Headlines

Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Newsstand

Latest On Max Scherzer

By | at

As of last night, there were at least eight clubs interested in Nationals ace Max Scherzer, who is open to waiving his no-trade rights but said to have a preference for a West Coast club that has the ability to keep him longer-term.

Scherzer figures to be one of the most talked-about trade candidates in recent memory, but his stay on the market may not go down to the wire like some other stars. The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal reports that the Nationals want to get a framework for a trade in place as quickly as possible, in order to leave enough time to work out the details surrounding Scherzer’s no-trade rights and any compensation he’d require to waive them. MLB.com’s Jon Morosi tweets that some involved in negotiations believe an agreement could come together by tonight.

While Scherzer has been connected to more than a quarter of the league, Rosenthal and Morosi both suggest that the three NL West contenders — the Padres, Dodgers and Giants — are the likeliest destinations at this time. MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand suggested something similar yesterday. Both SNY’s Andy Martino and The Athletic’s Jayson Stark, meanwhile, have indicated that Scherzer would not approve a trade to either New York club.

Any of the three NL West contenders make for a sensible landing spot. The Giants hold the best record in Major League Baseball and ought to be motivated to aggressively strengthen their club down the stretch. The Dodgers’ rotation strength has dwindled since the season began, and the Padres are without several key rotation options themselves at the moment.

Of the bunch, only the Giants could acquire Scherzer without incurring any luxury-tax penalization. Scherzer’s deferral-heavy contract comes with an annual luxury hit of just under $30MM, and the prorated remainder of that hit as of this writing would be $10.49MM. (It’d drop to $10.03MM after the deadline.) The Dodgers, already in the top tax bracket for year-one offenders, would pay a 62.5 percent tax on that $10.03MM overage. The Padres are barely over the threshold at the moment and exploring some ambitious ways to drop back below the barrier; at the moment, they’d pay a 20 percent overage penalty.

Scherzer, who turned 37 yesterday, has pitched to a 2.83 ERA with a 35.1 percent strikeout rate (tying a career-high) and a 4.2 percent walk rate in 105 innings this year. He’s playing on a $35MM salary this year in the final season of a seven-year, $210MM contract, though the bulk of that 2021 salary is deferred to 2028. Schezer was scratched from his Saturday start against the Orioles due to a triceps issue, though the Nationals have indicated that an MRI came back clean. He’s listed as the probable starter for Thursday’s game against the Phillies. Of course, that recent health scare only muddies the water as teams try to put together a framework with the Nats.

Cubs, Giants Have Reportedly Discussed Kris Bryant Trade

By | at

July 28: Andrew Baggarly of The Athletic tweets that the Giants are “backing off” any proposals from the Cubs which center around Bart.

The San Francisco Chronicle’s Susan Slusser recently reported that among Giants top prospects, Bart may be the “most” available, but that doesn’t means the club is flat-out shopping him or willing to include him for a high-priced rental player such as Bryant (or the majority of Chicago’s other trade candidates).

July 27: The Giants and Cubs have had discussions about a possible Kris Bryant trade, reports Jon Morosi of MLB.com (Twitter link). Chicago is evaluating San Francisco catcher Joey Bart as a possible part of those conversations, according to Morosi, although he unsurprisingly adds the Giants aren’t likely to give up Bart for Bryant alone.

Bryant has plenty of experience at third base and all throughout the outfield, making him a viable fit on the rosters of plenty of contenders. San Francisco’s expected to get Evan Longoria back from the injured list next month, so the front office is likely eyeing Bryant as a potential outfield pickup. Giants left fielders (primarily Alex Dickerson) have a below-average .214/.288/.395 slash line this season.

Bryant could also offer some cover in center field. Steven Duggar has had a great season, but he’d never before hit at anything near his current .284/.358/.484 clip. Moreover, Duggar’s current .405 batting average on balls in play is unsustainably high, masking an alarming 31.6% strikeout rate.

Finances might be a concern for many clubs interested in Bryant (like the Rays, reported to have had preliminary discussions about a potential deal this morning). The 29-year-old is making $19.5MM this season, his final before hitting free agency. About $7.13MM is still owed for the remainder of the year.

