star Domonic Brown to Triple-A after his rehab stint came to a close. Brown broke out in 2013 but endured a rough season last year, and it now seems he’ll have to earn his way back onto the active roster. In spite of his troubles, writes David Murphy of the Philadelphia Daily News, the 27-year-old has upside that remains worth trying to tap into for the rebuilding club.
Here’s more from the game’s eastern divisions:
- The Phillies are sending former skipper Charlie Manuel to watch Red Sox minor leaguer Manuel Margot, Murphy reports. Margot, a rising prospect, could in theory be an important piece in a deal involving Philadelphia starter Cole Hamels, though at present that is a largely speculative connection. As WEEI.com’s Rob Bradford writes, it is “intriguing” to consider whether the Phils would consider structuring a deal around Margot and, perhaps, one of Boston’s upper-level arms — a scenario that Peter Gammons suggested earlier in the winter (Twitter link).
- As things stand, the Red Sox are not yet prepared to make a move for Hamels, writes Scott Lauber of the Boston Herald. But, says Lauber, the club should be prepared to do so — perhaps sooner than later. Indeed, as Joel Sherman of the New York Post writes, things could be shaping up for an earlier-than-usual market, particularly with a number of possible Hamels suitors dealing with significant rotation issues.
- There have been recent suggestions that struggling Red Sox reliever Edward Mujica may be in trouble of losing his roster spot, as Pete Abraham of the Boston Globe tweeted last night. But while a Boston roster move is expected today, tweets the Globe’s Nick Cafardo, it is not expected to be a DFA of the embattled righty.
- The Yankees are among the clubs dealing with concerns in their starting five, due in large part to the enhanced uncertainty surrounding Masahiro Tanaka. As John Harper of the New York Daily News writes, the club is still hopeful that its ace will return this summer, though there is plenty of reason for skepticism. As Andrew Marchand of ESPNNewYork.com explains, the larger concern is perhaps whether Tanaka’s devastating splitter will ultimately prove an unsustainable offering in the long run. “That’s what’s made him successful, so that’s how he pitches so you have to deal with it,” said manager Joe Girardi.
Phillies Willing To Pay Some Of Hamels’ Contract In Trade
An incalculable amount of ink has been dedicated to the Cole Hamels saga and whether or not Phillies GM Ruben Amaro Jr. is asking too much in trade talks, but the GM himself added another layer to the story Tuesday in telling USA Today’s Bob Nightengale that the Phillies would pay down some of Hamels’ contract in a trade.
“We are very open-minded,” Amaro told Nightengale. “We’re not afraid to subsidize contracts. We never told a club that we would not absolutely subsidize his contract. That is not a realistic way to do business. If there’s a deal to be made, and we have to subsidize part of it, we’ll do it.”
As recently as Spring Training, reports indicated that the Phillies were looking to add multiple top prospects and get an acquiring club to take on the entirety of Hamels’ four years and $96MM. (His contract also has a $20MM club option that can vest at $24MM based on innings pitched.)
Amaro again took a patient approach when discussing the Hamels situation, noting that it’s understandable if teams want to assess their internal options before making a more drastic move to acquire someone from another organization. “It’s no secret that one team lost an ace and two or three teams have lost very important starters,” said Amaro. “Some teams want to move quickly. Other teams want to ride things out. I think all of us would rather do deals only after exhausting their own internal possibilities and go from there.”
The Cardinals’ recent loss of Adam Wainwright has fueled quite a bit of Hamels-to-St. Louis speculation, and Nightengale also touched base with Cards GM John Mozeliak to discuss Hamels. Mozeliak noted that the team will certainly do its due diligence on trade candidates. Asked if the team could make a deal without including Carlos Martinez, a key member of the 2015 rotation, Mozeliak replied, “There’s probably always a deal worth making.”
Nightengale lists the Cardinals, Red Sox, Dodgers and Blue Jays as teams that could desperately use Hamels in their rotation. The Blue Jays wouldn’t seem to have the payroll capacity to add Hamels’ contract, but perhaps with enough money being paid down, something could be worked out. And for what it’s worth, Amaro did mention Toronto GM when making a tongue-in-cheek comment about his stress levels regarding the Hamels negotiations, stating: “I guarantee I’ll get more grey hairs from my daughter [taking her driving test] than any trade talks with Mozeliak, Anthopoulos and Cherington.” Nightengale adds that Amaro had talks regarding Hamels with a team as recently as Tuesday morning, and “some desperation” began to creep into those talks.
