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Top 5 AL Rookie Of The Year Candidates

By Connor Byrne | August 19, 2016 at 5:25pm CDT

There are approximately 40 regular-season games remaining for all 30 Major League Baseball teams, which makes now a good time to examine which rookies have made the greatest impacts so far this year. There are dozens of first-year players who have impressed to certain degrees, but we’ll narrow it down to five spots in each league.

It’s a laborious process to go through all the candidates in full detail, so we’ll take each league in turn, beginning with the top contenders from the American League:

1.) Michael Fulmer, RHP, Tigers:

With the Tigers mired in mediocrity last summer, outgoing general manager Dave Dombrowski made the wise decision to sell off established veterans on expiring contracts in hopes of landing long-term building blocks. One of those deals, to send outfielder Yoenis Cespedes to the Mets, is paying massive dividends this year. As the centerpiece of their return for Cespedes, the Tigers received right-hander Michael Fulmer, whom Baseball America, ESPN’s Keith Law and MLB.com each rated as a top 50 prospect entering last season.

Fulmer, 23, debuted with the Tigers on April 29 and has since produced like one of the game’s elite starters, let alone rookies. Through his first 120 big league innings (19 starts), Fulmer has recorded an AL-leading 2.25 ERA, which he backs with an excellent ground-ball rate (50.6 percent) and a K-BB percentage (15.0) that’s above the AL average of 12.9. In his latest outing, Fulmer went on the road to throw a complete game shutout against the formidable Rangers, striking out nine and walking none. Earlier this summer, Fulmer ran up the second-longest scoreless streak by a rookie over the past 45 years. At 33 1/3 frames, Fulmer fell just shy of Fernando Valenzuela’s 35-inning record that has stood since 1981.

Driving Fulmer’s success is his well-rounded repertoire, including a four-seam fastball that averages 95 mph and a pair of tremendous offspeed pitches. According to PitchFX, all have been among the highest-quality offerings of their kind this year. ERA estimators such as FIP (3.45), xFIP (3.69) and SIERA (3.84) call for a decline in run prevention for a pitcher with a .248 BABIP, but there’s little question that Fulmer has been the preeminent rookie in his league.

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2.) Tyler Naquin, OF, Indians:

After going 15th overall in the 2012 draft, the 25-year-old Naquin took longer than expected to reach the Majors. Injuries, including a broken left hand in 2014, helped slow the Texas A&M standout as he trekked through the minors. But Naquin has made up for lost time this season and helped lift a first-place Indians team that has been without one of its most integral cogs, left fielder Michael Brantley, for nearly the entire campaign.

Naquin, the Indians’ everyday center fielder has hit .315/.377/.591 with 13 home runs in 259 plate appearances. Among batters with at least 250 PAs, only Mike Trout, Jose Altuve, David Ortiz and Daniel Murphy have exceeded Naquin’s wRC+ of 158. And, once again using the 250-PA threshold, just five hitters have bettered his .276 ISO (slugging percentage minus batting average). Naquin was never anywhere close to that powerful in the minors, but as Fangraphs’ August Fagerstrom detailed last month, lowering his hands has likely helped lead to a breakout. There are some concerns with Naquin, including a propensity for striking out (30.9 percent) and a BABIP (.429) that won’t hold up, but that doesn’t change what he’s already accomplished.

Shifting away from the offensive side, among 49 center fielders who have logged at least 200 innings this year, Naquin’s -13 mark in Defensive Runs Saved is the second-worst, and Ultimate Zone Rating doesn’t paint a much prettier picture. The numbers suggest that Naquin could stand to improve in the field, then, but few have been more imposing at the plate this season.

3.) Max Kepler, OF, Twins:

The German-born Kepler joined the Twins organization as a 16-year-old in 2009 for $800K, which was then a record-setting signing bonus for a European player. Now 22, Kepler has repaid the Twins with a .259/.342/.502 line and an AL rookie-leading 15 homers in 299 trips to the plate this season. Plus, to once again cite Fagerstrom, Kepler has shown off keen pitch recognition skills — he’s in select company as a hitter who has fared nicely against fastballs, sliders, changeups and curveballs. On the other side, Kepler has held his own in right field. His DRS (+2) is above average — tied with a slew of other right fielders — though UZR (minus-1.1) and UZR/150 (minus-2.0) aren’t as favorable.

