Athletics Prospect A.J. Puk Recommended For Tommy John Surgery
8:34PM: As per a statement released by the A’s, Dr. James Andrews has recommended that Puk undergo Tommy John surgery to correct UCL damage in his throwing elbow. Andrews provided the second opinion after Dr. Doug Freedberg made an initial diagnosis. The procedure would put Puk out of action for an estimated 12-15 months, and it seems likely that Oakland would err on the longer side of that timeline for precautionary reasons.
6:28PM: A’s manager Bob Melvin confirmed that Puk is getting a second opinion but didn’t provide details on the specifics of the injury, MLB.com’s Jane Lee tweets.
5:45PM: Athletics left-handed pitching prospect A.J. Puk was shut down last week due to biceps soreness, and now there are concerns that Puk may have a ligament problem in his throwing elbow, according to FanRag Sports’ Jon Heyman. Puk “was thought to be” looking for second opinions after initial meetings with doctors since his shutdown, which would hint at a larger issue. Another possible ominous sign, as noted by Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle (Twitter link), is that the A’s themselves have yet to go on record about Puk’s injury, not even to confirm the initial diagnosis.
The worst-case scenario for ligament issues, of course, would be Tommy John surgery, which would sideline Puk until midway through the 2019 season. The A’s have already lost Jharel Cotton to TJ surgery this spring and Paul Blackburn has also been sidelined with a forearm strain, though Puk going on the shelf would represent a big setback for both the club and for one of the game’s best prospects.
Puk entered the spring as the consensus pick as Oakland’s top minor leaguer, with ESPN.com’s Keith Law ranking the southpaw 13th on his list of the top 100 prospects in baseball. (Baseball America, Baseball Prospectus, and Fangraphs all had Puk 30th, while MLB.com ranked him just behind at 32nd on their top-100 lists.) Puk only added to his stature with a strong showing in Oakland’s spring camp, though a rough performance in his final appearance led to the shutdown, and Heyman observes that Puk’s velocity had dropped over his last two outings.
Drafted sixth overall in 2016, Puk had already reached Double-A last season and it was expected he would make his MLB debut at some point this season. After his good start in spring camp, there was even some chatter that the A’s would give him an aggressive promotion right to the big leagues, though obviously now the team will be as careful in possible in getting Puk back onto a mound at all, if possible.
Offseason In Review: Oakland Athletics
This is the latest entry in MLBTR’s 2017-18 Offseason In Review series. Click here to read the other completed reviews from around the league.
After posting their third straight sub-.500 campaign in 2017, which they opened with a paltry $81MM-plus payroll, the Athletics will start the new season with an even lower outlay. They’re set to check in at around $70MM, the cheapest total in the majors and the franchise’s lowest since 2013, and the MLBPA has taken notice. The union filed a grievance against the A’s and three other small-spending, revenue sharing recipients last month, though nothing has come of it to this point. Having been atop the A’s baseball department since 1998, executive vice president Billy Beane has grown accustomed to Oakland’s relative lack of financial resources. And in spite of the A’s inability to throw money around, the on-field product seems to be on the upswing, thanks in part to the winter efforts of Beane and general manager David Forst.
Major League Signings
- Yusmeiro Petit, RP: two years, $10MM
- Jonathan Lucroy, C: one year, $6.5MM
- Trevor Cahill, RHP: one year, $1.5MM
- Total spend: $18MM
Trades And Claims
- Acquired OF Stephen Piscotty from the Cardinals for IFs Yairo Munoz and Max Schrock
- Acquired RP Ryan Buchter, 1B/DH Brandon Moss (since released) and $3.25MM in cash for RHPs Jesse Hahn and Heath Fillmyer
- Acquired RP Emilio Pagan and IF Alexander Campos from the Mariners for 1B Ryon Healy
- Acquired C Jonah Heim from the Rays for IF Joey Wendle
- Acquired RHP Jake Bray from the Orioles for OF Jaycob Brugman
- Acquired OF Ramon Laureano from the Astros for RHP Brandon Bailey
- Claimed LHP Jairo Labourt from the Reds (the A’s later released Labourt)
Option Decisions
- Exercised IF Jed Lowrie‘s one-year, $6MM option
Notable Minor League Signings
- Brett Anderson, Slade Heathcott, Simon Castro, Steve Lombardozzi, Eric Jokisch, Jarret Martin, Anthony Garcia, Nick Martini
Notable Losses
- Hahn, Healy, Wendle, Josh Smith, Michael Brady, Chris Smith
Athletics Depth Chart; Athletics Payroll Information
Needs Addressed
At a combined $11.5MM, three free-agent signings will take up a decent chunk of Oakland’s season-opening payroll. The most noteworthy member of the group, catcher Jonathan Lucroy, didn’t ink a deal until March 12, making him one of the prominent victims of a famously slow-developing free-agent market. MLBTR predicted a two-year, $24MM contract for Lucroy at the outset of the offseason, but interest in the two-time All-Star was scarce after he he underwhelmed between Texas and Colorado in 2017.
