Rich Hill Won’t Make Scheduled Start
Athletics lefty Rich Hill will not make his scheduled start on Sunday, as Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports (Twitter links). That means he won’t have a chance to prove to potential trade suitors that he’s at full health; to the contrary, it seems, he isn’t quite ready to return to the bump with a blister on his finger still causing problem.
It’s certainly still possible that Hill could be traded on or before Monday’s deadline, but it’ll take some creativity. Teams will surely be willing to roll the dice on his reasonably-priced contract, so an August trade could be tough since he’d likely be claimed off waivers. To get things done before then, Oakland may need to take a reduced return or try to work out some sort of conditional arrangement in which the final price depends upon how many starts Hill is ultimately able to make.
A’s GM David Forst has suggested previously that the club’s improved performance won’t really change its deadline stance, as Joe Stiglich of CSNBayArea.com reports. He also suggested that Hill’s injury wasn’t of the kind that would make a deal difficult to pull off without a pre-deadline start. In his comments today, Forst said there has been lots of interest and reiterated that a trade is still possible, as Slusser reports (links to Twitter). He declined to guess at the odds, though, and suggested the team could hold onto the surprising 36-year-old. A qualifying offer still seems a possibility; indeed, if Hill is kept and returns to the form he has shown since his re-emergence late last season, it might be an easy offer to make.
Though Hill’s last full appearance came on July 7th, he has been able to keep his arm in shape while protecting the blister — even if he hasn’t been able to utilize all his pitches. And he was able to build up to sixty long-toss throws today before the area in question felt “hot,” Slusser tweets, which is apparently just part of the process of building up a callus. A DL stint seems likely at this point, particularly since it can be backdated. Teams will presumably be able to assess the situation and adjust their offers accordingly, but there’s no question that the lack of immediate availability and increased risk will weigh in the balance — particularly since Hill is such an unusual, late-emerging pitcher to begin with.
Pitching Rumors: Sale, Rangers, Dodgers-A’s, Walker, Santana, Jays, Rays, Niese
The Rangers are still pushing hardest for White Sox ace Chris Sale, Bob Nightengale of USA Today reports (Twitter links). Chicago is holding out with a high asking price, per the report, demanding Nomar Mazara and Joey Gallo as headliners. Presumably, the club is looking for more to go with that pair, though the full demands from the Sox remain unknown. Texas will obviously be hesitant to part with Mazara, in particular, since he’s not only an important future piece but has played a notable role on this year’s roster. On the other hand, he seems like a perfectly reasonable request; there simply aren’t very many pitchers out there that combine Sale’s track record and contract situation.
Here’s more on the market for starters:
- The Athletics and Dodgers have discussed trade scenarios involving both lefty Rich Hill and outfielder Josh Reddick, per ESPN.com’s Buster Olney. It seems that the sides have batted around concepts involving both players in a single swap, as well as scenarios involving each player separately. It’s not hard to see the interest here from a Los Angeles organization that not only desires to add a starter and a left-handed-hitting outfielder, but has exhibited more injury risk tolerance in acquiring starting pitching than any team in baseball.
- Other teams may be looking at Mariners righty Taijuan Walker, but Seattle GM Jerry Dipoto says that he’s not interested in offers, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports tweets. “We’re not currently discussing Taijuan with anybody,” said Dipoto. “He’ll stay right where he is.” Dipoto says that the same holds with regard to lefty James Paxton, as SB Nation’s Chris Cotillo tweets.
- At this point, the Twins would need to be “overwhelmed” to deal away righty Ervin Santana, according to Jon Heyman of Fan Rag (via Twitter). Minnesota is still said to be open to dealing relief assets, but apparently is rather committed to keeping the veteran righty in its rotation over the final two years of his contract.
- While the Blue Jays‘ tough call on whether to keep Aaron Sanchez in the rotation, or instead to move him to the pen to limit his innings, has long been building as an important decision. ESPN.com’s Jayson Stark takes a look at the subject with the trade deadline seemingly forcing the issue. While GM Ross Atkins says the club won’t let Sanchez’s status impact its plans, and stresses that the organization is looking at far more than a simple innings tally, Stark reports that rival executives see Toronto as an aggressive pursuer of starters. He suggests that Jeremy Hellickson could make a nice target as a back-of-the-staff rental that shouldn’t cost too much.
