Twins’ President Derek Falvey Discusses Deadline Moves, 2022 Outlook
Twins president of baseball operations Derek Falvey met with reporters last weekend to discuss the team’s activity leading up to the trade deadline (video clip available from KSTP-TV). Minnesota’s baseball ops head also offered some hints at the team’s plans for the upcoming offseason, unsurprisingly suggesting they’re eyeing a return to contention as soon as 2022.
“(This year) has not been what we wanted. But we still feel we have a lot of talent in the clubhouse for 2022, 2023 and beyond,” Falvey told reporters. Not coincidentally, the Twins generally acquired prospects at the higher levels of the minor leagues with a chance to contribute at the major league level in the near future. Joe Ryan and Drew Strotman, acquired from the Rays for Nelson Cruz, are both at Triple-A. The players acquired from the Blue Jays for José Berríos — Austin Martin and Simeon Woods-Richardson — are both in Double-A, as is Alex Scherff, whom the Twins added from the Red Sox for Hansel Robles.
Moving Berríos for Martin and Woods-Richardson was obviously the Twins’ biggest deadline decision. Falvey indicated the club saw both players as among the top 50 prospects in the league, and he was particularly effusive in his praise of Martin, whom Minnesota viewed as one of the top two talents in the 2020 draft class. The 22-year-old split his time evenly between shortstop and center field in the Blue Jays’ system, and Falvey indicated Martin would continue to see action at both positions in his new organization.
While there’s certainly reason for excitement regarding the young players added to the system in recent weeks, the front office clearly needs to add immediate big league help this offseason if the Twins are to challenge the White Sox. That’s most apparent in terms of the starting rotation, which has lost Berríos, J.A. Happ and Matt Shoemaker from the season-opening group and could also see Michael Pineda depart in free agency this winter. Kenta Maeda will obviously be among the starting five next season, and young right-hander Bailey Ober has probably shown enough promise to have the inside track on a spot as well.
There’s very little clarity beyond those two. Falvey pointed to Randy Dobnak, who struggled early in the year and has been out since mid-June with a finger injury, as a potential internal option. Minnesota has been giving starts to Charlie Barnes and Griffin Jax of late, and it’s possible Ryan or Strotman get their first big league calls later this season. Someone from that group could pitch well enough down the stretch to earn a permanent spot, but there’s enough uncertainty overall that Falvey flatly acknowledged “we’re going to need to add to that” via trade or free agency this winter.
The Twins should have the financial resources to make a couple noteworthy additions on the pitching staff. The team has just $49.2MM in guaranteed commitments on the books for next season, in the estimation of Cot’s Baseball Contracts. Arbitration raises for Byron Buxton, Taylor Rogers, Tyler Duffey and Luis Arraez will probably add somewhere in the $20MM range to that ledger, but that’d still leave quite a bit of breathing room relative to their approximate $125MM payroll for 2021.
The position player group looks mostly set. Core players like Buxton, Josh Donaldson, Max Kepler, Jorge Polanco, Arraez and the catching tandem of Mitch Garver and Ryan Jeffers are under team control, as are highly-touted young players like Trevor Larnach, Alex Kirilloff and top prospect Royce Lewis. (Miguel Sanó is under contract as well, although he’s amidst a second consecutive disappointing season, so it’s arguable the Twins should pursue a first base upgrade).
That lineup core still looks like a potentially productive one, although the Twins are now without their best hitter of the past few seasons after trading Cruz to the Rays. Before the trade, Cruz was quite vocal about his affinity for the Twins organization, and Falvey said the front office would “never rule anything out” regarding the possibility of making a run at the 41-year-old in free agency this winter.
Royals’ Moore On 2022 Outlook, Top Prospects, Mondesi
The 2021 season hasn’t gone as the Royals hoped, but general manager Dayton Moore made clear in a recent appearance on 610 AM’s Fescoe in the Morning Show that he still considers his club to be in a win-now mindset and will aim to put together a contending roster for the 2022 season (full audio link to the 18-minute interview).
Moore acknowledged being “extremely disappointed” with the team’s record this season, particularly given that the front office “all felt [the roster] would compete.” That said, Moore didn’t sound like an executive who was gearing up to make sweeping changes in the offseason. While the Royals will certainly look to add in various places — Moore listed the bullpen, in particular — the organization also expects a great deal of improvement from within.
“When I look at our team, there’s not a ton that you’re going to need to do, at least on paper,” said Moore. “…We expect some of our young starters to continue to evolve and get better. We’re going to hopefully be able to transition a position player or two into this lineup next year. We’re going to get a little bit younger, we’re going to have a little more speed on this team. … We’re going to be disciplined with what we do, but we’re going to rely on young players that are going to come up and be better.”