The 31-year-old Lucroy is coming off the worst offensive season of his accomplished career, having hit .265/.345/.371 (82 wRC+) in 481 plate appearances, even though he racked up nearly as many unintentional walks (46) as strikeouts (51). He experienced a power outage that overshadowed his impressive strikeout-avoiding abilities, largely because while others around the game have worked to hit more fly balls, Lucroy went in the opposite direction. Lucroy hit grounders at a 53.5 percent rate (the 10th-highest mark in the sport), a massive increase over the 41.1 percent figure he put up from 2010-16. Moreover, the once-pristine pitch-framing grades he used to earn on the defensive side continued to drop off to an alarming extent, as this table from FanGraphs’ Jeff Sullivan indicates.
When you add those factors up, it’s no wonder Lucroy went four-plus months without a job. At the same time, though, he’s not far removed from a 2016 campaign in which he accounted for an excellent 4.6 fWAR, and Steamer is projecting 2.9 fWAR in 2018. ZiPS offers a far less enthusiastic forecast (1.9), meanwhile, but that would still be a palatable outcome for an A’s team that paid relatively little for Lucroy and isn’t tied to him for the long haul. And with the Bruce Maxwell–Josh Phegley tandem not inspiring much confidence, Oakland looked like a logical fit for Lucroy in the months before it signed him – especially given that Maxwell is in legal trouble as a result of an early offseason arrest for a gun charge.
Shortly after they reeled in Lucroy, the A’s reunited with someone who figures to pitch to him this year, righty Trevor Cahill, whose signing came in response to starter Jharel Cotton‘s season-ending injury. The 30-year-old Cahill had some of the top years of his career as a full-time starter in Oakland from 2009-11, but he has since shifted between teams’ rotations and bullpens to mixed results.
Most recently, Cahill struggled across 21 appearances (14 starts) with the Padres and Royals last year, when he pitched to a 4.93 ERA/5.28 FIP with an untenable walk rate (4.82 BB/9). Injuries were a major problem in 2017 for Cahill, who went on the disabled list three times because of shoulder and back issues. It’s hard to expect much from Cahill in 2018 (judging by his salary, the A’s agree). Because Cahill’s not stretched out enough to begin the year as a major league starter, he’ll open as depth – something the A’s need in the wake of the Cotton news, not to mention top prospect A.J. Puk‘s biceps soreness and Paul Blackburn‘s forearm strain.
Months before the Lucroy and Cahill signings, the A’s struck early in free agency when they committed a two-year, $10MM guarantee to workhorse reliever Yusmeiro Petit, who stood out with the division-rival Angels last season. Petit has been quietly superb at times since breaking out with the Giants in 2013, and that was especially true in 2017. The 33-year-old led all relievers in innings (87 1/3, excluding the four he picked up as a starter) and registered 1.9 fWAR out of the bullpen (tied with ex-Athletic Ryan Madson for 13th best in the league). Along the way, he managed a 2.76 ERA/2.85 FIP and appealing strikeout and walk rates (9.95 K/9, 1.77 BB/9).
