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Phillies To Acquire Michael Lorenzen

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The Phillies are reportedly acquiring Michael Lorenzen from the Tigers. Infield prospect Hao-Yu Lee is headed back to Detroit.

Lorenzen has seemed a near-lock to be traded for a few months. The right-hander has found plenty of success in his second season since moving back to the rotation. After posting a 4.24 ERA through 18 appearances for the Angels last year, he’s allowing 3.58 earned runs per nine in as many outings this time around.

Signed to a one-year, $8.5MM free agent deal last winter, Lorenzen began his Detroit tenure on the injured list. A groin strain cost him the first two weeks of the season, but he was on the Comerica Park mound by mid-April. He was hit hard in two of his first three outings but settled in nicely thereafter.

Lorenzen has worked 105 2/3 innings, just under six frames per start. He’s not blowing hitters away; his 19.9% strikeout rate and 9.8% swinging strike percentage are each a little lower than the respective MLB averages. Lorenzen has shown much improved control, though, keeping his walk rate at a modest 6.5% clip after handing out free passes north of 10% of the time in each of the previous three seasons.

All told, Lorenzen has allowed two or fewer runs in 11 of his 18 outings. He secured his first All-Star nod as a result. He’s been effective against hitters of either handedness, holding lefties to a .201/.279/.355 line and right-handers to a .274/.293/.381 slash. He’s mixing four pitchers (four-seam, slider, changeup and sinker) with regularity.

The middling whiff rates lead ERA estimators to suggest that Lorenzen’s 3.58 ERA isn’t quite warranted. Opponents have a modest .264 average on balls in play against him, the 10th lowest mark among starters with 100+ innings. Yet even if a few more batted balls drop in and his ERA ticks up around 4.00 (where estimators generally peg him), he’d be a valuable pickup for a club seeking pitching depth.

Philadelphia has a starting five of Zack Wheeler, Aaron Nola, Taijuan Walker, Ranger Suárez and Cristopher Sánchez. They’ll run with a six-man rotation over the next two weeks, tweets Jayson Stark of the Athletic. The club doesn’t have an off day until August 14, so they’ll take the opportunity to give the entire group some extra rest.

At that point, the Phils will likely decide whether to kick one of Lorenzen or Sánchez to relief. The latter has stepped up to solidify an uncertain fifth starter spot over the past month. He’s worked to a 2.66 ERA with average or better strikeout, walk and ground-ball marks over nine starts. The depth behind him wasn’t particularly strong, though. Bailey Falter struggled mightily early in the year. Andrew Painter underwent elbow surgery. The Phils have been reluctant to push minor league righties Mick Abel and Griff McGarry into a pennant race too quickly.

As a result, they’ll beat the market for one of the top rental starters still available. Lorenzen is due around $2.79MM in salary through season’s end. The Phils have already exceeded the second tier of luxury tax penalization. They’re going to surpass the CBT for the second straight season. As a result, they’re taxed at a 42% rate on additional spending up to the $273MM third threshold. Roster Resource calculates their current CBT number just above $262MM.

They’ll pay around $1.17MM in taxes to accommodate Lorenzen, bringing their expenditure to around $3.97MM. Lorenzen would also tack on $250K in performance bonus (also taxed at a 42% rate) for reaching 125, 150 and 175 innings (with further incentives available but likely unattainable). Lorenzen will head back to free agency at year’s end, when the Phils will hopefully feel more comfortable breaking Abel and McGarry into MLB action.

As for the Tigers, their signing of Lorenzen worked out as intended. Rebuilding teams take one-year fliers on veterans of this ilk every offseason with an eye towards a midseason trade. Rarely does it work out as effectively as it did for Detroit. Lorenzen was always an unlikely qualifying offer candidate, so they’ll indeed flip him for a prospect of interest.

Lee, 20, is a right-handed hitting second baseman from Taiwan. He has been at High-A Jersey Shore, hitting .283/.372/.401 through 285 plate appearances. Lee is walking at a quality 10.2% clip against a modest 18.6% strikeout rate. He’s only hit five home runs but has stolen 14 bases in 17 tries.

He recently ranked eighth on Baseball America’s ranking of the Phillies’ farm system. As his slash line suggests, BA’s report indicates he’s a hit-over-power player with a shot to stick in the middle infield. Below-average arm strength and range make him a best fit for second base. While the hit-focused second baseman is a tough profile to pull off, Lee’s minor league production is solid. He won’t be eligible for the Rule 5 draft until after the 2025 season.

Jon Morosi of MLB.com first reported the Tigers and Phillies were nearing a deal that’d send Lorenzen to Philadelphia while getting Lee back as part of the return. Chris McCosky of the Detroit News reported the deal was agreed upon and would be a one-for-one swap.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Braves Acquire Brad Hand

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The Braves have acquired reliever Brad Hand from the Rockies, the clubs announced. Minor league reliever Alec Barger goes to Colorado in a one-for-one swap. Atlanta already had an opening on their 40-man roster.

Hand was one of the more obvious trade candidates this summer. The veteran reliever signed a buy-low deal with the Rockies late last offseason. He received a $1MM bonus for making the roster and is playing the year on a $1.5MM salary. Less than $500K remains to be paid out, though he’s also guaranteed a $500K buyout on a $7MM option at season’s end. That provision was a club option for Colorado but converts to a mutual pact now that Hand has been traded.