That tab shouldn’t pose much of a problem for the Giants, who have ample financial flexibility. Ownership has previously approved payrolls above $200MM, but their current figure is in the $150-152MM range in the estimation of Cot’s Baseball Contracts and Roster Resource. San Francisco’s nowhere near the luxury tax line, so there should be room for president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi and general manager Scott Harris (a former Cubs’ assistant GM) to spend to upgrade a roster that currently leads the Dodgers by two games in the NL West.

Of course, Bart would be an ambitious ask for less than half a season’s worth of work from Bryant alone (although he is reportedly the most likely Giants top prospect to move in the next few days). The former #2 overall pick hasn’t yet found major league success, but he’s a highly-touted young talent. Baseball America slotted the right-handed hitting backstop as the game’s #22 overall prospect in their updated top 100 list this week. While Buster Posey has catcher locked down at the big league level in San Francisco this year, Bart has had a strong campaign at Triple-A Sacramento. The 24-year-old is hitting .310/.372/.532 in 188 plate appearances, his first crack at the minors’ highest level.

There’s no indication the Giants and Cubs are in specific discussions on players other than Bryant, although it’s possible the sides could work out some sort of package deal. Speculatively speaking, relivers Craig Kimbrel and Ryan Tepera could hold appeal to a Giants bullpen that has pitched well but is generally short on past high-leverage experience. Kimbrel would be the more impactful — but far more expensive — pickup. He’s playing out the season on a $16MM salary (about $5.85MM of which remains), with a $16MM club/vesting option for 2022. Tepera, meanwhile, is making an $800K salary and will reach free agency at the end of the year.

Mariners Acquire Tyler Anderson From Pirates

By | at

The Mariners have picked up one of the more notable starting pitchers on the trade market, announcing they’ve acquired left-hander Tyler Anderson from the Pirates. Two prospects — catcher Carter Bins and right-hander Joaquin Tejada — are headed back to Pittsburgh. To create 40-man roster space for Anderson, Seattle designated infielder Jake Hager for assignment.

Tyler Anderson | Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

It’s a surprising turn of events after the Phillies were reportedly on the verge of acquiring Anderson this afternoon. That potential deal fell through after Pittsburgh expressed concern about the medical review of one of the prospects expected to be involved. Now, Anderson is on his way to the Pacific Northwest instead.

Seattle has reportedly been in the market for starting pitching over the past couple weeks. The Mariners have been hit hard by injuries, thinning out the rotation depth. The reunion with James Paxton lasted less than two innings before the southpaw blew out and required Tommy John surgery. Justin Dunn has been out for over a month due to a strain in his throwing shoulder, while Justus Sheffield is sidelined by both a flexor strain in his forearm and an oblique issue. Depth options Ljay Newsome and Nick Margevicius have been out for months and don’t seem likely to return this season.

Acquiring Anderson will add some stability behind Yusei Kikuchi, Logan Gilbert, Marco Gonzales and Chris Flexen. The southpaw’s numbers aren’t eye-popping, but he’s a dependable back-of-the-rotation option. Anderson has stayed healthy all year and taken the ball 18 times, totaling 103 1/3 innings. He’s worked to a 4.35 ERA/4.42 SIERA, production that’s generally in line with his past work for the Rockies and Giants.

Anderson’s a control specialist. He’s long been a quality strike-thrower, and he’s issued walks to a career-low 5.8% of opponents this season. Limiting free passes is key for Anderson, a fly-ball pitcher who doesn’t punch out too many batters. His 20.0% strikeout rate is a few points below the 23.1% leaguewide mark for starting pitchers, although his 11.6% swinging strike rate is actually marginally better than average.

In addition to his serviceable production, Anderson’s an eminently affordable pickup. He signed a one-year, $2.5MM contract with the Pirates over the winter. Just over $900K of that sum remains to be paid through season’s end. The 31-year-old is again slated to hit free agency this winter, so he’s a pure rental pickup for Seattle.

The decision to acquire an impending free agent might raise some eyebrows among fans. After all, the Mariners traded top reliever Kendall Graveman to the division-leading Astros for Abraham Toro this evening, a move that didn’t go over well in the Seattle clubhouse. The notion that the Graveman trade suggested the Mariners were punting on the 2021 season was always too simplistic, though.

