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Minor MLB Transactions: 9/5/18

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We’ll track Wednesday’s moves from around the league here…

  • After recently being designated for assignment, lefty Danny Coulombe was outrighted today by the Athletics. The 28-year-old has generated 9.9 K/9 on the year, while generating a strong 13.5% swinging-strike rate, but has also allowed 4.2 walks and 1.9 home runs per nine innings. He has surrendered a dozen earned runs in his 23 2/3 frames, but the more concerning number is the batting line posted this year by opposing southpaw hitters: .317/.364/.512.

Earlier Moves

  • The Mariners announced that right-hander Rob Whalen has been outrighted off the 40-man roster following his DFA on Saturday. The 24-year-old tossed four shutout innings for the Mariners this season but carries an ugly 5.16 ERA with 8.3 K/9, 3.4 BB/9 and 0.45 HR/9 in 99 1/3 innings with Seattle’s Triple-A affiliate in Tacoma. The former Mets/Braves farmhand has a career 5.75 ERA in 36 big league innings.
  • The Phillies announced that infielder Jesmuel Valentin has cleared waivers after being designated for assignment and been sent outright to Triple-A Lehigh Valley. The 24-year-old switch-hitter managed just a .177/.258/.304 slash through 89 plate appearances in the Majors this season and turned in a fairly underwhelming .240/.346/.341 slash in Triple-A prior to being removed from the 40-man roster. Valentin’s bat has wilted as he’s climbed the minor league ranks and faced more advanced competition, and he’s not considered a strong enough defender up the middle to be a glove-first utility option.
  • Right-hander Evan Marshall has accepted an outright assignment to Triple-A Columbus by the Indians, the team announced. Marshall threw well in 24 Triple-A innings this season (1.13 ERA, 21-to-3 K/BB ratio, 66.2 percent grounder rate) and picked up nine punchouts with a 56.5 percent ground-ball rate in the big league ’pen. He missed time earlier in the year with a right elbow issue, though, and has been hampered by numerous other issues in the past — most notably a terrifying, near-fatal skull fracture suffered in 2015 when he was struck in the head by a line-drive comebacker while pitching for the Diamondbacks’ Triple-A affiliate. If he doesn’t return to the Majors this season, the 28-year-old should find plenty of interest as a minor league free agent over the winter, given his strong showing in Triple-A and a lengthy track record of inducing grounders (55.9 percent in 92 2/3 MLB innings) and missing bats (career 12.5 percent swinging-strike rate).

Athletics Acquire Aaron Brooks, Designate Danny Coulombe

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The Athletics have acquired right-hander Aaron Brooks from the Brewers for cash considerations, Robert Murray of The Athletic tweets. In a corresponding move, the A’s designated left-hander Danny Coulombe, per a team announcement.

This deal continues a busy few days for Brooks, whom the Brewers selected from the minors Aug. 30 and then designated the next day. The 28-year-old didn’t throw a pitch for the Brewers, and he hasn’t taken a major league mound since 2015 – part of which he spent with the Athletics. Brooks tossed 51 innings of 6.71 ERA ball with Oakland that year after it acquired him (and Sean Manaea) from the Royals in a trade for Ben Zobrist.

More recently, Brooks did solid work with the Brewers’ Triple-A affiliate in 2018. Despite having to pitch in hitter-friendly Colorado Springs, Brooks managed a 3.35 ERA/4.14 FIP with 6.7 K/9, 2.54 BB/9 and a 55.1 percent groundball rate over 99 1/3 innings (26 appearances, 15 starts).

Coulombe, who has been with the Athletics since they acquired him from the Dodgers in 2015, has been fairly effective in the majors. Over 143 1/3 career innings, including 139 with the A’s, Coulombe has held same-handed hitters to a .234/.304/.327 batting line and pitched to a 4.27 ERA/4.09 FIP, also notching 8.41 K/9, 3.83 BB/9 and an excellent 56.8 percent groundball rate. But major league lefties have teed off on Coulombe this season, as the the 28-year-old has yielded a .317/.364/.512 line in 23 2/3 frames. Coulombe has also registered a subpar 4.56 ERA/5.10 FIP and a 4.18 BB/9, though he has averaged nearly 10 strikeouts per nine and recorded a 51.7 percent grounder rate.