It’s largely immaterial, as Colorado never seemed likely to exercise the option. Hand has been a solid but unexceptional middle innings arm for the Rox. He’s tallied 35 2/3 innings through 40 appearances, working to a 4.54 ERA. That’s his worst ERA since moving to the bullpen seven years ago, though pitching half his games in Coors Field hasn’t done him any favors.

Despite the diminished run prevention, Hand has gotten an uptick in swing-and-miss. His 26.1% strikeout rate is his best mark in three seasons. His 9.7% swinging strike percentage is still a fair bit below-average but a little better than those of his prior two years. While he’s gotten tattooed by right-handed hitters, Hand has stifled lefties to a .143/.276/.204 batting line with 20 strikeouts in 59 plate appearances.

He’ll add a veteran specialist to a relief corps which Atlanta has sought to deepen over the past week. The Braves also acquired Pierce Johnson from Colorado and recently claimed Yonny Chirinos from Tampa Bay. They’re not impact additions, but Atlanta’s bullpen is already strong. The Braves enter play Tuesday with a 3.67 relief ERA that ranks fifth in the majors. It had been righty-heavy with Dylan Lee on the injured list; Hand adds a second option behind A.J. Minter, likely for more situational work.

In return, Colorado picks up some upper minors relief depth. Barger, 25, is a former 17th round selection out of North Carolina State. He’s spent the season at Double-A Mississippi, working to a 3.29 ERA with a quality 29.3% strikeout rate. Barger’s 12.8% walk percentage is elevated, but the Rockies are clearly intrigued by the bat-missing potential and the bottom line results. He’d be eligible for the Rule 5 draft this winter if not added to the 40-man roster, though the trades of Johnson and Hand (and likely a forthcoming deal of Brent Suter) could open an opportunity for him to get a late-season debut.

Robert Murray of FanSided first reported the Rockies were trading Hand for Barger.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

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.

Diamondbacks Acquire Jace Peterson

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The Diamondbacks acquired infielder Jace Peterson and cash from the A’s for minor league pitcher Chad Patrick, the clubs announced. Arizona had an opening on the 40-man roster after dealing Josh Rojas and Dominic Canzone in this afternoon’s Paul Sewald trade.

Peterson is largely a Rojas replacement. He’s a left-handed hitting infielder who splits most of his time between third and second base. Between Rojas’ departure and the recent injury to Evan Longoria, the D-Backs had lost some depth at the hot corner. Emmanuel Rivera is the primary starter. He’s a right-handed hitter who has been quite a bit better against southpaws, so Peterson makes sense as a matchup complement.

The 33-year-old joined the A’s on a two-year, $9.5MM free agent deal last winter. He’d been a roughly league average hitter — albeit with minimal exposure to left-handed pitching — over three seasons with Milwaukee. Peterson hasn’t maintained that form over a more regular role in Oakland. He’s hitting .221/.313/.324 with six homers over 324 trips to the plate.

That below-average offense is largely thanks to a dip in batted ball quality. Peterson is still walking at an excellent 11.1% clip, while his 23.8% strikeout rate is in line with prior marks. Yet he’s making hard contact on only 28.4% of batted balls — well below the 35-36% range of the prior couple seasons.

Much of those poor numbers are attributable to a dreadful start. The 10-year veteran carried a meager .192/.289/.278 batting line into June. He’s a .254/.340/.377 hitter over the last two months with more typical batted ball metrics. The Arizona front office isn’t much concerned by the slow start and adds Peterson to the infield mix.

Peterson is playing on a $4.5MM salary for 2023, $1.5MM of which is still to be paid out. He’s due $5MM for next season. The A’s will reportedly pick up $2M of next year’s salary while Arizona takes on what remains of this year’s sum. The deal pushes Arizona’s projected payroll just shy of $123MM, per Roster Resource.

In return for their relatively modest free agent investment and willingness to pay down some of the deal, the A’s add minor league rotation depth. Patrick was a fourth-round draftee out of Purdue-Northwest in 2021. The 6’1″ righty carries a 4.71 ERA with roughly average strikeout and walk numbers (22.9% and 9.2%, respectively) over 19 starts in Double-A. Eric Longenhagen of FanGraphs suggested last month he profiled as a spot starter on the strength of his slider command. Patrick turns 25 in August and won’t be eligible for the Rule 5 draft until after next season.

Bob Nightengale of USA Today reported the financials.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Reds Acquire Sam Moll From Athletics

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The Reds have acquired left-hander Sam Moll and international cap space from the Athletics, according to announcements from both clubs. The A’s will receive pitching prospect Joe Boyle in exchange. To make room for Moll on their 40-man roster, the Reds transferred Hunter Greene to the 60-day injured list.

Moll, 31, has spent the past three years serving as an effective reliever in the Oakland bullpen. From 2021 to the present, he’s made 106 appearances, allowing 3.65 earned runs per nine innings. His 24.9% strikeout rate and 50.6% ground ball rate are both strong, though his 11.5% walk rate is a few ticks higher than league average.