Going forward, it would be overly optimistic to expect the soft-tossing Petit to be nearly that good again. He was subpar as recently as 2016, after all, and isn’t the darling of projection systems heading into the new year. As is the case with the Lucroy and Cahill additions, though, the price tag is low enough that Petit won’t exactly have to turn in an elite-caliber season to justify the signing. The hope is that he’ll be at least perform with reasonable effectiveness while continuing to eat innings, thus aiding an unspectacular-looking starting staff.
Joining Cahill and Petit in the A’s new-look bullpen will be two trade acquisitions, righty Emilio Pagan and lefty Ryan Buchter. The A’s got Pagan from the division-rival Mariners as part of a deal involving first baseman/former third baseman Ryon Healy, who shouldn’t be all that tough for Oakland to replace. Healy is young (26), cheap and had a memorable debut in 2016, but a lack of walks (4.1 percent) and a high batting average on balls in play (.352) made the .305/.337/.524 line he enjoyed in 283 PAs as a rookie hard to fully buy into. It wasn’t surprising that Healy came back to earth over 605 PAs last year (he batted a league-average .271/.302/.451), when his walk problem got even worse (3.8 percent) and his BABIP was a more normal-looking .319.
With third baseman Matt Chapman and first baseman Matt Olson having exploded on the scene in 2017, not to mention the presence of big-hitting DH Khris Davis, there was no clear path to at-bats in Oakland anymore for Healy. Consequently, Beane and Forst turned him into Pagan (also 26), who experienced his first MLB action last season and opened eyes in the process. After compiling consistently good numbers in the minors from 2013-17, Pagan came up and gave the Mariners quality production (3.22 ERA/3.28 FIP, 10.01 K/9, 1.43 BB/9 in 50 1/3 innings). Like Petit, Pagan seems to be capable of working more than your typical reliever, having gotten three or more outs in 13 of 34 appearances in 2017.
Buchter is also a reliable source of frames, as the 31-year-old collected 63 or more in each of his first two seasons. The former Padre and Royal has been steady overall, evidenced by a 2.85 ERA/3.82 FIP and 10.02 K/9 against 4.04 BB/9. Buchter has also been roughly as effective versus same-sided hitters (.249 wOBA against) and righties (.271), meaning he’s not just a lefty specialist. So, at the cost of the now-gone Brandon Moss (whom the A’s are paying $5MM through next season to not play for them), the up-and-down Jesse Hahn and decent pitching prospect Heath Fillmyer, the A’s seemingly did well to land Buchter’s four years of affordable control.
On the negative side, it’s worth noting that Buchter managed a horrid grounder percentage in 2017 (32.9), as did Petit (32.9) and Pagan (22.3). It’s anyone’s guess whether they’ll be able to continue limiting home runs this year, then, after they each allowed HRs at rates of 11 percent or less last season. If there’s an obvious reason for hope on that front, it’s that all three have helped cancel out their lack of grounders by inducing lots of infield pop-ups. Buchter has a 16.5 percent infield fly rate for his career, while Petit was at 18.6 last season and Pagan 12.2.
Buchter, Petit and Pagan will hope to keep tamping down dingers in 2018, but it’s the opposite for right fielder Stephen Piscotty, whom the A’s acquired from the Cardinals for infield prospects Max Schrock and Yairo Munoz in December. That came after the A’s flirted with acquiring the likes of Marcell Ozuna, Christian Yelich, Steven Souza Jr. and Adam Duvall. In the end, they emerged with Piscotty, who did cost them a couple interesting young players. Schrock is the Cardinals’ 10th-ranked prospect at MLB.com, and Munoz has already earned a roster spot in St. Louis.
It’s not hard to see why the A’s are bullish on Piscotty, who held his own from 2015-16 – a 905-PA span in which he slashed .282/.348/.467 (121 wRC+). Piscotty stumbled to .235/.342/.367 line (92 wRC+) in 401 PAs last season, but the 27-year-old was going through a hellish off-field situation in St. Louis, as his mother has been battling ALS back in Northern California. Now Piscotty – a Pleasanton, Calif., native – will be closer to her and have an opportunity to bounce back in a familiar setting. It should help his cause that the A’s park, the Oakland-Alameda Coliseum, was roughly middle of the pack in terms of HR friendless for right-handed hitters a year ago, whereas St. Louis’ Busch Stadium ranked among the most difficult venues for RH batters.
