Dodgers Acquire Danny Duffy From Royals
The Royals parted ways with one of the faces of their franchise this evening, announcing a trade to send Danny Duffy to the Dodgers in exchange for a player to be named later. Kansas City will include an undisclosed amount of cash to offset some or all of his remaining salary. To create 40-man roster space, the Dodgers designated outfielder DJ Peters for assignment.
Duffy had full no-trade rights as a 10-and-5 player (one with ten years of major league service, the five most recent having been with the same team). However, Joel Sherman of the New York Post reported a few weeks ago the Southern California native might be willing waive that protection to facilitate a deal to a West Coast club. That has indeed proven to be the case. The southpaw is currently on the 10-day injured list with a flexor strain in his throwing forearm, but Kansas City general manager Dayton Moore told reporters this week he’d be able to return at some point this season, perhaps near the end of August.
The move brings to an end — at least temporarily — Duffy’s long tenure in the Royals organization. Kansas City selected him out of high school in the third round of the 2007 draft. He made his big league debut in 2011 and has been with the club for over a decade, crossing the ten-year service milestone last month.
It was an unequivocally successful Kansas City tenure for Duffy, who emerged as a fixture in the rotation for almost the entirety of that time. He’s pitched to a 3.95 ERA across 1172 1/3 innings over the course of his career. A key piece of the Royals’ 2015 World Series championship team, Duffy signed a five-year, $65MM extension in January 2017.
That deal expires at the end of the season, though. With the Royals in fourth place in the AL Central, there’s plenty of sense in moving his final few months of team control to add some younger talent. For Duffy, the trade serves him well geographically and gives him an opportunity to pitch in a pennant race at the end of the year.
Of course, nothing stops the Royals from pursuing a reunion with Duffy this winter. He’s beloved amongst team personnel and fans. It seems that’s reciprocated, as the 32-year-old has gone on record in the past about his affinity for the organization and the city. The Royals haven’t been shy about pursuing free agent reunions with members of their mid-2010’s teams in recent years, and it’s possible they’ll take a similar course of action with Duffy during the upcoming offseason.
For the stretch run, the Dodgers are adding a pitcher who quietly had a fantastic start to the year — one that contributed to the Royals’ league-best record over the first few weeks of the season. Through his first seven starts, Duffy tossed 41 2/3 innings of 1.94 ERA/2.34 FIP ball. He struck out a lofty 28.2% of opposing hitters in that time against a tiny 7.1% walk rate and looked to have returned to the mid-rotation form he showed during his peak seasons.
Duffy landed on the IL with a flexor strain on May 17 and missed around five weeks. He built back arm strength on the fly upon his return, working shorter stints at the big league level rather than embarking upon a rehab assignment. Duffy stretched back out to five innings by early July, but he eventually went down with the same injury and landed on the IL on July 20.
It’s not clear how much volume Los Angeles can expect from Duffy, given that he won’t have much time to rehab from his latest injury. The Dodgers have been known to be on the hunt for starting pitching, but it’s also possible they activate Duffy as a multi-inning relief weapon. Whatever the role, the hope is he’ll be able to help the Dodgers in their battle with the Giants and Padres for the NL West and during their postseason run. The Duffy addition didn’t deter the Dodgers from putting together a prospect package likely to land Max Scherzer from the Nationals.
Duffy is making $15.5MM this season, around $5.4MM of which remains to be paid. It’s not precisely clear how much of the tab the Royals are picking up. Duffy’s luxury tax figure (calculated by the contract’s average annual value, not actual salary) is $13MM — so he carries an approximate $4.5MM luxury number the rest of the way. The Dodgers have already exceeded $260MM in luxury tax obligations, according to Jason Martinez of Roster Resource. That puts them in the highest bracket, so they’ll pay a 62.5% tax on any expenditures they take on this summer (on Duffy’s contract and other potential acquisitions).
To determine their return, the Royals will be free to choose from an agreed-upon list of players in the Dodgers’ system. They’ll have up to six months to make a decision, with the PTBNL setup particularly helpful for teams to continue to evaluate prospects after last year’s minor league season was canceled. Players selected in the 2021 draft cannot be traded as players to be named later until after the season is finished.
Peters has long been considered one of the more interesting position player prospects in the Dodgers organization. His combination of big raw power and speed has impressed scouts, and he’s generally been productive at the minor league level despite a sky-high strikeout rate. That hasn’t been the case this season, though, as the right-handed hitter has stumbled to a .223/.319/.372 line over 204 plate appearances with Triple-A Oklahoma City.
