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Astros Acquire Cameron Maybin Via Waiver Claim

By Steve Adams | August 31, 2017 at 2:04pm CDT

2:04pm: The Astros actually claimed Maybin off revocable waivers, reports Jake Kaplan of the Houston Chronicle (Twitter link). The Angels are simply letting go of the remainder of his $9MM salary — about $1.5MM — which Houston will absorb in the trade. There aren’t any other players changing hands.

1:37pm: The Astros have agreed to acquire outfielder Cameron Maybin from the Angels, reports Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic (on Twitter). The trade of Maybin comes in conjunction with the Halos’ reported blockbuster acquisition of Justin Upton from the Tigers.

Maybin will bring extra outfield depth to the Astros, though there’s no readily open everyday spot for him in an outfield currently comprised of Derek Fisher, George Springer and Josh Reddick. But, he’ll bring plenty of speed to the Astros’ roster as rosters are set to expand, giving the team a valuable pinch-running option as well as a potential right-handed complement to either Reddick or Fisher. It’s also worth noting that after a solid start to his big league career, Fisher has fallen into a prolonged slump, so Maybin will give the team another option in the outfield should Fisher continue to look overmatched.

Since coming over from the Tigers over the offseason, the 30-year-old has turned in 387 plate appearances of .235/.333/.351 hitting with six home runs and an AL-leading 29 stolen bases. While the overall batting output has been below the league average, Maybin has posted a boost in his walk rate (to 12.4%), is one of the games best baserunners, and has graded as an average or better fielder in left and center.

Dodgers To Promote Alex Verdugo

By Steve Adams | August 31, 2017 at 12:28pm CDT

The Dodgers will promote top outfield prospect Alex Verdugo to make his Major League debut, tweets J.P. Hoornstra of the Southern California News Group. The 21-year-old will need to be added to the 40-man roster, though the Dodgers could create space for that move simply by moving lefty Grant Dayton to the 60-day DL. (Dayton had Tommy John surgery recently.)

Notably, Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register tweets that Joc Pederson will not immediately be called up when rosters expand tomorrow. Pederson, unlike Verdugo, will remain in Triple-A for the time being — likely until the minor league season comes to a close, according to Plunkett.

Verdugo is batting .314/.389/.436 with six homers and nine steals through 495 plate appearances in Triple-A Oklahoma City this season. He’s currently ranked as the game’s No. 22 prospect, per Eric Longenhagen of Fangraphs. Jim Callis and Jonathan Mayo of MLB.com rated him 28th on their summer top 100, while Baseball America pegged him 35th.

The free report from Callis and Mayo praises the former second-round pick as an “extremely advanced hitter for his age,” noting that contact comes so easily for Verdugo that some wonder if it will cut into his walk rate. Verdugo uses the opposite field well and has average speed with the instincts to handle center field, the MLB.com duo adds.

Verdugo’s name has been oft-mentioned in trade rumors over the past year, though never in the sense that the Dodgers were shopping him or even willing to move him. To the contrary, teams such as the Twins, Tigers, Rangers and Orioles have all reportedly eyed Verdugo when marketing established veterans to the Dodgers, but president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman and his staff have steadfastly refused to make Verdugo available in talks.

Given the timing of his promotion, the earliest that Verdugo could qualify for arbitration would be upon completion of the 2020 season. He’s controllable through at least the 2023 season for the Dodgers, though those timelines could both be delayed if the team ultimately decides that Verdugo requires further minor league refinement and gives him some more work at Triple-A in 2018.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Mariners Acquire Mike Leake

By Jeff Todd | August 30, 2017 at 10:12am CDT

12:07pm: The Cardinals will send the Mariners around $17MM, Rosenthal tweets.

10:12am: In a surprising development, the Cardinals have dealt righty Mike Leake to the Mariners. Young infielder Rayder Ascanio will go to St. Louis in the swap, with $750K of international bonus pool spending capacity and unannounced cash considerations also heading to Seattle.

It’s not yet known how much cash the M’s will take on in the deal or what players may be headed in return. Leake had already cleared revocable waivers, per Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch (via Twitter). That was to be expected. Leake is earning $15MM this year, with about $2.5MM left to go. He remains under contract through 2020, with a $53MM total guarantee — including a $5MM buyout of a 2021 mutual option.