- Before striking a deal this morning for two starters, the Marlins tried to work something out with the pitching-rich Rays, according to multiple reports. Per Stark (Twitter links), the sides weren’t seeing eye to eye on Miami’s interest in Jake Odorizzi and Matt Moore. One source suggests that Tampa Bay wanted Christian Yelich and J.T. Realmuto — which would obviously be a non-starter — while another suggests it never got that specific, with Tampa Bay simply not interested in the Marlins’ farm.
- Moore seems now to be the Rays starter who is most likely to be traded, according to Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports (via Twitter). Always regarded as a highly-talented pitcher, Moore has looked more like his pre-Tommy John self of late. His last poor outing came on June 24th, leaving him with a 5.04 ERA to that point on the year. Since that time, over seven starts, Moore has allowed just nine earned runs in 40 2/3 innings. He only has a 25: 14 K/BB ratio in that span, which isn’t all that exciting, and doesn’t have a velocity bump or increasing whiff rate to support the improved results,
- The Mets have chatted with the Pirates about a possible Jon Niese return, SB Nation’s Chris Cotillo tweets. New York has previously been suggested to have some interest in the lefty, who was dealt from New York to Pittsburgh over the winter. As before, though, the Mets don’t appear to be prioritizing starting pitching, given that the club has reasonable back-of-the-rotation options at hand with Zack Wheeler still working toward a return
Pitching Rumors: Chapman, Ervin, Hill, Hellickson, Ubaldo, Blue Jays
Joel Sherman of the New York Post walks readers through the winding process the Cubs took to reach an agreement on an Aroldis Chapman trade with the Yankees. Per Sherman, the Cubs never wanted to pursue a rental pitcher but weren’t able to convince the Yankees to back down from their demand of Kyle Schwarber. Chicago then turned to the Royals, only to find the asking price on Wade Davis to be even higher than the asking price on Miller. The Cubs weren’t willing to deal from their big league roster to upgrade the ‘pen but were willing to deal from their infield depth, parting with Class-A shortstop Gleyber Torres largely because of the presence of both Addison Russell and Javier Baez on the Major League roster. (Notably, Chicago also dealt from its first base depth in moving Dan Vogelbach for another left-handed reliever: Seattle’s Mike Montgomery.) Sherman adds that owner Hal Steinbrenner still wants to win in 2016 despite approving the Chapman swap, which calls into question whether the club would entertain even an overwhelming offer for Miller.
A few notes on the pitching market…
- Twins interim GM Rob Antony has expressed an openness to moving Ervin Santana if approached with a strong offer, but he tells Phil Miller of the Minneapolis Star Tribune that he’s not shopping the right-hander (Twitter link). “I’ll be honest,” said Antony, “I’m not calling anybody trying to move him.” As Antony explained yesterday in a Q&A with MLB.com’s Rhett Bollinger, his feeling is that he couldn’t sign a pitcher of Santana’s effectiveness to a two-year, $27MM contract with a third-year club option (the remaining commitment on Santana’s deal after 2016) on the free agent market this winter and, as such, believes there to be enough value that he needn’t shop Santana to other clubs. Antony again stated that he’s not under any type of ownership mandate to trim payroll, suggesting that shedding Santana’s salary may not be all that appealing.
- Pitching is the Twins‘ biggest priority on the trade market this summer, according to Antony (Twitter link via Bollinger). While the club is clearly open to trading veteran pieces to acquire young pitching help, Antony said he’s also talked to other teams that are considered to be sellers about acquiring big league pitching — presumably MLB arms that are controllable well beyond the 2016 season.
