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Yankees Place Anthony Rizzo On IL With Post-Concussion Syndrome

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The Yankees are placing first baseman Anthony Rizzo on the injured list today, with Aaron Boone telling reporters that Rizzo has a “likely” concussion. He says the club has traced this to a collision he had with Fernando Tatis Jr. of the Padres on May 28, per Deesha Thosar of Fox Sports. Rizzo passed concussion protocol at the time but recently complained of fogginess, per Bryan Hoch of MLB.com. He will be evaluated week to week while Jake Bauers and DJ LeMahieu handle first base, per Hoch. The club has now made it official, listed Rizzo’s ailment as post-concussion syndrome. Infielder/outfielder Oswaldo Cabrera was recalled in a corresponding move.

It’s an unusual injured list move, as players with concussions or concussion-like symptoms usually find themselves out of action in the immediate aftermath of the event in question. In this instance, the Yankees seem to believe Rizzo is being impacted by something that happened over two months ago. The play in question can be seen in this video, relayed on Twitter by Talkin’ Baseball. The slow motion replay appears to show Tatis, while attempting to get back to first on a pickoff throw from the catcher, make contact with Rizzo’s head via his hip. Rizzo then appears visibly dizzy in the moments after.

Rizzo was removed from that game and sat out the club’s next three contests, but was back in the lineup June 2. He’s hit .172/.271/.225 in 192 plate appearances since that collision, which perhaps lends credence to the idea that he has been affected in some way. Still, it seems strange on the surface that it took over two months to hone in on a diagnosis. Rizzo himself tells Hoch that he was more tired of late but thought it was just due to the typical grind of the season. He added that he would sometimes wake up feeling hungover and forget the number of outs during games. “I didn’t just forget how to do this all of a sudden,” he said, in reference to his declining results. It seems the situation is still evolving, with the club planning to reevaluate Rizzo regularly in the weeks to come in order to navigate a path forward.

Rizzo’s struggles have been just one part of a fairly tepid Yankee offense this year, as they were also without Aaron Judge for almost two months. He was on the IL from early June to late July thanks to a right great toe sprain. Overall, the club is hitting .231/.302/.404 for a wRC+ of 95 this year, with that mark placing them 21st out of the 30 clubs in the majors.

There are lots of moving pieces in the position player mix now, with Judge back but having served as the designated hitter recently. That’s pushed Giancarlo Stanton into the outfield alongside players like Bauers, Harrison Bader, Billy McKinney, Greg Allen and Isiah Kiner-Falefa. LeMahieu and Kiner-Falefa have also been splitting third base with Josh Donaldson on the injured list, but it seems like Bauers and LeMahieu will now be covering first as well. Cabrera should be able to be plugged in wherever needed, as he’s played all four infield positions and the outfield corners.

Willie Calhoun Elects Free Agency

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The Yankees announced this morning that outfielder Willie Calhoun, whom they designated for assignment on Friday, rejected an outright assignment in favor of free agency.

The 28-year-old Calhoun signed a minor league deal with the Yankees over the winter, was added to the big league roster in early April, and wound up hitting .239/.309/.403 (96 wRC+) in 149 plate appearances before landing on the injured list with a quad strain in late June. He missed more than a month of action, and when his rehab assignment was up, the Yankees opted to keep Jake Bauers, Billy McKinney and Greg Allen over Calhoun. All four were out of minor league options, meaning the odd man out ultimately had to be designated for assignment.

Calhoun once ranked as one of baseball’s top prospects but has never developed the type of offense that was projected of him during his minor league days with the Dodgers and the Rangers (who acquired him as the headline prospect in the deadline trade sending Yu Darvish to Los Angeles).  He’s a career .240/.300/.404 hitter in 1085 big league plate appearances. Calhoun doesn’t walk much (career 7.4%) but also has above-average bat-to-ball skills (15% strikeout rate). He typically makes hard contact at decent levels and was well above-average during this year’s stint with the Yankees, generating an average exit velocity of 90.7 mph and hitting 42.6% of his batted balls at 95 mph or more.

