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Red Sox Promote Brian Johnson

By charliewilmoth | July 11, 2015 at 2:43pm CDT

The Red Sox have lefty pitching prospect Brian Johnson, Brian MacPherson of the Providence Journal reports (Twitter links). Johnson’s role this weekend is uncertain, MacPherson writes, although he’s likely to join the Red Sox’ rotation after the All-Star break. Eduardo Rodriguez and Wade Miley are scheduled to start Saturday and Sunday, respectively. Clay Buchholz left last night’s start with an elbow injury. Whether or not Buchholz needs to be placed on the disabled list, Johnson appears to be a reasonable choice to try to stabilize a shaky Sox rotation.

Baseball America ranked Johnson the No. 82 prospect in baseball heading into the season. MLB.com, meanwhile, currently ranks Johnson the No. 90 prospect in the game, noting that Johnson throws 88-94 MPH but with good sinking action, strong secondary pitches and a good feel for pitching.

Johnson, 24, excelled at Double-A Portland last season and has continued to make progress this year at Triple-A Pawtucket, posting a 2.73 ERA, 8.5 K/9 and 2.7 BB/9 in 85 2/3 innings. He was the No. 31 overall pick in the draft out of the University of Florida in 2012.

Tigers Sign Neftali Feliz

By charliewilmoth | July 11, 2015 at 10:32am CDT

The Tigers have officially announced that they’ve signed Feliz, according to MLive.com’s Chris Iott. Feliz will join the team later today. The Tigers have optioned righty Jeff Ferrell to the minors, Iott tweets. MLB legend Pedro Martinez reported on MLB Network last night that the Tigers would sign Feliz. Feliz is a client of California Sports Management.

The 27-year-old Feliz posted a 4.58 ERA, 7.3 K/9 and 4.1 BB/9 in 19 2/3 innings with the Rangers before they designated him for assignment last week. Feliz then cleared waivers and opted to become a free agent.

It’s no surprise that Feliz signed quickly. He’s still young and has a track record as a closer, having saved 93 games in his career. He also still throws in the mid-90s (although his velocity is lower now than it was several years ago) and was very effective as recently as last season. It’s been awhile since he’s had strong peripherals, however — he struck out 11.3 batters per nine innings as a rookie in 2009, but his strikeout rate has declined significantly since then, and his walk rate has crept up a bit as well as he’s struggled with injuries over the years. If Feliz does return to his early-career form down the stretch, however, the Tigers will be able to take him through the arbitration process and control him for the 2016 season.

Joakim Soria is having a good season as the Tigers’ closer, and Feliz seems unlikely to supplant him in that role. The Tigers’ bullpen ERA of 4.04 ranks sixth worst in the Majors, though, so it seems reasonable that Detroit would want to take a chance on Feliz. The Tigers recently remade their bullpen by dropping Joba Chamberlain and Tom Gorzelanny, giving them plenty of innings for Feliz to cover. This is, however, not the first time the Tigers have depended on a big name from outside the organization. They have a significant recent track record of acquiring closers like Feliz, Joe Nathan, Jim Johnson, Octavio Dotel and Soria to plug a perpetually leaky bullpen, but the quality of those acquisitions has been uneven.

Dodgers Release Brandon League

By Steve Adams | July 10, 2015 at 8:11pm CDT

JULY 10: The Dodgers have announced that they’ve released League. League is now a free agent, and the Dodgers remain on the hook for the rest of his 2015 salary.

JULY 2: The Dodgers have designated right-hander Brandon League for assignment, the team announced. League, who is earning $7.5MM in 2015, has not pitched this season due to inflammation in his throwing shoulder. He had been on the 60-day disabled list.

League, 32, is in the final season of an ill-fated three-year, $22.5MM contract signed prior to the 2013 season. Widely panned from the moment it was signed, the contract looked dismal in year one, as League posted an ERA of 5.30 with a greatly diminished strikeout rate (4.6 K/9). The 2014 season proved to be a nice rebound for League, who worked to a 3.40 ERA with a slight increase in strikeouts (5.4 per nine) and a drastically improved ground-ball rate of 67.5 percent.