4.) Chris Devenski, RP, Astros:

Devenski is the most anonymous player on this list, but the righty’s output in his first taste of Major League action has been worthy of recognition. Devenski went in the 25th round of the 2011 draft to the White Sox, who traded him to Houston a year later in a package for right-hander Brett Myers. Never an exciting prospect, the 25-year-old has begun his Astros career with a 2.30 ERA and 18.1 K-BB percentage across 82 1/3 innings. The majority of those innings (57 2/3) have come as a reliever, and Devenski has been a lights-out option in that role with 53 strikeouts against eight walks. While mostly relying on a fastball and changeup, Devenski has recorded a sparkling 1.56 ERA out of the bullpen. Those two pitches have been extremely valuable for Devenski this year, per PitchFX, with each ranking in the top four among qualified relievers.

5.) Edwin Diaz, RP, Mariners:

Given that Diaz has only thrown 34 innings this season, his inclusion on this list might raise eyebrows. But Diaz, a 2012 third-round pick who entered 2016 as a starter, has simply been too electric to ignore since his promotion in early June. Among AL relievers that have tossed at least 30 frames in 2016, the 22-year-old righty ranks 11th in ERA (1.85), third in both K-BB percentage (37.1) and contact rate (61.4 percent), and first in swinging-strike rate (20.2 percent). Not surprisingly, then, Diaz has converted eight straight saves since taking over as the Mariners’ closer at the outset of August.

Fellow reliever Joaquin Benoit, whom the Mariners dealt to Toronto last month, helped Diaz develop his slider while with the M’s, as Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times wrote in early July. “The development of his slider has really been the difference,” Mariners manager Scott Servais told Divish. “Everybody knows he throws hard, we knew that, we knew were getting that. But the development of the secondary pitch has been huge.” Against Diaz’s slider, hitters have slashed .105/.164/.123 this year. The sample size isn’t huge (154 pitches), but for the time being, Diaz and the Mariners can thank Benoit for a rather generous parting gift.

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Nathan Eovaldi Undergoes Tommy John Surgery

By Jeff Todd | August 19, 2016 at 2:55pm CDT

AUG. 19: The Yankees announced today that Eovaldi underwent Tommy John surgery and also had his right flexor tendon repaired during the operation. Yankees head physician Dr. Christopher Ahmad performed the procedure, which figures to sideline Eovaldi for the remainder of this season and the entirety of the 2017 campaign as well.

AUG. 16: Yankees righty Nathan Eovaldi is set to undergo surgery to repair both a torn flexor tendon and a partially torn ulnar collateral ligament in his elbow, ESPN New York’s Wallace Mathews was among those to report (Twitter links). The pair of procedures will prevent him from pitching in 2017.

The news could well spell the end of Eovaldi’s tenure with the Yankees. He is entering his final season of arbitration eligibility, and will surely command at least some kind of a raise on his current $5.6MM salary. Unless New York looks to work out some kind of multi-year arrangement, then, Eovaldi will likely be non-tendered this fall.

Presuming that Eovaldi is fitted with a new UCL as part of the work being done, this will be his second trip through the Tommy John process — with his first coming during his amateur days. That prior procedure increased the 26-year-old’s likelihood of requiring Tommy John surgery this year, as MLBTR contributor Bradley Woodrum explained in his recent statistical study. That — along with the concurrent flexor tendon injury — also likely means that he’ll face a longer and more difficult road back than a typical, first-time TJ patient.

This crushing injury brings a disappointing end to what had already been a frustrating campaign. Eovaldi averaged 97.0 mph with his fastball and ran up a 9.3% swinging strike rate — both personal highs — but managed only a 4.76 ERA over his 124 2/3 innings. Despite a 49.6% groundball rate, Eovaldi surrendered a lot of hard contact and coughed up 1.66 home runs per nine innings.

Long an intriguing talent, Eovaldi has not yet managed to fully harness his gifts at the major league level. He has never previously had home run issues — quite the contrary, in fact — but still underperformed his fairly promising peripherals in each of the last two years, when ERA estimators valued him as a sub-4.00 pitcher.

Eovaldi carries a 4.21 ERA over his 739 lifetime innings, though a 3.85 career FIP also leads to a solid accumulation of 9.3 fWAR. That kind of output makes him a useful back-of-the-rotation arm with some room to grow, but it’s fair to wonder whether the bullpen lies in his future. After all, Eovaldi’s big-time fastball would likely play up in a relief role, where he could also limit his often-inconsistent secondary offerings and reduce the toll on his arm. And over his career, Eovaldi has limited batters to a sub-.700 OPS the first and second times through the order, with that number shooting up to .887 for hitters seeing him the third time in a day.