Jon Heyman of CBS Sports took a lengthy look at the market for Hamels earlier today, noting that the Phillies do indeed covet Martinez, though it’s unclear if they’ve formally asked for Martinez in trade negotiations with the Redbirds. Per Heyman, the Phillies are also taken with Jorge Alfaro and Nomar Mazara of the Rangers as well as Luis Severino and Aaron Judge of the Yankees. Despite a brutal month for the Red Sox’ rotation, there’s been no change to their refusal to part with Mookie Betts or Blake Swihart, and the Dodgers similarly won’t part with any of Joc Pederson, Corey Seager or Julio Urias, even with injuries ravaging their own rotation.
One rival exec noted to Heyman that, “A few things have lined up in the Phillies’ favor. There’s a little bit of a crescendo. And now is the time to act.” However, a GM explained to Heyman that he’d be more inclined to part with significant pieces to add someone controllable like Seattle’s Taijuan Walker than an aging star like Hamels. (That comment, for what it’s worth, was made prior to Amaro’s comments to Nightengale about absorbing some of the money on Hamels’ contract.)
It strikes me as unlikely that a deal would come together in the near future, but the early rash of pitching injuries, which grew with tonight’s news that Masahiro Tanaka is lost for at least a month, has likely increased the demand for Hamels. Though Amaro’s refusal to budge has drawn a great deal of criticism, it’s certainly easy to make the claim that he’s in a better spot to trade Hamels than he was late in the offseason.
Tanaka Out At Least A Month Due To Forearm Strain
The Yankees announced tonight that they have placed right-hander Masahiro Tanaka on the disabled list after an MRI revealed a “mild right forearm strain” and tendinitis in his right wrist. Jack Curry of the YES Network tweets that GM Brian Cashman told reporters that Tanaka will, conservatively, be sidelined for at least a month (Twitter link). For the time being, Tanaka will be shut down from throwing for the next seven to 10 days.
Tanaka tells reporters, including MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch (Twitter link), that “nothing really big came up from the MRI,” and he feels he can come back strong. However, while there’s been nothing to suggest that he has further torn his ulnar collateral ligament, forearm strains are indeed often a precursor to Tommy John surgery.
Tanaka was sidelined from July 8 through Sept. 21 last season due to a small tear in the UCL of his right elbow. However, he was able to return from the injury without undergoing Tommy John. While his final outing of the season was one he’d like to forget — seven runs in 1 2/3 innings — Tanaka has looked generally excellent to begin the 2015 season, reeling off 22 1/3 innings of a 3.22 ERA with a 24-to-7 K/BB ratio.
The Yankees will once again hope that Tanaka can dodge the Tommy John bullet, but a significant injury to their ace would again overexpose an already thin rotation. Nathan Eovaldi and CC Sabathia have both struggled to varying extents, while Ivan Nova is recovering from his own Tommy John, and Chris Capuano has yet to take the hill after opening the season on the DL.
As it stands, Sabathia, Eovaldi, Michael Pineda and Adam Warren will continue to round out the rotation, as Capuano inches closer to what the team hopes will be a May return. However, it’s not difficult to envision a long-term injury to Tanaka prompting the Yankees to seek a replacement from outside the organization to help steady their rotation in what looks to be a highly competitive American League East.
AL East: A-Rod, Reyes, Blue Jays, Red Sox
The Yankees‘ apparent determination not to pay Alex Rodriguez a milestone bonus under his contract if (really, when) he matches Willie Mays on the all-time home run list has been well-documented. But as David Waldstein of the New York Times reports, the financial motivations are even stronger than had previously been realized. New York would be required to pay a 50% luxury tax on the potential $6MM bonus, meaning that $9MM is actually at issue from the team’s perspective.
Here’s more from the rest of the AL East:
- The Blue Jays have placed shortstop Jose Reyes on the 15-day DL with a cracked rib and will recall Jonathan Diaz to take his place on the active roster. As Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.ca explains, the injury was suffered early in the season, and it remains unclear precisely what motivated the move at this point. While it could just be that the club wants Reyes to heal up for a long season, his long list of injury struggles make this a situation to monitor.
- Reyes is not the only area of concern for the Blue Jays, whose reliance on internal options in the bullpen has started to come into question, as Davidi writes. It was a mistake for Toronto not to find an upgrade or two over the winter, he opines, arguing that the current mix of arms has left the club short of reliable options since the rotation, too, has some questions. Manager John Gibbons discussed the matter at some length, noting that the club may be asking too much of young hurlers Miguel Castro and Roberto Osuna. The division already looks like it could be a tightly-contested affair all season long, and the Jays’ relief corps is an obvious area for upgrade as the summer approaches.
- Speaking of pitching concerns, the Red Sox rotation has long been an area of attention. Alex Speier of the Boston Globe looks into the team’s league-worst 5.75 starters’ ERA, noting that the club still believes its current options will improve. But as Speier explains, recent history shows that we are reaching a point where it may no longer be reasonable to expect a significant leap forward in productivity from the group as a whole.