The Dodgers could trade Peters before tomorrow’s deadline. If they don’t, he’ll find himself on waivers. Between his proximity to the big leagues (Peters actually made a brief debut this year), decent prospect pedigree, and pair of remaining minor league option years, it wouldn’t be a surprise if he finds himself on another roster in the coming days.
Jeff Passan of ESPN first reported that Duffy was being traded to the Dodgers. Mark Feinsand of MLB.com reported the Royals would receive a player to be named later. Jon Heyman of MLB Network reported the inclusion of cash in the deal.
Mariners’ Hector Santiago Receives 80-Game Suspension
Mariners left-hander Hector Santiago has been served an 80-game suspension from the league office for violating MLB’s Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program. Per a press release from the league, Santiago tested positive for exogenous Testosterone. Santiago will be suspended without pay, and the suspension will begin immediately.
This marks the second suspension of note for Santiago this season alone. He was served a 10-game suspension for possessing a foreign substance. Santiago was adamant in his defense in that case, though the suspension was ultimately at the discretion of the umpires who made the call on the field.
The well-traveled veteran had been a solid contributor for the Mariners this season through 13 appearances. As a multi-inning option out of the pen, the 33-year-old pitched to a 3.42 ERA/3.12 FIP across 26 1/3 innings with a 25.6 percent strikeout rate, 9.4 percent walk rate, and 44.7 percent groundball rate. The strikeout rate was quite a bit higher than his 20.7 percent career average, though the improvement tracks back through the 2019 season as well. He did not pitch in 2020.
For his career, Santiago owns a 4.12 ERA/4.86 FIP across 947 innings for the White Sox, Angels, Twins, Mets, and Mariners. He was mostly a starter earlier in his career, making at least 23 starts in each season from 2013 to 2016. His success in that role was marginal, however, as he never again topped the 1.2 fWAR he put up for the White Sox in 2013.
Terry Francona Steps Away From Indians For Remainder Of 2021 Season
The Indians announced this evening that manager Terry Francona will take a leave of absence from the team to address health concerns. Bench coach DeMarlo Hale will assume interim managerial duties for the remainder of the season. Hale was named Cleveland’s bench coach last November and has managed four games at the major league level (with the Blue Jays in 2015-16).
Francona is going for a hip replacement next week and will also need to undergo foot surgery in the coming months, reports Mandy Bell of MLB.com (Twitter link). Given those health issues, he obviously didn’t feel capable of continuing in his current capacity over the season’s final two months.
The veteran skipper also missed a significant amount of time last season on account of health concerns. There’s no indication the 62-year-old will not return to the Cleveland managerial chair next year, however. He has led the team since October 2012, winning three consecutive AL Central titles from 2016-18. MLBTR wishes Francona the best in his recovery.
Mariners, Rays Finalizing Deal Involving Diego Castillo And JT Chargois
The Mariners are finalizing an agreement to acquire reliever Diego Castillo from the Rays, reports Jeff Passan of ESPN (Twitter link). In return, Seattle is sending fellow bullpen arm JT Chargois and third base prospect Austin Shenton to Tampa Bay, reports Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times (Twitter link).
Castillo steps in, presumably, as the piece that Seattle GM Jerry Dipoto foreshadowed two days ago when the Mariners sent breakout closer Kendall Graveman to their division rival in Houston. Castillo reinforces Seattle’s bullpen not only now, but into the future. Unlike Graveman, who is a free agent at the end of the season, Castillo will remain under Seattle’s control through the 2024 season. He will be eligible for arbitration for the first time this winter.
The Rays, after all, often treat arbitration the way other franchises treat impending free agency, so it’s not a shock to see them move off Castillo, much like they did with shortstop Willy Adames earlier this season.
That said, Castillo had taken on a more premium position in Tampa’s bullpen than ever before this season, slotting in as their nominal closer. In 37 appearances, Castillo marked a 2.72 ERA/3.16 FIP across 36 1/3 innings while notching 14 saves, two more than he’d had overall in his career before the start of the season.
He’s striking out more batters than ever with a very strong 33.8 percent strikeout rate. He’s limiting free passes with a career-best 6.9 percent walk rate. The Mariners will be able to slot Castillo directly into Graveman’s vacated closer role, should they so choose.
As for the Rays, they are taking yet another opportunity to restock their farm system. Shenton was the Mariners’ 12th-ranked prospect per Baseball America. The 23-year-old third baseman started the year in High-A before earning a promotion to Double-A with a .295/.418/.576 line through 273 plate apperances.
