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Blue Jays Sign Carl Edwards Jr.

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The Blue Jays have signed reliever Carl Edwards Jr. to a minor league contract, per a report from Sportsnet. He has been assigned to Triple-A Buffalo.

Edwards is most well-known for his run with the Cubs. Once a well-regarded prospect in the Chicago system, he made his MLB debut late in 2015 and was an important part of the Cubs’ bullpen over the next few seasons. Despite persistent troubles with walks, Edwards was quite good at missing bats and preventing runs over his first few years. Between 2016-18, he worked to a 3.03 ERA/3.12 FIP across 154 1/3 relief innings.

He’s fallen on hard times since then, though. Edwards got off to a terrible start in 2019, and Chicago flipped him to the Padres for fellow reliever Brad Wieck at the trade deadline. Edwards couldn’t right the ship in San Diego and wound up non-tendered. The Mariners signed him that offseason in hopes of a rebound. To his credit, the righty got off to a strong start in Seattle but a flexor mass strain in his forearm ended his season after just 4 2/3 innings.

The Braves signed Edwards to a minor league deal over the winter. Atlanta selected him to the major league roster earlier this month but designated him for assignment after just one appearance, in which he allowed three runs on as many hits while recording a single out. Edwards cleared waivers and elected free agency.

Now, he’ll look to work his way back to the big leagues with Toronto. The Jays have dealt with plenty of bullpen injuries this season and are still without notables Rafael Dolis, Julian Merryweather and David Phelps (as well as presumptive closer Kirby Yates, who underwent Tommy John surgery before the regular season began). Despite the health woes, Toronto relievers have worked to a solid 2.99 ERA/3.76 SIERA this year.

Bryce Harper, J.T. Realmuto Day-To-Day With Injuries

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10:28PM: If losing Harper wasn’t enough, J.T. Realmuto is also day-to-day after re-aggravating his left wrist injury, manager Joe Girardi told The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Scott Lauber and other reporters.  Realmuto was replaced by a pinch-hitter in the eighth inning of tonight’s game.  Realmuto missed two games earlier this month with what was described as an issue with his left hand.  Girardi is doubtful either Harper (whose shoulder problem emerged in Saturday’s game) or Realmuto will be available tomorrow.

8:55PM: Bryce Harper left the Phillies’ game with the Blue Jays tonight due to right shoulder soreness, the Phils announced.  Harper struck out swinging in both of his at-bats, and he was replaced by Scott Kingery in right field when the Phillies took the field for the bottom of the fourth inning.

This is the latest injury to hamper Harper this season, as he has previously missed time due to back soreness, a balky wrist, and (most concerning) after being hit in the face by a Genesis Cabrera fastball back on April 28.  Harper has missed eight games due to these issues but hasn’t had to hit the injured list, and thus hasn’t any major interruption in what has been an outstanding season for the 28-year-old.

Harper is hitting .313/.442/.571 with seven home runs over his first 138 plate appearances, good for a spectacular 173 wRC+.  While there’s obviously a long way to go in the 2021 season (and an injury could change the equation for Harper entirely), this represents Harper’s best wRC+ since his 197 number in his 2015 MVP season.

It remains to be seen if Harper’s injury will result in an IL stint, and naturally there isn’t an easy way for the Phils to truly replace his offensive production.  Mickey Moniak, Travis Jankowski, and Ryan Cordell are among the top outfield options at Triple-A, and Kingery is available on the big league bench.  Roman Quinn and Matt Joyce are both on the IL themselves, further thinning Philadelphia’s outfield depth.

Dodgers Acquire Yoshi Tsutsugo From Rays

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The Dodgers have acquired infielder Yoshi Tsutsugo from the Rays in exchange for cash considerations or a player to be named later.  Infielder Edwin Rios was moved to the 60-day injured list to create roster space for Tsutsugo.