Quick Hits: Buxton, Upton, Nationals, A’s

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The Twins won’t be recalling Byron Buxton to the Major League roster, a decision that puts the team in line to gain an extra year of control over the young outfielder.  The situation has already created controversy, and there seems to be at least a chance that Buxton and his representatives at Jet Sports Management could look into filing a grievance with the league.  In a statement to The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal (subscription required), agency owner B.B. Abbott said “We will examine this against the rights provided to all players under the CBA.  Until then, we will let Twins fans form their own opinions about this decision.”  MLBPA executive director Tony Clark also commented on Buxton, saying that the union “will review all options with Byron and his representatives.”

Minnesota GM Thad Levine did mention that the team was aware of Buxton’s service time circumstances, and Rosenthal is skeptical about the three larger factors (concerns about the wrist injury that sent Buxton to the DL, a lack of room in the Twins outfield, and “a performance standpoint factor“) that Levine cited as the chief reasons for Buxton remaining in Triple-A.  Buxton has not only been healthy enough to play regularly in Triple-A, Rosenthal observes, but the outfielder has also been hitting quite well in recent games.  Rosenthal wonders if the Twins’ desire to retain Buxton for an extra season will cost them in the long run, as Buxton may now be soured on signing a longer-term extension to remain in Minnesota beyond 2022.

Here’s more from around baseball on this Labor Day weekend…

  • Justin Upton suffered a concussion while avoiding a collision with Angels teammate Andrelton Simmons during Saturday’s game, the outfielder told MLB.com’s Maria Guardado and other reporters.  Upton came out of the game and didn’t play on Sunday, as he’ll be out of action until his symptoms fully subside.  Upton’s first full season in a Halos uniform has been an impressive one, as the 31-year-old has 26 homers and a .265/.349/.467 slash line over 533 plate appearances.
  • The Nationals will activate right-hander Erick Fedde from the 60-day DL to start Tuesday’s game, Mark Zuckerman of MASNsports.com writes.  Fedde has been sidelined with inflammation in his throwing shoulder, the latest in a series of injuries that has set back his young career.  Fedde has only 43 1/3 Major League innings to his name over 2017-18, though he’ll get a chance at showcasing himself in September.  As Zuckerman notes, the Nationals may use Gio Gonzalez’s former rotation spot to give starts to multiple young arms, including Fedde and possibly Joe Ross, who is on track to make his return from Tommy John surgery sometime this month.
  • With the Athletics rolling, John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle wonders why the team hasn’t extended manager Bob Melvin, who is only under contract through the 2019 season.  Failing to keep Melvin (or, for that matter, baseball operations head Billy Beane and GM David Forst) from “lame-duck status” in the final year of their deals threatens to undermine the progress that the A’s have made this season, Shea opines.  Back in June, the Chronicle’s Susan Slusser reported that there some belief that the team’s upper management wouldn’t retain Beane, Forst, and/or Melvin beyond the end of their current contracts.  If this was ownership’s plan, however, one wonders if things have changed in the wake of the Athletics’ hot streak and return to contention.

September Call-Ups: 9/1/18

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A few call-ups were announced yesterday, but we’re likely to see far more prospect promotions and even contract selections take place today as rosters expand. We’ll use this post to keep track of those moves…

  • The Marlins selected the contract of righty starter Jeff Brigham today; he’ll be among those playing in the majors for the first time ever. Brigham’s solid 3.44 ERA in Triple-A this season is muddied a bit by his 4.45 FIP, but he’s maintained solid ratios. Brigham’s 8.25 K/9 and brilliant 2.24 BB/9 give him a solid 3.69 K/BB ratio that probably looks quite nice to a Marlins club that’s hurting for serviceable major league starters. Miami has also recalled right-handers Sandy Alcantara and Nick Wittgren along with catcher Chad Wallach.
  • The Athletics selected several contracts today, including that of catching prospect Beau Taylor. The lefty-hitting backstop has never played in the majors, but he’s done well for himself at the Triple-A level this season by drawing walks in 14% of his plate appearances while hitting .248. He’s even chipped in a pair of stolen bases. The biggest knock on Taylor is his lack of power; the 28-year-old owns a sub-.100 ISO and has never hit more than eight homers in a given season. Other contracts selected by the Astros today include those of lefty Dean Kiekhefer and righties Chris Hatcher and Liam Hendriks. The A’s recalled lefty Daniel Coulombe and shortstop Franklin Barreto as well.  
  • The Indians selected the contract of right-hander Jon Edwards today, who hasn’t pitched in the major leagues since 2015. The 30-year-old Edwards has done well for himself in the Tribe’s minor league system in 2018, though, racking up 56 strikeouts in just 39 1/3 innings while pitching to a 3.64 ERA. Though he’s exhibited extreme control issues in the past, his 2.70 BB/9 in 30 innings with Triple-A Columbus suggests there’s a possibility he’s put those problems behind him. The Tribe promoted catcher Eric Haase to the majors alongside him.