If Piscotty does revisit his 2015-16 form in his return home, he’ll be an absolute bargain on the extension the Cardinals gave him a year ago (he’s guaranteed roughly $30MM through 2023). At the very least, he should be a marked upgrade defensively over the right fielders Oakland trotted out last year. The A’s group was among the worst at the position then; meantime, Piscotty collected eight Defensive Runs Saved and paired that with a 1.7 Ultimate Zone Rating. All said, he has accounted for 12 DRS and a 4.1 UZR in 2,588 innings in right field since debuting in 2015.
AL West Notes: Jepsen, Mariners, Pagan, Bautista
Some rumblings from around the AL West…
- Veteran righty Kevin Jepsen has allowed only one run over 9 1/3 Spring Training innings, making him a strong bet to win a spot on the Rangers‘ Opening Day roster, MLB.com’s T.R. Sullivan writes. Jepsen didn’t pitch in the majors in 2017 after a terrible spring camp with the Diamondbacks that led to a temporary absence from the game, as Jepsen took a couple of months to rehab a dead arm. Once he felt healthy, he caught on with the Nationals on a minor league deal, though the biggest step in his turn-around came after a tip from catcher Spencer Kieboom allowed Jepsen to regain some of his old velocity. Jepsen was a very effective reliever as recently as 2015, so Texas may have found a much-needed bullpen reinforcement for the cost of a minor league contract.
- The Mariners thought so highly of Emilio Pagan as both a player and a person that GM Jerry Dipoto described the swap that sent Pagan and minor leaguer Alexander Campos to the Athletics for Ryon Healy as “probably the most painful trade we’ve made,” Dipoto tells Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle. “In a group that’s not unused to changing bodies, a lot of guys were crushed we traded Emilio. He’s an unbelievable guy, a tremendous human being, he does all the right things,” Dipoto said. Pagan made his MLB debut in 2017 and immediately became a key cog in Seattle’s bullpen, posting a 3.22 ERA over 50 1/3 innings and recording 56 strikeouts against just eight walks. Pagan has continued to hone his game this spring, telling Slusser that he has increased usage of his changeup and also been throwing more inside fastballs to hitters.
- Contrary to some reports out of Mexico, MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart reports (Twitter link) that the Astros aren’t signing Jose Bautista. Given the Astros’ loaded roster, there wouldn’t have seemed to be much of a spot for the veteran slugger, particularly since he is coming off a sub-replacement level season in 2017. There hasn’t been much in the way of concrete news about Bautista this winter, though the former Blue Jays slugger recently said he was still trying to find the best fit for he and his family amidst multiple Major League offers.
Paul Blackburn Has Right Forearm Strain
6:00pm: Blackburn will be shut down for ten days, says manager Bob Melvin (h/t Jane Lee of MLB.com).
4:18pm: The Athletics rotation has taken another blow, this time involving righty Paul Blackburn. He is dealing with a right forearm strain, as Jane Lee writes in a piece for MLB.com. It now seems all but certain that Blackburn will not be ready to join the staff to open the year. With the rotation already missing Jharel Cotton and recent signee Trevor Cahill not quite ready to go, that leaves Oakland with much less depth to begin the season than had been anticipated. Lee suggests that “by default”, the A’s early-season rotation is now set to consist of Kendall Graveman, Sean Manaea, Daniel Mengden, Andrew Triggs and Daniel Gossett.
The 24-year-old Blackburn made ten starts last season in his first taste of major-league action. While the righty pitched to a nice 3.22 ERA and a 56.3% ground ball rate, his 4.76 xFIP and shockingly low 3.38 K/9 left some question marks surrounding his capability to repeat that level of run-prevention.
Blackburn was a supplemental first round pick of the Cubs back during the 2012 draft. He came to the Athletics organization by way of a 2016 trade that sent Danny Valencia to the Mariners. Blackburn made his major-league debut on July 1st, 2017, when the righty allowed zero earned runs in six innings against the Braves.
Athletics Shut Down Top Prospect A.J. Puk With Biceps Soreness
The Athletics have shut down top pitching prospect A.J. Puk with biceps soreness, according to a report from Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle. At this point, the severity of the injury is not fully known, though indications are that the exciting young lefty will be able to return to the hill before too long.