The Rays designated Tsutsugo for assignment last Tuesday, and today’s trade closes the book on an overall disappointing 18-month tenure for Tsutsugo in Tampa Bay.  Signed to a two-year, $12MM free agent deal in the 2019-20 offseason, Tsutsugo hit .197/.314/.395 over 185 plate appearances last season, and had only two hits over 16 PA during Tampa’s postseason run.  The 29-year-old followed that rookie season up with a rough .167/.244/.218 slash line in 87 PA this season, which prompted the Rays to send Tsutsugo to the DFA wire.

Tsutsugo is still owed roughly $5.49MM of his original $7MM salary for the 2021 season, and according to Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times (via Twitter), the Dodgers will cover slightly more than $430K — the prorated share of the minimum salary.  This means the Rays will eat the roughly $5MM remaining of Tsutsugo’s salary, making his contract a fairly costly mistake considering the team’s low spending habts.

After years of big numbers with NPB’s Yokohama DeNA BayStars, Tsutsugo drew plenty of attention when he was posted by the BayStars in the winter of 2019-20.  The Dodgers weren’t one of the teams known to have interest in Tsutsugo’s services, but their interest could have been piqued given their current needs.

Tsutsugo has played third base, first base, and left field for Tampa Bay, so he fits the Dodgers’ preferred model as a multi-position player (the team’s signing of Albert Pujols notwithstanding).  While L.A. already has a number of left-handed hitting options, Tsutsugo is something of a more experienced option due to his time in Japan, even if he has relatively little time in Major League Baseball.  Tsutsugo could be seen as something of a straight replacement for Rios, another lefty bat with corner infield and corner outfield experience.  Rios will miss the remainder of the season due to surgery on his right shoulder.

Minor MLB Transactions: 5/15/21

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The latest minor league moves from around baseball…

  • The Pirates outrighted Hunter Owen to Triple-A, the team announced.  The outfielder was designated for assignment earlier this week.  A 25th-round pick for the Pirates in the 2016 draft, Owen made his MLB debut this season, and is still looking for his first hit after five plate appearances over three games.
  • Right-hander Luis Madero cleared waivers and accepted his outright assignment to the Marlins’ Triple-A affiliate.  The Marlins designated Madero for assignment earlier this week, and he had the option of becoming a free agent since he had previously been outrighted during his career, back in February 2020 when he was a member of the Giants.  After signing a minor league contract with Miami in the offseason, Madero made his MLB debut by pitching three innings over two appearances this season.

D’Backs Prospect Corbin Carroll To Miss Rest Of 2021 Season

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Diamondbacks outfield prospect Corbin Carroll will undergo shoulder surgery that will keep him out of action for the remainder of the 2021 season, MLB Pipeline’s William Boor reports.  The Athletic’s Zach Buchanan (via Twitter) adds the detail that Carroll injured his shoulder while hitting a home run — presumably the solo homer Carroll hit on May 10, in his last game with the high-A level Hillsboro Hops.

Selected with the 16th overall pick of the 2019 draft, Carroll has hit .316/.428/.542 over his first 215 plate appearances in pro ball.  Between this injury and the canceled 2020 minor league season, Carroll will lose two critical years of development, though Buchanan notes that the 20-year-old Carroll was seen as being “already ahead of the curve.”

Carroll is the consensus pick as the top prospect in Arizona’s farm system, and one of the better minor leaguers in all of baseball.  Fangraphs ranks him 20th on their top prospects list, and Carroll also has high finishes on top-100 rankings from Keith Law (23rd), Baseball America (34th) and MLB.com (38th).

Carroll is already considered to be big league-ready as a center field-capable defender and a baserunner with 70-grade speed, and is seen as a future leadoff man due to his on-base skills and contact-oriented approach at the plate.  “So exceptional are Carroll’s hand-eye coordination and barrel accuracy, especially for his age, that he now has among the best hit tool projections in the minors,” according to Fangraphs’ scouting report.