Rockies To Promote Jeff Hoffman

By Steve Adams | August 19, 2016 at 2:27pm CDT

The Rockies are set to promote top prospect Jeff Hoffman to make his Major League debut against the Cubs, as Jason Lewis of CBS Albany first reported (on Twitter). MLB.com’s Thomas Harding tweets that an official announcement should be expected later this afternoon.

Hoffman, 23, was the ninth overall pick by the Blue Jays in the 2014 draft and may have gone first overall had he not required Tommy John surgery during his junior year at Eastern Carolina University. Colorado acquired him as the centerpiece player in last summer’s Troy Tulowitzki blockbuster with Toronto, and since that time he’s only added to his prospect status. Baseball Prospectus rated him 18th among all MLB prospects on their midseason Top 50, while MLB.com ranked him 41st, Baseball America pegged him 49th, and ESPN’s Keith Law had him as an honorable mention on the fringes of his own midseason Top 50.

While Hoffman’s numbers at Triple-A Albuquerque might not immediately stand out — 4.02 ERA, 8.9 H/9, 9.4 K/9, 3.3 BB/9, 45.1 percent ground-ball rate — the Pacific Coast League is, generally speaking, quite a hitter-friendly environment. He draws praise for a fastball that flirts with 100 mph, a power breaking ball that has plus potential and a changeup that could eventually be a plus offering as well, per the above-linked reports. His 6’5″, 225-pound frame gives him the necessary size to be a starter moving forward, and he’s made 22 starts this season without showing any red flags in what is his first full season back from the aforementioned Tommy John operation.

The Rockies will hope that Hoffman can join emerging righty Jon Gray as a second power arm atop what looks to be a suddenly intriguing mix of young starters in Denver. Beyond that pair of hard-throwing righties, the Rox have received encouraging performances from left-hander Tyler Anderson and right-hander Tyler Chatwood (though Chatwood isn’t exactly a controllable piece, as he’s slated to hit free agency following the 2017 season and is presently on the DL with a back strain). Pitching, of course, has been Colorado’s Achilles heel for virtually the entire existence of the franchise, as general managers, scouts and other executives have struggled to determine ways to build a staff that can pitch effectively at altitude. While this influx of talent hasn’t demonstrated anything over the course of a full big league season together just yet, the promise offered by this collection of Rockies prospects is arguably greater than any in its franchise’s history.

It’s not immediately clear if Hoffman will be inserted into the rotation for the duration of the season, though one would imagine that could be unlikely if only to control his innings. (He’s already at 118 2/3 after tossing a combined 104 frames last year.) However, if Hoffman is in the bigs to stay, he’ll accrue just 44 days of Major League service time, thereby allowing him to reach free agency upon completion of the 2022 season and reach arbitration eligibility upon completion of the 2019 campaign.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Astros Request Release Waivers On Carlos Gomez

By Jeff Todd | August 19, 2016 at 10:03am CDT

The Astros have requested unconditional release waivers on outfielder Carlos Gomez, who had recently been designated for assignment, tweets MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart. Though Houston was said at one point to be likely to reach a deal to trade the former star, he’ll instead hit the open market in 48 hours, assuming no team claims the $2.21MM he is owed through season’s end.

With the move, Gomez’s disappointing tenure with the Astros officially ends. Acquired to provide a major boost to the organization just over one year ago, he ultimately contributed a meager .221/.277/.342 batting line in 486 plate appearances.

That represented an unbelievable fall-off given the 30-year-old’s recent track record. Though his numbers were down a bit early in 2015, he was coming off of a two-year run in which he slashed .284/.347/.491 and launched 47 home runs with 74 steals in 1,234 plate appearances. That was all the more impressive given Gomez’s excellent defensive metrics in center.

All told, at the time of the deal, he seemed to be one of the better all-around players in all of baseball. With one more year of control (2016) then left on Gomez’s highly affordable contract at the time, Houston GM Jeff Luhnow elected to part with four quality prospects to add Gomez and righty Mike Fiers.

It remains to be seen what will come next for Gomez, who not long ago seemed set for a monster contract in free agency after the present season. Instead, he’ll hit the open market early. The Cardinals and Mets had been said to have interest in his services, but recent reports have downplayed the likelihood of those landing spots. However with Giancarlo Stanton out for the year, the Marlins have been said to have interest and do appear to make for a good match.