General manager Jerry Dipoto told reporters in the aftermath of the Graveman – Toro swap that the front office had more moves in the works. Even independent of future acquisitions, the Mariners front office might simply have seen the value of four additional years of control over Toro — a well-regarded young infielder who’s already at the major league level — as too good to forego with Graveman headed for free agency in a few months. Modern front offices have become increasingly flexible in their trade deadline approaches, more willing to balance their short and long-term goals rather than definitively bucket themselves as “buyers” or “sellers.”

That’s particularly true of teams like the Mariners. Seattle’s surprisingly worked their way into the thick of the playoff picture, entering play tonight just one game back of the Athletics for the second Wild Card spot in the American League. They’ve outperformed most preseason expectations and their underlying record estimators, though, leaving some question about their ability to stick in the race for the stretch run. With that in mind, it makes sense for the Mariners to continue to look for long-term value while making smaller acquisitions with a 2021 playoff push in mind.

Seattle picked up Hager off waivers from the Brewers last month. He’s spent his tenure in the organization with Triple-A Tacoma, hitting .214/.294/.469 across 109 plate appearances. In all likelihood, he’ll find himself on outright waivers within the next seven days.

The appeal for the rebuilding Pirates is rather obvious. Pittsburgh signed Anderson with the hope that he’d pitch well enough to be flipped for young talent midseason, and that’s exactly how things played out.

Bins, 22, was an 11th-round draft choice out of Fresno State in 2019. He’s hit well in the low minors over his two-plus professional seasons, reaching Double-A for the first time this month. Entering the season, Baseball America and FanGraphs each rated Bins the #29 prospect in the Seattle system. Both outlets praised his raw power and surprising athleticism for a catcher. Swing-and-miss concerns led both BA and FanGraphs to project Bins as a likely #2 backstop.

Tejada, 18, signed with Seattle out of Panama for $200K during the 2019-20 international signing period. Ben Badler of Baseball America wrote at the time that Tejada had seen his velocity spike into the low-90’s. He’s a low-level lottery ticket who made his professional debut this season in the Dominican Summer League.

As for the Phillies, they’ll now have to turn their attention elsewhere before Friday afternoon’s trade deadline. The hope had been that Philadelphia could acquire Anderson to fortify the back of the rotation. Presumably, that’ll continue to be the priority now that he’s no longer available.

Jeff Passan of ESPN was first to report the two sides were nearing agreement on an Anderson trade. Ken Rosenthal of the Athletic reported the deal had been completed. Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times was first to report the Pirates were receiving a pair of prospects — including Bins — while Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette first reported Tejada’s inclusion.

Reds Acquire Luis Cessa, Justin Wilson From Yankees

By | at

In a surprise transaction, the Yankees announced they’ve traded relievers Luis Cessa and Justin Wilson to the Reds in exchange for a player to be named later. Cincinnati designated Ashton Goudeau and Edgar García for assignment to open 40-man roster space.

The appeal for the Reds is in the addition of Cessa, who was a dependable bullpen arm throughout much of his time in the Bronx. The right-hander is capable of working multiple innings and has been an effective pitcher over the past few years. Since the start of the 2019 campaign, Cessa has tossed 141 innings of 3.64 ERA/4.34 FIP ball. He’s been even more effective this season, working to a career-best 2.82 ERA over 38 1/3 frames.

Cessa doesn’t have the bat-missing stuff of most relievers. His 19.3% strikeout rate is well below the 24.5% league average for bullpen arms, and his swinging strike rate is similarly underwhelming. That’s basically been true throughout Cessa’s entire big league tenure, though, and he’s found a fair amount of success by throwing strikes and avoiding especially damaging contact. The 29-year-old is inducing ground balls at a massive 56.8% clip this year, and Statcast shows he’s been among the top twenty percent of pitchers in suppressing opponents’ average exit velocity, hard contact and barrels.

While the Reds don’t look particularly likely to make the playoffs in 2021, the acquisition of Cessa gives Cincinnati a potential multi-year piece for a bullpen that has been one of the league’s worst this year. The 29-year-old is earning just $1.05MM this season (less than $400K of which remains to be paid), and he’s controllable through 2023 via arbitration. With the Reds no doubt hoping to contend in 2022 (and not yet giving up hope of a late push this season), picking up an affordable, long-term bullpen piece holds obvious appeal.

