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Guardians Acquire Darren McCaughan From Marlins

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The Guardians announced today that they have acquired right-hander Darren McCaughan from the Marlins. The latter club, who designated the righty for assignment on the weekend, receive cash considerations in return. The Guards optioned McCaughan to Triple-A Columbus and transferred Gavin Williams to the 60-day injured list to open a 40-man roster spot.

McCaughan, 28, spent his entire career with the Mariners until he was designated for assignment in February. He was traded to the Marlins for cash and was sent to Triple-A Jacksonville to start the year. He made five starts there with poor results, posting a 6.14 earned run average despite average-ish peripherals. He struck out 22.2% of batters faced with an 8.1% walk rate, but with a .338 batting average on balls in play and 52.8% strand rate.

The Marlins called him up to the big leagues last week. In Saturday’s game against Oakland, Trevor Rogers allowed eight earned runs in 2 1/3 innings. McCaughan came in for some long relief, throwing 4 2/3 but also allowing eight earned runs on the way to a 20-4 loss. McCaughan was designated for assignment the next day.

The Guardians are undoubtedly interested in McCaughan based on his work in previous seasons. From 2021 to 2023, he tossed 408 2/3 innings for Triple-A Tacoma, in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League. He had a 4.98 ERA in that time as well as a 21.4% strikeout rate and 6% walk rate.

Cleveland has less pitching depth than other recent seasons. Shane Bieber required Tommy John surgery while Williams has been on the IL all year due to elbow soreness. Their rotation currently consists of three youngsters in Triston McKenzie, Logan Allen and Tanner Bibee, as well as two veterans in Carlos Carrasco and Ben Lively. McKenzie hardly pitched last year due to a sprain of his UCL and is currently getting by with diminished stuff. Allen has a 6.41 ERA on the year, Bibee 4.91 and Carrasco 5.67. Lively is down at 2.08 in only four starts. He was at 5.38 last year with the Reds, his first MLB action since 2019.

Despite the lackluster results from the rotation, the club is 24-13 and leading the American League Central. To help keep things afloat, they have been actively trying to bolster the starting depth. They acquired Zak Kent from the Rangers on Opening Day and later grabbed Wes Parsons from the Blue Jays, sending international bonus pool space away in both cases. With the acquisition of McCaughan, they have now added three optionable starters to their system in the past two months.

As for Williams, as mentioned, he’s been on the injured list all season due to elbow soreness. This transfer is backdated to his initial IL placement, meaning he’s ineligible return until late May. He recently resumed a throwing program but will need to build up a full starter’s workload and isn’t going to be ready in the next month or so regardless.

Former Top Outfield Prospect Monte Harrison To Play College Football At Arkansas

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Former second-round pick and top outfield prospect Monte Harrison hasn’t appeared in the majors since 2022 and apparently isn’t pursuing a return to the big leagues at this point. Rather, he’s now committed to the University of Arkansas’ football team as a walk-on wide receiver, as first reported by Richard Davenport of WholeHogSports.com.

Harrison, who’ll be 29 next fall, will be the oldest player in college football when the season gets underway. A three-sport star at his Missouri high school, he’d committed to play football for Nebraska before the Brewers selected him in the second round of the 2014 MLB draft (No. 50 overall) and offered a $1.8MM signing bonus. Harrison opted to forgo his NCAA commitment and turn pro in baseball.

Royce Boehm, Harrison’s high school coach, tells Mitch Sherman of The Athletic that even at the time he was being selected in the second round of the MLB draft, “My whole thought back then was that he’s an NFL player, but he was stuck on baseball.” Sherman spoke to Boehm and University of Nebraska baseball coach Will Bolt about Harrison’s long-shot football bid and freakish athleticism.

Though Harrison came to professional baseball with plenty of pedigree, drew ample top prospect fanfare and ultimately reached the majors, his MLB career certainly did pan out as he’d hoped. After Harrison coupled his preternatural athleticism with a .272/.350/.481 line between two Class-A levels in 2017, he emerged as a consensus top-100 prospect in the sport. Then 21 years of age, Harrison was one of the key pieces sent from the Brewers to the Marlins in the Christian Yelich blockbuster that significantly altered the trajectory of both franchises.