2023 has been a strange season for him, as his 4.54 ERA is higher than the previous two campaigns despite so much stuff going right in terms of his under-the-hood numbers. His 27.1% strikeout rate, 11.2% walk rate and 52% grounder rate are each improvements over recent years. It seems a .340 batting average on balls in play and 68.2% strand rate have helped some extra runs across the plate, as his 3.25 FIP and 3.71 SIERA are both career bests.

MLBTR’s Steve Adams recently took a look at Moll’s season and highlighted his increasing use of a four-seam fastball. Dating back to mid-May, he has a 3.80 ERA in 23 2/3 innings, striking out 30.9% of opponents against an 8.2% walk rate, still getting grounders on over half the balls allowed in play. He has a 2.35 FIP in that time and a 2.97 SIERA.

The Reds have leapt into contention this year on the strength of their young core of position players, currently sporting a record of 58-49 that has them atop the National League Central, half a game ahead of the Brewers coming into today’s action. Left-handed relief was an obvious area for the club to add, since Alex Young has been their only southpaw reliever for much of the year. Reiver Sanmartin recently underwent UCL surgery and won’t be back any time soon. Moll is a long-term option for the Reds, as he is slated to finish this season with between two and three years of service time, meaning he can be retained for four seasons beyond the current campaign and isn’t even slated to reach arbitration until after 2024.

The A’s had little reason to hang onto Moll, despite those years of control. He didn’t establish himself at the big league level until his age-29 season and is now 31. The A’s have been leaning hard into a rebuild recently, with their 30-77 record the worst in the majors. Ownership is going to be focused on moving the team to Las Vegas in the immediate future and might not make the necessary investments to get the club back into competitive shape for a while.

Instead, they have exchanged him for Boyle, a 23-year-old right-hander who is listed at 6’7″ and 240 pounds. He was drafted by the Reds in the fifth round of the 2020 draft and got a brief professional debut in the lower levels of their farm system in 2021. He split last year between High-A and Double-A, tossing 100 2/3 innings over 23 outings with a 2.86 ERA. He struck out 36.5% of batters but also issued walks at an eyebrow-raising 20% clip. He’s made 19 more Double-A starts this year with similar results, striking out 31.5% of opponents while walking 19.4%, leading to a 4.50 ERA.

Both Baseball America and FanGraphs currently list Boyle as the #20 prospect in the Reds’ system. The book on him seems to be that he has excellent stuff but worrisome control, which matches the stat line. He has a triple-digit fastball and quality breaking stuff as well, but will need to greatly rein in his command in order to be effective.

Greene will now be ineligible to return until 60 days from his placement on the injured list due to hip pain, which was on June 18, officially keeping him out until August 17. He’s expected to make a rehab start this weekend with a planned return in late August.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Brewers Acquire Mark Canha From Mets

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The Brewers have acquired first baseman/outfielder Mark Canha from the Mets, with pitching prospect Justin Jarvis going the other way, per announcements from both clubs. The Brewers opened a 40-man roster spot earlier when Jake Cousins was lost to the Astros off waivers. The Mets are paying Canha’s salary this year, with the Brewers only responsible for the prorated league minimum portion, though Milwaukee will be on the hook for the option or buyout when they make their decision on that.

This is the second offensive upgrade of the deadline for the Brewers, who already acquired Carlos Santana from the Pirates last week. It was reported earlier today that the club was still looking to upgrade its lineup and has done so here.

Canha, 34, spent many years as a solid outfielder for the Athletics before reaching free agency after 2021. He was able to secure himself a two-year, $26.5MM deal going into 2022, with an $11.5MM club option for 2024 that comes with a $2MM buyout. He hit .266/.367/.403 for the Mets last year, a line that translated to a wRC+ of 128, indicating he was 28% above league average.

This year, Canha’s production has slipped a bit, though he still an above-average hitter. His .245/.343/.381 line thus far on the season amounts to a 107 wRC+, seven percent better than par but a dip from a year ago. It’s possible there’s some bad luck in there, as his .279 batting average on balls in play is well below last year’s .309 mark, despite the fact that his barrel rate, hard hit rate and exit velocity have all gone up in 2023 relative to 2022. Perhaps he’s due for some positive regression, though he’s a solid hitter even without it.

Defensively, Canha is primarily an outfielder, though he has some versatility. He’s played more left field than anywhere else but he’s capable of playing all three outfield slots, in addition brief spells at the infield corners. Milwaukee has been using an outfield of Christian Yelich, Joey Wiemer and Sal Frelick in recent days. Yelich is having a terrific season whereas Wiemer’s contributions have been mixed. His defense has been highly rated and he has 11 steals on the year, but he’s hitting just .209/.289/.381 for a wRC+ of 82. Frelick was called up just over a week ago but has started his major league career with a .304/.438/.478 showing. Tyrone Taylor and Blake Perkins haven’t hit much in reserve roles.

Frelick played plenty of center field in the minors so perhaps he could move there with Canha taking right and Yelich in left. Frelick also hits left-handed and Wiemer right-handed, so perhaps they could platoon up the middle. Wiemer is hitting .282/.315/.576 against lefties but just .180/.280/.304 without the platoon advantage. The club also doesn’t have a regular designated hitter and could perhaps get all of these players in the lineup if that seems like the best option at the time. Though Santana figures to be the regular at first base, Canha’s ability to play there gives them some extra flexibility. Brian Anderson could also be in the mix at some point with Andruw Monasterio playing well at third, though the latter could also move over to second and bump out the struggling Brice Turang.