Wilson has a long track record of productivity, but he’s in the middle of a disappointing campaign. The southpaw put up an ERA below 4.00 each season from 2017-20, but he’s only managed a 7.50 mark through 18 frames so far this year. Wilson’s velocity has gone backwards, and his typically lofty strikeout rate has plummeted to 18.1%. Given their own bullpen struggles, Cincinnati figures to give him an opportunity to right the ship, but it’s likely the Reds agreed to take on Wilson’s salary to incentivize the Yankees to part with Cessa.

New York signed Wilson over the winter to a somewhat complex contract. The southpaw is making $2.85MM this year (about $1MM of which remains). He has a $2.3MM player option for next season. If he declines, Cincinnati would hold a $7.15MM club option ($1.15MM buyout) on his services. Given Wilson’s struggles this year, it seems he’d be trending toward exercising his player option — but doing so would entitle the Reds to a 2023 club option worth just $500K north of that year’s league minimum salary.

Goudeau bounced around waivers throughout last offseason. He now seems likely to wind up back on the wire after making five MLB appearances for the Reds this year. He’s tossed 31 innings across eight appearances (five starts) with Triple-A Louisville, working to a 4.65 ERA with a below-average 16.1% strikeout rate. García has also spent most of the campaign with the Bats. He’s been quite good in Triple-A but hit hard over his five big league outings.

From the Yankees perspective, the deal frees some payroll space and clears a pair of spots on the 40-man roster. In addition to getting themselves off the hook for Wilson’s 2022 player option, New York shaves around $1.4MM off their luxury tax ledger in 2021. With the Yankees just a few million dollars shy of the $210MM threshold, the extra breathing room could enable the front office to pursue upgrades before Friday’s trade deadline. Ken Rosenthal of the Athletic (Twitter link) suggests New York could look around the league for bullpen and/or shortstop additions, with a particular focus on left-handed bats.

At Least Eight Teams In The Mix For Max Scherzer

By | at

As many as eight clubs are in the mix for Nationals ace and three-time Cy Young winner Max Scherzer, per Jayson Stark of The Athletic (Twitter link). The Dodgers, Giants, Padres, Red Sox, Rays, Blue Jays, Astros and Mets are all interested, according to Stark, who adds that the Yankees also inquired but were told Scherzer isn’t likely to waive his no-trade rights for a move to New York. That meshes with recent reporting from SNY’s Andy Martino, who wrote earlier this afternoon that Scherzer wouldn’t approve a trade to the Mets (nor would the Nationals be keen on dealing their ace to the current division leaders).

MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand reported earlier in the day that Scherzer preferred a West Coast club, though MLB Network’s Jon Heyman adds that the ostensible West Coast preference is more about Scherzer wanting to go to a team with a chance to win in 2021 and beyond. Scherzer prefers to go to “a team he could stay with” on a possible extension, per Heyman. Agent Scott Boras indicated as much earlier in the summer, although at the time Boras suggested an extension might be necessary in order for Scherzer to waive his no-trade protection at all. That no longer seems to be the case, but as evidenced by Scherzer’s unwillingness to go to a New York club, the no-trade rights can help him choose his eventual landing spot.

If the Nats are to ultimately trade Scherzer, tweets Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic, the team’s preference is to do so within the next 48 hours. Doing so would leave ample time to sort through the no-trade obstacles and any potential compensation for waiving those rights (e.g. alterations to deferrals, taxes, etc.).

That said, a trade taking place prior to Thursday’s game would put an acquiring team in a tough spot. Scherzer was scratched from his weekend start due to a triceps issue and is set to return to the mound Thursday. A recent MRI came back clean, and any team acquiring Scherzer would obviously have access to the results from that imaging and other testing. Still, a clean MRI may not inspire as much confidence as seeing Scherzer go out and actually perform. If interested clubs prefer to wait until Scherzer has taken the mound, there’d be fewer than 24 hours between the conclusion of Thursday’s start and Friday afternoon’s deadline.

Any trade involving Scherzer is going to be financially complicated, but looking at Stark’s list of interested parties, there are a few particularly complex scenarios. The Dodgers are already into the final luxury-tax bracket, meaning they’d pay a 62.5 percent overage penalty on any additional money added to the books. For Scherzer, whose remaining luxury hit clocks in at roughly $10.03MM post-deadline and $10.49MM as of this writing, that’d mean paying between $6.27MM and $6.56MM on top of the approximately $12.2MM he’s still owed in actual 2021 salary. (Luxury tax is calculated based on a contract’s average annual value, but Scherzer’s backloaded contract comes with a $35MM salary in 2021 — albeit with much of that sum deferred.)