The Royals have an enviable crop of young starting pitching, as Moore referenced. Each of Brady Singer, Daniel Lynch, Jackson Kowar and Kris Bubic has been ranked as a top-100 prospect at some point in recent years, and all four have gotten their feet wet in the big leagues already. Kansas City also has last summer’s No. 4 overall draft pick, lefty Asa Lacy, working his way through the system. Command has been an issue for Lacy thus far in Class-A Advanced, but he’s also fanned a third of his opponents through 52 frames. Twenty-one-year-old Angel Zerpa breezed through Class-A Advanced, meanwhile, before running into some early struggles in his first Double-A action.
Of course, the mention of “transitioning a position player or two” into the lineup seems like a clear reference to uber-prospect Bobby Witt Jr., the No. 2 overall pick from the 2019 draft who has emerged as one of baseball’s brightest prospects. But Moore is also surely referencing another former first-round pick, first baseman Nick Pratto.
Both Witt and Pratto have laid waste to Double-A and Triple-A pitching alike in 2021. Witt, 21, posted a .295/.369/.570 slash with 16 homers and 14 steals in 61 Double-A games before jumping to Triple-A and hitting .283/.328/.550 through his first 13 games. Pratto delivered similar dominance at the plate in Double-A (.271/.404/.570 in 61 games) before jumping to Triple-A at the same time. Like Witt, he hasn’t missed a beat in Omaha, raking at a .271/.379/.646 clip so far.
It’s always possible that the Royals will call on one or both promising youngsters by season’s end, although Moore spoke of exercising patience with each prospect after the scratched 2020 season and an abbreviated run through the minors so far in ’21. Asked specifically about the duo, Moore simply suggested that both need to “keep doing what they’re doing” and accrue more experience in the top minor league level of the system. That said, Moore also suggested that once players are promoted to Triple-A, “they really have an opportunity to force your hand.”
Perhaps most interestingly g of all from Moore, however, was his surprisingly candid assessment of oft-injured shortstop Adalberto Mondesi. While Moore emphasized that the club feels Mondesi is still a part of its future, he also acknowledged that Mondesi may not be the everyday cornerstone the team once envisioned.
“No, you can’t,” Moore candidly replied when asked if the team could count on Mondesi as an everyday player. “We love Mondy to death. … I think when we put this team together, we look at it like, ‘Holy cow, if Mondy’s healthy, and he’s a part of the team, it’s going to be really exciting and really impactful in a lot of different ways: defensively, offensively, speed-wise.’ There’s a lot he can do.
“But I think we’re learning that we’re going to have to manage his workload. He may not be a guy that plays more than 100 games a year, best-case scenario. Hopefully he exceeds that expectation, but as somebody who’s responsible for putting together a 26-man roster, we’ve got to look at ways to supplement and perhaps be more balanced, if he’s not a part of it. If he is, that’s great. We’re certainly not going to release him. We’re going to continue to stay with him, obviously. But we’ve got to make sure we put that roster together in ways that protect us. … We can’t, obviously, count on him as an everyday player.”
It’s rare to see a GM speak with such candor about someone who’s long been viewed as a key player. Of course, those comments aren’t any sort of indication that the team plans to move on from Mondesi, nor should we necessarily expect Kansas City to spend significantly on a middle-infield upgrade over the winter. The Royals also have a shortstop-capable infielder in Nicky Lopez, and the aforementioned Witt Jr. has played all of his professional games so far at shortstop, save for eight appearances at the hot corner in 2021. Perhaps the Royals will deem it worthwhile to add a solid utilityman who can deepen the bench and help cover some games at the shortstop position as needed. Based on Moore’s comments, that very role could eventually be one in which Mondesi finds himself — an oft-used but also oft-rested player who can fill in at multiple spots around the diamond.
Mondesi aside, the broader takeaway from Moore’s comments are that while the 2021 season hasn’t gone as hoped, the club remains committed to putting a winner on the field as soon as 2022. That likely points to another offseason of some modest additions in free agency and via trade, as the Royals continue to wait on the emergence of their next core group.
Brewers’ John Axford Out For Season With Elbow Injury
Brewers reliever John Axford will miss the rest of the season after suffering significant structural damage in his throwing elbow, manager Craig Counsell told reporters (including Adam McCalvy of MLB.com). The veteran righty is weighing his options for treatment, Counsell said.
It’s a disappointing blow for a pitcher who just made his return to the big leagues on Monday after a three-year absence. The 38-year-old recorded one out against the Pirates, allowing a pair of runs on two hits and a walk in what’ll be his lone appearance of the year. Before that, he’d pitched very well with the Blue Jays’ Triple-A affiliate in Buffalo, where he tossed 10 2/3 innings of one-run ball with fourteen strikeouts and three walks.