The Brewers are generally a fairly low-spending club, so the Mets’ willingness to pay down the deal surely appealed to them. They will have to decide on that option versus that buyout, which could depend on Canha’s performance to finish the year. The Brewers will still have Yelich, Frelick and Wiemer next year, along with hopefully getting Garrett Mitchell back after he’s missing most of this year due to shoulder surgery. There’s also the looming presence of Jackson Chourio, one of the top prospects in the league, who is currently in Double-A.

Next year’s outfield seems a bit more crowded, though perhaps first base is different. The Brewers are set to lose Santana to free agency, which could make their Rowdy Tellez situation significant. He can be retained for one more season via arbitration but has been terrible here in 2023, hitting .213/.285/.388 and is currently on the injured list, making him a non-tender candidate this winter. If Canha proves to be a good fit, perhaps they pick up that option and keep him around at first.

However it plays out down the road, it should help the Brewers now. They are currently 57-49, just half a game back of the Reds in the National League Central and currently in possession of a Wild Card slot. That’s largely come on the backs of their pitching, as the team as a whole has hit .232/.312/.377 for a wRC+ of 88, leading to their additions of Santana and Canha.

For the Mets, this is the latest in their deadline selloff, something that would have seemed shocking a few months ago. This winter, they ran up the biggest payroll in MLB history to try to build upon their 101-win season last year. But they disappointed badly enough that they have been aggressively selling. They’ve already flipped out Eduardo Escobar to the Angels, David Robertson to the Marlins, Max Scherzer to the Rangers and now this deal. In most cases, they have eaten significant money in order to effectively buy prospects. Canha is making a salary of $10.5MM this year, with about $3.5MM left to be paid out, the majority of which will be swallowed by the Mets.

Their return for surrendering Canha and eating that money will be Jarvis. The 23-year-old right-hander was selected by the Brewers in the fifth round of the 2018 draft and has shown some signs of progress recently. Last year, he split his time between High-A and Double-A, throwing 141 innings with a 3.83 ERA, 25% strikeout rate and 11% walk rate. He returned to Double-A to start this year and posted a 3.33 ERA through 14 starts, striking out 28.6% of opponents while walking just 8.2%. He recently got bumped to Triple-A and has been shelled, but in a small sample of just three outings.

Based on those strong Double-A results, he was recently ranked the #12 prospect in the Brewers’ system by Baseball America, who highlighted his four-pitch mix as giving him a chance to stick in a big league rotation. He’ll give the Mets some upper level rotation depth, though he’ll need to be added to the 40-man roster this winter or else he’ll be available to be selected in the upcoming Rule 5 draft.

Before tomorrow’s deadline, the Mets figure to continue adding to their farm system with similar deals. Tommy Pham, Brooks Raley, Adam Ottavino, Carlos Carrasco, José Quintana and Omar Narváez all seem like possibilities. Justin Verlander has been speculated upon, though his large contract complicates things. The Brewers could also look to make further additions before tomorrow’s deadline, which is at 5pm Central.

 Will Sammon of The Athletic first reported the Brewers were acquiring Canha. Andy Martino of SNY first reported that Jarvis was going the other way. Martino relayed that the Mets were paying down Canha’s salary and Sammon added that the Brewers would be on the hook for the buyout/option.

Giants Acquire AJ Pollock, Mark Mathias From Mariners

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The Giants announced they’ve acquired outfielder AJ Pollock, utility player Mark Mathias and cash considerations from the Mariners. Seattle receives a player to be named later or cash in return. San Francisco optioned Mathias to Triple-A, placed Mike Yastrzemski on the 10-day injured list, and transferred right-hander John Brebbia to the 60-day injured list in corresponding moves.

Jon Morosi of MLB.com tweeted this afternoon that San Francisco was among the teams looking for right-handed hitting. They add a pair of righty bats in this trade, although neither is necessarily a surefire offensive upgrade.

Mathias, whom the Mariners acquired off waivers from the Pirates earlier this month, departs the organization without ever joining the big league roster. The 28 year old offers experience all around the diamond, though he has primarily played second and third base throughout his career. Initially drafted by Cleveland in the third round of the 2015 draft, Mathias has bounced around the league since making his big league debut with Milwaukee in 2020, with stints in Pittsburgh and Texas over the past calendar year.

In 68 career games at the big league level, Mathias’s .249/.323/.402 slash line is good for a slightly above average wRC+ of 104, though that overall line is primarily carried by an excellent 24-game stretch with the Rangers where he slashed a whopping .277/.365/.554 in 74 trips to the plate. While the journeyman has yet to stick in the big leagues for a significant period of time, that hot stretch in Texas and a career slash line of .289/.383/.458 at the Triple-A level indicate Mathias has the potential to be a useful big league utility piece.

The veteran Pollock, 35, has struggled considerably to this point in the season, slashing a brutal .173/.225/.323 in 138 plate appearances. He’ll provide the Giants with outfield depth as they look to weather injuries to Mitch Haniger and Yastrzemski, the latter of whom is expected to miss a couple weeks with a left hamstring strain.