Leake’s contract includes full no-trade protection, so his approval was required for the deal to go through. He has indeed waived the clause, per Nightengale (Twitter link). Notably, Leake has spoken of his desire to be closer to family in Arizona and will now at least get to spend Spring Training there; that motivation and others may have aided his decision.

[RELATED: Updated Mariners & Cardinals Depth Charts]

Since signing on with the Cards before the 2016 season, Leake has shown the durability that earned him the contract, throwing 330 2/3 innings over 56 starts. But he has also managed only a 4.46 cumulative ERA while compiling 6.2 K/9 against 1.8 BB/9. Leake has struggled especially of late, working to an 8.88 ERA in his five starts in August.

Assuming he can get back on track, Leake will help steady a Seattle rotation that has faced a steady barrage of injuries. Felix Hernandez, James Paxton, Hisashi Iwakuma, and Drew Smyly are all on the DL, with only the first two expected to return this season. The club has fallen three games off of the AL Wild Card pace, but evidently still feels compelled to push for the postseason this year.

Of course, Leake will also represent a piece of the future picture. The Mariners will almost certainly bid adieu to Iwakuma, Smyly, and Yovani Gallardo over the winter. Erasmo Ramirez and even David Phelps — both acquired earlier this summer — could be rotation options (though the latter has worked from the pen), as could Gonzales. Still the team was clearly in need of at least one more arm to go along with King Felix and the Big Maple.

This is the second notable recent swap between these organizations, who had previously struck a deal that sent young lefty Marco Gonzales to Seattle for outfielder Tyler O’Neill. Leake may well end up bumping Gonzales out of the Mariners rotation for the time being.

Seattle will also pick up some bonus pool money, which St. Louis wasn’t able to utilize anyway following penalties for prior spending. The Cards will also add the 21-year-old Ascanio, a middle infielder out of Venezuela. Ascanio has played at the Class A and High-A levels this year, posting a .217/.295/.355 slash over 450 total plate appearances. That’s not a lot of offense, though he has knocked nine balls over the fence — more than he had over his four prior professional seasons combined.

St. Louis remains in the hunt for both the NL Central crown and a Wild Card spot, though the team enters play today five games out of the postseason picture. While the rotation has had its issues, Luke Weaver has emerged as a quality option since returning to the majors recently, perhaps freeing the club to deal Leake. Another young righty, Jack Flaherty, likely isn’t far behind.

Ultimately, dealing Leake may have more to do with future considerations than the club’s immediate postseason hopes. Moving some of the contract will open some payroll space for 2018 and beyond, though it also takes away one rotation option with Lance Lynn slated to hit the open market and Adam Wainwright entering the final year of his contract. The club does still control Carlos Martinez and Michael Wacha, in addition to the two talented but less-experienced arms noted above, and will hopefully welcome Alex Reyes back into the fold next year. Parting with Leake, though, could conceivably keep the door open for the return of Lynn or lead the team to acquire another rotation piece over the offseason.

Bob Nightengale of USA Today (via Twitter) first said a deal involving Leake was close, per Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic (via Twitter). MLB.com’s Jen Langosch tweeted the detail on the international money.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Pirates Place Juan Nicasio, Wade LeBlanc On Irrevocable Waivers

By Jeff Todd | August 29, 2017 at 6:14pm CDT

6:34pm: Southpaw Wade LeBlanc is also on irrevocable waivers, Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review tweets. LeBlanc is earning just $750K this year and can be controlled next year via arbitration or a $1.25MM club option (with a $50K buyout).

The 33-year-old lefty has thrown 61 1/3 innings on the season, working to a 4.99 ERA with 7.0 K/9 and 2.3 BB/9. He has surrendered ten long balls in that span. As has been the case for most of his career, LeBlanc has posted reverse platoon splits, with lefty batters hammering him and righties managing only a .234/.288/.418 slash.

6:14pm: The Pirates have placed right-handed reliever Juan Nicasio on outright waivers, according to a report from Bill Brink of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Unlike revocable trade waivers, outright waivers cannot be rescinded — meaning that any team can simply claim Nicasio at this point.