It remains to be seen whether Axford will make a renewed comeback push. At the very least, he can take pride in the remarkable successful effort he made in recent months to get back to the majors with Milwaukee, even if that stint unfortunately ended far quicker than expected. Presumably, the Brewers will place Axford on the 60-day injured list when the need for a new 40-man roster spot arises.
Giants Activate Tommy La Stella, Place Anthony DeSclafani On Injured List
The Giants announced they’ve reinstated infielder Tommy La Stella from the 60-day injured list (via Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle). Starter Anthony DeSclafani is going on the 10-day IL, retroactive to August 3, with right shoulder fatigue. To open 40-man roster space for La Stella, reliever Conner Menez was designated for assignment.
La Stella returns after a three month absence. He initially landed on the IL with a left hamstring strain and then suffered a right hand fracture while rehabbing. It’s been a tough first season in San Francisco for La Stella, who has thus far been limited to 75 plate appearances of .235/.297/.353 hitting. That’s far off the quietly excellent .289/.356/.471 line the lefty-swinging La Stella put up with the Angels and A’s between 2019-20.
Despite the slow start, the Giants are surely happy to have La Stella back in the lineup. San Francisco signed the 32-year-old to a three-year, $18.75MM contract over the winter. There’s little question the front office believes in his ability to return to his prior form. La Stella figures to rotate between second and third base, at least until Evan Longoria returns from his own lengthy IL stint. That’ll free up Kris Bryant to see more time in the outfield and offer manager Gabe Kapler a quality left-handed bat to mix in with the right-handed hitting Donovan Solano and Wilmer Flores at those positions.
In addition to La Stella, San Francisco figures to bring back Longoria and Brandon Belt in the not too distant future. They’ll be welcome reinforcements for the 67-40 Giants, who hold MLB’s best record and lead the Dodgers by 3.5 games in the National League West.
It doesn’t seem there’s much cause for alarm with DeSclafani despite the ominous-sounding diagnosis. Kapler told reporters (including Andrew Baggarly of the Athletic) the expectation is that he’ll miss just one start. The righty struggled in 2020 — his final season with the Reds — but has had a bounceback campaign in the Bay Area. DeSclafani has tossed 126 1/3 innings of 3.28 ERA/4.03 SIERA ball with average or better strikeout (23.3%), walk (6.5%) and groundball (45.0%) rates. He’s already thrown nearly 100 more innings than he did in Cincinnati last season, so the Giants are surely keeping a close eye on his workload to keep him healthy for the stretch run.
Menez is something of a surprising cut, as the southpaw has pitched quite well in his big league time this season. He’s tossed 14 innings with a 3.86 ERA, punching out a decent 24.2% of opposing hitters with a massive 59.1% grounder rate. However, he’s struggled mightily in 22 frames with Triple-A Sacramento, managing just a 6.95 ERA and walking an alarming 15.9% of opposing hitters in the minors.
Triple-A struggles aside, it wouldn’t be surprising to see another team add Menez off waivers. The 26-year-old has a fine 4.04 ERA/4.34 SIERA over parts of three major league seasons and can still be optioned for the remainder of this year.
Dodgers Designate Yefry Ramirez For Assignment
The Dodgers announced they’ve designated right-hander Yefry Ramírez for assignment. The move clears space on the 40-man roster for Cole Hamels, who has officially signed a major league contract.
Ramírez was just selected to the roster earlier this week, and he loses his spot after a single big league appearance. He’s otherwise spent the entire season with Triple-A Oklahoma City, where’s made 15 appearances (12 starts). Ramírez pitched to a 5.49 ERA in that hitter-friendly league, striking out a solid 25% of batters faced but issuing walks at an alarming 11.1% clip.
The 27-year-old has pitched in parts of three big league seasons, seeing action with the Orioles and Pirates in addition to his briefest of stints in L.A. Ramírez will now be made available to other clubs via waivers, although any claiming team would have to keep the out-of-options hurler on the big league roster or designate him for assignment themselves. Having previously been passed through outright waivers in his career, Ramírez would have the right to reject a minor league assignment in favor of free agency if he clears.
Pirates Sign Keury Mella
The Pirates have signed right-hander Keury Mella to a minor league contract, reports Jake Crouse of MLB.com (Twitter link). He has been assigned to Triple-A Indianapolis. Mella was released by the Diamondbacks last week.
Mella has seen big league action in each of the past five seasons, albeit without ever carving out a consistent role on a staff. He’s never logged more than ten MLB innings in a given campaign, and his overall body of work consists of 28 2/3 frames of 7.22 ERA/5.11 SIERA ball. The 28-year-old made two appearances with the D-Backs this season, allowing six runs in 1 2/3 innings before being passed through outright waivers.