Needless to say, any issues in that region of such a valuable arm are going to be dealt with quite cautiously. Per the report, Puk has already undergone an MRI that did not give cause for concern that there is “any major structural damage.” Still, biceps soreness is a symptom associated with potentially serious elbow issues and the club will want to be certain that the current problem is not exacerbated.
Puk was taken with the sixth overall selection in the 2016 draft and turned in a solid, 125-inning effort in 2017. Splitting his time between High-A and Double-A in his first full season as a professional, the 22-year-old ran up a 4.03 ERA with 13.2 K/9 and 3.5 BB/9.
Oakland had already determined that the high-powered southpaw would not crack the roster out of camp. But A’s fans were already no doubt looking forward to his arrival sooner than later after watching him spin over nine scoreless Cactus League innings this spring before he was finally touched in his last frame. There’s no particular reason to believe that Puk’s ultimate ascension will be slowed significantly, though perhaps now the Oakland organization will handle him with added care early in the 2018 season.
Athletics Agree To Terms With Brett Anderson
The Athletics have agreed to a contract with veteran lefty Brett Anderson, according to Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle. It’s a minors deal, but other terms are not yet known.
If the deal becomes official, Anderson will return to the place where he first broke into the majors back in 2009. He turned in strong efforts for Oakland for parts of five seasons, working to a cumulative 3.81 ERA over 450 2/3 innings. Of course, that only worked out to about ninety frames per season, as Anderson dealt with a variety of injuries.
Anderson has had his successes since leaving the A’s, as well. In particular, he turned in a strong effort in 2015 for the Dodgers, making over thirty starts for the first time since his rookie year and finishing with a 3.69 ERA over 180 1/3 frames. That earned Anderson a qualifying offer, which he accepted for the ensuing season.
Unfortunately, Anderson has been neither healthy nor effective since that point. The 2016 season was mostly lost to back surgery. And Anderson limped to a 6.34 ERA with 6.2 K/9 and 3.4 BB/9 in 55 1/3 innings last year after landing with the Cubs on a make-good contract.
There are still some signs of hope, however. Anderson is still just 30 years of age. Last year, he still managed fairly typical fastball velocity, posted an 8.8% swinging-strike rate that was the second highest of his career, and generated a typically solid 49.2% groundball rate. Anderson also may have suffered from some poor fortune with a .364 BABIP and 60.9% strand rate, though Statcast felt the results largely matched expectations based upon the quality of contact he surrendered.
Athletics To Sign Trevor Cahill
MONDAY: Cahill will earn $1.5MM, per Jon Heyman of Fan Rag (via Twitter).
SATURDAY: The Athletics have agreed to a one-year, major league contract, pending a physical, with right-hander Trevor Cahill, Jane Lee of MLB.com tweets. Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reported earlier Saturday that Oakland could target Cahill, a client of John Boggs & Associates.
With righty Jharel Cotton set to undergo Tommy John surgery and miss the entire season, the Athletics found themselves seeking starting depth on Saturday. Cahill will provide that, and he’ll attempt to grab a spot in an Oakland rotation that lacks certainty beyond Kendall Graveman and Sean Manaea. High-end prospect A.J. Puk seems unlikely to begin the year in the majors, leaving the A’s with Cahill, Paul Blackburn, Andrew Triggs, Daniel Mengden and Daniel Gossett vying for the final three spots in their rotation (depth chart).
This deal represents a homecoming for Cahill, a California native whom the Athletics chose in the second round of the 2006 draft and who began his career as an eminently effective starter for the club.
Cahill spent 2009-11 in Oakland, where he ate 583 innings and pitched to a solid 3.91 ERA, despite less-than-stellar strikeout and walk numbers (5.48 K/9, 3.35 BB/9). The A’s then shipped him to Arizona in a five-player, December 2011 trade that brought them righty Jarrod Parker, among others. Injuries have since ended Parker’s career, while Cahill has seen his effectiveness wane dating back to the end of his first Oakland stint.