The Padres are reportedly just above the luxury tax threshold, but are still considering moves that could take them back under that line. A Scherzer acquisition, however, would push them well above the mark. That’s also true of the Astros and the Red Sox, who are both within just a few million of the $210MM threshold. The Rays, of course, have an entirely different sort of financial obstacles to consider (namely, their perennially cellar-level payroll). The Jays and Giants, as teams with deep pockets and no real luxury concerns of which to speak, ostensibly represent the “cleanest” fits of the bunch.

That’s not to say that the Dodgers, Padres, Astros, Rays or Red Sox shouldn’t be considered legitimate contenders for Scherzer. (Although if Scherzer is hoping to stay with the club that acquires him, the low-payroll Rays are an admittedly tough fit.) Most clubs this summer have voiced some iteration of a “we’d exceed the threshold for the ’right’ player” stance. It’s hard to imagine a player who fits that billing more than a bona fide ace and three-time Cy Young winner who has a 2.92 ERA in 49 1/3 postseason innings with the Nats since 2016. But with the Nats theoretically negotiating with a rapidly ticking clock, any complicated financial elements of a deal are magnified.

Trea Turner Tests Positive For COVID-19

By | at

Nationals star shortstop Trea Turner has tested positive for COVID-19, the team announced. Turner was removed from this evening’s game against the Phillies in the first inning after the result came in. Fellow infielder Luis Garcia is likely to be recalled from Triple-A Rochester to replace Turner on the active roster, reports Jesse Dougherty of the Washington Post (Twitter link).

It’s a shocking development for a player who recently surfaced in trade rumors. Upon Turner’s mid-game exit, plenty of speculation emerged about a potential deal being in the works. Instead, his removal is a result of a positive test.

Placement on the COVID IL doesn’t come with a minimum stint, although the fact that Turner tested positive suggests he’s likely to miss at least ten days while quarantining. Players on the injured list can still be traded, so tonight’s news doesn’t entirely eliminate the possibility of a midseason deal.

That always seemed a bit unlikely, though, given Turner’s star play and the Nationals’ desire to compete again in 2022 (and perhaps to not throw in the towel on the 2021 season). Uncertainty about his health status only figures to complicate any trade talks, casting even more doubt on the possibility of Turner changing teams by Friday.

Obviously, Turner’s health is of paramount importance. The Nationals haven’t offered further comment beyond the news of his positive test result, but it’s notable that Turner felt well enough to take the field tonight before his positive test became known to the organization.

Mariners, Astros Swap Kendall Graveman For Abraham Toro In Four-Player Trade

By | at

In a rare and rather stunning swap between a pair of division rivals who are both in contention, the Mariners have traded closer Kendall Graveman and recently designated-for-assignment righty Rafael Montero to the Astros in exchange for young infielder Abraham Toro and veteran righty Joe Smith, according to both clubs. The trade is even more eye-opening when considering that the two clubs are gearing up to play each other in the second game of a three-game set tonight.

Trading Graveman at all registers as a moderate surprise, given the Mariners’ recent climb in the standings and stated desire to improve the 2021 roster. To see him traded to the division-leading Astros while the two squads are playing one another is downright jarring. That said, Graveman is a free agent at season’s end, and in Toro, the Mariners are acquiring five seasons of control over an infielder who has been considered one of Houston’s more promising young prospects for the past few years.

In speaking to the media about the trade, Seattle general manager Jerry Dipoto plainly acknowledged that as a standalone transaction, it’s a head-scratching move. But Dipoto also emphasized some patience, suggesting this move is but one of a sequence of trades designed to improve the Mariners’ chances both in 2021 and over the long-term down the road (Twitter thread via MLB.com’s Daniel Kramer). Dipoto suggested a subsequent trade or trades could come together as soon as tonight or in the coming days, but it seems as though this is but one of a series of moves for which the Mariners are angling; time will tell just how the moves look when judged in their totality.