- Athletics southpaw Rich Hill believes he’ll be able to pitch on Sunday after throwing 50 pitches with protective covering over his blistered left hand and another 20 without the cover, tweets John Hickey of the Bay Area News Group. Hill has scarcely been able to pitch since late May due to a groin strain and this newfound blister issue, but he remains a highly intriguing rental option thanks to a 2.25 ERA with 10.7 K/9, 3.3 BB/9 and a 50 percent ground-ball rate through 76 innings out of the Oakland rotation this season. That would obviously give rival scouts just one more opportunity to look at Hill before Monday’s non-waiver deadline, but that could prove crucial given his limited recent exposure.
- Both the Rangers and Orioles were in attendance for Jeremy Hellickson‘s scoreless six innings for the Phillies against the Marlins last night, per ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick. (The Marlins — Hellickson’s opponents — also obviously had evaluators on hand and have long been linked to Hellickson.) There’s no clear frontrunner for Hellickson’s services, Crasnick notes, but it’s a “virtual lock” that he’ll change teams on or before next Monday.
- The Padres asked the Orioles to include minor league left-hander Garrett Cleavinger and minor legaue righty Jhon Peluffo in the trade that would’ve sent Ubaldo Jimenez to San Diego in exchange for Melvin Upton Jr., according to MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubatko (on Twitter). However, FOX’s Ken Rosenthal tweets that the talks broke down over finances, and Bleacher Report’s Scott Miller adds (also via Twitter) that owner Peter Angelos had a late change of heart and altered the nearly agreed-upon deal — specifically the amount of money that would have changed hands. The Padres ultimately shifted course and sent Upton to the Blue Jays.
- Blue Jays general manager Ross Atkins says he’s not done making moves after swooping in and acquiring Upton earlier this morning, via Sportsnet’s Ben Nicholson-Smith (links to Nicholson–Smith on Twitter). Atkins’ comments seemingly focused on pitching upgrades, with the GM indicating that the market for relief help is more robust than the market for starters at present. Atkins says he’s talked with all 29 other clubs on multiple occasions and is now focused on a smaller group of teams that could potentially upgrade his pitching staff. Asked specifically about the Padres — the Jays have been linked multiple times to Andrew Cashner, who tossed a quality start against them tonight — Atkins replied, “They have interesting pitching as well.”
Trade Market Notes: Teheran, Bruce, Reddick, Giants, Rangers, White Sox
Braves righty Julio Teheran exited tonight’s start with what is being described as right lat tightness, as MLB.com’s Mark Bowman writes. Teheran had been throwing well, once again, before the issue arose. We’ve already seen plenty of cold water thrown on the idea that he’ll be traded, and this injury — even if it’s minor — could help seal the deal (or, rather, the lack thereof).
Here are some more notes as the trade market continues to take shape:
- It has largely been taken for granted that the Reds will trade Jay Bruce this summer. But ESPN.com’s Buster Olney tweets that some rival executives are finding it difficult to gain any traction in talks with the Cincinnati front office. Others, though, still see a deal as likely.
- Some of the same teams pursuing Bruce are in on Athletics outfielder Josh Reddick, MLB.com’s Jon Morosi notes on Twitter. That’s not surprising — both are left-handed-hitting corner outfielders, albeit rather different ones — and it’s certainly possible to imagine the interplay between their respective markets having an impact on how trade talks progress. The Cubs, Dodgers, and Indians all have some level of interest in both players, per the report.
- As for the Athletics and Reddick, there are other teams in the mix, too. Per John Hickey of the Bay Area News Group, the Royals and Giants are also taking a look. Of course, we also heard today (subsequent to Hickey’s report) that Kansas City may instead head in a different direction.
- We’ve heard plenty of chatter on Melvin Upton tonight, after Olney suggested earlier today that he could be a fit for the Giants. Whether or not Upton is the target — or, as just noted, Reddick — it seems that San Francisco is once again leaning toward adding another outfielder. Hunter Pence‘s return hasn’t been quite as smooth as might’ve been hoped, and the remaining primary mix — Angel Pagan, Denard Span, and Gregor Blanco — hasn’t been terribly productive, though Pagan has had a solid bounceback campaign. On the other hand, both Jarrett Parker and Mac Williamson have hit at better than league-average rates when they’ve been up, so the club isn’t exactly hurting for options.
- Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News provides a useful round-up of the Rangers‘ efforts to bolster a scuffling rotation. In addition to opening talks with the Rays and White Sox, as has been covered extensively, the team is looking at a variety of other possibilities. Andrew Cashner of the Padres is one player that the Rangers have discussed, as are Mariners lefties James Paxton and Wade Miley. It seems that all variety of options continue to be on the table, as all of the pitchers covered in the report constitute quite different assets. GM Jon Daniels suggests that, while he’d prefer to move quickly toward a deal, the odds are that it’ll come down to the deadline.
- As the White Sox weigh what (if any) players to sell, the club won’t have two short-term assets on the shelf. As Colleen Kane of the Chicago Tribune reports, both center fielder Austin Jackson and catcher Alex Avila — each of whom was signed to a one-year deal over the winter — are still a ways away from returning from their respective injuries.
Rosenthal’s Latest: Rangers, Rays Starters, Astros, Reddick, Braves
The Rangers aren’t optimistic that they’ll land one of the Rays‘ controllable starting pitchers, writes FOX’s Ken Rosenthal in his latest notes column. The Rays continue to focus on Jurickson Profar, who could fill a void at shortstop, but the Rangers like the idea of Profar playing all four infield positions and seeing time for them in the outfield next year as well. The Rangers may be willing to budge on Profar if it meant Chris Archer, but Jake Odorizzi and Matt Moore are seemingly held in lesser regard.
A few more highlights from the piece…
- The Rays are also receiving interest in their starters from non-contending clubs that are aiming to contend within the next couple of seasons. That gives Tampa Bay further leverage in talks, as they’re not limited to restocking their farms with only prospects from clubs that are currently in contention. The Astros, too, are eyeing the limited number of controllable arms that are available, and the division rivalry aspect could play into Tampa Bay’s favor if both Texas and Houston set their sights on the same Rays arm. Alternatively, each of their starters has so much club control remaining that the Rays could just wait until the offseason and market their starters as teams miss out on the few quality free agents that are available.
- The Cubs are still seeking a top-tier left-handed reliever even after landing Mike Montgomery, but they’re also eyeing Athletics outfielder Josh Reddick, as previously reported by Jon Morosi. Rosenthal writes that some teams may eventually concede that the pitching help they covet isn’t going to be available at a price they like and could simply upgrade the offense, thinking that adding value is adding value regardless of position. Reddick, he notes, would be an upgrade for the Cubs over Chris Coghlan, and deepening a roster in any fashion bodes well for the playoffs.
- The Astros are looking for left-handed relief help and asked the Braves about Hunter Cervenka as a fallback option if their primary, more established targets don’t pan out. Fellow left-hander Ian Krol has gotten some looks for the Braves as well, Rosenthal notes, though I’d personally imagine that Krol would have a higher price tag, as Cervenka has walked nearly six batters per nine innings this season and has limited big league experience.
West Notes: Hill, Reddick, Dodgers, Giants, Gurriel
Athletics lefty Rich Hill still isn’t ready to throw from a mound due to a blister on his pitching hand, manager Bob Melvin told reporters including Comcast’s Joe Stiglich (via Twitter). Though he is keeping his arm in shape by throwing with the blister area covered, the overall progress doesn’t seem quite as advanced as might be hoped. At this point, Oakland just has to hope that Hill can fully recover in time to make one more start before the trade deadline and show that he’s past the issue.
Here’s more from Oakland and elsewhere out west:
- Outfielder Josh Reddick expressed frustration with the fact that he and the Athletics haven’t engaged in recent extension talks, Stiglich also tweets. Reddick called the situation “kind of disheartening,” presumably referring to the fact that he’s likely to be traded with no new deal in place. Player and team have long been said to be engaging in dialogue over a new deal, but it now seems that the time has passed for an agreement.
- The Dodgers are still weighing the addition of a power bat even as they consider starters, per Jon Heyman of Fan Rag. That very likely won’t be the Brewers’ Ryan Braun, per the report, as Los Angeles has not shown any inclination to go after him. Jay Bruce of the Reds may be the most realistic target, he suggests, though Carlos Gonzalez of the Rockies could also be pursued. (For what it’s worth, I’d wager that Colorado will be quite reticent to move CarGo within the division, if it’s willing to do so at all.)