Pollock had mashed left-handed pitching as recently as a season ago. He provides an outfield rotation option and experienced clubhouse presence alongside the presumptive starting group of Michael Conforto, Luis Matos, and Austin Slater, at least while Yastrzemski gets healthy.

The Mariners continue to move some short-term players following this afternoon’s trade of closer Paul Sewald to Arizona. The player to be named headed back to Seattle figures to be a relatively minor piece. Of greater import is that San Francisco might be taking on some of Pollock’s $7MM salary. The precise amount of the cash being sent from Seattle to the Giants remains unreported. Pollock is owed around $2.33MM through season’s end, at which point he’ll be a free agent.

Jeff Passan of ESPN first reported the Giants were finalizing a deal for Pollock and Mathias. Daniel Kramer of MLB.com reported the M’s could receive a player to be named later.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

D-Backs Acquire Paul Sewald

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The Diamondbacks have added a key arm to the bullpen. Arizona and Seattle announced a trade sending Paul Sewald to the Snakes for infielder Josh Rojas, rookie outfielder Dominic Canzone and infield prospect Ryan Bliss.

Sewald was one of the top bullpen arms available. The right-hander has broken out as one of the game’s best relievers since landing in Seattle two and a half years ago. A minor league signee over the 2020-21 offseason, Sewald cracked the Seattle roster by May ’21. He had an excellent run in the Pacific Northwest, pitching to a 2.88 ERA over 171 2/3 innings. He kept his ERA at 3.06 or better in all three seasons.

He has paired that run prevention with very strong swing-and-miss numbers. Sewald punched out just under 35% of opposing hitters with Seattle. That includes a 35.5% strikeout percentage with a 2.93 ERA over 43 innings this year. His fastball only sits in the 92-93 MPH range but has well above-average spin despite a lower arm angle. That movement profile has translated into big whiff tallies. Sewald has gotten swinging strikes on over 14% of his offerings in each of the past three seasons.

Among 176 relievers (minimum 30 innings), Sewald ranks 10th in strikeout rate and 39th in whiffs. His 8.3% walk rate is acceptable and he has dominated hitters from both sides of the plate. Sewald is a fly-ball pitcher who has given up some homers in past seasons, but this year’s 1.05 HR/9 rate is almost exactly league average for a reliever. That well-rounded, consistent production quickly pushed him up a strong bullpen hierarchy. He has worked as the M’s primary closer this season, collecting 21 saves in 24 attempts.

Arizona has searched for that kind of reliability late in games for a while. The Snakes had one of the league’s worst bullpens in 2021-22. It hasn’t been quite so disastrous this season, thanks in part to free agent additions of Andrew Chafin, Miguel Castro and Scott McGough that have all worked out reasonably well. The D-Backs didn’t have anyone of Sewald’s caliber to lock things down, though. Kevin Ginkel and Drey Jameson (the latter of whom is out for a while with an elbow injury) are the only Arizona relievers with a sub-3.00 ERA. Left-handers Chafin and Kyle Nelson are the only pitchers with a strikeout rate above 30%.

Bolstering the pitching depth has been a priority for an Arizona club that has dropped eight of its last 10 to hold a 56-50 record. The D-Backs have fallen out of the projected playoff picture after leading the NL West for a good chunk of the season. They’re only a game out of the final Wild Card spot, though. Sewald will presumably step into the ninth inning for skipper Torey Lovullo. USA Today’s Bob Nightengale tweets that Arizona could look for another bullpen addition and is unsurprisingly still searching for rotation help over the next 24 hours.

Seattle’s position in that standings isn’t that dissimilar from Arizona’s. The Mariners are 54-51 and 4.5 games out in the AL Wild Card picture. They’re certainly not buried, though president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto acknowledged two weeks ago the club hasn’t played well enough to be aggressive deadline buyers. They’re reportedly open to offers on the likes of Teoscar Hernández and Ty France and have given some consideration to dealing from their stock of talented young starting pitching.

The primary purpose in all those talks is to subtract from an area of surplus to add controllable offensive help. The bullpen certainly qualifies as a strength. Seattle relievers are fourth in ERA and trailing only Houston in strikeout rate. Sewald was a big part of that success, of course, but the likes of Andrés Muñoz and Matt Brash are thriving in high-leverage capacities. Muñoz seems likely to take over the ninth inning with Sewald headed out.

In exchange, Seattle nets the kind of upper level hitting talent they’d been seeking. There’s perhaps no clear “headliner” of the deal, but all three players could factor into the mix in relatively short order. Rojas and Canzone have big league experience, while Bliss had recently worked his way to Triple-A.

Rojas, 29, is the most well-known of the trio. Originally acquired in the Zack Greinke 2019 deadline blockbuster with Houston, Rojas developed into a productive bat-first utility option. The left-handed hitter combined for a .266/.345/.401 batting line in over 1000 plate appearances between 2021-22. He’d never rated especially highly as a defender at any stop but had enough flexibility to move throughout the infield and into the outfield corners.

While not a franchise building block, Rojas looked like a quality role player. However, he has had a difficult 2023 campaign that pushed him into more a depth capacity of late. Rojas has hit only .228/.292/.296 over 216 trips to the plate and remains without a home run on the season. A walk rate that had sat north of 10% is down to 8.3%, while his strikeouts are up a few points to 23.6%. The D-Backs optioned him last month; he spent the bulk of his Triple-A time on the minor league injured list before returning to the majors when Evan Longoria went on the IL over the weekend.