The 30-year-old Cahill started 30-plus games and racked up between 178 2/3 and 207 2/3 innings in each of his first four seasons, but he hasn’t approached those figures since. He’s only a couple years removed from essentially working as a full-time reliever with both the Braves and Cubs, but he primarily functioned as a starter in 2017.
Across 21 appearances (14 starts) and 84 frames between San Diego and Kansas City, Cahill posted a 4.93 ERA/5.28 FIP and logged 9.32 K/9 against 4.82 BB/9. He also registered an impressive 55.6 percent groundball rate (right in line with his career mark of 55.1). Unfortunately, though, shoulder issues helped derail his season after the Royals acquired him in July. While Cahill managed outstanding numbers over 61 innings with the Padres (3.69 ERA, 10.6 K/9, 3.5 BB/9), he offset those by surrendering 21 earned runs on 33 hits and 21 walks, with 15 strikeouts, during his 23-frame Royals tenure.
Cahill was on the disabled list three times with shoulder and back problems during his two-team run in 2017, surely helping lead to his inability to find a job from November until now. The A’s, on the heels of the promising Cotton’s injury, are left to hope Cahill will more closely resemble the version who held his own with the Padres than the one who scuffled with the Royals.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
AL Notes: Rays, Cobb, Archer, Twins, Tigers, A’s
Even though right-hander Alex Cobb is still a free agent as the regular season closes in, there won’t be a reunion between him and the Rays, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times writes. Cobb’s not going to end up signing for a price the Rays deem palatable, Topkin suggests, even though he’s amid a highly disappointing trip to free agency after rejecting the team’s $17.4MM qualifying offer at the outset of the offseason. As they begin life without Cobb, the Rays are set to use a four-man rotation – something their top starter, Chris Archer, discussed with Travis Sawchik of FanGraphs. “The concept makes sense,” said Archer, who noted it’s particularly logical for low-payroll teams to have “four guys on the shuttle making $500,000 each,” as opposed to one player earning $2MM-plus. Although, Archer cautioned that it’s “hard to sustain” a bullpen-heavy plan over the course of a 162-game season. Archer’s also wary about how teams going to more of a bullpen approach could affect player development, as he explained to Sawchik, whose quote-filled piece is worth reading in full.
More from the AL:
- Twins infielder Erick Aybar will be able to ask for his release if the team doesn’t add him to its roster by Friday, Mike Berardino of the Pioneer Press reports (all Twitter links here). It’s unclear whether Aybar would accept a Triple-A assignment (the club hasn’t discussed it with him, per chief baseball officer Derek Falvey), but his chances of eventually landing a spot with the Twins may have improved Sunday with starting shortstop Jorge Polanco‘s 80-game suspension. Polanco got the news of his positive PED test a month ago, Dan Hayes of The Athletic was among those to tweet, but the Twins themselves weren’t aware of it until Sunday, Falvey said.
- In better news for the Twins, righty Ervin Santana is “progressing as expected” in his recovery from February finger surgery, according to Falvey (via Berardino). He should be back toward the tail end of the 10- to 12-week recovery timeline, Berardino notes.
- Tigers righty Mike Fiers‘ back issues could force him to start the season on the disabled list, Anthony Fenech of the Detroit Free Press relays. If so, both Daniel Norris and Matt Boyd would make a Detroit rotation whose only sure bets at the moment are Michael Fulmer, Jordan Zimmermann and Francisco Liriano. The Tigers guaranteed Fiers $6MM over the winter with the hope that he’d grab a starting spot, but he hasn’t made a good case for himself this spring, having surrendered 12 earned runs on 10 hits and eight walks, with seven strikeouts, in 11 1/3 innings. Nevertheless, thanks to his veteran status, the Tigers are willing to give the 32-year-old Fiers “leeway,” manager Ron Gardenhire said. As such, if Fiers is healthy, he’ll be in their season-opening rotation.
- Athletics right-hander Raul Alcantara could lose his 40-man roster spot when their deal with righty Trevor Cahill becomes official, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle writes. Alcantara, 25, is out of options and hasn’t produced in Oakland, where he combined for 46 1/3 innings of 7.19 ERA/7.45 FIP ball from 2016-17.