Toro, 24, hasn’t yet pieced things together in limited big league action, but he’s decimated Triple-A pitching (.392/.497/.600 in 33 games) and posted strong numbers in pitcher-friendly Double-A settings (.282/.369/.468 in 148 games). The switch-hitting Toro provides the Mariners with a possible long-term option at third base, but he’s also logged considerable time at second base — another area where the Mariners have been known to be seeking help. That long-term fit isn’t likely to matter much to the clubhouse, however, and Divish rather unsurprisingly tweets that the decision to trade Graveman to their top division rival was not well-received among Seattle players.

That’s understandable on Seattle’s end, given just how dominant Graveman has become since transitioning to the bullpen late in the 2020 season. The former Athletics starter has bounced back from an injury-lost 2019 season to emerge as one of the American League’s more effective relievers. In 33 innings this season, Graveman has pitched to a 0.82 ERA with a 28.1 percent strikeout rate, a 6.6 walk rate and a 53.9 percent ground-ball rate. Dating back to his shift to the bullpen in 2020, he’s compiled 43 innings of 1.47 ERA ball.

Graveman is likely all the more appealing to the luxury-conscious Astros because of his affordable salary. He’s playing on a one-year, $1.25MM contract. Incentives have already boosted that base salary by $400K, and the contract overall contains a total of $3MM in reachable incentives. That said, $1.5MM of those are tied up in games finished, and manager Dusty Baker has already indicated that Ryan Pressly is likely to continue as his closer. Graveman could still collect six more stray games finished to reach his first of three would-be $500K bonuses tied to games finished, but it’s unlikely he reaches the 30 and 40 games finished needed to unlock the next pair of $500K bonuses. In all, the contract will likely top out paying him somewhere in the range of $2.65MM based on incentives tied to days on the roster, games finished and total innings pitched.

Montero’s inclusion in the trade is likely a pure accounting measure. The combined salaries of Montero and Graveman ought to clock in somewhere in the same ballpark as Smith’s $4MM salary and luxury-tax hit, though depending on the status of Graveman’s incentives, the Astros could come out either a bit ahead or a bit behind where they were previously projected.

Montero opened the season as the closer in Seattle but struggled early and has been mired in a catastrophic slump of late, yielding 16 runs in his past 11 innings. The ’Stros may have their own ideas on how to help a reliever who was quite good with the Rangers in 2019-20 right the ship, but Montero’s inclusion doesn’t appear to be a key part of the swap. At best he’s a roll of the dice, and at worst he’s a financial counterweight who could be cut loose quickly if his struggles persist.

The same is largely true of Smith, who opted out of the 2020 season after signing a two-year deal in Houston and has been clobbered for a 7.48 ERA in 21 2/3 innings this year. Some of that has been attributable to a sky-high .413 batting average on balls in play, but Smith is sporting a career-low strikeout rate, a grounder rate that’s well off his peak levels and has also been quite homer-prone. As with Houston and Montero, perhaps the Mariners have an idea or two about how to get the veteran righty back on track, but the trade is much more about Graveman and Toro than about the struggling relievers accompanying those two players.

Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times first tweeted that Toro and a reliever were going to the Mariners in exchange for two players. MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart provided the full context on the trade.

Stephen Strasburg To Undergo Thoracic Outlet Surgery

By | at

Nationals righty Stephen Strasburg will undergo surgery to alleviate neurogenic thoracic outlet syndrome, manager Dave Martinez announced to reporters Tuesday (Twitter link via MASNsports.com’s Mark Zuckerman). The procedure will end his season, and the Nationals’ hope is that he can be ready for the start of the 2022 campaign. Martinez’s announcement was a bit more specific than most announcements on TOS surgery, but for those wondering, “neurogenic” thoracic outlet syndrome is the most common of three variations of the ailment, per the Mayo Clinic.

It’s yet another health setback for one of the game’s most talented but also most oft-injured pitchers. Strasburg’s 2020 season also ended with surgery — that one to alleviate carpal tunnel syndrome — and he’ll now head into the 2022 campaign with just 26 2/3 innings under his belt since signing a franchise-record seven-year, $245MM contract as a free agent in the 2019-20 offseason.