Yelich broke out with an MVP showing in his first season in Milwaukee, finished second in NL MVP voting his second year there, and signed a franchise-record $215MM contract ($188.5MM in new money) that runs through the 2028 season. The Marlins saw all of the prospects acquired in that trade — Harrison, Lewis Brinson, Isan Diaz and Jordan Yamamoto — struggle immensely in Miami. None of the four are with the organization anymore.

Harrison played parts of two seasons with the Fish (2020-21) and had a nine-game cup of coffee with the 2022 Angels as well. He tallied just 76 major league plate appearances across those three seasons and batted .176/.253/.294 with a 48.7% strikeout rate. His bat never fully broke through even at the Triple-A level, where he slashed .238/.322/.398 with a 36.5% strikeout rate in parts of four seasons (1179 plate appearances). His speed was still on display, however, as he swiped 90 bags in 105 tries (85.7% success rate). Overall, Harrison stole 210 minor league bases and was caught only 39 times — an excellent 84.3% success rate.

Even though his baseball career has fizzled out, Harrison still checks in at an imposing 6’3″ and 220 pounds. An eventual NFL emergence is an obvious long shot, but Harrison’s journey will be a fun story to track in the months ahead as he fights to keep his professional sports dream alive.

Braves Acquire Zack Short From Red Sox

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The Red Sox have traded infielder Zack Short to the Braves in exchange for cash considerations, per announcements from both clubs. Boston had designated him for assignment earlier this week. Atlanta opened up a roster spot earlier today by trading Luis Guillorme to the Angels.

Short, 29 this month, is a utility player with a distinctly patient approach at the plate. He has 469 career plate appearances, walking in 11.5% of those but also striking out at a 29.4% clip. He has only swung at 20.9% of pitches outside the zone. Among hitters with at least 450 plate appearances since the start of 2021, only seven batters have chased less. And one of those is Brett Gardner, who hasn’t played since 2021.

Despite the keen eye, Short hasn’t been able to produce much at the big league level. He currently has a career batting line of .169/.262/.299. The results have been a bit better at Triple-A, as he has slashed .226/.361/.397 there since the start of 2021. His 16.2% walk rate at that level helped him produce a 106 wRC+, though he was also punched out at a 26.6% clip.

In addition to an intriguing approach at the plate, Short also provides defensive versatility. At the major league level, he’s played the three infield positions to the left of first base, as well as center and right field. He’s also spent a bit of time in left field in the minors.

Short exhausted his final option year with the Tigers in 2023 and is now out of options. That has led to him bouncing around the league since the end of last season. The Mets claimed him from the Tigers in November but then designated him for assignment at the end of April when J.D. Martinez was ready for his team debut. He was traded to the Red Sox for cash but only lasted on that roster for a week before being designated for assignment again.

It’s entirely possible that he ends up in DFA limbo again on account of his out-of-options status, but he’ll join Atlanta’s roster for now. The club has a lineup full of stars but Short will take over Guillorme’s previous role as a versatile bench piece alongside Luke Williams. If Short lasts on the roster all year, he can be retained for future seasons since he has less than two years of major league service time.

Reds’ Ian Gibaut Undergoes AIN Release Procedure

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Reds reliever Ian Gibaut underwent an anterior interosseous nerve (AIN) release procedure this week, manager David Bell tells Charlie Goldsmith of the Cincinnati Enquirer (X link). An exact timetable for his return to the mound isn’t clear, with Bell only indicating that the hope is for Gibaut to return at some point this season.

Bell had already stated earlier in the week that Gibaut would require surgery, but the specifics wouldn’t be known until surgeons could examine the state of his hand/forearm during the course of the procedure. A standard carpal tunnel release procedure was one possibility and would’ve come with a shorter recovery period, but doctors determined while performing the operation that the AIN release was necessary.

Gibaut, 30, opened the season on the injured list with what was originally termed a forearm strain. He pitched six minor league rehab innings but walked six of his 32 opponents and plunked another pair en route to allowing five runs. That made clear that something still wasn’t right in Gibaut’s right arm, and it’s now natural to think the nerve issue led to both the forearm discomfort and the shaky command in his brief minor league stint.