Teams eyeing Gomez will probably be able to hang their hat on his still-useful outfield glove, which has fallen in defense metrics but remains playable in center. A signing, though, would mean a roll of the dice on his fading bat. Of course, once he clears release waivers Gomez can be had for nothing but the pro-rated portion of the league minimum — which amounts to roughly $125K — as Houston will cover the remainder of his $9MM salary.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Joakim Soria, Eric O’Flaherty Clear Revocable Trade Waivers

By Steve Adams | August 18, 2016 at 11:54am CDT

Royals right-hander Joakim Soria and Braves lefty Eric O’Flaherty have cleared revocable trade waivers, according to Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports. As such, either player is free to be traded to any other club.

That Soria, 32, went unclaimed is hardly a surprise considering the fact that he’s just four and a half months into a substantial three-year, $25MM contract signed as a free agent this offseason. Soria, though, has hardly performed like a $25MM pitcher, pitching to a pedestrian 4.03 ERA with 9.1 K/9, 3.7 BB/9 and a 52.9 percent ground-ball rate. While the strikeouts and grounders are impressive, Soria has demonstrated the worst control of any healthy season he’s had in his career this year and is allowing hard contact at a career-high rate of 29.3 percent, per Fangraphs. The frequency with which opponents are barreling up his offerings has led to a career worst 1.4 HR/9 rate.

Soria is earning $7MM this season in the first year of the slightly backloaded deal, meaning he still has $19.72MM remaining on his pact from now through the end of the 2018 season (including the buyout of a 2019 option). While his performance to date hasn’t been encouraging, the Royals may be able to find a taker if they’re willing to eat some of that contract, though they could also simply hope for a better performance in 2017. Soria is, after all, still missing bats and keeping the ball on the ground, as previously mentioned, and his 92.8 mph average heater is actually the best of his career.

The 31-year-old O’Flaherty is more affordable than Soria, with a $1.75MM base salary on the minor league deal he signed this winter, but his performance has been considerably worse. His ERA to date sits at a decidedly unappealing mark of 6.91, and while his 54 percent ground-ball rate is promising, his 22-to-11 K/BB ratio (plus two hit batters and three wild pitches) is less inspiring. While some might hope that O’Flaherty could at least be relied upon as a lefty specialist, he’s allowed same-handed opponents to bat .284/.329/.439 against him. The Braves were able to find a taker for Erick Aybar, so perhaps there’s hope that he could be moved, but even Aybar had a solid three or four weeks of production under his belt prior to being flipped (in a trade that saw the Braves take some salary back in the form of Mike Aviles). O’Flaherty has surrendered six earned runs in his past six innings, issuing more walks (six) than strikeouts recorded (five) in that time.

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Colin Rea To Undergo PRP Treatment Instead Of TJ Surgery

By Jeff Todd | August 17, 2016 at 3:23pm CDT

Padres righty Colin Rea will forego Tommy John surgery in favor of a platelet-rich plasma treatment — at least for the time being — as Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune reports (Twitter links). The decision was reached after consultation with Dr. James Andrews.

Rea is expected to rest for three to four weeks after receiving the treatment, and then begin a throwing program in hopes of staving off a UCL replacement procedure. That approach seems to be paying dividends right now for Angels righty Garrett Richards, and it seems that Rea has elected to follow suit after prior reports suggested he’d be going under the knife.

It has been quite an eventful couple of weeks for Rea, who was surprisingly dealt to the Marlins along with Andrew Cashner. He departed in the middle of his first start with his new team, paving the way for an even more stunning trade that sent him back to San Diego and more or less unwound that portion of the transaction.

Given the timeline suggested, it seems that Rea has designs on returning to the mound in fairly short order. He obviously won’t be ready to make it back to the big leagues in the present season, but perhaps he could join Richards in competitive fall or winter action before making a final call on his surgery, with plans for a normal spring build-up in 2017 if all goes well.

There’s still plenty of risk in taking this route, due largely to the recovery timeline in the event that surgery is ultimately required. Having the UCL replacement now might make a relatively full 2018 season a reasonable target, but if he waits and then ends up having the procedure, that could be jeopardized. Given the upside of returning to action in 2017, though, it certainly makes sense at least to see how his elbow responds to the initial treatment and rest protocol.

Braves To Promote Dansby Swanson

By Jeff Todd | August 16, 2016 at 6:39pm CDT

The Braves will promote top shortstop prospect Dansby Swanson tomorrow, according to a team announcement. President of baseball operations John Hart says that the youngster will be in the starting lineup tomorrow, David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution tweets.