Thoracic outlet surgery is more ominous than the more-common Tommy John surgery, as pitchers generally have a much worse track record in returning from TOS operations. That said, Strasburg need look no further than D-backs righty Merrill Kelly to find a recent example of a pitcher who has come back from a TOS procedure as good as ever (arguably better, in Kelly’s case). Former Royals/Padres/Mets righty (and current Rangers GM) Chris Young also attributed TOS surgery to saving his career. Other success stories include former Cardinals hurlers Chris Carpenter and Jaime Garcia.

On the other side of the coin, TOS has proven quite difficult to bounce back from for a number of pitchers around the league. Matt Harvey is the most well-known example, but we’ve also seen thoracic outlet syndrome derail the careers of Tyson Ross, Phil Hughes and Nate Karns, among many others. Chris Archer’s return from thoracic outlet surgery in 2021 hasn’t gone well, as he pitched just 4 1/3 innings for the Rays before going down with a forearm issue.

Every case is unique to the pitcher in question, of course, so historical precedent only tells us so much. Strasburg is still signed another five years, so the Nats will need to hold out particularly strong hope that he’s able to work back from this and return to something approximating his prior levels of performance. He and Patrick Corbin are both locked into hefty salaries in 2022, and the Nats will also have Joe Ross, Austin Voth, Erick Fedde and Paolo Espino as in-house rotation options. Still, Max Scherzer is set to reach free agency this winter — and could be traded this week — and Strasburg’s health is again up in the air; long-term starting pitching help seems likely to be a focal point for the Nationals both this winter and in the hours leading up to Friday afternoon’s trade deadline.

Max Scherzer Open To Waiving No-Trade Rights

By | at

3:45pm: Scherzer would not approve a trade to the Mets, reports SNY’s Andy Martino, nor would the Nationals be open to trading Scherzer to the current NL East leaders.

8:41am: If Scherzer is to waive his no-trade clause, the right-hander “strongly prefers the West Coast,” a source tells MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand.  This would naturally favor the Giants, Padres, and Dodgers, while such AL West clubs as the Angels, Athletics, or Mariners couldn’t be ruled out.

July 27, 7:34am: The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal has some details on Scherzer’s complex contract situation, as Scherzer’s deal contains a lot of deferred money.  The roughly $11.8MM remaining of Scherzer’s $35MM salary for 2021 is entirely deferred until 2028, so a new team wouldn’t have to pay that money out for seven years.  However, Scherzer’s luxury tax number would be around the $10MM mark, which is certainly a factor for teams trying to avoid a tax payment.  Scherzer has another $7.5MM in signing bonus money due this September, but Rosenthal notes that this bonus payment “is solely the Nationals’ obligation.”

July 26: Nationals ace Max Scherzer has been one of the most intriguing trade candidates in baseball as the Nationals have slid down the standings following a scorching month of June, but a trade surrounding him is also complicated for myriad reasons. He’s being paid $35MM in 2021 and has more than $100MM in deferred money still owed to him from 2022-28. The Nationals, historically, do not operate as sellers under general manager Mike Rizzo. Scherzer has full no-trade protection as a 10-and-5 player (10 years of MLB service, the past five with the same team). Additionally, agent Scott Boras has previously suggested that Scherzer would require some type of incentive (e.g. a contract extension) in order to waive those rights.

It would seem that at least one of those major hurdles, however, is surmountable. Jesse Dougherty of the Washington Post reports (via Twitter) that Scherzer is open to being traded and would not invoke his 10-and-5 rights for the sole purpose of remaining with the Nationals. However, Scherzer could use that full no-trade protection as a way to have a say in his ultimate destination if the Nats are presented with offers from multiple clubs.

It’s not yet clear whether the Nationals are going to legitimately make Scherzer available, although a weekend sweep at the hands of a 34-64 Orioles club couldn’t have helped convince Rizzo and his staff that the Nats need to operate as a buyer. Rizzo said just under a week ago that he was approaching the deadline with a both a “buy” and “sell” mindset, remaining open to all possibilities depending on how his team played. The implication was that with a strong showing, the Nats would act as they tend to do under Rizzo: make at least incremental upgrades in an effort to push toward the postseason.