As recently as last season, Gibaut emerged as a key bullpen piece for Bell. The right-hander led all Cincinnati relievers with 75 2/3 innings pitched and increasingly found himself in high-leverage spots as the season wore on. He notched a tidy 3.33 ERA, picked up 22 holds and three saves, and fanned 21.7% of his opponents against an 8.8% walk rate. As a journeyman reliever whom the Reds picked up via a waiver claim from the Guardians, Gibaut proved to be a nice under-the-radar find for the Cincinnati front office.

Gibaut was already transferred to the 60-day injured list earlier this week. He’ll continue to accrue big league service time and pay while rehabbing the injury. He’ll be arbitration-eligible for the first time this winter. The Reds can control him via arbitration through the 2027 season.

Matt Barnes Elects Free Agency

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10:44am: The Nationals announced that Barnes has rejected an outright assignment in favor of free agency.

May 9, 10:17am: Barnes cleared outright waivers and has been assigned outright to the Nationals’ Triple-A affiliate in Rochester, per the team’s transaction log at MLB.com. He has enough service time to reject the assignment in favor of free agency, if he chooses.

May 7: The Nationals announced Tuesday they’ve designated right-hander Matt Barnes for assignment. His spot on the active roster will go to lefty Robert Garcia, who’s been reinstated from the 15-day injured list. The Nats’ 40-man roster is now at 39 players.

Barnes, 33, inked a minor league deal with Washington in the early portion of Spring Training. He made the Opening Day roster after throwing five scoreless innings in camp. The veteran reliever hasn’t carried that success into the regular season. Barnes has allowed 11 runs (10 earned) over 13 1/3 frames while working in low-leverage situations. His 8% swinging strike rate is well below both the league average and his career 12.3% mark.

It’s the second straight season in which Barnes has struggled to miss bats. He managed whiffs on a career-low 7.8% of his offerings en route to a 5.48 ERA in 21 1/3 innings with the Marlins last year. That season was cut short before the All-Star Break by a left hip injury that required surgery. Barnes’ velocity has yet to return to pre-surgery levels. His 91.4 MPH average fastball speed and 81.5 MPH curveball velocity are each down two ticks from where they sat in 2023.

Barnes was averaging around 95-96 MPH on his heater and in the mid-80s with his breaking ball during his best seasons with the Red Sox. That included four seasons of sub-4.00 ERA ball over a five-year stretch from 2017-21. Barnes routinely punched out more than 30% of opposing hitters during that run and held the closer role in Boston in 2021. He earned an All-Star nod that season and secured a two-year, $18.75MM extension that July.

A shoulder injury in 2022 and the aforementioned hip issue have prevented Barnes from recapturing that form in the two-plus years since then. The Nats will technically have five days to trade him, but it’s likelier he’ll be released. Barnes locked in a $2MM base salary when he made the Washington roster. If he goes unclaimed on waivers, the Nationals will be responsible for the bulk of that contract. Another team that subsequently signs him would owe the prorated portion of the $740K minimum for any time he spends on their MLB roster.

The Opener: Pitchers’ Duel, Drury, Rodriguez

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On the heels of an early-morning trade report, here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on around the baseball world throughout the day today:

1. Pitchers’ duel in Minnesota:

Two of the AL’s second-place teams will be sending front-of-the-rotation starters to the mound in Minneapolis today, as Twins ace Pablo Lopez takes the mound against young Mariners star Logan Gilbert. The 28-year-old Lopez has struggled a bit in terms of run prevention through seven starts this year, as his 4.30 ERA is actually just below league average by measure of ERA+. That being said, the right-hander’s peripherals are as strong as ever. He’s struck out an excellent 30.2% of batters faced this season while walking just 5.4%, giving him a strong 3.48 FIP with even better expected numbers.