AL West Notes: Iwakuma, Bassitt, Altuve
Some notes from around the AL West…
- Mariners manager Scott Servais is hopeful that Hisashi Iwakuma can throw a bullpen session before the end of Spring Training, Servais told MLB.com’s Greg Johns (Twitter link) and other reporters. Iwakuma is roughly expected to return by late May or early June, as the veteran righty continues his recovery from undergoing shoulder surgery last September. Iwakuma re-signed with Seattle on a minor league deal, giving the M’s a potential extra bit of rotation depth once he is fully healthy.
- The Athletics optioned right-hander Chris Bassitt to Triple-A today in the wake of a rough Spring Training, though Bassitt told Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle that he believes a lack of communication about his role contributed to his 7.11 ERA over 6 1/3 IP. According to Bassitt, “I was told coming into camp I was going to compete for a starting spot and never got a single chance…It’s hard to prepare when you don’t know what you’re preparing for. Anyone just wants to know what they’re expecting out of you and so far no one can really answer that yet.” Bassitt said he was willing to pitch in whatever role the A’s wanted, except he just wanted more notice and more clarity about that role. “The way my mechanics are, I pretty much have to go out of the stretch when I come out of the bullpen, and I wasn’t prepared to be a reliever, I really wasn’t. It’s frustrating all around that wasn’t relayed to me all offseason,” he said. Oakland manager Bob Melvin said he felt the team “tried to intimate that to” Bassitt that he would be deployed in an undefined role as a swingman, long reliever, or starter depending on the situation. Bassitt last pitched in the majors in April 2016, as he was sidelined for much of that season due to Tommy John surgery, and he tossed 50 2/3 innings in the minors in 2017.
- Though Jose Altuve‘s five-year, $151MM extension doesn’t begin until the 2020 season, Fangraphs’ Craig Edwards believes the Astros aren’t facing too much risk in locking up the star second baseman. Comparing the Altuve deal to other extensions of five-plus years for players who were at least two seasons away from free agency, Altuve is younger than three of the names cited (Miguel Cabrera, Dustin Pedroia, Ryan Howard) and is coming off a much better platform year than Ryan Zimmerman when he inked his six-year, $100MM pact with the Nationals. The best comp might actually be Joey Votto‘s ten-year, $225MM extension from the Reds, though Houston’s commitment to Altuve was only half as long. Since Altuve still projects to be an excellent player going forward, the extension also shouldn’t be considered a “gift” — as in, the Astros weren’t simply giving him a make-good deal since his original extension proved to be such an incredible bargain for the team.
Athletics Notes: Anderson, Puk, Phegley
The latest on Oakland…
- The Athletics agreed to reunite with right-hander Trevor Cahill on Saturday, and they may not be done adding old friends to their pitching mix. The team is considering signing left-hander Brett Anderson, who’d likely receive a minor league contract, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports. Anderson debuted in the majors with the A’s in 2009 and was mostly effective in Oakland through 2013, but injuries prevented him from realizing his potential. Those injury woes have seldom let up for Anderson, now 30 years old, in his post-Oakland stops. Most recently, he struggled mightily last season across 55 1/3 innings (13 appearances, all starts) between the Cubs and Blue Jays. Anderson pitched to a 6.34 ERA, albeit with a fairly encouraging 4.10 FIP, and logged 6.18 K/9, 3.42 BB/9 and a 49.2 percent groundball rate.
- Oakland pared down its rotation competition Sunday, sending southpaw A.J. Puk to minor league camp. That seems to leave Cahill, Paul Blackburn, Andrew Triggs, Daniel Gossett and Daniel Mengden as the contenders for the last three spots in their rotation. While the 22-year-old Puk ranks as one of the game’s top prospects, expectations were that the A’s would send him down, as he hasn’t even reached the Triple-A level yet.
- Catcher Josh Phegley has a pair of broken fingers on his right hand and will cease baseball activities for at least two weeks, Jane Lee of MLB.com tweets. That should take Phegley out of the running for a roster spot in Oakland, though it looked unlikely he’d earn one anyway after the club recently signed Jonathan Lucroy. He should team with Bruce Maxwell to comprise the A’s top two backstops, leaving Phegley – with his one option remaining – to head to Triple-A.