League earned that three-year deal (which was issued by the Dodgers’ former front office, headed by then-GM Ned Colletti) by posting a collective 3.38 ERA with 7.1 K/9, 3.0 BB/9, 59 saves and one of the game’s best ground-ball rates in 320 innings between the Blue Jays, Mariners and Dodgers from 2008-12.

By cutting bait on League, the Dodgers are now paying a combined $17MM to a pair of relievers — League and Brian Wilson — that will not throw a single pitch for the team in 2015. The Dodgers will have 10 days to trade, waive or release League, though in the event that he’s placed on waivers, he’ll assuredly go unclaimed due to his salary and health issues this season.

Marlins Sign Casey McGehee

By charliewilmoth | July 10, 2015 at 1:27pm CDT

TODAY: Miami has announced the signing of McGehee.

YESTERDAY, 4:38pm: McGehee is actually still on release waivers until tomorrow, MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro tweets. Once he clears, the Marlins are expected to make “a strong push” to sign him. McGehee is represented by Meister Sports Management.

4:12pm: The Marlins have agreed to terms with infielder Casey McGehee, Andy Slater of 940 AM-WINZ tweets. Slater notes that McGehee should join the team on Friday.

The Giants released McGehee yesterday, according to MLB.com’s transactions page. They had previously designated him for assignment after an awful .213/.275/.299 performance in 138 plate appearances. The Giants will still be on the hook for most of the remainder of McGehee’s $4.8MM salary.

With Martin Prado on the disabled list with a shoulder issue, the Marlins have lately gone with Derek Dietrich and Miguel Rojas at third base, the position McGehee has played almost exclusively in the big leagues since last season. Both Dietrich and Rojas have performed well at the Triple-A level this year, and Dietrich is also off to a good start in the big leagues, hitting .259/.333/.481 in 60 plate appearances.

Dietrich is, however, left-handed, as is primary first baseman Justin Bour. One would think the right-handed McGehee would still be able to play first base, so the he could potentially fill for one or the other against left-handed pitching. The Marlins already have righty first base options in Michael Morse and Jeff Baker, although Morse is in the midst of a very poor season and Baker is currently dealing with an oblique injury. McGehee has struggled this season too, of course, although the fact that he performed well with the Marlins in 2014 (after which they traded him to San Francisco) might earn him more chances in Miami than he might receive elsewhere. The corresponding move the Marlins make when they officially add McGehee to their roster will likely help explain how they plan to use him.

Mets, Brewers Have Recently Discussed Ramirez, Segura

By Jeff Todd | July 10, 2015 at 10:50am CDT

The Mets and Brewers have recently had trade talks in which both third baseman Aramis Ramirez and shortstop Jean Segura were discussed, Jon Morosi of FOX Sports reports on Twitter.

It is unclear from the report how advanced discussions are, but certainly it does not sound as if any moves are imminent. Morosi tweeted in early June that the two sides had discussed position players, but this report appears to cover more recent exchanges.

New York is obviously in need of help on the left side of its infield. Third baseman David Wright remains a complete question mark for the rest of the year, while the club has moved Opening Day shortstop Wilmer Flores off of the position. In that regard, both Ramirez and Segura make some amount of sense. But the two players are obviously quite different sorts of trade targets, and it’s far from certain that they would represent much of an improvement.

Ramirez, 37, is a fairly expensive veteran ($14MM this year) at the tail end of his career. He’s had a rough first half at the plate, but has turned things around somewhat more recently. New York would obviously hope that he returns to hitting near his well-above-average career norms, but it’s hard to know how much he’ll contribute the rest of the way. It is also unclear what kind of alignment the Mets would utilize if they installed Ramirez at third. Presumably, Daniel Murphy would bounce over to second and Flores would slide back to short.

Meanwhile, the 25-year-old Segura comes with three more seasons of club control, all through arbitration. An approximately average shortstop, according to Defensive Runs Saved and Ultimate Zone Rating, Segura has yet to repeat his stellar 2013 campaign at the plate. He has shown some upside and remains young enough to dream on somewhat. But with Milwaukee surely putting a steep price tag on Segura, it it is particularly hard to ignore his .253/.292/.332 slash since the start of 2014.