Swansons promotion comes on the heels of the team’s trade of shortstop Erick Aybar to the Tigers. That deal brought in a prospect and also opened a spot for Swanson to receive his first taste of the majors. For the time being, at least, he won’t be accompanied by hopeful future double-play partner Ozzie Albies.

Mid-season top-prospect lists all agreed that Swanson is one of the ten best pre-MLB assets in baseball. MLB.com (#5), Baseball America (#7), and Baseball Prospectus (#10) all concurred in that regard.

Regardless of his precise placement, Swanson looks to be a key future piece for the rebuilding Braves, who acquired him — along with outfielder Ender Inciarte and righty Aaron Blair — in an offseason swap for righty Shelby Miller. That trade seemed like a score at the time and has further tilted in Atlanta’s favor as Miller has struggled. Still, it remains to be seen how the trio of quality assets will perform for the Braves — though they have plenty of seasons to come to provide value.

[Related: Updated Braves Depth Chart]

Swanson was always seen as the headliner of that deal. The number one overall pick of the 2015 draft out of Vanderbilt, he came to Atlanta with expectations of both a swift rise and strong future value. Both he and Albies are shortstops by trade, though it seems the latter will likely end up playing second when both reach the majors.

Though he has moved as quickly through the system as had been forecasted, Swanson hasn’t dominated the minor league ranks to the extent of Alex Bregman of the Astros — another SEC shortstop who was taken one pick behind Swanson but beat him to the majors. Swanson made short work of the High-A level, but owns a solid but not overwhelming .261/.342/.402 slash in his 377 plate appearances thus far at Double-A.

Still, the Braves felt that Swanson was ready to skip the highest level of the minors altogether. And prospect watchers seem to agree with the optimism, grading him as an above-average future big leaguer in virtually all aspects of the game. An advanced approach, good pop, some base stealing ability, and a sure glove with good physical tools give Swanson a full arsenal with which to work. Though he isn’t a true standout in any area, he comes with both a solid floor and the ceiling of a perennially above-average regular.

By making the move now, the Braves will allow Swanson to accumulate 47 days of service time. Assuming he is able to play well enough to lock down the starting job at short for the 2017 campaign — which is surely the club’s hope — then he’d first reach arbitration eligibility in advance of the 2020 season while qualifying for free agency after 2022.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Tigers Acquire Erick Aybar

By Jeff Todd | August 16, 2016 at 6:38pm CDT

The Tigers have announced a deal to acquire shortstop Erick Aybar from the Braves. Headed in return to Atlanta are infielder Mike Aviles and catcher Kade Scivicque. Detroit will receive cash in the deal, per David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (via Twitter). Tigers GM Al Avila declined to discuss details, but did offer that “it’s pretty even” in terms of the salaries involved, MLB.com’s Jason Beck tweets.

Detroit made the move with its two starters on the left side of the infield — shortstop Jose Iglesias and third baseman Nick Castellanos — currently parked on the DL. Adding Aybar will presumably provide an option at both positions, though he has played almost exclusively up the middle over his 11-year career.

[Related: Updated Tigers Depth Chart]

Aybar, 32, was picked up by the Braves in last winter’s Andrelton Simmons deal. Presumably, the club hoped he’d provide a steady option that might turn into a trade chip, but it wasn’t always smooth sailing. After an abysmal start to the season and some injury issues, the veteran has actually been rather productive of late.

Things began to turn around in June, when Aybar slashed .302/.393/.396 upon his return from the DL. Though he dipped a bit in July, he is putting up a strong .333/.333/.519 batting line over 54 plate appearances thus far in August. The overall results aren’t pretty, and defensive metrics are also down on Aybar’s glovework, but Detroit is understandably focused on near-term performance in bolstering its roster for the stretch run. With Aybar set to hit the open market after the season, he’s a pure rental.

The Braves appear to have sent a fairly significant amount of cash to facilitate the swap. Aybar was earning $8.5MM this year, while Aviles is playing on a $2MM deal. With about $2.18MM still owed to the former and around $517K to go for the latter, Atlanta would have needed to send around $1.5MM to make up the difference.

It’s tough to view the inclusion of Aviles as much more than a salary-balancing tactic, though he’ll presumably bolster the infield depth and provide a veteran presence for the rebuilding Braves. He had been relied upon rather heavily by the Tigers in June and July, but generally hasn’t produced in his age-35 campaign. Overall, Aviles owns a .210/.258/.269 slash over 181 plate appearances.