That’s a surprising decision, at first glance. Nicasio, who’ll soon turn 31, has been nothing shy of outstanding this year. Over sixty frames, he owns a 2.85 ERA with sixty strikeouts against 18 walks. He’s also throwing harder than ever before, averaging 95.8 mph with his fastball while working in high-leverage spots.

On the other hand, the Bucs have now slipped so far in the standings — eight games out of a postseason spot entering action today — that there’s just no realistic hope for the team to contend. Nicasio is still set to earn somewhere in the neighborhood of $600K, as Brink notes, after avoiding arbitration for $3.65MM last fall.

Surely, the club would prefer to get something for Nicasio via trade; MLBTR’s Steve Adams ranked him second among remaining August trade candidates a few days ago. But it could well be that Nicasio was claimed and then pulled back from revocable waivers earlier this month. In that event, it makes good sense for the club to simply hope to find a taker for the salary, though it’s somewhat curious that the team did not utilize irrevocable trade waivers (rather than outright waivers) in case he does clear.

It seems reasonable to expect multiple teams to place claims on Nicasio. Because Nicasio is on outright waivers, rather than irrevocable trade waivers, teams can claim him in order of record (worst to first) regardless of which league they are in. (Otherwise, he’d have been available first to N.L. clubs.)

Joe Nathan To Formally Announce Retirement

By Steve Adams | August 29, 2017 at 1:47pm CDT

Six-time All-Star Joe Nathan will formally announce his retirement in a press conference at Target Field on Friday, the Twins announced. The Twins will not only host Nathan’s press conference, they’ll honor arguably the best reliever in franchise history in a pregame ceremony prior to Friday’s game against the Royals.

Nathan, 42, broke into the Majors as a 24-year-old with the Giants in 1999, but he didn’t establish himself as a quality big league reliever until his age-28 season in San Francisco. Few would’ve predicted that he’d go on to solidify himself as one of the best relievers on the planet in the years to come, but the Twins were the beneficiary of Nathan’s late-blooming right arm. Minnesota acquired Nathan, Francisco Liriano and right-hander Boof Bonser from the Giants in exchange for the final year of A.J. Pierzynski’s contract in a swap that would help to serve as a foundational move for a sustained run of division contenders in the final years of the Metrodome in Minneapolis.

Nathan spent eight years in a Twins uniform (though his 2010 season was lost to Tommy John surgery), during which time he posted a sensational 2.16 ERA with averages of 10.9 strikeouts and 2.6 walks per nine innings pitched. From 2004-09, in particular, Nathan dominated to the tune of a 1.87 ERA with an average of 41 saves per season. Overall, Nathan saved 260 games for the Twins from 2004-11, helping Minnesota to the postseason in 2004, 2006 and 2009 (in addition to a Game 163 playoff against the White Sox in 2008).

Following his time in Minnesota, he enjoyed two excellent seasons with the Rangers before signing one last significant contract: a two-year deal with the Tigers. Nathan struggled in his first season in Detroit, then missed nearly the entire second season of that pact due to another Tommy John surgery.

Undeterred by another UCL tear at the age of 40, Nathan rehabbed his elbow and worked his way back to the big leagues at the tail end of the 2016 season, tossing a combined 6 1/3 scoreless innings for the Cubs and the Giants. He inked a minor league deal with the Nationals this winter but wasn’t able to crack the team’s big league roster in Spring Training. After two months pitching for Washington’s Triple-A affiliate, Nathan requested his release.

Nathan’s career will officially come to a close with a 64-34 record and 377 saves. He’ll retire with a lifetime 2.87 ERA, 9.5 K/9, 3.4 BB/9, roughly 27 wins above replacement under his belt (per rWAR and RA9-WAR) and more than $86MM in career earnings. Twins fans will remember Nathan for his quirks on the mound, his leadership on the pitching staff and one of the most prolonged stretches of dominance of any pitcher in Twins history. Congratulations to Joe on an outstanding career.