That hasn’t happened, however. The Nats are 1-4 since those comments from Rizzo, including the sweep in Baltimore, and the fact that the Nationals had to slow Stephen Strasburg’s throwing program down once again only adds another negative element to the equation. Washington now finds itself eight games below .500, seven and a half back of the division lead and 11 out in the Wild Card hunt. The generally feeble nature of the NL East and the top-heavy trio of contenders in the NL West mean that the only path for an NL East club to reach the postseason is likely via a division title. FanGraphs gives the Nats a 1.4 percent chance of making the playoffs; PECOTA is only marginally better, at an even 2.0 percent.

If the Nats do indeed make Scherzer available, he’d (obviously) be the best starting pitcher on a market that is lacking in impact arms. The three-time Cy Young winner and eight-time All-Star, who turns 37 tomorrow, has pitched to a 2.83 ERA with a brilliant 35.1 percent strikeout rate and a 6.1 percent walk rate in 105 innings this season. He’s had one astonishing meltdown that the Padres and Daniel Camarena will never forget, wherein Scherzer allowed 12 percent of the runs he’s yielded all season on one pitch to a just-called-up relief pitcher. Outside of that night, Scherzer has allowed 26 runs in 101 1/3 innings of work (2.31 ERA). He’s held opponents to two or fewer runs in 14 of his 18 starts.

It’s also worth noting that Scherzer had his Saturday start against the Orioles scratched due to discomfort in his right triceps. The injury popped up when he was taking batting practice, not pitching and Scherzer has already said publicly that he plans to make his next start. He underwent an MRI that came back clean, and (via MASNsports.com’s Mark Zuckerman), manager Dave Martinez said Scherzer’s bullpen session today went as planned. Assuming he feels fine tomorrow, he’d be in line to start Thursday’s game for the Nationals — their final game prior to Friday afternoon’s trade deadline.

Twins Place Taylor Rogers On Injured List

By | at

July 27: The Twins announced that Rogers has been placed on the 10-day IL with a left middle finger sprain. Right-hander Beau Burrows is up from Triple-A St. Paul to take his spot on the active roster.

While players on the injured list can technically still be moved, this would seem to all but ensure that Rogers won’t be traded prior to Friday’s deadline.

July 26, 11:55pm: Rogers will undergo imaging on his hand tomorrow to determine the extent of the issue, manager Rocco Baldelli told reporters (Twitter link via Helfand).

10:47pm: Twins closer Taylor Rogers exited Monday night’s game against the Tigers with a sprained middle finger on his pitching hand, the team announced to reporters (Twitter link via Betsy Helfand of the St. Paul Pioneer Press). Rogers threw five pitches, missing his spot badly on the fourth offering and checking his left hand. His fifth pitch then sailed a few feet wide of the strike zone, at which point Rogers called to the dugout and quickly departed with the training staff.

This time of season, any injury to a prominent player on a non-contending club is of note. Rogers is hardly considered a lock to be traded — he’s controlled through the 2022 season via arbitration — but the Twins have already begun to turn their eye toward 2022 and beyond, trading Nelson Cruz to the Rays last week. Rogers, Jose Berrios and Michael Pineda are among the team’s other trade candidates, though any sort of IL trip for Rogers would likely preempt a trade.

It’s been another strong season for Rogers, a former 11th-round pick who has gone from minor league starter, to solid middle reliever, to an All-Star reliever in recent years. Rogers debuted with the Twins in 2016 and quickly settled in as a solid arm, but his career took off upon adding a slider to his arsenal in midway through the 2018 campaign. Over the past four seasons, Rogers has pitched to a 2.91 ERA with an excellent 31.2 percent strikeout rate against a tiny 4.9 percent walk rate. This year’s 35.5 percent strikeout rate is a career-high.

Hard-throwing lefties who miss bats and limit walks at premium rates are hard to come by — particularly when they can keep both righties and lefties in check, as Rogers can. The Twins aren’t punting on their 2022 season by any means, but it’s feasible that other clubs could put together a strong enough package that they’d be tempted to part ways with Rogers. He’s playing on a $6MM salary and ought to see a nice raise via arbitration this winter, so a trade could bring in some near-MLB help and save the team some money to spend in free agency over the winter.

It remains to be seen whether Rogers will ultimately require an IL stint, but the mention of a sprain indicates some form of ligament stretching/tearing in Rogers’ finger, which is rather ominous. Every situation is unique, of course, but Cleveland righty Aaron Civale exited a June outing under similar circumstances and has yet to return to the mound.

Show all

MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

hide arrows scroll to top