Earlier…

  • The Mariners have selected the contract of Justin Grimm among their September moves, whom they signed to a minor league contract on July 25th. Grimm’s been plagued by shoulder and back issues all season and struggled to a cataclysmic 13.50 ERA in 12 2/3 innings for the Royals earlier this season, which led to his release early on in the summer. With the Mariners’ Triple-A affiliate, though, he’s put up a pristine 1.64 ERA and an even more impressive 13.91 K/9 mark. In addition to Grimm, Seattle also selected the contract of Kristopher Negron, and recalled right-handers Chasen Bradford and Ryan Cook, lefty James Pazos, catcher David Freitas.
  • The Nationals have selected the contract of right-hander Austen Williams, who’ll be getting his first MLB cup of coffee this September. He’s been quite impressive in the upper minors this season, including a 0.55 ERA in 16 1/3 innings at the Triple-A level. That’s backed up by excellent peripherals, including 20 strikeouts against just four walks. Williams had pitched exclusively as a starter until this season, and it appears a transition to a relief role has catapulted him to a status as an incredibly intriguing talent. The Nats also recalled catcher Pedro Severino to fill in while Wieters is dealing with a hip/groin injury (per Jamal Collier of MLB.com).
  • The White Sox promoted Caleb Frare to get his first taste of the bigs; as James Fegan of The Athletic points out, he needed to be added to the 40-man roster in order to be protected from the coming winter’s Rule 5 Draft. They’ve good reason to do so, as the lefty reliever has thrived with the organization ever since being acquired from the Yankees a month ago in exchange for $1.5MM in international bonus pool funds. He’s put up fantastic numbers in 12 2/3 innings at Triple-A Charlotte, including a 0.71 ERA and 13.50 K/9. Aaron Bummer will join him as the other White Sox player to receive a September promotion so far.
  • The Royals have selected the contract of catcher Meibrys Viloria to account for the hole left by Drew Butera, who was traded to the Rockies yesterday. Fascinatingly, Kansas City decided to promote the 21-year-old Columbia native even though he’s never played above the High-A level. He’s done just fine there, though, batting .260/.342/.360 in 407 plate appearances over the course of 2018. Viriola is expected to maje his MLB debut as early as this week while mainstay catcher Salvador Perez deals with a sprained thumb.
  • After a short stay in the minors, righty reliever Ray Black is back up with the Giants. He’s had a poor showing in the majors so far, allowing ten earned runs in 15 1/3 innings. He did manage to strike out 22 batters in that span, though, and owns a 2.11 FIP in 25 2/3 innings at Triple-A this season. His blistering 16.13 K/9 at that level perhaps speaks to his potential even more.
  • The Cardinals recalled catcher Carson Kelly today, who’s widely considered to be the club’s catcher of the future once Yadier Molina’s contract is complete. However, he’s yet to prove his worth at the major-league level, as evidenced by his .150/.216/.187 batting line across 118 MLB plate appearances. The Redbirds have also called up lefty Tyler Webb and righty Daniel Poncedeleon.
  • The Phillies have opted to recall outfielder Aaron Altherr, who’d largely been a fixture in the club’s major-league outfield for the past two seasons prior to a late-July demotion. While his 13.3% walk rate so far this season was downright fantastic, that was about the only aspect of Altherr’s performance to be happy about; he was striking out at a 32.7% clip while hitting just .171 and slugging just .305. Philadelphia also added outfielder Dylan Cozens and righty reliever Yacksel Rios to their active roster.