Calhoun has played left field almost exclusively in his career but carries dismal grades for his glovework from Defensive Runs Saved (-15), Ultimate Zone Rating (-13) and Outs Above Average (-14) in 1304 career innings at the position. Still, teams in need of a some outfield depth and, particularly, a left-handed bat could give him a look now that he’s back on the market.

Minor 40-Man Moves: Adams, Ortega, Capra

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With the trade deadline behind us, a few smaller 40-man transactions from throughout the day that weren’t previously covered:

  • The Angels selected outfielder Jordyn Adams onto the big league roster while transferring Jo Adell and Sam Bachman to the 60-day injured list. The 17th overall pick in the 2018 draft, Adams is set for his major league debut. The 23-year-old outfielder is hitting .264/.351/.466 through 389 plate appearances with Triple-A Salt Lake. Strikeout issues have knocked down his former top prospect stock, but he’s capable of playing center field and has stolen 37 bases in 42 attempts this year.
  • The Pirates selected infielder Vinny Capra. Pittsburgh acquired the 27-year-old for catcher Tyler Heineman in a minor swap with the Blue Jays at the end of April. His big league experience consists of eight games with Toronto last season. The right-handed hitter owns a massive .350/.457/.485 showing with more walks than strikeouts over 34 games at Triple-A Indianapolis for the Bucs.
  • The Mets selected Rafael Ortega. Signed to a minor league deal in mid-June, the lefty-hitting outfielder returns to the big leagues for a seventh season. Ortega hit .265/.344/.408 for the Cubs between 2021-22. He owns a .228/.352/.388 line between two Triple-A affiliates this season. The 32-year-old will be eligible for arbitration after the season if he finished the year on the MLB roster.

Injured List Transactions

Yankees Acquire Keynan Middleton

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The Yankees and White Sox have agreed to a trade that will send Keynan Middleton to the Bronx, ESPN’s Jeff Passan reports (Twitter link).  Right-hander Juan Carela will head from New York to Chicago in return, according to YES Network’s Joe LoGrippo (via Twitter).

Middleton becomes the latest player moved in what has been a significant pre-deadline selloff from Chicago, while the Yankees have now made their first notable deadline move.  While New York had been reportedly looking to add some controllable pieces, the Bombers will instead make a short-term move in Middleton, who is a free agent after the season.

Signed to a minor league deal by the White Sox over the winter, Middleton was looking to rebuild his career after a trio of rocky seasons with the Angels, Mariners, and Diamondbacks.  Breaking into the majors as a member of the Angels’ bullpen in 2017, Middleton showed some intriguing promise in his rookie season but Tommy John surgery sidelined him for most of the next two years.

Now 29 years old, Middleton finally started to get back on track this season in Chicago.  He has a 3.96 ERA over 36 1/3 innings, with an excellent 30.3% strikeout rate and elite chase and whiff rates.  Control has been an issue, as Middleton’s 10.3% walk rate is well below league average, and he also has a 9.8% barrel rate despite good hard-hit ball numbers overall.

A lot of that damage has come within the last month.  Middleton had a 2.33 ERA through his first 29 appearances and 27 innings, but he has since posted an 8.68 ERA over his last 9 1/3 innings of work, allowing at least one earned run in six of 10 appearances.  These recent struggles surely impacted Chicago’s asking price, but the Yankees felt comfortable enough to take the plunge on the low-cost addition.

The right-hander joins a New York bullpen that has been one of the game’s better relief corps this season, and since the Yankees were otherwise very quiet with their deadline moves, it seems as though the club is doubling down on its strong pen to try and sneak into a wild card berth.  Clay Holmes and Michael King get most of the save chances and highest-leverage work, but there’s plenty of flexibility for Middleton to earn him more looks in key late-game situations.

The 21-year-old Carela has a 3.67 ERA over 83 1/3 innings (starting 16 of 17 games) with the Yankees’ high-A affiliate in Hudson Valley this season, with a 9.1% walk rate and an impressive 31.1% strikeout rate.  MLB Pipeline ranked Carela as the 29th-best prospect in New York’s farm system, describing the right-hander as a possible back-end rotation piece if he improves his control and command.  Carela has a plus slider as well as a sweeper, a pitch taught to many hurlers in the Yankees organization in recent years.