Marlins Taking Offers On Mat Latos, Dan Haren, Others

By Jeff Todd | July 10, 2015 at 8:37am CDT

The Marlins are telling teams that they are prepared to field offers for a variety of short-term assets, Clark Spencer of the Miami Herald reports. Specifically, Miami is prepared to find deals for pitchers Mat Latos, Dan Haren, and Brad Hand as well as utilityman Jeff Baker.

Each of the players listed above, with the exception of Hand, is set to hit the open market after the season. With the Marlins sitting behind every team in baseball except for the woeful Phillies, Spencer says the organization has “reached the jumping-off point” for acting as a seller.

Latos and Haren obviously have the most potential appeal of the players listed. The starters have had rather different seasons thus far, Latos underperforming generally promising peripherals (4.90 ERA, 3.84 SIERA) and Haren doing just the opposite (3.34 ERA, 4.11 SIERA). The 27-year-old Latos is said to have shown a promising velocity uptick in recent starts, though he’s owed the balance of a $9.4 salary this year and has an unsettling injury history. Haren, 34, continues to see his average fastball drop towards the mid-80s and has benefited from a low BABIP and high strand rate, but he still doesn’t walk anyone and the Dodgers are on the hook for all of his salary.

While Miami might hope to achieve some real value for those pitchers, it is not clear that there’s much to get back for Hand or Baker. Working mostly as a reliever, the out-of-options Hand has scuffled to a 5.80 ERA over 40 1/3 innings, though he has suffered from the exact opposite BABIP/LOB rates that have aided Haren. As for Baker, the 34-year-old rates at or below replacement level for the last several years. He’s not very highly regarded for his glove, and is mostly useful against lefties, but has not really even hit them all that well this year.

One other player that Spencer notes could be moved is former closer Steve Cishek. He’s been much better since returning to the big leagues, but still looks like a non-tender candidate after the season and is hardly the most certain relief asset a contender could find on the market. Cishek is playing on a $6.65MM salary this year, so Miami will likely need to pay a good chunk of that to find a taker.

Steven Matz Dealing With Lat Injury

By charliewilmoth | July 9, 2015 at 6:51pm CDT

7:25pm: The Mets have announced that Matz has a partial tear of his lat muscle on his left side. He will be shut down for three weeks, then be reexamined. Marc Carig of Newsday has tweeted the text of the Mets’ announcement.

7:08pm: Matz’ injury is “not serious,” a source tells ESPN New York’s Adam Rubin (on Twitter). It does appear, however, that the Mets will skip Matz’s next turn in the rotation.

6:51pm: Mets starting pitcher Steven Matz has a lat injury and will miss several weeks or more, Andy Martino of New York Daily News tweets. The Mets were using a six-man rotation, an arrangement with which ace Matt Harvey had already expressed displeasure, so they will presumably just go back to five.

Matz entered the season as a highly regarded pitching prospect and only enhanced that status with 90 1/3 dominant innings for Triple-A Las Vegas — he posted a 2.19 ERA, 9.4 K/9 and 3.1 BB/9 in a notoriously difficult environment for pitchers. He made his big-league debut June 28 and allowed two runs in 7 2/3 while firing mid-90s fastballs and going 3-for-3 at the plate in a Mets win. He then pitched six shutout innings and struck out eight last Sunday.

Had Matz remained healthy, he might have met resistance at some point, and the Mets clearly have the depth to withstand a pitching injury. Losing a promising rookie for a significant period of time is, however, a blow to the Mets, who remain in the hunt for both the NL East and the Wild Card.

Alex Gordon Out Two Months With Groin Strain

By Jeff Todd | July 9, 2015 at 10:51am CDT

10:51am: Gordon has a grade two-plus strain and is expected to miss eight weeks of action, manager Ned Yost told reporters, including McCullough (Twitter links). Surgery does not appear to be necessary, per Yost.

10:09am: While we are still awaiting news on the MRI results, the Royals have already gone ahead and added Alex Gordon to the 15-day DL. The outfielder left the club’s game last night with a left groin strain.

Kansas City will welcome the return of righty Yordano Ventura, who was activated as part of a series of moves. Lefty Brandon Finnegan was also recalled to the big league club.

Gordon, an easy All-Star selection after a typically excellent first half, took a scary spill while pursuing a ball hit to the left field wall. After the game, manager Ned Yost did not express much confidence, indicating that Gordon could be lost for a significant stretch.