The other piece in the deal, Chargois, should step into Castillo’s spot in the bullpen, if not his exact role. Chargois, 30, doesn’t have Castillo’s pedigree, but he’s been perhaps as effective this season, pitching to a 3.00 ERA/3.19 FIP across 30 innings for the Mariners. He’s slider-dominant with a 95.8 mph sinker to compliment, utilized more heavily against right-handers.
He seems to have figured out the control problems that plagued him in his youth. Chargois has a 5.1 percent walk rate this season after posting a double-digit percentage from 2015 through 2019 while bouncing between the upper minors and Majors with the Twins and Dodgers. As a cheap, rehabilitated arm with a keen point-of-view on the mound, Chargois fits the Rays’ profile to a tee.
Cubs Trade Anthony Rizzo To Yankees
In a surprise move, the Yankees acquired three-time All-Star Anthony Rizzo from the Cubs this afternoon, both teams announced. The move brings to an end Rizzo’s nine-year tenure on the North Side. In exchange, Chicago will pick up a pair of prospects: outfielder Kevin Alcantara and right-hander Alexander Vizcaino.
It’s the second big deadline acquisition for the Yankees, who just yesterday swung a deal for another corner bat in Joey Gallo. The front office continues to bolster the offense, adding another above-average hitter to a lineup that has underperformed expectations over the course of the year. It doesn’t hurt that Rizzo — like Gallo — hits from the left side, adding balance to an order that was extremely right-handed heavy two days ago.
Rizzo is no longer the player he was at his peak, but there’s no doubt he’ll be a boost to the Yankees order. The 31-year-old is hitting .248/.346/.446 (115 wRC+) with 14 home runs across 376 plate appearances. He’s been an above-average bat in every season of his career, outside of a brief run as a rookie with the 2012 Padres. Rizzo doesn’t strike out often, punching out in just 15.7% of his plate appearances this season while making contact on an above-average 81.8% of his swings. Both figures are right in line with his career marks.
Those bat-to-ball skills should appeal to fans concerned about the Yankees’ whiff-heavy offense. New York has a 24.5% strikeout rate as a team (excluding pitchers), the sixth-highest mark in MLB. The acquisition of Gallo only figures to increase that tendency (although the slugger more than offsets the whiffs with huge power and walk totals). Rizzo’s much more likely to put the ball in play, albeit without as much impact as some of the Yankees’ other middle-of-the-order players. He still makes plenty of hard contact, but that hasn’t translated into huge extra-base output this year. Rizzo’s .198 ISO (slugging minus batting average) and barrel rate are both above-average but no longer elite.
Of course, the Yankees incumbent first baseman is among the right-handed power types that make up a good chunk of the roster. Luke Voit led MLB with 22 home runs in 2020 and is reportedly nearing a return from the 10-day injured list. His name surfaced in surprising trade rumors this morning, though, and it now seems fairly likely he’ll find himself on the move before tomorrow afternoon’s deadline. With Rizzo at first base and Giancarlo Stanton at designated hitter, there wouldn’t seem to be much room for Voit.
New York could see a Voit transaction as a way to clear some payroll space. The 30-year-old is making $4.7MM this season (with a matching luxury tax number) in his first year of arbitration. He’s still due around $1.6MM of that money for the rest of the season. Voit is controllable for three additional campaigns via arbitration.
Clearly, New York is working extremely hard to stay below the $210MM luxury tax threshold. The Yankees CBT figure is a bit below $206MM, in the estimation of Roster Resource’s Jason Martinez. New York has gotten the Rangers and Cubs to absorb the entirety of Gallo’s and Rizzo’s respective salaries as part of their ongoing effort not to take on any additional obligations.
Of course, doing so requires parting with more talented prospects. The Cubs seem to have done well in adding Alcantara and Vizcaino, both of whom ranked among the top 15 minor league talents in the organization on Baseball America’s midseason update. Eric Longenhagen of FanGraphs also ranked the duo highly, slotting Alcantara as the sport’s #120 overall prospect entering the year.
Alcantara, 19, draws praise for his projectable frame and chance to grow into big power. A center fielder now, he might grow out of the position, but he’s a high-upside addition to the lower levels of the Cubs’ farm system. Alcantara’s playing in the rookie level Arizona Complex League, so he’s years from the majors — similar to the group of players Chicago picked up from the Padres in last winter’s Yu Darvish trade.