Twins fans are surely hoping that Lopez’s results start catching up to his peripherals today, as Gilbert has been among the very best in baseball at stifling opposing offenses this year. Through seven starts, Gilbert sports an AL-best 1.69 ERA in 48 innings of work with a 3.24 FIP. Some of Gilbert’s run-prevention can surely be attributed to a microscopic .183 BABIP, but the right-hander has still struck out an impressive 28.2% of batters faced against a 7.3% walk rate. The two aces will clash at Target Field this afternoon, with first pitch scheduled for 12:10pm local time.

2. Drury headed to the IL?

Angels infielder Brandon Drury may be poised for a trip to the injured list today. The 31-year-old was pulled from yesterday’s game in the sixth inning due to tightness in his left hamstring, and after the game told reporters (including Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register) that while he was going to be evaluated further today he wasn’t “feeling very good” in the aftermath of his departure. A trip to the IL could allow Drury time not only to heal, but to try and rediscover his 2023 form. While the infielder clubbed 26 homers in 125 games with the Angels last year, he’s hit just .173 with minimal power so far this season. It seems likely that infielder Luis Guillorme, reportedly acquired from the Braves this morning, would replace Drury on the club’s roster in the event that he requires a trip to the shelf.

3. Rodriguez awaiting MRI results:

Left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez underwent an MRI yesterday afternoon, GM Mike Hazen told AZSports yesterday. Rodriguez has yet to make his Diamondbacks debut, having instead spent the entire season to this point on the injured list nursing a strained lat. That could be set to change soon, however, as Hazen indicated that with favorable results on the MRI, the lefty will be cleared to start a throwing program.

Coming off an excellent 2023 season where he pitched to a 3.30 ERA and 3.66 FIP in 26 starts with the Tigers, Rodriguez would provide a boost to the reigning NL champions, who have struggled to a 17-20 record and have fallen into third place in the NL West, eight games behind the Dodgers for the division crown. Arizona has relied on young arms such as Slade Cecconi and Ryne Nelson in the rotation amid Rodriguez’s absence.

MLBTR Podcast: Luis Arráez To San Diego, Other Marlins Trade Candidates And Discussing A Potential Automated Strike Zone

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The latest episode of the MLB Trade Rumors Podcast is now live on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts! Make sure you subscribe as well! You can also use the player at this link to listen, if you don’t use Spotify or Apple for podcasts.

This week, host Darragh McDonald is joined by Anthony Franco of MLB Trade Rumors to discuss…

Plus, we answer your questions, including…

  • When can we expect to see Paul Skenes called up by the Pirates and when do you think Jackson Holliday will be brought up again by the Orioles? (17:10)
  • I’m looking ahead at robo umps calling balls/strikes. Do you think it will dramatically affect counting stats for hitters while affecting pitchers stats negatively in the other direction? (20:55)
  • What measures can be implemented to stop teams like the Tigers from continually rebuilding and why do the Tigers hesitate to send struggling players to the minors? (31:50)

Check out our past episodes!

The podcast intro and outro song “So Long” is provided courtesy of the band Showoff.  Check out their Facebook page here!

Pirates To Promote Paul Skenes

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The No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 draft is on his way to the majors. Pirates right-hander Paul Skenes will make his highly anticipated MLB debut this Saturday in a home outing against the visiting Cubs, the the team announced.

The 6’6″, 235-pound Skenes is the embodiment of a prototypical, power-armed ace. He’s widely regarded as one of the top pitching prospects in the sport — if not the top pitching prospect. Pittsburgh selected him with the top pick in last year’s draft after Skenes posted a 2.18 ERA and fanned more than 36% of his opponents in a three-year college career that included two seasons with the Air Force Academy and a third with the eventual national champion Louisiana State University Tigers. Skenes posted a comical 1.69 ERA over the course of 122 innings, striking out a hair over 45% of his opponents.

You won’t find a scouting report on Skenes that doesn’t laud him as a potential perennial All-Star and front-of-the-rotation pitcher with Cy Young upside. His fastball sits in the upper 90s and can reach 102 mph. Baseball America, MLB.com and FanGraphs all give him credit for a plus-plus (70-grade) fastball on the 20-80 scale, with MLB.com even pegging as an 80-grade pitch. His slider draws similar praise.

