Rangers’ Relievers Drawing Interest
9:13pm: Texas wants a “substantial package” to move Soria, report T.R. Sullivan and Grace Raynor of MLB.com. The asking price is believed to be two or three prospects.
1:51pm: The Rangers are receiving trade interest in a number of their bullpen arms, according to multiple reports. MLB.com’s T.R. Sullivan reports that the team is listening on right-hander Jason Frasor and lefty Neal Cotts, and both have generated some interest. Meanwhile, Ken Rosenthal and Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports report that the Angels, Blue Jays and Tigers have been in contact with the Rangers about closer Joakim Soria (Twitter link).
As Sullivan points out, both Frasor and Cotts are free agents at season’s end. While Frasor has scuffled of late, yielding five runs over his past 3 1/3 innings, he still boasts a solid 3.38 ERA with 9.2 K/9, 4.0 BB/9 and a 47 percent ground-ball rate. The 36-year-old is earning a highly affordable $1.75MM this season, meaning that he’s owed about $765K through season’s end.
Cotts, 34, reemerged in the Majors last season after an absence of four years and put his injury woes behind him with an electric 1.11 ERA in 57 innings for Texas. He’s taken a step back in 2014 but has a solid 3.55 ERA with 45 strikeouts against 15 walks in 38 innings. However, after dominating opposing lefties in 2013, he’s surrendered a .281/.328/.456 batting line against same-handed hitters in 2014. It shouldn’t come as a total shock, as Cotts does have a reverse-platoon split for his career, but certainly not one this pronounced. Cotts is earning $2.2MM this season, meaning he has roughly $962K remaining on his deal.
As for Soria, the Tigers and Angels come as no surprise, as both have dealt with significant bullpen issues in 2014. However, the Blue Jays are a bit of a surprise club to see listed here. In another series of tweets, Rosenthal adds that while the club does like Soria, the team is also toying with the idea of promoting top prospect Aaron Sanchez to work out of the bullpen this season. Fellow top prospect Daniel Norris could even join him eventually, Rosenthal adds, making for a situation that would resemble the dynamic pairing of Trevor Rosenthal and Carlos Martinez with the Cardinals last year.
Soria is in the midst of one of perhaps his finest season. In his second year back from Tommy John, the 30-year-old has a 2.76 ERA with a whopping 12.3 K/9 and a minuscule 1.2 BB/9 in 29 1/3 innings. Sabermetric ERA estimators such as FIP (0.80), xFIP (1.93) and SIERA (1.58) all feel that he’s doing the best work of his career. Though he has a higher salary at $5.5MM, Soria unquestionably will come with the highest asking price in a trade. He has an affordable $7MM club option on his contract for 2015, and the Rangers do have eyes on contending next season, when they hope to have better luck on the injury front.
Giants Designate Brandon Hicks For Assignment
The Giants have designated infielder Brandon Hicks for assignment, the club announced (via Twitter). His roster spot will go to Marco Scutaro, who will be activated off the DL for his first action of the year.
Hicks joined the club as a minor league free agent in the offseason. The 28-year-old journeyman, who has played for four organizations in the last four years, saw far and away his most extensive playing time at the big league level with the Giants this year. With Scutaro out, Hicks started 59 games for San Francisco at second base. Now, with Scutaro returning, he will either take up an assignment in the Giants’ minor league system or find another new home.
Hicks has already made 242 trips to the plate this year after having just 98 plate appearances to his name entering the season. Though his .162/.280/.319 triple-slash was obviously not getting the job done, Hicks did manage to swat eight home runs.
Cardinals Designate Mike O’Neill For Assignment
The Cardinals have designated outfielder Mike O’Neill for assignment, according to the MLB.com transactions page. Presumably, the move was made to clear roster space for the recently-claimed George Kottaras.
O’Neill, 26, was added to the 40-man before the season started to protect him from the Rule 5 draft. He has yet to see MLB action, and has only 163 career plate appearances at the Triple-A level, where he owns a .297/.401/.341 line. Across 796 Double-A plate appearances over the last several years. O’Neill has slashed .306/.407/.382.
Needless to say, his calling card is on-base ability; last season, he reached 91 times via walk while striking out just 37 times. That prompted Baseball America’s Ben Badler to tweet that O’Neill had the best eye in the minors.
Braves Outright Pedro Beato
The Braves have outrighted reliever Pedro Beato off the club’s 40-man roster, according to the MLB transactions page. Beato had been on a rehab assignment while on the 15-day DL.
The 27-year-old righty has made just three appearances for Atlanta this season, holding the opposition scoreless while both striking out and walking three batters. He was claimed by the team in early April. Over 93 1/3 career innings at the major league level, Beato owns a 4.34 ERA with 5.7 K/9 against 3.6 BB/9.