Vizcaino’s a nearer-term addition. He’s topped out at High-A, but the changeup specialist is already 24 years old and was selected to the 40-man roster last offseason. He still has a pair of minor league option years remaining after this season. Longenhagen suggests his delivery likely points to a bullpen future, but he’s been a starting pitcher to this point in his career. Vizcaino hasn’t pitched much this season due to injury, but he tossed 115 innings of 4.38 ERA ball across two levels of A-ball back in 2019.
Alcantara and Vizcaino makes for a solid return on-paper, since Rizzo will hit free agency at the end of the season. There’s no question, though, that his departure will be a bitter pill to swallow for many Cubs fans. Rizzo was one of the faces of the Cubs most successful runs in decades, and a beloved figure on the 2016 World Series team. For many on the North Side, it’ll hurt to see him go — no matter the regard of the players the team received in return.
It’s likely only the beginning for Chicago, who still figures to market Kris Bryant, Craig Kimbrel and perhaps Javier Báez within the next day. Like Rizzo, Bryant and Báez will reach free agency at the end of the season, and the Cubs are obvious deadline sellers. Chicago has reportedly made some efforts at a Báez extension, but that was also true of Rizzo and ultimately didn’t come to fruition. The Rizzo trade is the biggest move yet in should be a series of transactions for the Cubs in the coming hours.
Jack Curry of YES Network was first to report the sides were nearing agreement on a Rizzo trade, as well as the identities of the prospects involved and the Cubs assumption of the salary. Ken Rosenthal of the Athletic reported the deal had been completed.
Rays, Blue Jays, Red Sox Reportedly Most Active Teams In Jose Berrios Market
5:44 pm: The Rays, Blue Jays and Red Sox are the most active teams in the Berrios market, reports Heyman, who adds that the division’s other contender, the Yankees, have also checked in. It doesn’t seem likely that the Mets — who have long been interested in Berrios but deterred by the Twins’ asking price — will wind up landing him. The Mets continue to be put off by Minnesota’s demand, hears Andy Martino of SNY, and Anthony DiComo of MLB.com suggests that’s also the case in discussions between the two clubs regarding Pineda.
2:39pm: The Twins have numerous offers in hand for Berrios, per Ken Rosenthal and Dan Hayes of The Athletic, who add that the market has exceeded the Twins’ initial expectations (Twitter link). A trade is seen as increasingly likely. TSN’s Scott Mitchell tweets that the Blue Jays are “definitely” in the mix for Berrios.
2:34pm: The Twins are getting “bombarded” with offers for Berrios, Nightengale tweets, adding that the Padres in particular are being aggressive in their efforts.
1:58pm: Some teams who’ve spoken to the Twins about Berrios get the sense that they’re more willing to move him now than they were earlier in the summer, tweets MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand.
MLB Network’s Jon Heyman lists the Dodgers as a team with interest, and, like myriad other recent reports, also indicates the Padres have interest. Dan Hayes of The Athletic recently wrote that the Padres had interest in Berrios, Michael Pineda and Kenta Maeda. USA Today’s Bob Nightengale wrote this morning that San Diego is more focused on Berrios than on Max Scherzer.
8:11am: The Twins have already traded away Nelson Cruz, and with an off-day Thursday, today’s focus figures to be entirely on their deadline efforts to reload the club for 2022 and beyond. Jose Berrios is Minnesota’s most coveted trade candidate, and Phil Miller of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune writes that offers for Berrios “have spiked” with the trade deadline now less than 48 hours away.
MLB.com’s Jon Morosi tweets that the Mariners have been pursuing a Berrios acquisition this week, with the Twins focusing on one of Seattle’s top pitching prospects (Emerson Hancock or George Kirby) as part of a multi-player return. The two sides aren’t close to a deal, Morosi adds. Both Hancock (2020) and Kirby (2019) were first-round picks in recent Mariners drafts and have pitched at Class-A Advanced this year. Both players have missed time with shoulder fatigue this year, but Hancock returned this week and Kirby is expected back within the next couple of weeks, Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times tweeted a couple days ago.
The Mets, too, have been linked to Berrios throughout the month of July, but all indications to this point have been that they consider the asking price too steep. Indeed, Dan Hayes of The Athletic reports that the Mets are “very” interested but also had “sticker shock” when the Twins initially asked for a combination of two top-100 prospects and a young big leaguer. Beyond that, the Mets’ lack of premium pitching prospects may be a problem. Joel Sherman of the New York Post writes that the Mets would perhaps need to involve a third team if they hoped to actually land Berrios. They’ve recently been more connected to rental pitchers.