- Giants executive VP of baseball ops Brian Sabean tells Alex Pavlovic of CSNBayArea.com that his club isn’t just looking to build out the depth in its relief corps. “It’s not just going to be the average Joe coming in,” he said. “You’re thinking it’s going to be a meaningful piece, but the competition on the premium people is going to be real stiff and it already is.” Sabean explained that the preference is for a high-strikeout arm who “could really get through an inning and not have much flak in getting through the inning” — rather than what he described as “contact relievers.”
- Astros manager A.J. Hinch said appearance yesterday on MLB Network Radio on Sirius XM (Twitter link) that he expects just-signed third baseman Yulieski Gurriel to be ready for the majors in relatively short order. “We want his bat in the line-up, we want him to get acclimated as much as possible,” said Hinch. “That’s probably 2 or 3 weeks.” In the meantime, outfielder Preston Tucker has been called back to the big league club to take the place of the optioned A.J. Reed.
Heyman’s Latest: Archer, Gray, Shoemaker, Teheran, Vizcaino, Cubs, Mariners
After breaking down the dismal state of the starting pitching supply on this summer’s trade market, Jon Heyman of Fan Rag goes on to provide news and notes on all thirty teams. Among those of chief relevance to the trade deadline:
- At least one unnamed executive thinks that Rays righty Chris Archer is a good bet to be traded, as ESPN.com’s Jayson Stark reports. But an anoynymous general manager tells Heyman that he’s getting quite a different feel. “There’s no belief Chris Archer will be traded,” the GM reportedly said. It’s always tough to know how to interpret the signals on high-level, controllable players, but suffice to say that Archer remains a player to watch — but not one who should be assumed to be on the move.
- The Athletics are “not engaging” competitors in talks on Sonny Gray, which obviously supports the idea that there’s no real interest in exploring a deal while his value is down. Neither are the Angels inclined to chat on Matt Shoemaker, albeit for somewhat different reasons.
- Likewise, the Braves are putting out the vibe that they won’t trade Julio Teheran. But that’s not necessarily the case with regarded to reliever Arodys Vizcaino. Though he’s on the DL with an injured oblique — which is certainly not an easy injury to gauge a timeline from — Atlanta is still getting trade hits and may yet look to move him, per the report. Personally, I have a hard time seeing a sufficient offer developing given the uncertainty.
- Though the Braves would love to find a taker for struggling shortstop Erick Aybar, Heyman says there’s no real interest in the veteran. Atlanta has mostly been engaged in discussions on its part-time role players, and doesn’t seem particularly likely to be involved in any major swaps — though it’s wise never to rule out a creative surprise. After all, who saw last summer’s 13-player trade coming together?
- The Cubs remain on the periphery of the starting pitching market but are suggesting to other organizations that they don’t expect to land a starter. Certainly, it seems, Chicago won’t burn up too much prospect capital just for a back-end hurler. That’s not surprise, as the Cubs have a perfectly sturdy starting five as well as some depth options.
- That’s not to say that the Cubs aren’t still poking around, with Heyman noting that the team spoke to the Mariners about James Paxton and Taijuan Walker. Other organizations have as well, including the Rangers. A Seattle source tells Heyman that a trade of either young starter remains unlikely, though the team isn’t taking anything off the table at this point. From where I sit, it’s tough to imagine either player changing hands; Seattle will surely want to see whether Paxton can harness his improving stuff, while Walker isn’t at full health.
- It’s not clear how the Tigers will be able to upgrade their starting staff, but the report suggests they’d like to. Detroit doesn’t want to deal any of its significant prospects and doesn’t have a lot of room to add salary, per Heyman. That doesn’t really leave much of a realistic path to improvement, though perhaps the team can find some supplemental assets with a little creativity.