Athletics To Begin Exploring Relocation

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TODAY: Oakland vice-mayor Rebecca Kaplan has requested that the Oakland City Council vote on the Athletics’ ballpark term sheet on July 20, according to Matt Kawahara and Sarah Ravani of The San Francisco Chronicle.  The City Council also sent a letter to Major League Baseball on Friday stating that “The Oakland City Council is committed to negotiating in good faith for a strong future for the A’s in Oakland, and we invite the A’s and MLB to do the same by agreeing not to seek relocation while the A’s complete the project process as the Council moves forward.”

The letter also feels there was some “incorrect information” within MLB’s statement, noting that the Council has not been “delaying or refusing to consider the A’s project proposal.”  The letter also questioned MLB’s designation of the Coliseum as “not a viable option,” referring to that statement as an “unsupported conclusion.”

“In any case, we hope you will understand that the shifting ‘demands’ on what Oakland must do, combined with your public threat to allow the team to leave, even while the City is undertaking the items that you and the A’s have urged, might leave the impression that there never has been any good faith intent on your part to work on a future ballpark in Oakland.  However, we remain open to working together.  It is possible that you didn’t intend to threaten relocation from a city, in the absence of that city’s leadership even being given an opportunity to consider a proposal from the team.”

MAY 11: As the Athletics await a decision from the city of Oakland regarding their proposed $12 billion mixed-use development, which includes a new waterfront stadium at Oakland’s Howard Terminal, Major League Baseball has encouraged them to look into the possibility of relocation, ESPN’s Jeff Passan reports. The team’s preference is and has been to remain in Oakland, but Passan’s report suggests that at the behest of the league, they’ll at least look into alternatives, with Las Vegas the “likeliest possibility” if relocation is the ultimate outcome.

It’s hardly the first time that we’ve seen a major sports franchise threaten relocation as a means of ratcheting up pressure on local government to approve a new stadium deal. Major League Baseball’s statement on the matter suggests that the current Oakland Coliseum site “is not a viable option for the future vision of baseball” and suggests that the A’s “need a new ballpark to remain competitive.”

Indeed, recent issues with the lighting, 2016’s sewage fiasco, and myriad other issues with the facility have underscored the park’s dilapidated inadequacies. But the viability of a new park at the current site and the Athletics’ purported “need” for a new park at a new site (and the associated real estate benefits) in order to compete are more debatable. Athletics owner John Fisher echoed the league’s statement, claiming that the “future success of the A’s depends on a new ballpark.” President Dave Kaval made a similar statement.

It’s perhaps not a coincidence that the “likeliest possibility” is said to be Las Vegas — the same city to which Oakland and its fans already lost the NFL’s Raiders and one of commissioner Rob Manfred’s oft-cited locations for potential expansion. It is, in fact, the second time in the past three years that the league has threatened to move the team away from Oakland and into Vegas; Manfred himself directly raised the possibility with the city of Oakland back in October 2019. Whether the threat of a move is actually real remains to be seen. As many have rightly pointed out, relocating a team or creating an expansion club in Vegas (or Charlotte, Nashville, or any other regularly mentioned site) would lessen the leverage for current clubs when haggling over new stadiums.

The Athletics’ lease at their current stadium runs through the 2024 season. They’ve spent several years exploring potential sites in Oakland and around the Bay Area but incurred various roadblocks that have torpedoed those efforts. The current proposal includes $1 billion of private funding for construction of the park itself, but Passan quotes a spokesperson from the Oakland mayor’s office indicating that the team’s request for public funding elsewhere in the proposal is “at the high end of projects of this type nationwide.”

Injury Updates: Yelich, Choi, Dickerson, Solano, Yaz, Smeltzer

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Christian Yelich began a Triple-A rehab assignment yesterday, playing three innings in left field and receiving two plate appearances.  Back problems have led to two separate injured-list placements for Yelich this season, and limited him to only 10 games and 41 PA for the Brewers.  It isn’t yet clear how long Yelich’s rehab assignment will last before he rejoins the Brew Crew, though manager Craig Counsell is hopeful “we’re in a really good place right now” in terms of getting Yelich fully recovered.