  • The Yankees are set to give right-hander Stephen Tarpley his first taste of major-league action after selecting his contract earlier today. Tarpley is quite an interesting arm-he’s been utilized as a multi-inning reliever at two levels of the minors this year, and to great effect. Most recently, he’s pitched to a 2.65 ERA and 10.06 K/9 across 17 appearances spanning 34 innings at Triple-A Scranton-Wilkes Barre. Infielder Tyler Wade and right-hander Luis Cessa will also join the MLB club as rosters expand.
  • The Mets will give righty Eric Hanhold his first taste of major-league action, MLBTR has learned. Acquired in the 2017 trade that sent Neil Walker to the Brewers, Hanhold has apparently been quite unlucky to own his 7.11 ERA at Triple-A this season. Rather, his 3.43 FIP in 19 innings at that level produces some level of optimism that he can serve as a quality reliever in the majors. A .429 BABIP and 2.86 K/BB ratio further strengthen that case.
  • The Reds are set to give shortstop prospect Blake Trahan a September call-up, as C. Trent Rosencrans of The Athletic was among those to tweet. Trahan came to the Reds by way of the club’s third-round draft pick back in 2015. He did not rank amongst MLB Pipeline’s top 30 Reds prospects in the publication’s most recent rankings, though Fangraphs ranks him 24th in that regard thanks to a 55 speed tool and a 60-grade arm. He’s also likely to be a league-average shortstop. That’s about all there is to like about Trahan at present, as he’s only hit .245/.327/.302 at the minors’ highest level.
  • The Reds have also recalled Lucas Sims, who arrived in Cincinnati just prior to the non-waiver trade deadline as part of the package in exchange for sending Adam Duvall to Atlanta. Sims owns a 5.96 ERA and 7.15 K/9 in a Braves uniform, but his minors track record indicates he might have better days yet to come; the righty has managed to strike out at least ten batters per nine innings at every level of the minors post-Rookie ball, and has a sub-4.00 MiLB ERA in each of the past two seasons.
  • The Twins will promote right-hander Zach Littell, according to Darren Wolfson of KSTP. Littell has but 3 1/3 innings of MLB experience, during which time he allowed seven earned runs with one strikeout en route to a demotion. His 3.57 ERA at Triple-A this season is far more palatable, albeit unspectacular.
  • The Twins also announced that they’ve selected the contract of left-hander Andrew Vasquez, who’ll be receiving his first cup of coffee after pitching to a sub-1.50 ERA out of minor-league bullpens across the past three seasons combined. They’ve also selected catcher Chris Gimenez in addition to recalling outfielder Johnny Field and right-hander Tyler Duffey.
  • The Red Sox have officially recalled five players, including first base/outfield type Sam Travis. After serving as a somewhat serviceable piece in 2017 (.263/.325/.342 batting line), Travis has struggled in limited major-league action this year to the tune of a 45 wRC+ and -0.1 fWAR. Boston has also promoted left-handers Bobby Poyner and Robby Scott, as well as right-hander William Cuevas and infielder Tzu-Wei Lin.
  • The Tigers have recalled right-hander Sandy Baez from Double-A Erie, per a club announcement. Baez made his major-league debut back on June 4th, entering the game in relief during a double-header. He didn’t allow any runs in 4 1/3 innings, though he did walk three batters in that appearance. Aside from that, Baez has never pitched above Double-A, and owns a troublesome 5.64 ERA there on the 2018 season, in part due to command issues.