Of course, virtually every contender or pseudo-contender has checked in with the Twins on Berrios’ asking price, given his affordable $6.1MM salary for the 2021 season as well as his remaining year of arbitration eligibility before free agency. The 27-year-old Berrios is enjoying the best season of an already impressive career, having pitched to a 3.48 ERA with career-best marks in strikeout percentage (25.7) and ground-ball percentage (43.6). His 6.5 percent walk rate is the second-lowest of his career, and the durable right-hander’s current pace would put him in line to land somewhere in the 195 to 200 range in terms of total innings pitched.
Cubs Trade Ryan Tepera To White Sox
The Cubs announced Thursday that they’ve traded right-handed reliever Ryan Tepera to the White Sox in exchange for minor league left-hander Bailey Horn. The White Sox announced that righty Evan Marshall has been transferred to the 60-day IL to open a 40-man roster spot for Tepera. ESPN’s Jesse Rogers reported (via Twitter) that the two sides had agreed to a Tepera deal just before the formal announcement.
Tepera, 33, has been a rock-solid bullpen option for the Cubs over the past two seasons, tallying 64 innings of 3.23 ERA ball with an excellent 31.9 percent strikeout rate, a 9.4 percent walk rate and a 44.8 percent walk rate. He’s playing the season on a one-year, $800K contract that comes with $1MM of very attainable incentives. He’s already unlocked $300K of those incentives and is on the cusp of reaching several other bonuses. He’ll take home $100K for appearing in his 45th game — he’s currently at 43 — and will earn $150K for reaching 50 and 55 games apiece. His 60th game comes with a $200K bonus, and Tepera will also unlock another $50K when he spends his 120th on the active roster.
Even with those incentives, he’s been nothing short of a bargain for the Cubs and will give the White Sox an eminently affordable late-inning arm to help solidify the bullpen. That’s key for the White Sox, who are running away with the American League Central but have had a middle-of-the-pack bullpen for much of the season. White Sox relievers rank 15th in the Majors with a combined 4.10 ERA. Tepera can help lower that mark, and his outstanding strikeout rate is lofty enough that it could be an improvement even over Chicago’s combined 27.6 percent mark, which ranks fourth among MLB bullpens.
Horn, 23, was the White Sox’ third-round pick out of Auburn just last summer. The 6’2″, 210-pound lefty breezed through 27 1/3 innings of Class-A this season, pitching to a 2.63 ERA with a 32-to-7 K/BB ratio and a hefty 56.7 percent grounder rate against younger opponents before being bumped to Class-A Advanced. He’s allowed 16 runs in 11 innings there, due largely to 11 walks issued, but it’s a small sample of innings for a pitcher making his pro debut.
Horn ranked 30th among White Sox farmhands at FanGraphs, 25th at Baseball America and No. 23 over at MLB.com. BA writes that Horn sits 90-94 mph with his heater and has a pair of above-average breaking balls, but his command is a red flag that holds him back. He’ll add a college arm with a bit of draft pedigree to a Cubs system that is currently heavier on positions players than on pitchers.
White Sox Acquire Cesar Hernandez
After searching the infield market for second base upgrades over the past few weeks, the White Sox announced Thursday that they’ve acquired veteran Cesar Hernandez from the division-rival Indians in exchange for minor league left-hander Konnor Pilkington. Chicago released right-hander Tyler Johnson in order to open a spot on the 40-man roster.
Second base has been a clear area of focus for a White Sox team that lost Nick Madrigal for the season (torn hamstring) earlier this year. Chicago has been hit hard by injuries in the outfield, but with Eloy Jimenez returning this week and Luis Robert on the mend, the infield began to look like a more logical target. The Sox have been connected to Jonathan Schoop, Trevor Story, Adam Frazier and other infield targets, but they’ll go with the solid, switch-hitting Hernandez to step in and solidify the lineup.
Hernandez, 31, is playing the season on a one-year, $5MM contract that contains a $6MM club option for the 2022 campaign. He’s still owed about $1.8MM of that $5MM sum through season’s end, and there’s no buyout on the option, so it’ll be a straight $6MM call for Chicago after the season. Given that Madrigal is expected to be healthy for the 2022 campaign, Hernandez could well be viewed as a rental option for the South Siders, although the $6MM price point isn’t so steep that he couldn’t be kept as a potential utility option.