The Athletic’s Keith Law notes that Skenes’ four-seam/slider combo was so dominant in college that he needed to work on his seldom-used changeup and a two-seamer in order to reach his ace-level ceiling. He’s worked to incorporate both into his repertoire more regularly in Triple-A this year. ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel lists Skenes alongside David Price, Gerrit Cole and Stephen Strasburg as one of the four best pitching prospects in the past 20 years of the MLB draft.

To this point in his young career, Skenes has done nothing to suggest the hype is unwarranted. He’s made seven starts in Triple-A — the Pirates have limited his per-outing workload, leaving him at 27 1/3 innings on the season — and posted a 0.99 ERA with an over-the-moon 42.9% strikeout rate against a 7.6% walk rate. Skenes has kept the ball on the ground at a 51% clip and yielded just one homer all season. Though Pittsburgh has ramped him up in quite cautious fashion, he’s now been up to six innings in a start, so he should be able to work relatively deep into his debut effort if his performance dictates.

Skenes’ ascension to the Pirates’ rotation comes at a time when fellow rookie Jared Jones looks well on his way to becoming a high-end rotation arm himself. The 22-year-old Jones entered the season as a top-100 prospect himself and has raced out to a brilliant start: 2.63 ERA, 33.8% strikeout rate, 3.2% walk rate in 41 innings.

In an ideal setting, that electric young duo will join stalwart righty Mitch Keller, who signed a five-year extension during spring training, in forming the core of the Bucs’ rotation for years to come. Veteran Martin Perez is holding down one of the rotation spots behind that trio for now, but he’s only on a one-year contract. Fellow southpaw Marco Gonzales entered the season in the rotation as well, but he’s since gone down with a forearm strain. The Pirates are surely hopeful that some combination of Quinn Priester, Luis Ortiz, Anthony Solometo, Bubba Chandler and Tom Harrington can break through in the majors and form a homegrown rotation that can thrust the team into perennial contention.

The timing of Skenes’ promotion comes at a point when enough time has elapsed that he can’t accrue a full year of big league service time — at least not by conventional means. There will only be 143 days remaining in the season by the time he debuts, leaving him well shy of the requisite 172 for a year of service. However, under the prospect promotion incentives in the 2022-26 collective bargaining agreement, Skenes could still gain a full year of service if he finishes in the top two of National League Rookie of the Year voting.

In the event that Skenes achieves that feat, he’d have five additional years of club control, meaning he wouldn’t be eligible for free agency until the 2029-30 offseason and wouldn’t reach arbitration eligibility until the 2026-27 offseason. If Skenes sticks in the big leagues but does not gain a year of service based on Rookie of the Year voting, he’d be under club control through the 2030 season. However, the timing of his promotion also leaves him as a surefire Super Two player in that scenario, meaning he’d still be arb-eligible following the 2026 campaign and would go through the arbitration process four times rather than the standard three.

Mets Notes: Bader, Megill, Gilbert, Williams

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Harrison Bader has been out of the starting lineup for three of the Mets’ last five contests. He was penciled back into center field today before their game against the Cardinals was postponed.

On Tuesday, Bader expressed some frustration with his somewhat sporadic playing time in a chat with Mike Puma of the New York Post. “I don’t handle it well, I can tell you that,” the outfielder said about a reduced role. “But I certainly don’t let it affect the way I prepare, the way I keep focused when I do get an opportunity to go in there and play, even if it’s later in the game. If anything, it lights more of a fire under my ass. I’m bothered by it for sure. But I respect what they view as giving us an opportunity to win. And at the same time whether my name is in there or not I prepare to play every single day of the season.”

Bader stopped short of outwardly criticizing the coaching staff. However, he acknowledged that playing less “has been a challenge, not what (he) expected” when he signed a one-year, $10.5MM free agent deal. “I want to win, but I want to play,” he added. “We all want to play, but it’s hard. We have got a lot of guys and I respect the position that everyone is in. … I don’t know who makes the lineup, but whatever we have got going on I respect that position.”

The Gold Glove outfielder has started 26 of New York’s 36 games on the season. Manager Carlos Mendoza has turned to more of an outfield rotation recently. That’s largely a credit to DJ Stewart and Tyrone Taylor, both of whom are hitting well. Stewart, who has been limited to facing right-handed pitching, has made up for a lowly .185 average by drawing 17 walks and hitting four homers over 85 plate appearances. Taylor has a more conventional .288/.312/.425 batting line in 78 trips.