D’backs Unwilling To Trade Miley, Owings, Pollock, Others
The Diamondbacks have been receiving interest in left-hander Wade Miley, but are telling interested parties that he is unavailable, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (via Twitter). Some had speculated that Miley could fetch a nice return as an under-the-radar trade candidate, but given his long-term control (through 2017), it appears that Arizona will likely resist the temptation.
Other players the D’Backs aren’t willing to move, according to Rosenthal (Twitter links), include Chris Owings, A.J. Pollock, Paul Goldschmidt, Patrick Corbin, Archie Bradley and Braden Shipley. Even veteran setup man Brad Ziegler is likely unavailable, per Rosenthal’s sources. Rosenthal offers a somewhat softer take on Mark Trumbo‘s availability, stating that a trade is “unlikely.” Trumbo is controlled through the 2016 season, Rosenthal notes, and Arizona would be hard-pressed to get near the same value they surrendered to acquire the slugger in the offseason.
All said, it is not surprising that Arizona would be unwilling to part with most of the players listed above, especially the younger players who are now (or are expected soon to be) playing at the MLB level. While Trumbo comes with just two years of control remaining, his long injury layoff will at least suppress his salary somewhat. And Arizona will surely be hesitant to move him for a cut rate after parting with both Adam Eaton and Tyler Skaggs for his rights over the offseason.
Ziegler’s inclusion, though, is a bit surprising at first glance. The righty has been consistently excellent, of course — and has even managed to increase his strikeout numbers this year to a far-and-away career best of 8.0 K/9 — but at 34 years of age he is probably not a long-term asset. (He is, however, under contract for next season at $5MM and is under control through a $5.5MM team option, which comes with a $1MM buyout, for 2016.)
Jeff Todd contributed to this post.
Adam Lind Could Return In Three Weeks
FRIDAY: The Blue Jays have announced that after a meeting with Dr. Robert Anderson, Lind’s timetable to return isn’t as discouraging as initially thought (Twitter links from Sportsnet’s Shi Davidi). Lind could be back in games within two or three weeks, according to the new diagnosis. He will wear a walking boot for the next five to seven days.
WEDNESDAY: Blue Jays first baseman/DH Adam Lind will miss the next six to eight weeks due to a non-displaced fracture in his right foot, writes MLB.com’s Gregor Chisholm. The injury was originally sustained when Lind fouled a ball off his foot on June 14. X-rays and a CT scan led to the diagnosis of a bone bruise, but Lind, who has been in considerable pain since that time, underwent an MRI at the behest of his mother. The MRI revealed the fracture.
It’s another tough blow for the Blue Jays, who recently lost Edwin Encarnacion to the disabled list as well (Encarnacion’s strained quad isn’t expected to sideline him long). For the time being, as Chisholm notes, that leaves Toronto without a natural first baseman on the roster. Jose Bautista has been playing the position recently.
Lind is hitting .320/.389/.489 this season, with nearly all of his plate appearances coming against right-handed pitching. That’s a considerable amount of production to lose in a tightening AL East race. The Blue Jays, who have spent a considerable chunk of time in first place this season, have fallen to two and a half games back, trailing the Orioles.
While both Lind and Encarnacion are expected to return, it’ll be interesting to see if general manager Alex Anthopoulos will look to add a corner infield option on the trade market. One alternative, Chisholm notes, would be to purchase the contract of veteran first baseman Dan Johnson, who is hitting .251/.405/.479 for the Jays’ Triple-A affiliate. The 34-year-old is a career .236/.337/.411 hitter in the Majors.
Rangers Sign Jerome Williams
3:35pm: Williams’ contract contains an out clause that allows him to opt out within two weeks if he’s not added to the Major League roster, reports Chris Cotillo of MLB Daily Dish (Twitter link)
3:20pm: The Rangers have signed Jerome Williams to a minor league deal and assigned him to Triple-A Round Rock, senior vice president of communications John Blake announced (on Twitter).
Williams, a client of Full Circle Sports Management, signed a one-year, $2.1MM contract with the Astros this offseason but found himself released earlier this week after posting a 6.04 ERA in 47 2/3 frames with Houston. The veteran swingman is plenty familiar with the AL West, as prior to his time in Houston, he had some success with the 2012-13 Angels, notching a 4.57 ERA in 307 innings (40 starts, 29 relief appearances).
The 32-year-old Williams has seen time with the Giants, Cubs, Nationals, Angels and Astros to this point in his career, and given the outbreak of injuries among Rangers pitchers this year, it seems likely that he could get a crack in the big leagues with Texas as well. The Rangers have lost Derek Holland, Matt Harrison and Martin Perez for the season, while Tanner Scheppers, Nick Martinez and Alexi Ogando are currently on the disabled list. Veteran lefty Joe Saunders, who made eight starts for the Rangers, was just released and hooked on with the Royals. All told, the Rangers have played 92 games this season and deployed 12 different starting pitchers.