Rangers Acquire Pedro Gonzalez To Complete Jonathan Lucroy Trade

By Steve Adams | August 23, 2017 at 7:17pm CDT

The Rangers announced that they’ve acquired minor league outfielder Pedro Gonzalez from the Rockies as the player to be named later in the trade that sent Jonathan Lucroy to Colorado.

Gonzalez, 19, ranked as the Rockies’ No. 14 prospect per Jim Callis and Jonathan Mayo of MLB.com. Fangraphs’ Eric Longenhagen rated him as highly as fourth among Colorado farmhands on his updated summer ranking of Rockies prospects.

Callis and Mayo note that Gonzalez has the type of power that scouts can dream on, noting that he has “considerable” bat speed and has grown three inches and added 15 pounds of muscle since signing as a 16-year-old. Longenhagen calls his upside “immense,” though he notes that strikeouts are an issue for the shortstop-turned-outfielder. MLB.com’s report notes that while he has the present range for center field thanks to improved speed, he could be destined to play a corner in the bigs.

Through 209 plate appearances, Gonzalez is batting an excellent .321/.388/.519 with three homers, 16 doubles and six triples against older competition. He’s swiped 11 bases in 17 tries on the season as well. He’ll report to the team’s short-season Class-A affiliate in the Northwest League, per the Rangers’ announcement.

Gonzalez looks to be a nice add to the Rangers’ farm system, even if he’s a ways from the Majors and obviously won’t eliminate the sting of surrendering Lewis Brinson, Luis Ortiz and Ryan Cordell to acquire Lucroy and Jeremy Jeffress in the first place.

As for the Rockies, they have to be rather pleased with the way the trade has played out to date, as through his first 16 games in Colorado, Lucroy has slashed a resurgent .313/.443/.458. He’s yet to connect on his first Rockies homer, but he’s chipped in five doubles and a triple since joining his new club.

Red Sox Acquire Rajai Davis

By Steve Adams | August 23, 2017 at 6:36pm CDT

The Red Sox have struck a deal to acquire fleet-footed outfielder Rajai Davis from the Athletics, the teams announced on Tuesday night. Minor league outfielder Rafael Rincones is going back to the A’s in exchange, and Boston has designated first baseman/outfielder Steve Selsky to clear a 40-man roster spot. Davis had previously ranked eighth on MLBTR’s most recent list of the top August trade candidates.

The 36-year-old Davis had a slow first half to the season but has been on fire since the All-Star break, hitting .303/.361/.487 with three homers and 11 steals (in 13 attempts). Overall, he’s stolen 26 bases in 32 attempts. Davis will give Boston a huge boost in terms of speed in the season’s final month as well as in the postseason — both times when clubs are more likely to carry pinch-running specialists.

Of course, Davis’ second-half production and his respectable .255/.319/.396 slash against left-handed pitching illustrate that he brings far more to the table than just his wheels. He’ll also give the Sox a veteran outfield option capable of playing all three spots while Jackie Bradley sits out for the next week-plus due to a sprained thumb.

Davis brings to the Red Sox a history of speed and performing well against left-handed pitching. The veteran outfielder has five seasons of 40-plus steals under his belt, including a 43-steal campaign in 2016 that paced the American League. He’s also a career .285/.341/.434 hitter when holding the platoon advantage; His most memorable hit against a lefty provided one of the most dramatic moments in recent postseason history, when he took Cubs closer Aroldis Chapman deep in Game 7 of the 2016 World Series.

Davis signed a one-year deal worth $6MM to return to Oakland for his second stint with the A’s this past offseason, and he’s still owed the balance of that salary — a sum of approximately $1.28MM.

Rincones turned 18 on July 1 and has spent the first two seasons of his professional career playing for the Red Sox’ affiliate in the Dominican Summer League. Through 380 plate appearances, the switch-hitting Rincones has batted .267/.386/.368 with a pair of homers, 18 doubles, four triples and 14 steals (in 19 attempts).

Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe and Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic had both previously reported that the Red Sox were nearing a trade or waiver claim, and Rosenthal added that Selsky had been designated for assignment. CSN New England’s Evan Drellich first reported that Davis was going to Boston (on Twitter). Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle tweeted that it was a trade, not a waiver claim, and she was also the first to report that the A’s were acquiring Rincones (Twitter link).