Chicago Rumors: Reddick, Robertson, Sale, Quintana, Duke
The Cubs are showing some interest in Athletics right fielder Josh Reddick, tweets Jon Morosi of FOX Sports and MLB.com. Cubs president of baseball operations Theo Epstein drafted Reddick while serving as GM of the Red Sox, and the two sides were loosely linked by Morosi earlier this season. Of course, outfield isn’t necessarily a primary need for the Cubs, who have been more tied to bullpen help of late. However, the Cubs did cross one item off their wishlist with yesterday’s pickup of Mike Montgomery, and the Chicago front office/field staff clearly place a high value on harboring a deep roster that is tailored to allowing manager Joe Maddon to play matchups. Chicago is currently deploying Kris Bryant, Jason Heyward and Willson Contreras in the outfield with regularity, although Dexter Fowler will soon return, which could push Contreras back behind the plate and Bryant back to the hot corner more frequently. Reddick has long handled righties better than lefties and would provide a solid defensive option in the outfield. It’s a similar skill-set to that of Jason Heyward, though Reddick’s been the more productive of the two this season, slashing .301/.380/.445 in a season that’s been shortened by a fractured thumb. Reddick initially slumped upon activation from the DL, but he’s hit well more recently.
A few more notes out of Chicago…
- The White Sox are now at least considering changing course to act as sellers this summer, reports Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports. In particular, David Robertson is generating quite a few calls for the Sox, who have lost five of their past seven games and dropped below the .500 mark. Robertson is owed $29.45MM through the end of his contract in 2018, so he comes with considerable financial considerations. Then again, he’s also pitched quite well outside of a pair of disastrous meltdowns that saw him yield four and six earned runs this season, and the demand for impact relievers is high.
- The ChiSox are also getting quite a few calls on outfielder Adam Eaton, says Heyman, though he’s controllable at a much more affordable rate and for considerably longer than Robertson. Eaton is owed just $21MM through the end of the 2019 campaign, and his contract includes club options for the 2020 and 2021 seasons that are respectively valued at $9.5MM and $10.5MM. For a player with his offensive profile and defensive wizardry in the corner outfield, that’s an enormously valuable deal that would require a huge haul for the White Sox to surrender.
- While most who eye the White Sox will be hopeful that the club will part with ace Chris Sale or No. 2 starter Jose Quintana (who would be the top pitcher on many teams), Morosi tweeted this morning that there’s still great doubt within the industry that the Sox would part with either left-hander. The Dodgers, he notes have the prospects to make an overwhelming offer. I should point out that the Rangers do as well, with Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News recently speculating that they could be a fit for Quintana if the Sox decide to sell.
- Morosi tweets that the White Sox will have opportunities to move lefty reliever Zach Duke, who is controlled through 2017 and earning $5.5MM next year. That’s probably an understatement, as Duke boasts a 2.97 ERA with 10.5 K/9, 3.8 BB/9 and a 58.1 percent ground-ball rate this season. If the Sox do sell off some veteran pieces, I’d wager that they could get a nice piece for Duke even if they understandably hang onto more core pieces like Sale, Quintana and Eaton.
AL West Rumors: Rangers, Gallo, Bregman, Lewis, Lind
Padres general manager A.J. Preller was on-hand to watch the Rangers‘ Double-A affiliate earlier this week, writes Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News. The Roughriders, Grant notes, were playing the Padres’ own Double-A affiliate so there’s the possibility of reading too much into the situation, but he notes that the GMs of selling clubs are more concerned with watching who they might acquire this time of year rather than evaluating their own internal talent. Per Grant, the Athletics also had one of their top minor league evaluators, Billy Owens, present at that contest. Grant notes that names like Andrew Cashner and Rich Hill have been connected to the Rangers in recent weeks, so there’s reason to believe that some homework on one of those two very available pitchers was being done. On a related note, the Padres are reportedly hoping to trade Cashner before his scheduled start tomorrow evening.