Rojas has primarily played third base in Arizona but has a clearer path to playing time at the keystone in Seattle. Kolten Wong’s struggles have left the M’s with very little out of second base this season. Righty-swinging José Caballero has had a fine debut campaign but is nearly 27 and was never a top prospect. Rojas adds a left-handed complement to Caballero and Dylan Moore and could occasionally see some reps behind Eugenio Suárez at third base.

It’s a buy-low flier for Seattle that also helps to balance the trade financially. Sewald is making $4.1MM this season, his second-to-last year of arbitration. Around $1.37MM remains to be paid out. Rojas is playing on a $2.6MM arbitration salary, his first of four arb years as a Super Two player. He’s still owed around $867K through season’s end. Arizona will take on roughly $500K in salary, thereby preserving a decent amount of financial flexibility for further deadline pickups.

Rojas could be a non-tender candidate after the season, though he’ll get a couple months to try to secure his roster spot at T-Mobile Park. He could be joined immediately by Canzone, a left-handed hitting outfielder nearing his 26th birthday. He has struggled over his first 41 big league plate appearances but has had a monster year in Triple-A. Canzone mashed at a .354/.431/.634 clip with 16 homers through 304 trips to the dish in Reno, making him one of the top hitters even in a favorable offensive environment.

Canzone is limited to the outfield corners but clearly an accomplished minor league hitter. He could factor into the short-term left field mix. Jarred Kelenic is out into September after breaking his foot, while AJ Pollock is on his way to San Francisco. Canzone still has all three minor league option years remaining.

Bliss is not yet on the 40-man roster. A 2021 second-round pick of Auburn, he’s a right-handed hitting second baseman. Bliss struggled in his first full professional season but had a monster .358/.414/.594 showing in Double-A this year. That earned him a spot in the Futures Game and a recent bump to the top minor league level. Baseball America had ranked him the #16 prospect in a strong Arizona farm system, crediting the 5’9″ infielder with a hit-over-power approach and quality range as a defender.

Arizona gets a year and a half of control over the impact late-game arm they’ve been seeking for some time. Seattle is clearly open to reshuffling some veteran talent on the roster but is following through on their stated goal of adding upper level hitting. The M’s aren’t completely throwing in the towel on 2023 while adding more controllable talent.

Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic first reported the D-Backs were making progress on a Sewald trade. Jeff Passan of ESPN reported the deal as being finalized, while Piecoro first had the return of Rojas, Canzone and Bliss.

Images courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Cubs Acquire Jeimer Candelario

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Jeimer Candelario is headed back to Chicago. The Cubs announced they acquired the switch-hitting third baseman from the Nationals for prospects DJ Herz and Kevin Made. The Cubs had an open 40-man roster spot after outrighting Edwin Ríos yesterday.

Candelario was one of the best rental hitters on the market after a strong four months in Washington. It was exactly what the Nats had envisioned when signing him to a one-year, $5MM free agent contract last winter.

Originally signed by the Cubs as an amateur more than a decade ago, Candelario made his big league debut with Chicago. His first stint on the North Side was short-lived. He played in five games in 2016 and 11 more the following season before being dealt to the Tigers in the Justin Wilson trade, as the Cubs pushed in young talent for veterans while trying to defend their World Series title.

Candelario got his first extended run down the stretch in Detroit and was an everyday player by the following season. He was a below-average regular for the first two years but took a significant step forward in 2020. Candelario carried that over a full schedule the following season, when he led the majors in doubles. Between those two seasons, he hit .278/.356/.458 in more than 800 trips to the plate.

As was the case for essentially everyone in the Detroit lineup, things fell apart in 2022. Candelario slumped to a .217/.272/.361 line over 124 games. The Tigers non-tendered him in lieu of paying around $7MM for his final season of arbitration eligibility. While it’s a move Detroit probably wishes they had back in hindsight, the subsequent $5MM free agent deal indicates the market didn’t value Candelario as a $7MM player just a few months ago.

The 29-year-old has certainly elevated his stock since that point. He has more or less regained his 2020-21 form. Candelario hit .258/.342/.481 through 419 plate appearances with Washington. He connected on 16 homers and 30 doubles, ranking fifth in the majors in the latter category. He’s walking at a roughly average 8.6% clip against a decent 21% strikeout rate.

Candelario has been better from the left side of the plate this season, a departure from his early-career work. He’d typically fared better against southpaws but now has similar platoon splits overall. Since the start of 2020, he’s a .253/.334/.438 hitter against right-handed pitching and owns a .256/.330/.437 line versus lefties. That well-rounded offensive production adds to a Chicago lineup built mostly on strong depth as opposed to impact talent aside from Cody Bellinger.

While his profile has mostly been built on offense, Candelario has also gotten solid reviews from public metrics for his third base defense this year. Defensive Runs Saved has pegged him two runs above par in 834 1/3 innings of hot corner work, while Statcast has estimated him as four runs above average. Candelario had gotten mixed to below-average marks throughout his time in Detroit but should at least be a solid gloveman in Chicago.