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Trevor Rosenthal To Undergo Tommy John Surgery

By Steve Adams | August 23, 2017 at 4:30pm CDT

The Cardinals announced earlier today that Trevor Rosenthal has been placed on the 60-day disabled list, and a followup announcement out of St. Louis confirms what many Cardinals fans had feared; general manager Mike Girsch confirmed to reporters that Rosenthal has suffered a tear of the ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow and will undergo Tommy John surgery next week (Twitter link via Ben Frederickson of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch).

Rosenthal’s placement on the 60-day DL already ended his season — a critical blow to a team that is still in the mix for both a division title and an NL Wild Card spot — but the prognosis of a torn UCL may now also spell the end of his time as a member of the Cardinals organization entirely. Rosenthal will almost certainly miss all of the 2018 campaign, and even if the Cardinals hold out faint hope that he can return for the final month next year, he’ll still be non-tendered rather than given a raise on this year’s $6.4MM salary.

The 27-year-old Rosenthal struggled through a down year in 2016 but was tendered a contract for the 2017 campaign anyhow, and he’d largely righted the ship this year. While he had a rocky stretch in mid-to-late June, Rosenthal had burst out of the gates in the season’s second half, firing 14 1/3 innings with just three earned runs allowed and a scintillating 23-to-4 K/BB ratio. Of those three earned runs he surrendered, two came in his final outing of the year (and possibly his final appearance as a Cardinal); Rosenthal allowed a leadoff homer to Xander Bogaerts and walked Mitch Moreland before being pulled from the game.

Rosenthal’s agent, Scott Boras, will now find himself in a similar position to the one he faced with Greg Holland two years ago. Like Holland, Rosenthal is a well-regarded high-leverage reliever that will undergo Tommy John surgery late in the regular season. (Holland’s surgery was performed at the end of September in 2015.) Rosenthal and Boras could seek some kind of backloaded two-year contract this winter, which would allow the righty to rehab with a new organization before hopefully being healthy enough to take the field in 2019.

Alternatively, Rosenthal could opt not to sign a contract at all this winter. That’s the route that Holland took following his own Tommy John procedure, as he opted not to sign in the 2015-16 winter before hosting multiple showcases/workouts for interested teams when he was back to full strength in the 2016-17 offseason.

Vince Velasquez To Undergo Surgery For Vascular Issue

By Jeff Todd | August 22, 2017 at 12:32pm CDT

Phillies righty Vince Velasquez is headed for surgery to address a vascular problem that has caused issues with Velasquez’s right middle finger, manager Pete Mackanin tells reporters including MLB.com’s Todd Zolecki (via Twitter).

It’s never great to end a season with a medical issue, but it sounds as if Velasquez will not require a terribly significant procedure. GM Matt Klentak tells Matt Gelb of the Philadelphia Inquirer (Twitter link) that Velasquez will only need six to eight weeks of recovery time. Philadelphia has already placed Velasquez on the 60-day DL.

Today’s news raises new concerns for the talented 25-year-old, who has dealt with some arm issues and questions about his long-term role while also flashing quite a lot of talent through his first 258 2/3 MLB innings. Velasquez broke into the bigs with the Astros, but moved to Philadelphia as part of the trade that sent young closer Ken Giles to Houston.

Velasquez made 24 starts for the Phils in 2016, posting a solid 4.12 ERA with 10.4 K/9 and 3.1 BB/9. Sporting a 94.7 mph average fastball velocity and 11.2% swinging-strike rate, Velasquez was dominant at times. But he was also touched for 1.4 home runs per nine innings, a problem that has grown in 2017.

Thus far in the present season, Velasquez has permitted 1.88 long balls per regulation game while carrying only about half the K%-BB% (10.8%) that he did last year (19.4%). The results have followed, as he has only lasted 72 innings over 15 outings and carries an ugly 5.13 ERA.

Despite those struggles, Klentak says that the organization still views Velasquez as a starter. Indeed, there’s little reason for the team not to keep giving him opportunities to stick in the rotation. The Phils likely won’t view themselves as likely contenders in 2018, Velasquez has shown an intriguing ceiling.