Stewart worked as the designated hitter for the season’s first couple weeks. J.D. Martinez has stepped into that role. The Mets have Starling Marte locked in as the primary right fielder. If Mendoza wants to get either Stewart or Taylor into the lineup, that generally necessitates pushing Brandon Nimmo to center and sitting Bader.

Bader is hitting .280/.314/.340 with one homer through 105 plate appearances. That has made him the least productive of the Mets’ outfielders offensively, at least by measure of wRC+, yet it’s solid work overall. Considering that Bader is also the team’s best defensive outfielder, he certainly hasn’t played his way out of the lineup. As Mendoza pointed out to Puma, it’s more so that Stewart and Taylor have so far outperformed their anticipated roles.

That all falls under the category of good problem to have, as the solid contributions from five outfielders gives the Mets cover if anyone struggles or suffers an injury. Aside from Nimmo, there were questions about everyone in that group heading into the season. Marte and Bader had career-worst offensive showings in 2023. Stewart is a 30-year-old who has never played more than 100 games in an MLB season. Taylor has primarily been a depth outfielder whom the Brewers flipped to New York for a minimal return over the winter.

The Mets also brought in Adrian Houser in that deal, though his tenure in Queens has gotten off to a much rockier start. Houser was at least temporarily pushed to the bullpen after struggling to an 8.16 ERA over his first six starts. The Mets called up top prospect Christian Scott last week to join Luis Severino, Jose Quintana, José Buttó and Sean Manaea in the rotation. Mendoza indicated they could go to a six-man rotation with a challenging section of the schedule coming up, but they’re also not far from having to make another decision with the pitching staff.

Tylor Megill has been on the injured list since departing his first start with a shoulder strain. The right-hander has made a trio of rehab outings, including four hitless innings with seven strikeouts at Triple-A Syracuse on Tuesday. Mendoza said Megill will make another start for Syracuse on Sunday before the team reinstates him (X link via Puma). It remains to be seen if he’ll reclaim a spot on the MLB staff. Megill still has a pair of minor league options, so the Mets could keep him in Triple-A even when he’s fully healthy.

In other injury news, prospects Jett Williams and Drew Gilbert are seeking a return to game action by the end of the month or early in June, according to MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo. Williams has been delayed by a right wrist injury, while Gilbert suffered a right hamstring strain. Williams, the 14th overall pick in the 2022 draft, started the season at Double-A Binghamton. Gilbert, acquired in last summer’s Justin Verlander trade, opened the year in Syracuse after a huge finish in Double-A last season.

Guardians Outright Tyler Beede

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The Guardians sent right-hander Tyler Beede outright to Triple-A Columbus, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. That indicates he cleared waivers after being designated for assignment last week. He has the right to elect free agency but it’s not yet clear if he’s chosen to do so.

Beede, 31 this month, made it back to the big leagues after spending 2023 in Japan. He signed a minor league deal with the Guardians and cracked the Opening Day roster by throwing 13 innings in Spring Training with a 4.15 earned run average.

Unfortunately, the regular season results weren’t there for him, despite a strong 26.5% strikeout rate. He allowed 13 earned runs in 14 innings, leading to an ERA of 8.36. There was a bit of bad luck in there, as he wouldn’t sustain a .389 batting average on balls in play nor a 55.6% strand rate over a larger sample. But he also didn’t do himself any favors with a 13.2% walk rate. His 5.00 FIP was better than his ERA but still not great, though his 3.78 SIERA was quite optimistic.

Once a top prospect with the Giants, Beede struggled to cement himself in the big leagues from 2018 to 2022, exhausting his option years in the process. That means he is now out of options and can’t be easily sent down to the minors. He was bumped off the Guardians’ 40-man recently and the other 29 clubs all passed on the chance to grab him off waivers.

All players with at least three years of service time or a previous career outright have the right to reject outright assignments, electing free agency instead. Beede qualifies on both counts and could head to the open market if he so chooses.

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