The key to the deal from the Braves’ side is the addition of the 23-year-old Scivicque, who was taken in the fourth round of the 2015 draft. He has spent the entire year at the High-A level, posting a .282/.325/.380 batting line with six home runs. Still, he was recently rated the 20th-best prospect in a thin Tigers system by MLB.com, which credited his strong receiving skills while noting that he may not have enough bat to profile as more than a back-up in the majors.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Matt Holliday, Seth Maness Headed For Surgery

By Jeff Todd | August 16, 2016 at 3:44pm CDT

The Cardinals are sending two significant players in for surgical procedures, as ESPN.com’s Mark Saxon reports (Twitter links). Outfielder Matt Holliday needs to go under the knife to repair his recently fractured thumb, while reliever Seth Maness requires Tommy John surgery for his elbow injury.

Though neither result is particularly surprising at this point, they will nonetheless tell. Any hope of a quicker-than-usual return from Holliday now seems to be gone. And Maness will miss not only the remainder of the 2016 campaign, but likely all of next year as well. St. Louis has been hit hard by injuries of late, with a host of notable players camped out on the DL — as shown in the team’s updated depth chart.

The 36-year-old Holliday is under-performing his historical results. Last year’s big question — where did his power go? — has been answered with a .451 slugging percentage and 19 home runs. But Holliday is reaching base at a .315 clip that is well off his typical rate. That doesn’t mean he’ll be easy to replace, of course, but Stephen Piscotty, Randal Grichuk, and Tommy Pham all represent viable right-handed-hitting outfield options. And there still appears to be some hope that Holliday can make it back late in the season, which would also make him available for a potential post-season run.

Dealing with the loss of Maness is, in some ways, even more interesting. He, too, has fallen shy of expectations — though he carries a 3.41 ERA, it has come with a diving K/BB rate and fastball velocity. But St. Louis is increasingly thin on reliable setup options. MLBTR’s ranking of the top August trade chips includes several solid right-handed relievers, led perhaps by David Robertson and also including Jeanmar Gomez. Though it’s certainly possible that St. Louis won’t look for quite so impactful an addition, there’s certainly an argument to be made that the team needs to supplement a late-inning mix that is currently headed by the surprisingly excellent Seung Hwan Oh and veteran Jonathan Broxton.

Both of these injuries also come with significant future implications. Holliday’s $17MM club option looks increasingly unlikely to be exercised, though it’s hard to guess at this point how the Cards will view the situation. His possible late-season return could play a role, though odds are the organization already has a fair idea of how it will proceed with a player who has been nothing shy of outstanding during his tenure in St. Louis.

Maness, too, could conceivably end up departing the organization early in the offseason. He’s playing on a $1.4MM deal as a Super Two this year, and will earn a raise for next year based upon his work thus far. St. Louis would need to commit to paying him for both 2017 and 2018 in hopes that he’d be back at full strength for the latter of those two campaigns. The team would still stand to control him for one more year beyond that, but it is still a rather large commitment given the injury and recent struggles.

Kurt Suzuki Clears Revocable Trade Waivers

By Steve Adams | August 16, 2016 at 2:43pm CDT

Twins catcher Kurt Suzuki cleared revocable trade waivers and is free to be traded to any team, reports Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer Press (on Twitter).

Suzuki is earning $6MM in 2016 and has a vesting option for the same amount in 2017 — though that is highly unlikely to be triggered since Suzuki is not on pace to reach 485 plate appearances. Teams weighing an addition, then, will be looking at a tab of about $1.54MM through the end of the season.

Even with that fairly modest payroll obligation, no contender placed a claim on the 32-year-old Suzuki. That would suggest that Minnesota will need to keep some of the cash on its books in order to strike a deal.

It is somewhat surprising that Suzuki wasn’t snagged on the wire. Though he never seemed to draw significant interest before the trade deadline, Suzuki has been quite productive for a backstop this year. He’s running out a .283/.323/.435 batting line with six long balls over 289 plate appearances.

Of course, Suzuki has never been very highly regarded with the glove, and Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN tweets that defensive limitations played a role in the lack of market development. Still, contenders in need of an upgrade or even just additional depth behind the plate will surely need to consider a move on Suzuki.

All told, then, there’s still time for interest to grow. With rosters expanding in two weeks’ time, it would be easy to carry three catchers. Suzuki’s remaining salary will continue to dwindle. Other market factors — such as the still-unknown fate of Derek Norris on the waiver wire — may intervene. And an injury or two could change the calculus quite a bit.

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