A’s Designate Bruce Maxwell, Outright Josh Lucas/Boog Powell

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The Athletics announced an avalanche of September 1st roster moves. The club has designated catcher Bruce Maxwell for assignment. Meanwhile, righty Josh Lucas and outfielder Boog Powell have cleared waivers and have been outrighted to Triple-A. Kendall Graveman was also recalled in order to be placed on the 60-day disabled list. Those four moves made room for the four contracts the A’s selected today; left-hander Dean Keikhefer, right-handers Chris Hatcher and Liam Hendriks, and catcher Beau Taylor, who will be making his first appearance in the major leagues.

Maxwell is probably the most notable player on this list, though certainly more for his non-baseball publicity than any actual merit in his gameplay. The backstop was the first baseball player to join the police brutality protests during the national anthem, a movement that had then been mainly held to NFL circles. More recently, Maxwell was arrested on charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, and disorderly conduct. On the field, he owns a .240/.314/.347 batting line with five homers and a 24.3% strikeout rate.

Lucas, meanwhile, has had a wretched showing with the Athletics at the MLB level. The 27-year-old righty owns a 6.28 ERA across 14 1/3 innings with Oakland, thanks in part to a troublesome 5.65 BB/9. Even in the minors, he’s pitched to a 2.63 ERA but a much less attractive 4.17 FIP while exhibiting the same sort of walk issues. Prior to this season, Lucas had spent the entirety of his career in the Cardinals organization; he was traded to the A’s in exchange for fellow minor-league hurler Casey Meisner.

The 25-year-old Powell hasn’t given the A’s much to be excited about this year, either. He had an excellent showing across 92 plate appearances with Oakland in 2017, when he batted .321/.380/.494 with a trio of homers and average center field defense, but this year has been an entirely different story. Powell’s wRC+ on the year sits at just 28, and his wOBA is an equally poor .211. That’s the result of just four hits (two for extra bases) across 25 MLB plate appearances. Overall, Fangraphs rates his 2018 performance at 0.3 wins below replacement level.

August 31st Trade Deadline Recap

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A flurry of activity came yesterday in advance of the deadline to acquire postseason-eligible players via trade. In case you weren’t able to keep track of it all, here’s a roundup of the swaps made by MLB organizations on August 31st, 2018, sorted by the team on the acquiring end of the major-leaguer involved.

AL West

AL Central

  • The Indians acquired Josh Donaldson from the Blue Jays. Toronto will send $2.7MM to Cleveland as well, and they’ll get back a player to be named later, the quality of which will be dependent upon how Donaldson’s health situation progresses.

AL East

  • The Yankees took Adeiny Hechavarria off the Pirates’ hands in exchange for a player to be named later or cash considerations. It’s not yet known how much cash the Bucs will chip in to help pay the ~$1MM still owed to Hechavarria.
  • The Yankees also pried Andrew McCutchen from the Giants. San Francisco gets infield prospect Abiatal Avelino and right-handed pitching prospect Juan De Paula.

NL West

NL Central

NL East

  • (No trades)

Athletics Acquire Cory Gearrin From Rangers

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The Rangers announced that they’ve traded right-hander Cory Gearrin to the Athletics in exchange for minor league right-handers Abdiel Mendoza and Teodoro Ortega. Oakland also announced the move, adding that righty Paul Blackburn will go from the 10-day DL to the 60-day DL to clear 40-man roster space.

Gearrin, 32, had spent the past several seasons in the bay area with the cross-town Giants. But he landed with the Rangers after being included in a mid-season move in which the San Francisco organization shed some salary obligations, including the remainder of Gearrin’s $1.675MM salary.

The remainder of that money will now be paid by the A’s, who have added several bullpen pieces over the course of the summer as they have flown up the standings. The Oakland ballclub currently sits 2.5 games back of the division-leading Astros, but still has time to make up that ground and also enjoys a healthy 4.5 game pad over the Mariners for the final Wild Card spot.

Gearrin will not only help the A’s by bolstering their middle-relief mix, but will perhaps also help reduce the load on several of the team’s other bullpen arms down the stretch. He has never really functioned as a late-inning arm, but that’s not really something the Oakland organization is much in need of at the moment.

[Related: Oakland Athletics depth chart]

Since landing with the Rangers, Gearrin has turned in 21 1/3 effective innings. He carries a 2.53 ERA in that span, leaving him with a 3.51 mark on the season, and has been more effective at limiting the long balls that plagued him earlier in the year in San Francisco. At times in the past, Gearrin has produced quite a few groundballs, but he’s getting them on less than forty percent of the balls put in play against him in 2018.

While this move is no doubt mostly intended to boost the team’s immediate outlook the A’s will also gain some potential future considerations in the swap. Gearrin can be controlled for one final season via arbitration.