Williams has a career 4.45 ERA with 5.8 K/9, 3.2 BB/9 and a 48.4 percent ground-ball rate in 824 innings of work at the Major League level.
Giants Sign Tyler Beede
FRIDAY: The Giants have officially announced Beede’s signing via press release.
TUESDAY: Mayo clarifies that Beede actually received the slot value of $2,613,200 (Twitter link). The additional $36,800 that he originally reported was included to go towards Beede’s completion of his college education. That money, therefore, does not count toward the Giants’ bonus pool.
MONDAY: The Giants have agreed to terms with first-round pick Tyler Beede, reports MLB.com’s Jonathan Mayo (on Twitter). The Vanderbilt right-hander will receive a signing bonus of $2.65MM, which is slightly higher than the $2,613,200 slot value for the No. 14 overall selection.
Beede was drafted in the first round by the Blue Jays back in the 2011 draft but turned down a $2.4MM bonus to attend Vanderbilt rather than begin his pro career out of high school. Mayo and MLB.com colleague Jim Callis ranked Beede 12th among draft prospects, while he ranked 15th on Baseball America’s Top 500 list and 15th on the Top 100 of ESPN’s Keith Law as well.
Mayo and Callis note that Beede has three above-average pitches, with a fastball that sits 92-94 mph and touches 97 mph. However, Beede also has had some well-documented command issues in the past and doesn’t always repeat his delivery. BA notes that his changeup is his best secondary pitch, but calls his 80-81 mph curveball a plus pitch as well, noting that Beede throws it harder than most other curveballs in this year’s draft class. Law offers a similar take — excellent stuff with command issues and enough problems with his delivery that some have wondered if he has some structural damage in his shoulder.
Beede’s stuff is better than his numbers with Vanderbilt this year; the right-hander posted a 4.05 ERA with 116 strikeouts and 53 walks in 113 1/3 innings. He also hit 18 batters and uncorked eight wild pitches, though he he did hold opposing hitters to a meager .223 batting average.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Mets Sign Michael Conforto
The Mets have officially announced the signing of first-round pick Michael Conforto (Twitter link). The Scott Boras client had previously been reported to have agreed to terms at a $2.97MM bonus (per MLB.com’s Jim Callis), but reports over the past few weeks indicated that the two sides were hung up on a few non-financial details.
All of that is worked out now, and Conforto can get a start on his professional career. An outfielder out of Oregon State, he was widely considered to be one of the best bats in the draft. Conforto ranked as the No. 8 prospect in this draft by ESPN’s Keith Law and Baseball America while Jonathan Mayo and Callis of MLB.com ranked him 17th.
Conforto batted a whopping .345/.504/.547 with seven homers, 16 doubles and a pair of triples in 59 games for Oregon State in 2014 — his junior season. Law praised Conforto’s power to his pull side, also noting that he works counts well and is able to hit the ball to the opposite field. Law expressed concerns about Conforto’s defense, however, questioning his range and his throwing arm in left field. BA offered a bit of a different take, writing that he improved his previously fringy defense and is now adequate, and their scouting report projected him as a 20-25 homer hitter down the road. MLB.com shared some of the defensive concerns and worried that he might swing and miss too much, however that scouting report also projected him to hit 25-plus homers with regularity at his peak.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Yankees Acquire Jeff Francis
1:50pm: The A’s have now released a correction that lines up with the Yankees’ announcement (hat tip: MLB.com’s Jane Lee). Francis and cash considerations are indeed heading to the Yankees for a player to be named later.
1:17pm: The Yankees, however, have announced that they will be receiving Francis and cash considerations in exchange for a player to be named later. The discrepancy is puzzling, but it appears Oakland could be receiving what would likely be a marginal player to be named later in the deal.
1:03pm: The A’s have announced the trade of Francis to the Yankees in exchange for cash considerations.
12:39pm: The Yankees have acquired veteran lefty Jeff Francis from the A’s, reports ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick (via Twitter). Francis was designated for assignment last week.
Francis, 33, has pitched 18 1/3 innings this season for the A’s and Reds, allowing 12 runs (5.89 ERA) with a 14-to-3 K/BB ratio. Formerly the ninth overall pick in the draft (2002), it’s been awhile since Francis enjoyed success as a member of a big league rotation. He posted a 4.19 ERA in 414 1/3 for the 2006-07 Rockies — no small feat in Coors Field, as evidenced by his park-adjusted 116 ERA+ — but it’s been a struggle since that time for the Canadian hurler. Francis owns a 5.22 ERA in 632 2/3 innings since that time.
The Yankees are undoubtedly on the lookout for pitching depth with yesterday’s news that Masahiro Tanaka has a slight tear in his right elbow’s ulnar collateral ligament. Francis has pitched well over the past three seasons in Triple-A, registering a 3.75 ERA with 7.9 K/9 and 2.1 BB/9 in 163 1/3 innings between the Reds and Rockies organizations.