So long as Velasquez can return to health by the time camp rolls around — and he’ll have plenty of time to do so — the Phillies will likely pencil him into one of the team’s five starting slots. Philadelphia has a variety of internal options who’ll likely do battle, though, and seems likely to introduce some veteran competition (if not commit a rotation spot or two to a free agent or trade target), so nothing will be assured.

Dodgers Acquire Curtis Granderson

By Jeff Todd | August 19, 2017 at 2:28pm CDT

SATURDAY: The Dodgers have agreed to take on some of the salary on what’s left of Granderson’s contract, Andy McCullough of the Los Angeles Times tweets. The Mets will pay “more than half” of the $3.5MM or so remaining, per Jon Heyman of Fan Rag. Some of that cash could flow back to the Mets if the two sides can’t agree on a player to be named later, Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register tweets. [Note: the sides eventually did agree on a PTBNL.]

FRIDAY: The Dodgers have officially struck a deal to land outfielder Curtis Granderson from the Mets for cash or a player to be named later. Granderson took the second spot on MLBTR’s list of the top 25 August trade candidates earlier this evening; now, he’s headed out west in search of a ring.

While the Dodgers are more likely to break the all-time single-season record for wins (116) than they are to lose the NL West lead, the club has not stopped adding talent. Granderson joins recent acquisitions Yu Darvish, Tony Watson, and Tony Cingrani in bolstering an already-loaded roster.

Granderson, 36, gives the Dodgers yet another interesting piece to work with. The timing of his addition is particularly notable given that Los Angeles just welcomed veteran first baseman Adrian Gonzalez back from the DL, which seemingly left breakout young star Cody Bellinger slated for at least some additional time in the outfield. Then again, it may turn out that Gonzalez will function mostly as a bench bat.

Both Gonzalez and Bellinger hit from the left side, as do Granderson and the struggling Joc Pederson. It remains to be seen how things will be sorted, but this move could push Pederson out of his semi-regular role in center. Regardless, Dodgers skipper Dave Roberts will have options. The club has three right-handed hitters capable of playing the outfield in Yasiel Puig, Chris Taylor, and Enrique Hernandez — the latter two are also infield options — so there are loads of different ways the team can line up depending upon the situation.

Despite his age and early-season struggles, Granderson is a significant addition. he has destroyed opposing pitching to the tune of a .273/.395/.596 slash in his last 250 trips to the plate. It doesn’t hurt that he’s still capable of manning center field, giving an alternative to Pederson. It’s worth noting that, like Pederson, the new addition has been far more effective this year (and over his career) when hitting with the platoon advantage. The Dodgers will surely continue to mix and match heavily.

It’s not yet clear how the teams have sorted out the remainder of Granderson’s $15MM salary — just under $4MM of which remains to be paid. He had previously cleared revocable waivers. It’s worth noting, too, that the move seemingly makes it unlikely that the Dodgers will end up assigning a significant role to veteran Andre Ethier when he finally returns later in the year. Los Angeles also announced that it designated righty Dylan Floro for assignment to open a 40-man spot for the addition of Granderson.

For the Mets, the swap brings an end to a productive four-year tenure for Granderson. He joined the team on a four-year, $60MM pact and largely performed to expectations after a middling first year. All told, he produced a .239/.341/.444 slash with 95 long balls over his time with the Mets — while also serving as a respected clubhouse member through occasionally tumultuous times.

This move is the latest in a string of transactions that the Mets have undertaken to clear the decks on a losing campaign. Prior swaps have seen Lucas Duda, Jay Bruce, Neil Walker, and Addison Reed depart — bringing quite a bit of cost savings and some lower-level prospects in return. All of those players, of course, were pending free agents, so it made little sense to hold onto them with no hope of reaching the postseason. It is still possible the Mets could make another move or two, with catcher Rene Rivera reportedly a candidate to move in the near term and infielder Asdrubal Cabrera taking the top spot on our aforementioned list of possible trade candidates.

Craig Minervini of FOX Sports Florida (via Twitter) had suggested Granderson was close to changing hands. MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo first reported the swap (Twitter links).

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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