On the other side of the bargain, the Rangers will lose the chance to hang onto Gearrin at a fairly cheap rate for 2019. Instead, they’ll pick up a pair of lower-level arms. Mendoza, who’ll soon turn 20, owns a 3.32 ERA with 6.5 K/9 and 3.5 BB/9 in 57 innings at the low-A level. Ortega is just 18 and is in his first professional season in the Dominican Summer League. He impressed there, however, with a 2.11 ERA and 10.1 K/9 against 2.3 BB/9 over his 42 2/3 frames, which have come over six starts and eight relief appearances.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Latest On Athletics’ Rotation

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The Athletics have lost a pair of rotation pieces in the past three days, placing lefties Sean Manaea (3.59 ERA, 160 2/3 innings) and Brett Anderson (4.02 ERA, 65 innings) on the disabled list due to a shoulder injury and a forearm strain, respectively. Since being placed on the DL on Sunday, Manaea has been determined to be suffering from tendinitis in his rotator cuff, manager Bob Melvin told reporters today (Twitter links via Jane Lee of MLB.com). He’s been shut down from throwing, and the A’s aren’t certain yet whether he’ll pitch again in 2018. Meanwhile, Anderson is set to undergo additional testing to evaluate his injury.

However, despite that pair of notable losses, the A’s aren’t likely to make a trade for a starter in advance of Friday’s deadline for postseason eligibility, tweets Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. If there was any doubt based on that report, Oakland general manager David Forst went on record with Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle and, while he didn’t expressly rule out an addition, he characterized any such move as decidedly unlikely.

“We said when got Mike Fiers and Fernando Rodney how lucky we were that guys like that were available and we were able to make the deals,” said Forst. “And I don’t know if there is anything available outside the organization that can help us at this time.”

A look at the list of players known to have cleared revocable trade waivers reveals names such as Gio Gonzalez, Alex Cobb, Andrew Cashner, Francisco Liriano and Jordan Zimmermann as options to be freely traded. All five of those hurlers have under-performed to varying extents in 2018, and Cobb, Casnher and Zimmermann each come with undesirable contractual obligations beyond the current season. It’s possible, of course, that other arms have cleared or are currently on revocable trade waivers, but it doesn’t sound as though Forst and the A’s are keen on adding from outside the organization based on what’s currently available.

Internal options are the preferred route, it seems, but Forst made clear that top prospect Jesus Luzardo won’t be called upon to step into the starting mix. The 20-year-old Luzardo is among the game’s most highly regarded prospects, but he’s two and a half years removed from Tommy John surgery (March 2016) and has already seen an increase from 43 1/3 innings in 2017 to 109 1/3 innings in 2018. He’s made a rapid ascent to Triple-A, but his workload and importance to the Athletics’ long-term outlook are both understandable reasons for the Oakland brass to have some trepidation when weighing a potential promotion for Luzardo.

Forst indicated to Slusser that expanded September rosters could allow the A’s to utilize a bullpen-heavy approach to patching together the pitching staff. The Rays have already aggressively employed a bullpen-forward tactic in 2018, using relievers as “openers” and frequently leaning on bullpen days in lieu of a more traditional starting rotation. Such an arrangement is one of multiple approaches the A’s could contemplate when plotting out the remainder of the season. Relievers Yusmeiro Petit, Lou Trivino and Emilio Pagan are already accustomed to recording more than three outs per appearance.

[Related: Oakland Athletics depth chart]

For the time being, Oakland will plug right-handers Frankie Montas and Daniel Mengden into a starting staff that also includes Fiers, Trevor Cahill and Edwin Jackson. Chris Bassitt is the lone remaining healthy option on the 40-man roster, as the Athletics’ depth has been ravaged by injuries in 2018. Right-handers Kendall Graveman, Daniel Gossett and Jharel Cotton have all undergone Tommy John surgery, as has top left-handed pitching prospect A.J. Puk. Meanwhile, Andrew Triggs is on the 60-day DL due to a nerve injury, while Paul Blackburn has missed the past month-plus due to elbow issues.

Athletics Place Brett Anderson On 10-Day DL

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The Athletics’ recent pitching injury woes continue, as the club announced today that lefty Brett Anderson has been placed on the 10-day disabled list with a forearm strain. He joins fellow southpaw starter Sean Manaea on the shelf at an inopportune moment.

Oakland has turned in a remarkable surge, in no small part due to the unexpected contributions of several veteran hurlers. Anderson has certainly been among them, turning in 65 innings of 4.02 ERA pitching over 13 starts while earning just $1.5MM on the year.

The outlook for the lefty isn’t clear, but it’s always worrisome to hear of forearm problems. Anderson’s health history certainly doesn’t leave much room for optimism, though his back — not his arm — has typically been the culprit.