Rays Shopping Manuel Margot, Searching For Bat-First Outfielder

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The Rays are shopping outfielder Manuel Margot while looking for an offensive upgrade in the outfield, reports Joel Sherman of the New York Post (Twitter links). It’s unclear if they’d only move Margot if they first pull off a separate addition. The Yankees are among the teams that have been in touch with Tampa Bay, per Sherman.

Margot’s profile is built around his glove. He was a plus center fielder early in his career. Nearing his 29th birthday, his defensive marks in center have dipped a bit but he remains an above-average corner outfielder. He’s still capable of playing up the middle, logging 305 2/3 innings over 35 starts there.

The right-handed hitter is a below-average offensive player. He’s hitting .254/.306/.364 through 258 trips to the plate. It’s not disastrous output but sits roughly 10 percentage points below league average productivity. That’s the range in which Margot has hovered for the bulk of his career. He makes a decent amount of contact with modest walk totals and power.

Tampa Bay signed Margot to an extension last April. He’s making $7MM this season, around $2.3MM of which is still to be paid out. He’ll be due $10MM next year and a $2MM buyout on a mutual option covering the 2025 campaign. It seems unlikely the Rays would be able to offload the entirety of that deal, so they’d probably have to kick in cash or take back another team’s undesirable contract.

The Yankees have been quiet this deadline season so far. New York is reportedly straddling the line between buying and selling. Corner outfield help has long been a target, and Margot is one of what’s surely a number of names to come up in talks with other clubs.

Yankees Acquire Spencer Howard

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The Yankees acquired right-hander Spencer Howard from the Rangers for cash considerations, according to FanSided’s Robert Murray (Twitter link).

Howard, 27, was selected by the Phillies in the second round of the 2017 draft and quickly rose up prospect boards, becoming a consensus top-35 prospect in the game ahead of the 2020 campaign. He made his debut later that season and struggled to a 5.92 ERA in 24 1/3 innings of work. Those struggles continued into 2021, where he posted a 5.72 ERA despite a solid 4.02 FIP in 28 1/3 innings with the Phillies before being shipped to Texas as part of the deal that brought right-hander Kyle Gibson to Philadelphia.

Things took an even more dire turn when Howard arrived in Texas, as he allowed a whopping 26 runs (23 earned) in just 21 1/3 innings down the stretch with the Rangers, leaving him with a 7.43 ERA on the season. While Howard opened the 2022 campaign as a member of the club’s starting rotation, he didn’t last in that role for long, ultimately pitching just 37 2/3 innings in the majors that season to the tune of a 7.41 ERA. Howard’s struggles in recent years have extended even to the minor league level, where he’s posted a 4.89 ERA in 77 1/3 innings the past two seasons despite a solid 31% strikeout rate.

Going forward, Howard figures to provide the Yankees with an optionable depth piece for their pitching staff. Howard seems unlikely to secure a spot in the club’s bullpen, which stands as one of the best in the sport even before adding right-hander Keynan Middleton earlier today. That being said, it’s possible Howard could compete for spot starts with depth options such as Randy Vasquez or Jhony Brito. As for the Rangers, the club sports an exceptionally deep rotation after the recent additions of Max Scherzer and Jordan Montgomery, and depth pieces like Glenn Otto and Cole Winn leave Texas well-positioned to absorb the loss of Howard without much issue.

Latest On Yankees’ Deadline Approach

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With the Yankees in last place in the AL East despite a decent 55-51 record, their path forward remains somewhat murky with less than four hours to go before the trade deadline. Joel Sherman of the New York Post indicates that the club could look to both buy and sell, searching for long-term controllable pieces in areas of need while fielding offers on the pending free agents on their roster.

Several of the club’s pending free agents, including Luis Severino and Isiah Kiner-Falefa, have had difficult seasons in 2023, but could nonetheless draw interest as low-cost, depth additions from other clubs. Lefty Wandy Peralta, who has a 2.29 ERA in 47 appearances out of New York’s bullpen this year, and center fielder Harrison Bader have both fared better in their walk years, with Bader in particular drawing interest per the New York Post’s Jon Heyman. Sherman more specifically notes that the Yankees and Phillies have discussed Bader, though there is “limited traction” on a deal between the sides.