He has some experience at first base as well but hasn’t played anywhere aside from third since 2020. The Cubs could plug him in at either spot but will presumably use him more often at the hot corner. Nick Madrigal, Patrick Wisdom, Christopher Morel and Miles Mastrobuoni have been part of a revolving door at the position. Morel has raked but isn’t a good defender. Wisdom hits for power but doesn’t consistently put the ball in play; Madrigal has the opposite profile. Candelario is the most balanced of the group.

It’s a modest financial addition for Chicago. Candelario is due around $1.67MM in salary through year’s end. He’d tack on another $200K in incentives if he reaches 600 plate appearances, though that’s also fairly modest. As calculated by Roster Resource, the Cubs have a luxury tax number a bit north of $228MM.

That’s a little less than $5MM shy of the $233MM base threshold. It had seemed the Cubs were trending towards staying below that mark and selling away veteran pieces, but a recent eight-game win streak completely changed the calculus. The addition of one of the top rental hitters available affirms their status as buyers, which had already become clear when they took Bellinger off the trade market yesterday. They also added some middle relief depth tonight in acquiring José Cuas from Kansas City and figure to look for more impactful bullpen upgrades in the next 24 hours.

Candelario’s time in Washington proved fruitful for both parties. He revitalized his stock and now looks positioned for a much more lucrative free agent trip. He’ll be one of the top hitters available in a below-average class for bats. The Nats never seemed likely to issue him a qualifying offer, but the trade officially takes that off the table. Players dealt midseason are ineligible for the QO, so Candelario will hit the market unencumbered by draft compensation.

The club adds a pair of players to a continually improving farm system. Made, 20, is a right-handed hitting shortstop from the Dominican Republic. He didn’t appear on Chicago’s midseason top 30 prospects at Baseball America but ranked 19th on the organizational list at FanGraphs. The outlet credited the 5’9″ infielder with roughly average tools and suggested he has an outside shot to be an everyday shortstop. He’s hitting .240/.328/.355 over 300 plate appearances with High-A South Bend. He hit just three homers there but walked at a solid 10% clip against a lower than average 18% strikeout rate.

Herz, 22, has gotten 14 starts with Double-A Tennessee. The former eighth-round pick owns a 3.97 ERA across 59 innings, striking out an excellent 30.4% of opponents but walking 14% of batters faced. He was 19th among Cubs’ prospects at Baseball America and 22nd at FanGraphs. He sits in the low 90s with his fastball and has an excellent changeup, but the obvious control woes lead most evaluators to point to a bullpen future. There’s little harm for the Nats in letting him continue to start in the minors. Herz and Made will have to go on the 40-man roster this offseason to stay out of the Rule 5 draft.

It’s the first of likely multiple deadline deals for the rebuilding Nats. Candelario was their most obvious trade chip. Middle reliever Kyle Finnegan could be on the move as well. Washinton’s top realistic trade piece would be outfielder Lane Thomas, though it remains to be seen how eager they are to deal him.

Michael Cerami and David Kaplan of Bleacher Nation reported the Cubs and Nationals were in discussions about Candelario. Ken Rosenthal of the Athletic first reported Candelario was being traded to Chicago. Cerami was first with Herz and Made going back to Washington.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Guardians Trade Aaron Civale To Rays

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3:30pm: The Guardians and Rays have both formally announced the trade. It’s a straight one-for-one swap.

2:33pm: The Rays and Guardians are in agreement on a trade sending right-hander Aaron Civale from Cleveland to Tampa Bay, reports Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. Top first base prospect Kyle Manzardo is headed back to Cleveland in the deal.

Civale, 28, is in the midst of a fine season and earning just $2.6MM with another two years of club control remaining beyond the 2023 season. The Guardians have been mulling the idea of shopping him, given their need for offense, their rich stockpile of pitching talent, and the general demand for rotation help throughout the league.

The Rays, needing rotation help with Jeffrey Springs and Drew Rasmussen falling to season-ending injuries — Tommy John surgery and flexor surgery, respectively — have been in the market for rotation help throughout the month. They previously had interest in Jordan Montgomery before his trade to the Rangers and in Cubs righty Marcus Stroman before Chicago won eight straight games and went from expected seller to potential buyer.

Civale will fill that need for the Rays, stepping into the rotation alongside Shane McClanahan, Tyler Glasnow, Zach Eflin and Taj Bradley. The Rays have been regularly deploying bullpen games and using openers since Springs and Rasmussen went down, but Civale will give them a conventional — and quite strong — five-man rotation moving forward. He’s sitting on a 2.34 ERA in 77 innings this season, and while the right-hander’s below-average 19% strikeout rate, tiny .242 average on balls in play and huge 82.7% strand rate all make that ERA seem bound for some regression, he’s nonetheless a solid big league starter.

In 433 career innings, Civale touts a 3.77 ERA, 21.1% strikeout rate, 6.1% walk rate and 42.4% ground-ball rate. While he doesn’t throw hard, averaging just 91.8 mph on his heater, Civale has long boasted excellent command, limited hard contact well enough and posted enough swinging-strikes with his versatile repertoire to find plenty of success. He uses a cutter as his primary fastball but also has a traditional four-seamer and a sinker in his quiver.