Hernandez isn’t hitting for average as he typically does, but his 18 home runs already represent a career-high mark. He’s not striking out any less often than he did in 2020, when he batted .283, but Hernandez has been plagued by a career-low .256 average on balls in play that sits 74 points below his career mark. It’s possible, then, that he’s in for some positive regression over the season’s final couple months.
Even if that’s not the case, however, his .231/.307/.431 batting line is a solid enough plug-in to a strong ChiSox lineup. That production is exactly league-average after adjusting for Hernandez’s league and park, by measure of wRC+, which falls right in line with what Hernrnadez has been for the past six seasons.
On the Indians’ side of the swap, they’ll add Pilkington, a 23-year-old lefty whom the White Sox selected out of Mississippi State in the third round of the 2018 draft. He’s spent this season pitching in Double-A and has fared well, working to a 3.48 ERA with a 30.5 percent strikeout rate, a 9.0 percent walk rate and a 43.4 percent ground-ball rate in 14 starts — a total of 62 innings.
Pilkington wasn’t presently ranked among the White Sox’ top prospects, though that’s surely at least in part due to scouts not being able to get a look at him during 2020. He entered the ’20 campaign ranked 17th among Sox farmhands at Baseball America, and FanGraphs’ Eric Longenhagen tabbed him 21st in the system last year. BA’s 2020 report on the lefty noted that he lacks the “knockout repertoire” evaluators prefer to see but suggested he could still be a fifth starter. That type of profile is also the type that could tick up in the bullpen, of course, so it’s possible that’s where Pilkington ultimately lands. Given his age and success at the Double-A level, Pilkington is a relatively near-term addition for Cleveland.
The 25-year-old Johnson’s release comes after the 2015 fifth-rounder has struggled across three minor league levels in 2021. The South Carolina product has spent time at Triple-A and both Class-A affiliates in Chicago’s system but allowed a combined 23 runs (17 earned) in 16 innings of work.
ESPN’s Jeff Passan first reported the trade was close (Twitter link). The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal reported that a deal had been reached. Daniel Alvarez Montes of El Extra Base first reported that Pilkington was going back to the Indians (Twitter link)
Nationals Trade Brad Hand To Blue Jays
The Blue Jays have added another arm to their bullpen mix, announcing the acquisition of veteran lefty Brad Hand from the Nationals in exchange for catcher Riley Adams. Hand, who signed a one-year, $10.5MM deal with the Nats this past offseason, will be a free agent at season’s end.
Hand, 31, has been one of the game’s most effective left-handed relievers in recent years, but his results in 2021 haven’t been as dominant as they were during his time with the Padres and Indians. There have been some signs that his stock had dipped in the eyes of those around the game; Cleveland put him on outright waivers at the end of the 2020 season, hoping a club would claim him and pick up his $10MM option — thus sparing the Indians the $1MM buyout. He went unclaimed and was ultimately bought out. Hand did eventually land a greater guarantee, signing at that aforementioned $10.5MM price point.
Some of the reservations regarding Hand when he was placed on waivers were simply due to financial uncertainty following the absence of fans in 2020, but there was also concern that the lefty’s fastball had dropped by two miles per hour from its peak level. He’s alleviated those concerns in 2021, tacking two miles back onto his heater and averaging 93.3 mph on the season. But Hand’s 23.3 percent strikeout rate is his lowest since moving from the rotation to the bullpen back in 2016, and his 9.9 percent walk rate is a career-high (as a reliever).
Those ungainly strikeout/walk trends notwithstanding, Hand has been a solid reliever for much of the season in Washington. He’s pitched to a 3.59 ERA, upped his ground-ball rate to its highest level since 2018 (39.5 percent) and generally limited hard contact and barreled balls quite well, per Statcast.
It’s been a tough go more recently, as Hand has served up eight runs in his past nine innings — three of which came on an Andrew McCutchen walk-off home run that proved to be something of a backbreaker for the reeling Nationals. Not long after dropping that pivotal game, rumblings about the Nationals perhaps engineering a rare (for them) summer sell-off began to pick up steam, and Hand’s departure (plus the persistent rumors on Max Scherzer and other prominent Nationals players) now make that speculation a reality.