Sherman adds that the Yankees have discussed closer Clay Holmes in trade talks, despite Holmes being controllable through the 2024 campaign. That being said, Sherman noted that the asking price for Holmes is exorbitant, rendering a deal regarding the club’s closer unlikely. The Athletic’s Brendan Kuty adds to that doubt, noting that it’s “highly unlikely” the club parts with either Holmes or fellow leverage reliever Michael King.

As far as buying goes, the club has been frequently connected to Cardinals outfielder Dylan Carlson in the days and weeks leading up to the deadline, and those connections haven’t stopped today. Kuty, Sherman, Chris Kirschner of The Athletic, and MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand have are among those who have linked the Yankees and Carlson recently. That being said, Heyman cautions that the Cardinals are unlikely to deal Carlson unless they get a young MLB starter in return. That’s a price the Yankees could pay if they so chose, with youngsters Clarke Schmidt and Jhony Brito currently occupying spots in the club’s starting rotation.

As Feinsand notes, that Carlson’s ability to play quality defense in center field could be of particular value given Bader’s status as a pending free agent. Carlson could take over for Bader in center immediately in the event of a trade before the deadline, or play left field for the remainder of the 2023 campaign and shift over to center in the event Bader departs via free agency this offseason.

Yankees Open To Offers On Impending Free Agents

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The Yankees dropped tonight’s 5-1 contest to the Rays. They’re at 55-51 heading into the deadline, last place in the AL East despite being four games above .500. New York is only 3.5 out of a Wild Card spot and recently welcomed Aaron Judge back, but they’ve gone 21-27 since the start of June.

With around 18 hours before the deadline, general manager Brian Cashman and his front office find themselves with a difficult balancing act. Whether to add for a playoff push, entertain offers on veterans, or attempt to walk the line by doing both is in question. Joel Sherman of the New York Post reported before tonight’s loss that the Yankees were telling other clubs they’re willing to entertain trade offers on their impending free agents.

Nevertheless, it doesn’t seem the Yankees are strictly bucketing themselves as “sellers.” Buster Olney of ESPN tweeted this afternoon New York was still searching the market for outfield help. Meanwhile, Derrick Goold of the St, Louis Post Dispatch reports the Yanks are among the teams that have reached out to the Cardinals on starter Jack Flaherty — though it isn’t clear how recent that interest is.

It seems Cashman and his front office could entertain multiple moves that blur the line between buying and selling. Their impending free agents are having relatively disappointing seasons, though they could find varying levels of interest in each (not including Frankie Montas and Josh Donaldson, whose injuries and high salaries make them essentially impossible to move).

Harrison Bader has continued to battle injury issues, missing time with oblique and hamstring problems. He’s gotten into 57 games, connecting on seven homers but with a modest .283 on-base percentage. While it’s his second straight below-average offensive showing, Bader is an elite center fielder and has stolen 10 bags in 12 attempts. He’s playing on a $4.7MM salary and should have a decent amount of appeal on a trade market light on position player talent.

Left-hander Wandy Peralta would be a fairly straightforward target for clubs seeking relief depth. He’s holding same-handed hitters to a putrid .091/.242/.091 batting line in 67 plate appearances. Peralta has a 2.29 ERA in 37 1/3 innings overall. His strikeout and walk numbers are both subpar but he’s picking up grounders at an elite 64.1% clip while averaging 96 MPH on his sinker. He’s making $3.35MM in his final arbitration season.

There’d be less appeal with either Luis Severino or Isiah Kiner-Falefa. The former is playing on a lofty $15MM salary and having a nightmarish season. He’s been tagged for a 7.49 ERA across 12 starts. His formerly plus strikeout rates have fallen to a meager 18% clip. Severino’s velocity remains intact, but he’s not missing bats on either his changeup or slider at typical levels and is giving up tons of hard contact.