For the time being, righty Ryan Dull will come up to take the open spot on the roster. But the Athletics now seem to have an innings gap that will somehow need to be filled. Daniel Mengden is perhaps the top internal option, with Frankie Monts and Chris Bassitt also representing 40-man possibilities, but there are still a few days left to look outside the organization.

AL West Notes: Tillman, Rodney, Ohtani, Diaz, Gonzales

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Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram runs through some potential September call-ups for the Rangers, listing outfielder Scott Heineman, left-hander Brady Feigl and veteran right-hander Chris Tillman as potential options who are not on the 40-man roster. Per Wilson, the Rangers are intrigued by Tillman as a potential piece for the 2019 rotation, and a September call-up would serve as an audition of sorts. Tillman hasn’t had any big league success since 2016 and has missed time with a groin injury since signing a minor league deal with the Rangers. However, he has a fairly lengthy MLB track record, and the Rangers are thin on upper-level pitching depth. At the very least, Tillman could be a candidate to head to Spring Training as a non-roster invitee in 2019, though perhaps with a strong September showing the team would consider a guaranteed deal.

Here’s more from the AL West…

  • Fernando Rodney doesn’t know what the Athletics’ plans for him are as pertains to the 2019 season, but the league’s leading arrow-shooter made clear to Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle last week that he has every intention of playing. Whether the A’s exercise a $4.25MM club option on Rodney remains to be seen, but the 41-year-old right-hander has certainly given his new team plenty of reason to consider retaining him. Rodney has fired off eight scoreless innings with a 7-to-2 K/BB ratio since being acquired in exchange for young righty Dakota Chalmers earlier this month. As Slusser notes, he’s four saves shy of Francisco Cordero’s all-time record for a Dominican-born player. Rodney is keenly aware of that fact, acknowledging that he’d hoped to set the record with the Twins and still has his sights set on doing so in the future.
  • Angels pitcher/DH Shohei Ohtani seems to be champing at the bit to make his next major-league start after a long layoff following the diagnosis of a UCL sprain. As Jeff Fletcher of the Southern California News Group reports on Twitter, the prized 24-year-old feels he’s ready to go after throwing fifty pitches today in a simulated game. While skipper Mike Scioscia indicated that Ohtani’s stuff is crisp, the club is surely prioritizing the long-term in deciding how to proceed. This campaign won’t end in a postseason appearance, after all, and Ohtani’s right arm is of critical importance to the Halos’ hopes in 2019 and beyond.
  • Corey Brock of The Athletic takes a look at the rise of Edwin Diaz to one of the game’s elite closers (subscription required). Mariners GM Jerry Dipoto, manager Scott Servais, bullpen coach Brian DeLunas and first base coach Chris Prieto are among those to weigh in on Diaz’s ascension from a prospect who never appeared on a major Top 100 list to the second-fastest player ever to reach 100 big league saves. As Dipoto recalls, there was a fair bit of internal debate in his first offseason as GM with the team about whether to develop Diaz as a starter or a reliever. It was eventually decided to see how Diaz’s stuff would play in shorter stints and, if things didn’t go well, to then transition him back to the Majors. Diaz uncorked a 101 mph fastball on his first pitch out of the Double-A bullpen, per Dipoto, and the right-hander’s ensuing dominance made the organization’s decision fairly straightforward. Brock also chats with Astros manager A.J. Hinch and a few of Diaz’s teammates about his emergence as one of the game’s premier relievers.
  • In other Seattle pitching news, the Mariners have placed southpaw Marco Gonzales on the 10-day DL with a cervical neck muscle strain, per a club announcement. He’ll be replaced on the active roster by outfielder Guillermo Heredia. As Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times writes, it’s still not clear how the M’s will address the newly opened rotation hole. While it’s possible southpaw James Paxton will be ready to go in time to take the ball on Wednesday, when Gonzales had been scheduled to start, that would mean moving up his schedule. It’s certainly not an optimal situation for a Seattle club that is trying to catch up to the division-leading Astros and Athletics. Gonzales entered the month of August with a strong 3.37 ERA, but has faded of late. He coughed up eight earned runs in just three innings in his most recent start and has seen his earned-run average climb all the way to 4.32. It has been a compelling season for the 26-year-old, regardless, but as Divish explains the southpaw may be wearing down now that he has reached 145 2/3 frames on the year — a significant workload for a pitcher who has been limited by injuries for most of the past three campaigns.
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