A few more notes out of the American League West…
- ESPN’s Buster Olney tweets that rival evaluators and executives are trying to determine exactly how much the Rangers truly value Joey Gallo (Twitter link). Some within the industry, according to Olney, feel that the Rangers’ firm reluctance to part with Gallo is actually a smokescreen, and they’d be more willing to part with him than has otherwise been indicated. Yahoo’s Jeff Passan reported something similar earlier this week, writing that some rival executives do think the Rangers would move Gallo for the right offer. Many Rangers fans questioned why Gallo wasn’t promoted today with news of Prince Fielder‘s potentially season-ending injury breaking, but as MLB.com’s T.R. Sullivan writes, the likely reason for that is that the Rangers are planning to give the lion’s share of Fielder’s at-bats to another ballyhooed young player: Jurickson Profar.
- Astros top prospect — and the No. 1 prospect in all of baseball, per ESPN’s Keith Law — Alex Bregman played left field for the first time with Triple-A Fresno tonight, writes Jake Kaplan of the Houston Chronicle. As Kaplan notes, increased defensive versatility will make it easier to keep Bregman in the lineup once he joins the big league club — especially with Yulieski Gurriel not far behind him. Kaplan says that while the Astros aren’t publicly tipping their hand as to when Bregman will be promoted, it could happen as soon as Friday for the club’s weekend series against the Angels. Jon Paul Morosi of FOX and MLB.com hears similarly, tweeting that Bregman could be playing left field in the Majors by next week.
- The Mariners received a devastating bit of news today, as the club’s first-round pick, Kyle Lewis, suffered a torn ACL as well as medial and lateral meniscus tears in his right knee in a collision at home plate. The former Mercer outfielder was said by some to be the top talent in the 2016 draft but slid to Seattle with the No. 11 pick. The 6’4″, 210-pound Lewis was off to a brilliant start to his pro career, slashing .299/.385/.530 with eight doubles, five triples and three homers through 135 plate appearances with Seattle’s short-season Class-A affiliate in the Northwest League. He’ll be sidelined for the remainder of the 2016 season and hope to be back to full health in time for the opening of the 2017 season.
- Sticking with the Mariners, the team’s acquisition of Dan Vogelbach in today’s Mike Montgomery trade leaves Adam Lind with a virtually MLB-ready prospect waiting in the wings at Triple-A. ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick reports (on Twitter) that many executives believed that the Mariners would shop Lind, who has had a disappointing season, even before acquiring Vogelbach. The addition of the slugging first baseman/designated hitter makes it even likelier that the club will move on from Lind. Of course, Lind is having arguably the worst season of his career; he did slug a homer today (his 15th) but is still hitting just .231/.264/.449.
Rich Hill Doubtful To Make Next Start
Athletics lefty Rich Hill is doubtful to make a start on Sunday, the next open day in Oakland’s rotation, manager Bob Melvin told reporters including MLB.com’s Jane Lee (Twitter link). Hill left his most recent start after only five pitches when a blister on his left middle finger popped.
It seems that the ill-timed blister is still not responding well enough to get Hill back on the bump. Oakland now has a razor-thin margin for error in getting the southpaw back in action before the trade deadline. While it’s theoretically possible that he could be traded without making another start, there’s little question that it would seriously hamper his value — particularly given the 36-year-old’s lack of a big league track record.
Hill is already a highly unconventional trade candidate, having resuscitated his career late last season. He has been nothing short of masterful, though, since signing with the A’s over the winter, and carries a 2.25 ERA with 10.7 K/9 and 3.3 BB/9 over 76 frames on the year.
Oakland surely felt it had dodged a bullet when Hill made it back from an earlier groin issue without any ill effects. In his first two starts of this month, he delivered 12 innings over which he permitted just three earned runs on seven hits and four walks, striking out 16 along the way. Excepting that most recent, truncated outing, however, he has now gone two weeks without pitching.
MLBTR’s Mark Polishuk recently examined the potential market for Hill’s services, discussing the impact of the blister — which now seems only to be rising in relevance. As the list of potentially available starters shows, there’s a significant dearth of pure rental rotation additions out there for the taking. But at this point, Hill won’t be able to log two more starts unless he’s able to make an appearance early next week. Odds are, it seems, the A’s will be banking quite a bit on a single remaining outing before accepting final bids on the unique lefty.