- With a competitive division to navigate, the Red Sox front office is set up for a difficult test of its patience, Rob Bradford of WEEI.com writes. GM Ben Cherington hinted that there could be more early trade activity this year, in part because of an increased sense of urgency owing to the spread of talent in the AL East. We have already seen greater creativity in structuring deals over the last year or so, and Cherington at least hints that the destabilization of established transactional patterns could continue. “The old saying was to take the first two months, figure out what you are and what you need to do, and then take the next two months to try and solve your needs and then let your team play for the last two months,” said Cherington. “I don’t think that it has to be that. Every team’s situation is different and has different needs.”
AL East Notes: Yankees, Uehara, Rays
The entire AL East has had troubles with starting pitching so far this season, Peter Gammons writes. Heading into play today, the division had only produced 34 quality starts in 90 games. Gammons feels the Yankees‘ strong bullpen and ability to upgrade their roster via the trade market this summer could make them the favorite in the division — they have plenty of Double-A talent they could trade, and they have the ability to afford an additional expensive starting pitcher. Here’s more from the AL East.
- Koji Uehara‘s struggles Saturday night raise questions about whether the Red Sox made the right move in re-signing Uehara and letting Andrew Miller leave for the Yankees last offseason, Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe writes. The Red Sox gave Uehara two years and $18MM, a commitment that Cafardo notes surprised some observers, given Uehara’s injury issues and his play down the stretch last year (and, presumably, given the fact that he’s 40). Miller, meanwhile, got twice that amount from the Yankees and has pitched well so far. It is perhaps worth noting, though, that Uehara has six strikeouts and no walks in 4 1/3 innings thus far this season. Worries about him might be somewhat premature.
- The Rays have been successful so far this season despite serious troubles with injuries, MLB.com’s Bill Chastain writes. Last offseason and the start of this season have been a test for president of baseball operations Matt Silverman, who has now had to deal with losing his manager and with having 12 players (including Drew Smyly and James Loney, who have since returned) on the disabled list at once.
Latest From Rosenthal: Papelbon, Braun, Young, Redmond
Some within the industry believe the Nationals should trade for Jonathan Papelbon and install Drew Storen as the setup man, says Ken Rosenthal with FOX Sports (video link). While there is some concern over Papelbon’s velocity, he’s off to a great start and “never misses his spots.” His $13MM vesting option for 2016 remains an obstacle. Rosenthal notes that the Tigers and Blue Jays are other possible destinations. I agree that these three clubs could all use relief help. To me, it makes more sense for the Nationals to address their bullpen at the trade deadline. The Blue Jays have a tougher path to the postseason, so they could really use the reinforcements now. Here’s more from Rosenthal.
- The Brewers may shift to a rebuilding stance, and teams are in constant contact about Carlos Gomez and Jean Segura. Another star, Ryan Braun, will be difficult to trade. He’s slumped to start the season. He’s owed $105MM through 2020, and his no trade clause includes every team by the Angels, Dodgers, Nationals, Rays, and Marlins.
- Yankees GM Brian Cashman credits his analytics department for recommending Chris Young. The outfielder is off to a blazing start with four home runs and a .357/.426/.762 line in 48 plate appearances. The Yankees have become familiar with buying low. They also acquired Chris Capuano, Martin Prado, and Brandon McCarthy at discount prices.
- The Marlins are en route to their fourth consecutive victory, but manager Mike Redmond may remain on the hot seat. As one insider told Rosenthal, once owner Jeffrey Loria gets an idea in his head, “he can’t let it go.” If that’s the case, Redmond will need his team to go on an impressive streak.
Quick Hits: Mets, Beltran, Dorn
The Mets are one of several teams helping Major League Baseball understand more about pitchers’ epidemic of elbow injuries, Mike Vorkunov of NJ.com writes. The Mets, along with four other teams, are having the pitchers in their 2014 draft class participate in a study by agreement with MLB and the MLBPA, along with the American Sports Medicine Institute. Vorkunov reports that the study will examine pitchers’ biomechanics, anatomy and flexibility to try to identify players who might be at risk. All 30 teams will have access to the results. “We as an industry probably should have taken the initiative long ago before this became such an epidemic,” says Mets GM Sandy Alderson. “But I’m happy we’re pursuing it now. That, I think, will help us with the next generation of baseball pitchers.” The problem is surely one that all clubs are curious about, although the Mets, who have lost Matt Harvey and Zack Wheeler to Tommy John surgery in recent years, likely are especially interested. Here’s more from around the Majors.