“We’re hoping we’ve turned the corner here,” Counsell told MLB.com’s Sterling Bright and other reporters.  “These are all little signs, and the most important thing we’re going to find out is [how he feels] after the game, and when he wakes up in the morning, and as we kind of move forward here playing back-to-back, and things like that.”

More on other injury situations from around baseball…

  • Ji-Man Choi was activated from the 10-day injured list today, though the first baseman didn’t make an appearance in the Rays’ 12-5 victory over the Mets.  Choi underwent arthroscopic knee surgery just prior to Opening Day and thus has yet to make his 2021 debut.  Choi (who celebrates his 30th birthday on Wednesday) has hit a cool .257/.359/.461 with 30 home runs over 821 PA since being acquired by Tampa Bay in July 2018.  Now that he is healthy, Choi is expected to assume his usual role as Tampa’s primary first base/DH option against right-handed pitching, with Yandy Diaz taking over against left-handed pitchers.
  • The Giants could soon be getting some reinforcements from the IL, as manager Gabe Kapler told reporters (including The San Francisco Chronicle’s Steve Kroner) that Alex Dickerson is within a few days of returning.  Dickerson was placed on the 10-day IL on May 7 due to a right shoulder impingement, so Sunday is the earliest the outfielder could return to action.  Donovan Solano is also slated to play five innings as part of a Triple-A rehab assignment today, as the infielder is working his way back from a right calf strain that sidelined him on April 21.
  • Mike Yastrzemski isn’t in today’s Giants lineup, as Kapler said the outfielder’s left side is “pretty sore” after colliding with the outfield wall in pursuit of an Adam Frazier triple in yesterday’s game.  Kapler didn’t think the injury was particularly serious, though Yastrzemski has already missed some time this season due to a minor oblique strain in his left side.  After a slow start to the season, Yastrzemski’s bat is beginning to heat up, and he is up to a .216/.316/.461 slash line (111 OPS+, 118 OPS+) through 117 plate appearances.
  • Twins left-hander Devin Smeltzer hit the 10-day IL Wednesday due to left elbow inflammation, and it will be “a matter of weeks” before Smeltzer is ready to return, manager Rocco Baldelli told reporters (including Betsy Helfand of the St. Paul Pioneer Press).  Tests on Smeltzer’s elbow revealed no ligament issues but some nerve irritation.  Baldelli said there hadn’t yet been any discussion about moving Smeltzer to the 60-day IL, which would keep the southpaw out of action until after the All-Star break.  Smeltzer has spent most of the last three seasons being shuttled back and forth between the Twins’ roster and either their Triple-A team or alternate training site.  He has appeared in only one game for Minnesota this season, tossing 4 1/3 scoreless innings in a 6-2 loss to the Pirates back on April 24.

Dodgers To Place AJ Pollock On 10-Day IL

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5:08PM: Roberts confirmed Pollock was headed to the IL, telling reporters (including J.P. Hoornstra of the Southern California News Group) that Pollock will miss “a couple weeks minimum.”  Right-hander Edwin Uceta is being called up to take Pollock’s spot on the 26-man roster.

8:18AM: Dodgers outfielder AJ Pollock exited their win over the Marlins on Friday with a left hamstring strain, the team announced. He’ll likely require a stint on the 10-day injured list, manager Dave Roberts told Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic and other reporters.

Pollock has dealt with a laundry list of injuries throughout his career, though he has largely stayed healthy since missing a significant chunk of the 2019 season because of elbow surgery. He appeared in 55 of the Dodgers’ 60 regular-season games in 2020 and has played in 32 of their 38 contests this year.

As was the case last season, Pollock has put up easily above-average offensive numbers in 2021. Through 102 trips to the plate, Pollock has batted .277/.333/.457 (117 wRC+) with four home runs and a pair of stolen bases. On the defensive side, the 33-year-old has seen time in left field and center (almost exclusively the former).