Civale’s go-to breaking pitch has been a curveball that has graded as an excellent offering throughout his career. Opponents have batted just .182/.215/.299 in the 358 times the right-hander has finished off a plate appearance with that pitch — including a .186/.205/.302 showing in 2023. A hefty 36.3% of those plate appearances have yielded a strikeout.  Civale will throw very occasional sliders and changeups as well, but his curve functions as far and away his most frequent offspeed/breaking offering.

Civale is a clear upgrade to the Rays’ staff and could help them through the 2025 season, but he’s not without his own red flags and durability concerns. He’s avoided major injury and hasn’t had any surgeries, but Civale has never topped the 164 2/3 innings he pitched in the minors back in 2017 — his first full season as a professional. Since that time, he’s been on the injured list (minors and majors alike) with a litany of issues, including a lat strain, shoulder tightness, a wrist sprain, a finger sprain, forearm inflammation and an oblique strain (earlier this season).

There’s little doubting that he’s a quality performer when healthy, but Civale has only reached 100 innings in one Major League season and has only twice reached 20 starts. On the other hand, Civale’s frequent trips to the injured list have stunted his earning power in arbitration. He’s earning just $2.6MM this season, and his subsequent pair of arbitration raises will be based off that sum, which should tamp down his earnings a bit further (at least relative to other starters throughout the game).

In exchange for those two and a half seasons of affordable control, the Rays will  part with one of the top bats in their system. Manzardo, 23, was Tampa Bay’s second-round pick in 2021 and quickly hit his way onto top-100 prospect rankings throughout the sport. He’s had a rough go in his first run at Triple-A as a 22-year-old, hitting just .238/.342/.442 with 11 homers in 313 plate appearances. Manzardo is walking at a huge 13.4% clip, however, and has a lower-than-average 20.8% strikeout rate despite facing older and more experienced competition. He’s also just one season removed from hitting a combined .327/.426/.617 with nearly as many walks (59) as strikeouts (65) between High-A and Double-A.

Manzardo entered the season as a consensus top-100 prospect, and even with a lackluster showing in Triple-A so far he’s still quite highly touted. He ranks as the game’s No. 31 prospect at FanGraphs, No. 37 prospect at MLB.com and No. 69 at Baseball America on each publications midseason, post-draft rankings. FanGraphs’ Eric Longenhagen writes in his scouting report that “every aspect” of Manzardo’s profile at the plate is plus, with the exception of his raw power, which is closer to average. He’s lauded for keen strike zone knowledge, consistent hard contact, an all-fields approach, his bat control and a potentially plus-plus hit tool that should allow him to hit for a high average with high-end on-base percentages.

It’s not yet clear when Manzardo will get his first big league opportunity, but it won’t be immediately. He’s been on the minor league injured list since early this month with a shoulder issue, though Cleveland clearly doesn’t believe it to be a major concern. He’ll be a candidate for a call-up late in the season and certainly will have a chance to break the Opening Day roster for the Guardians in 2024.

Since Cleveland isn’t getting an immediate big leaguer in return, there’s little doubting that this move hurts their chances of squeaking out a postseason berth in 2023. The American League Central has been the game’s most feeble division all year, and Cleveland made this trade of one of its best starters despite the fact that Shane Bieber was recently placed on the 60-day injured list and despite the fact that the Guards are only a half-game behind the Twins in the standings. That speaks volumes about how the front office views the club’s chances of faring in a potential postseason series even if they’d managed to overtake a middling and de facto first-place Twins club.

With Civale out of the picture, the Guardians’ rotation will consist of Noah Syndergaard and rookies Tanner Bibee, Gavin Williams and Logan Allen. The latter trio has all found immediate success in the Majors, and each is generally living up to his own top prospect billing. The hope for Cleveland will be that righty Cal Quantrill can return from his current bout of shoulder inflammation sooner than later. Both Bieber and right-hander Triston McKenzie are on the 60-day IL and aren’t expected back anytime soon. Depth options in Triple-A include Cody Morris, Joey Cantillo, Hunter Gaddis and Chris Vallimont — all of whom are on the 40-man roster.

The acquisition of Manzardo also has some implications for breakout Guardians star Josh Naylor, who’s turned in an excellent .308/.347/.504 slash and 15 homers this year. Naylor has spent the bulk of his time at first base, but he could well be pushed to an outfield corner whenever Manzardo is called up for his debut. Manzardo is widely regarded as a first-base-only prospect, whereas Naylor has his share of experience in the outfield. It’s possible the two could eventually split the first base and designated hitter duties, but Cleveland also has veteran Josh Bell currently playing on a two-year deal. Bell can turn down a player option for 2024 and return to free agency this winter, but his underwhelming .233/.319/.385 slash makes that feel rather unlikely.

Positional alignment to the side, the Guardians have clearly been focused on adding a controllable bat to their system for some time now, just as the Rays have been looking for some quality, affordable innings to round out the rotation behind a strong quartet. In that sense, today’s one-for-one swap fills a goal for both parties and allows each to deal from a position of depth in order to satiate that need. The Rays get the more immediate boost to their roster, but the hope among Cleveland brass is surely that Manzardo will be holding down a key spot in the lineup long after Civale would’ve otherwise reached free agency in the 2025-26 offseason.

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