For their half-season investment in Hand, the Nationals will acquire Adams, a 25-year-old backstop who’s already made a very brief MLB debut. That didn’t go particularly well, as he hit just .107/.167/.179, but he also received only 30 plate appearances with the Jays, so it’s impossible to glean much of anything from that limited sample. Adams has spent the remainder of the 2021 season with the Jays’ Triple-A affiliate, drawing plenty of walks and hitting for good power but struggling with strikeouts. In 143 plate appearances, he’s hitting .237/.371/.487 with an 11.2 percent walk rate but a lofty 32.2 percent strikeout rate.
Adams ranked 20th among Jays prospects heading into the season over at MLB.com. He’s already been bumped to No. 15 among Nationals prospects over at FanGraphs, where Eric Longenhagen calls him a bat-first backup option behind the plate. Adams, listed at 6’4″ and 246 pounds, is quite large for a catcher, but the Jays have been committed to developing him there. He’s appeared in just one professional game at first base, where he logged only three innings. If Adams proves he’s capable of sticking behind the dish and providing passable defense, he’ll greatly outperform many of the more modest value projections most scouting reports have placed on him due to concerns over his size and glovework.
Jesse Dougherty of the Washington Post first reported Hand had been traded to the Jays (Twitter thread). USA Today’s Bob Nightengale reported Adams was going back to the Nats.
Rangers Trade Joey Gallo, Joely Rodriguez To Yankees
11:00am: The Yankees have formally announced the trade.
7:55am: Texas is also paying Rodriguez’s salary, per Joel Sherman of the New York Post.
July 29, 7:20am: The Rangers are paying all of Gallo’s remaining contract, tweets Jim Bowden of The Athletic. MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand tweets that Texas will pay “most” of the deal. Either way, the Rangers’ inclusion of cash and the Yankees’ recent trade of Justin Wilson suggests they’re still angling to remain under the luxury tax. Getting financial help from Texas will free them to continue pursuing other additions.
July 28: The Rangers and Yankees are reportedly nearing agreement on a deal that would send Joey Gallo and Joely Rodríguez to the Bronx in exchange for a four-player prospect package. Once finalized, the expectation is that Texas will receive infielders Ezequiel Duran, Josh Smith, Trevor Hauver and right-handed pitcher Glenn Otto in return. (Initial reports had suggested outfielder Everson Pereira and righty Randy Vasquez might also be involved, but the expectation is now that those two players will remain with New York).
It’s a bold strike for the Yankees, who have hovered a bit above .500 for much of the season. New York entered play tonight 8.5 games back of the Red Sox in the American League East and three behind the Athletics for the final Wild Card spot (with the Mariners also ahead of them in the standings). That the Yankees aren’t leading the division — as many anticipated they would coming into the year — is largely a reflection of a lineup that has been more decent than great over the course of the season. The front office is looking to remedy that by adding another of the game’s most prodigious power bats to an order that already includes Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton.
Gallo deservedly earned his second career All-Star nod this summer amidst a tear between June and July. Overall, he’s hitting .223/.379/.490 with 25 home runs across 388 plate appearances. As he has throughout his career, Gallo has been prone to strikeouts and hit for a low batting average, but his power and plate discipline more than offset the swing-and-miss concerns.
The 27-year-old has always been a patient hitter, but he’s taken that aspect of his game to new heights in 2021. Gallo’s 19.1% walk rate is a career best, and it’s the highest such mark of any player with 250+ plate appearances this year. That abundance of free passes has allowed Gallo to reach base far more often than the .320 league average. The 27-year-old’s ISO (slugging minus batting average) is a whopping .268, and only five players top his home run total. Altogether, Gallo owns a 140 wRC+, indicating he’s been forty percentage points better than average at the plate this season.
Gallo’s low-contact, high-power approach resembles those of a lot of hitters in the Yankees lineup. That could lead to some concerns among fans about a lack of stylistic diversity. That said, Gallo’s lefty bat helps to balance a lineup that otherwise skews heavily right-handed. And Gallo’s production this season has neared or bettered that of anyone already on the New York roster. Only Judge (147) has a higher wRC+ than Gallo among Yankees with at least 100 plate appearances.
Unlike many sluggers, Gallo also offers quite a bit of value on the other side of the ball. Advanced defensive metrics have long pegged him as a plus right fielder, and he won a Gold Glove award last season. He’s best suited in the corner outfield, but Gallo also held his own during a run of center field play in 2019, and has plenty of experience at first base as well.