If Pollock does go on the IL, he’ll join fellow outfielders Cody Bellinger and Zach McKinstry on the shelf. Both Bellinger and McKinstry have been out since April, but they’re close to embarking on rehab assignments, per Juan Toribio of MLB.com.

Astros Notes: Minor Leaguers, Valdez, Urquidy

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The Astros are providing fully furnished apartments to all of their minor leaguers across all levels for the 2021 season, reports Britt Ghiroli of The Athletic. Housing for minor leaguers has been complicated due to Covid-19 regulations, as host families are not allowed this season and there are restrictions on how many players can live in a given apartment. Minor league salaries are generally scant enough that it’s common for several teammates to crowd into a one- or two-bedroom apartment in order to save on rent and cover other basic expenses. It’s a commitment we’ve not previously seen an organization make for its minor league talent, most of whom receive much smaller bonuses than the six- or even seven-figure numbers that frequent the top end of each summer’s draft. It’s not known whether this will be a permanent commitment from the ’Stros, nor is it clear whether other organizations might adopt a similar approach now or in the future.

More on the Astros…

  • Southpaw Framber Valdez got through a 25-pitch bullpen session unscathed on Friday and will start a Triple-A rehab assignment on Sunday, Brian McTaggart of MLB.com was among those to report. Valdez will throw three innings in that game. Expectations are that he’ll rejoin the Astros’ rotation in June, which Valdez called a “miracle.” After all, there was fear back in the spring that Valdez’s broken left ring finger would require surgery and prevent him from pitching this year. “It was a bad injury, a break to the finger,” said Valdez, who was able to avoid going under the knife. When the 27-year-old does come back, he’ll work to build on an impressive 2020 in which he turned in 70 2/3 innings of 3.57 ERA/3.23 SIERA ball with great strikeout (26.4), walk (5.6) and groundball (60.0) percentages.
  • Right-hander Jose Urquidy exited his start on Wednesday against the Angels in the fourth inning with shoulder discomfort, and it’s possible the issue will shelve him for a bit. Manager Dusty Baker told Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle and other reporters Friday that an MRI on Urquidy’s shoulder didn’t “show anything significant,” but said today (to FOX 26’s Mark Berman and others) that Urquidy will miss his next scheduled start on Tuesday.  Urquidy shut out the Angels over 3 2/3 innings, continuing a nice start to 2021 for the 26-year-old. He has totaled 44 2/3 frames across eight starts and recorded a 3.22 ERA (with a less shiny 4.56 SIERA) and an 18.6 percent strikeout rate against a terrific 5.1 percent walk rate.

Brewers Select Hoby Milner, Option Eric Lauer

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The Brewers have selected the contract of left-hander Hoby Milner, the team announced.  Milner will take the place of Eric Lauer on the active roster, as Lauer was optioned to Triple-A.

The move could essentially just be a way for Milwaukee to get a fresh arm in the bullpen, as Lauer threw 55 pitches over three innings in yesterday’s 6-3 loss to the Braves.  Lauer’s future also won’t be in the bullpen, as MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy notes that the team plans to stretch Lauer out as a starter since the Brew Crew will be adopting a six-man rotation for the upcoming stretch of the schedule.

Lauer has already made two starts for Milwaukee this season, to go along with two relief appearances.  The southpaw has a very solid 2.81 ERA/3.23 SIERA over 16 innings this season, as well as an above-average 24.6% strikeout rate and an outstanding 3.1% walk rate.  On the down side, Lauer has allowed five home runs over those 16 innings.

Milner signed a minors contract with the Brewers last winter and now looks to get some action in his fifth MLB season.  The lefty has a 4.53 ERA over 55 2/3 career innings with the Phillies, Rays, and Angels, with most of that experience coming in the form of 31 1/3 frames for Philadelphia in his 2017 rookie season.  Milner has struggled since that first year, despite doing a good job of limiting hard contact.

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