Kiner-Falefa, playing on a $6MM arbitration salary, has moved into a multi-positional role after serving as the primary shortstop in 2022. He’s spending the bulk of his time in the outfield, where he has slightly below-average reviews from public defensive marks. Kiner-Falefa is hitting .257/.322/.374 in 240 trips to the plate, making plenty of contact without much power.

Flaherty, of course, is an impending free agent himself. If New York’s interest in the Cards’ righty was somewhat recent, it’d obviously be with this season in mind. It’s hard to imagine the Yankees completely throwing in the towel in 2023. Each of their impending free agents is having a middling (or downright poor) enough season that they could move someone in the group while still looking for immediate help in other areas.

There could also be financial considerations at play. Roster Resource projects the Yankees’ competitive balance tax number just above $294MM. That’s a bit north of the $293MM that marks the highest tier of luxury penalization. Offseason reports indicated Yankees’ ownership was reluctant to go above that mark, although there are no non-monetary penalties for doing so. Offloading the money still owed to the likes of Bader or Peralta could allow them to dip below that number.

Players like Gleyber Torres and Clay Holmes are into arbitration and would surely attract interest from other clubs, though there’s nothing to suggest the Yankees on taking offers on players who can be controlled beyond this season. Both Torres and Holmes are eligible for arbitration once more.

Yankees Outright Willie Calhoun

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  • The Yankees assigned outfielder Willie Calhoun outright to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. New York DFA him last Friday after his time on a minor league rehab stint lapsed. Calhoun hit .239/.309/.403 with five homers in 149 plate appearances between his contract selection in early April and the left quad strain that sent him to the injured list towards the end of June. He’s a .240/.300/.404 hitter in more than 1000 plate appearances over parts of seven big league campaigns. Calhoun has cleared waivers three times in his career, giving him the right to elect minor league free agency in lieu of an outright assignment.

Rizzo: Nationals Have Eight Suitors For Jeimer Candelario

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Nationals president of baseball operations Mike Rizzo made an appearance on SiriusXM’s Front Office on MLBNetwork Radio this afternoon, where he discussed Washington’s deadline plans with hosts Jim Bowden and Jim Duquette. As relayed by Bowden, Rizzo provided an update on the market for third baseman Jeimer Candelario, telling the duo that the club has eight teams in on the Nationals’ top trade chip. Rizzo further indicated that the club would “move fast” in getting a deal done once they’re offered the “right player” in exchange for Candelario’s services.

That the Nationals intend to move Candelario is hardly a surprise. He came in at #2 overall as the top position player on MLBTR’s recent update to our Top 50 Deadline Trade Candidates, with both the Marlins and Angels known to have interest in his services. SNY’s Andy Martino also reported today that the Yankees have interest.

It’s not hard to see why Candelario has drawn such interest, as has paired excellent third base defense with a 121 wRC+ in 98 games this season. In addition to his quality defense at the hot corner, Candelario also has experience in the majors at first base. With Cody Bellinger now off the trade market, that makes Candelario the likely best player available at both infielder corners. Speculatively speaking, the Giants, Diamondbacks, Brewers, and Astros each could use help at the infield corners.

Rizzo also discussed the availability of right-hander Kyle Finnegan and outfielder Lane Thomas, who clocked in at #37 and #41 on our Top 50 Deadline Trade Candidates list, respectively. Bowden relays that Rizzo indicated Finnegan has drawn interest from other clubs ahead of the deadline, and it’s easy to see why. Finnegan is controllable through 2025 and has been a solid arm in the Nationals’ bullpen since he made his big league debut in 2020. Finnegan’s career 3.35 ERA and 4.10 FIP are right in line with his 3.07 ERA and 4.17 FIP in 44 innings of work this season as the Nationals’ top option for closing out games.

Thomas, who is under team control through the end of the 2025 season, has slashed a solid .286/.333/.474 in 104 games this season with a wRC+ of 116 while swiping 12 bases in 14 attempts, is not a player Rizzo appears particularly inclined to move, with Bowden relaying that the impetus to move Thomas would be help at a position of greater need than the outfield, where the club sports top prospects James Wood, Robert Hassell, Dylan Crews, and Elijah Green.

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