Throughout last offseason and this summer, the Yankees have worked to keep their payroll south of the $210MM luxury tax line. Gallo’s playing this season on a $6.2MM salary, about $2.2MM of which remains to be paid. Rodíguez, meanwhile, is making $2.5MM this year — about $900K of which is still owed — and has a $3MM club option for the 2022 campaign. If the Yankees assume the remainder of Gallo’s and Rodríguez’s salaries, their luxury tax figure would land at approximately $209.4MM, in the estimation of Roster Resource.
Gallo is controllable via arbitration for one additional campaign. He’ll pick up a nice raise given how well he’s played this season, but his 2022 salary will still be a bargain relative to the caliber of player he is. It’s not clear whether the luxury tax will be such a concern for Yankees brass next winter, if they can limbo under the threshold this season and reset their tax payor status. (The current CBA contains escalating penalties for teams exceeding the threshold in multiple consecutive seasons).
For this season, the current luxury tax projections suggest the Yankees have almost no room for further additions unless ownership allows the front office to cross the threshold. That said, it’s possible the Yankees explore creative ways to clear funds off the books. New York offloaded the salaries of relievers Luis Cessa and Justin Wilson to the Reds last night, and they could look to make other similar moves before Friday afternoon’s trade deadline.
The Cessa/Wilson trade could’ve also been a precursor to this evening’s Rodríguez pickup. New York thinned out their bullpen depth yesterday but they’ll replenish that a bit by adding the 29-year-old southpaw. (Initial reports suggested the Yankees were likely to acquire John King alongside Gallo, but a last-minute shuffling will apparently result in Rodríguez landing in the Bronx instead).
Rodríguez has tossed 27 1/3 innings of 5.93 ERA ball this season, a disappointing follow-up to a brief but productive 2020 campaign. His peripherals, though, are far better. Rodríguez has a 3.40 SIERA, with average strikeout and walk numbers but a huge 63.9% grounder rate. Clay Holmes, whom the Yankees acquired from the Pirates earlier this week, has similarly strong groundball tendencies — as does King. Based on their pattern of acquisitions, it seems the the Yankees front office is particularly keen on relievers who are consistently able to keep the ball down.
Assuming the deal eventually gets across the finish line, it’ll mark the end of Gallo’s nine-year tenure in the Rangers organization. Texas selected Gallo 39th overall in the 2012 amateur draft, and he’s been a fixture on the major league roster since 2015. It’ll no doubt sting Rangers fans to see Gallo depart, although it’s hardly a surprise he wound up on the move this summer.
With Texas’ window of team control dwindling, the team’s last-place standing in the AL West, and recent reports that extension talks weren’t progressing, Gallo’s name was bandied about in plenty of trade rumors. He was also linked to the Padres, Blue Jays and Braves in recent days, but the Yankees ultimately put forth the offer that the Texas front office deemed the strongest.
Indeed, it seems the general opinion from public prospect evaluators is that the Rangers did well in this deal. Texas didn’t get a marquee headliner, per se, but they added a group of talented young players to an already-deep farm system.
All four prospects Texas is expected to acquire appeared on Baseball America’s midseason ranking of the top 30 prospects in the Yankees system, with Duran (6th) and Smith (8th) checking in among New York’s ten most promising farmhands. Eric Longenhagen and Kevin Goldstein of FanGraphs have already slotted the group among Rangers prospects. The aforementioned quartet all checks in among Texas’ top 40, with Duran and Smith again among the top ten.
FanGraphs pegs Duran as a 50 FV, the equivalent of a top 100 overall prospect. Ranking him third in the Rangers system, Longenhagen writes that the right-handed hitting second baseman has plus raw power and some chance to stick at the position. He’s mashing this season at High-A, hitting .290/.374/.533 with twelve homers as a 22-year-old.
Smith, meanwhile, was a second-round draft choice out of LSU in 2019. He’s also performed at an incredible level in the low minors and had an even better .320/.435/.583 mark in High-A this year. He’s not especially toolsy, and he’ll turn 24 years old next month, but Longenhagen writes that Smith has a chance to be a plus hitter and should at least develop into a high-end utility option.
There are similar stories for Hauver and Otto. Both are having stellar seasons in the low minors and project to be at least solid role players. It’s a well-regarded group of young talent, and it’s likely at least one or two will wind up important contributors when the Rangers are better positioned for contention a few years from now.
Levi Weaver of the Athletic was first to report that the Yankees were set to acquire Gallo. Jack Curry of YES Network was first to report the final terms of the deal. Jeff Passan of ESPN was first with the inclusion of the four prospects involved. Curry reported prior to the deal being agreed upon that the Yankees were making a push to land Gallo.