- Carlos Beltran is becoming disliked by fans of both the Mets and the Yankees, Joel Sherman of the New York Post writes. It’s questionable whether Mets fans have reasonable grounds to dislike Beltran — as Sherman notes, Beltran played well with the Mets and landed them Wheeler. But many do. And the first year-plus of Beltran’s three-year, $45MM contract with the Yankees has been awful so far, particularly given his defensive limitations. Beltran, who turned 38 yesterday, is hitting .173/.241/.288 so far this season.
- 30-year-old 1B/OF Danny Dorn finally made it to the big leagues after 939 minor-league games after the Diamondbacks promoted him Tuesday, and he’s thrilled to be there, writes MLB.com’s Barry M. Bloom. “I can call myself a Major Leaguer,” says Dorn. “It’s been great. I just feel blessed and thankful for the opportunity.” Dorn has been climbing uphill his entire career — he was a 32nd-round draft pick all the way back in 2006, and although he hit well throughout the minors, he spent parts of seven seasons at Triple-A.
AL East Notes: Rays, Red Sox, Tanaka
Here’s the latest from the American League East:
- The Rays are going to have to drop a player from their 40-man roster to account for the club’s bullpen injuries, Cork Gaines of Rays Index explains. With C.J. Riefenhauser joining Jeff Beliveau on the major league DL, and fellow southpaws Enny Romero and Grayson Garvin both on the DL in the minors, the club is low on options.
- While the Red Sox rotation additions have struggled badly to start the year, the club did not have many appealing alternatives available to it, Brian MacPherson of the Providence Journal writes. MacPherson ticks through the possibilities, explaining that, by and large, Boston was probably wise not to beat other teams’ offers for several top arms.
- Masahiro Tanaka has trended up in his last two outings for the Yankees, as Brendan Kuty of NJ.com explains. His ability to pitch through a partial UCL tear remains critical to the club not just this year, but looking into the future.
AL East Notes: Navarro, A-Rod, Hanley
Though Bernie Williams hasn’t played in a Major League game since 2006, the longtime Yankees outfielder won’t officially hang up his glove until Friday, when he’ll sign his retirement papers prior to the Mets/Yankees game at Yankee Stadium. Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News notes that Williams is also scheduled to have his #51 retired by the Yankees later this season and be honored with a plaque in Monument Park. Here’s some more from around the AL East…
- Blue Jays catcher Dioner Navarro has been placed on the 15-day DL with a strained hamstring, the team announced. Navarro has been frequently mentioned as a trade candidate since the Jays signed Russell Martin, and Navarro has himself said that he’d prefer an everyday role elsewhere, though he’s committed to the Jays. The veteran has received semi-regular playing time this season as Mark Buehrle‘s personal catcher and part-time DH duty.
- With Alex Rodriguez closing in on his 660th career home run and the $6MM contract bonus associated with tying Willie Mays’ mark, Ken Davidoff and Joel Sherman of the New York Post look at how the impending dispute between A-Rod and the Yankees will play out. It’s possible the arbitration hearing to decide the matter wouldn’t take place until the offseason, Davidoff/Sherman write, as “there is no reason to speed this case along, especially because neither the Yankees nor A-Rod seem anxious to mess with the positive vibe around the controversial slugger.”
- Outfielder Ramon Flores enjoyed a big Spring Training and he’s tearing up Triple-A pitching, yet as Mike Axisa of the River Ave Blues blog writes, the Yankees don’t currently have a spot for him at the Major League level. New York would have to trade someone to create even a bench spot for Flores, and dealing Flores himself might not net a big return since he has no MLB experience.
- Hanley Ramirez has looked defensively shaky in his new left field role, yet Red Sox manager John Farrell told WEEI.com’s Rob Bradford that he doesn’t plan on removing Ramirez for a better fielder in late-game situations. “I want to show him the confidence to bring him along….I think the benefit of not taking him out far outweighs, at least at this point and time, taking him out because of his continued growth and us showing faith in him in left field,” Farrell said. Needless to say, the Sox have a lot invested in Ramirez’s development as a left fielder since (at least for this season) they have nowhere else in the field to play him; Pablo Sandoval (3B), Xander Bogaerts (SS), David Ortiz (DH) and Mike Napoli (1B) are locked in at other possible positions.
Yankees Claim Matt Tracy From Marlins
The Yankees have claimed left-hander Matt Tracy off waivers from the Marlins and optioned him to Triple-A, according to a team press release.
The Yankees originally had Tracy in their system to open the season and only designated him for assignment 10 days ago. The Marlins claimed him last Saturday but designated him for assignment themselves earlier this week and sent him to Triple-A. Tracy didn’t pitch an inning while with the Marlins organization.
Formerly a 24th-round pick of the Yankees, Tracy made his Major League debut with the Yanks this season, yielding three unearned runs in two innings. He worked to a 3.76 ERA with 5.3 K/9 and 3.3 BB/9 in 150 2/3 innings at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre last year.