Kansas City, which owns the American League’s best winning percentage, does have internal options. The speedy Jarrod Dyson figures to see a good piece of the action, while the right-handed-hitting Paulo Orlando provides a platoon mate.

Depending upon the prognosis, an outside addition remains possible, though the team may still prioritize starting pitching and/or second base. Adding a player capable of manning both the corner outfield and the keystone — Ben Zobrist being the best-known example of that archetype — would have obvious facial appeal.

For Gordon, 31, it’s not the best time to go down for a lengthy stretch, and not only because of team considerations. He faces a (rather easy) decision on his player option and pending free agency. Gordon’s value probably will not take much of a hit if he’s able to demonstrate a return to health later this year, though he already faces some age-related limitations on his earning power.

Padres Preparing For Active, Creative Deadline

By Jeff Todd | July 9, 2015 at 8:23am CDT

The Padres are prepared to be active at the deadline, Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune reports. While the team is holding out hope that it will make sense to add pieces, its fall in the standings seems to make a cashing in of expiring assets more likely.

Regardless of record, says Lin, San Diego is not only prepared to function as a seller, but also as a buyer of MLB assets at the deadline. Presumably, that means that the club may look to acquire more controllable players in exchange for current roster members who are nearing free agency (Justin Upton, Will Venable, and Ian Kennedy, most immediately).

Indeed, there is little indication in the report that the Padres are interested in blowing up their roster to re-plant the farm system. Lin adds, instead, that the club will look to be active next year in free agency, possibly even increasing its overall payroll once again.

GM A.J. Preller indicated that he is once again preparing to be flexible and creative as he gathers information for the deadline. “We’ve got a lot of our scouting group on the road, seeing players we could add to the mix,” said Preller. “Then we’re also considering situations where we kind of change the look of the club a little bit. … The biggest thing we preach to our scouts is to just be prepared for all different scenarios.”

While the club obviously hoped for a better spot in the standings at this stage of the year, that doesn’t mean that Preller’s bold offseason has left him exposed with ownership. President and CEO Mike Dee made clear that he is pleased with the young executive thus far and is not afraid of more roster turnover. “This was a franchise that was stuck in neutral for the last 10 years,” said Dee, “so I give A.J. a lot of credit for rolling to the dice to see if we could add to this year’s team to compete, to compete with this group, and I think we still may. If we don’t, then we’ll reassess and reshuffle the deck and see if we can find a different chemistry, a different combination, that can improve the roster.”

Josh Harrison Out Seven Weeks With Thumb Injury

By Steve Adams | July 8, 2015 at 6:02pm CDT

JULY 8: Harrison has a torn UCL in his left thumb and is expected to miss seven weeks after surgery, Pittsburgh announced.

JULY 6, 2:51pm: Harrison says he’ll receive a second opinion once the swelling in his hand goes down, but for the time being, there’s no specific diagnosis or timeline on his recovery, per MLB.com’s Adam Berry (on Twitter).

2:36pm: Pirates third baseman Josh Harrison will miss the next six weeks with a torn ligament in his thumb, reports Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review (Twitter links). Harrison injured his thumb while sliding into second base on Sunday, according to Biertempfel.

Harrison will be placed on the disabled list to accommodate the club’s roster claim of Travis Ishikawa, the Pirates announced. The loss of Harrison likely means that the Pirates’ infield alignment will feature Jung Ho Kang at third base and Jordy Mercer at shortstop for the foreseeable future. Harrison will also no longer be an option to spell Gregory Polanco in right field against left-handed pitching, as he’s done on occasion this season.

The 27-year-old Harrison signed a four-year extension with the Pirates this offseason and got off to a slow start in the wake of that deal. However, he’s turned it on since the beginning of May, batting .302/.335/.391 in that time with a pair of homers and nine steals. Most of his defensive work this season has come at the hot corner, where Ultimate Zone Rating and Defensive Runs Saved peg him at slightly below average to average, although he grades out as a plus defender there over the course of his entire career.

Harrison’s loss makes the club’s offseason acquisition of Kang that much more crucial, as Kang’s versatility will soften the blow of losing Harrison’s productivity for the next month and a half.

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