Over parts of four Triple-A campaigns, Mella has worked to a 4.55 ERA across 201 2/3 innings, starting a little more than half his appearances. He’s worked exclusively in relief this season, though, tossing 29 innings of 4.34 ERA ball in a hitter-friendly environment in Reno. Mella’s 22.7% Triple-A strikeout rate is a bit below-average, but he’s done well in avoiding walks and induced grounders on nearly half the balls in play against him.
In other Pirates roster news, the club activated left-hander Steven Brault from the 60-day injured list, as previously reported. He worked four innings of one-run ball against the Brewers this afternoon in his season debut. To create 40-man roster space, Pittsburgh transferred righty Chase De Jong from the 10-day to the 60-day injured list. De Jong is out for the season after undergoing surgery on his left knee last week.
Marlins Designate Deven Marrero For Assignment
AUGUST 4: Chisholm has been reinstated from the IL, suggesting he’s tested negative for the virus. Marrero was designated for assignment in a corresponding move (via McPherson).
AUGUST 3: The Marlins announced they’ve placed middle infielder Jazz Chisholm on the COVID-19 injured list. Infielder Deven Marrero has been selected to the roster to replace him.
Chisholm has been experiencing virus-like symptoms, reports Jordan McPherson of the Miami Herald (Twitter link). There’s no indication that he’s actually tested positive for the virus at this point. The 23-year-old is hitting .254/.317/.430 with eleven home runs across 307 plate appearances so far this season.
Marrero has been on and off the roster a few times, picking up seven plate appearances. He has spent most of the season with Triple-A Jacksonville, hitting .252/.327/.397 with the Jumbo Shrimp.
Nick Tropeano Elects Free Agency
Nick Tropeano has elected free agency after being passed through outright waivers by the Mets, according to the MLB.com transactions tracker. New York designated the 30-year-old for assignment last Friday to clear roster space to accommodate their deadline day acquisitions.
As a player who had previously been outrighted in his career, Tropeano had the right to elect free agency while retaining the remainder of his $1.1MM salary for this season. He’s now free to explore opportunities around the league.
Tropeano saw a bit of big league time with the Giants and Mets this season, tossing eight innings of three-run ball. He only struck out two batters in that tiny sample of work, but the right-hander showed far better bat-missing ability in some time with the Pirates last year. Over 15 2/3 frames with Pittsburgh, Tropeano pitched to a 1.15 ERA with a strong 28.8% strikeout rate and 14.9% swinging strike rate.
Given his decent performance over the past couple seasons, Tropeano should have little trouble finding another opportunity on the open market. While he broke in as a starting pitcher with the Astros and Angels, Tropeano has worked exclusively in relief over the past two years, managing a cumulative 1.52 ERA/3.52 FIP over 23 2/3 innings.
Anthony Rendon To Undergo Season-Ending Hip Surgery
The Angeles announced this afternoon that Anthony Rendon will undergo season-ending surgery to repair a right hip impingement. He is being placed on the 60-day injured list. Left-hander Packy Naughton has been selected to the big league roster in a corresponding move, with Chris Rodriguez optioned to Triple-A Salt Lake to clear space on the active roster. The club expects Rendon to be ready for Opening Day 2022, reports Jack Harris of the Los Angeles Times.
Surgery is the culmination of what turned out to be a very trying season for the All-Star third baseman. Rendon landed on the injured list on three separate occasions, missing time due to groin, knee and hamstring problems. All of those injuries were related to Rendon’s left leg, though, with the right hip impingement a new issue that arose during his rehab from the hamstring injury, relays Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register.
The series of health woes limited Rendon to a total of 249 plate appearances. His typically stellar production was merely average over that time, as the 31-year-old hit .240/.329/.382 with six home runs. This was arguably the least productive season of Rendon’s career, a far cry from the elite .310/.397/.557 line he posted between 2018-20.
Long-term absences to Rendon and Mike Trout have contributed to another mediocre season for the Angels in spite of an MVP-caliber year from Shohei Ohtani. The 53-54 Halos sit 6.5 games back of the Athletics for the final playoff spot in the American League, with the Yankees, Mariners, Blue Jays and Indians all also ahead in the standings. Their playoff chances are down to a meager 1.1%, in FanGraphs’ estimation, and losing Rendon will only make a miracle second half run all the more improbable. In all likelihood, Anaheim is destined for a seventh consecutive year without postseason play.
A return to health and prior form at the plate from Rendon will be critical to the Angels’ hopes of competing in 2022. With Trout, Ohtani, Rendon and Jared Walsh in the fold, the club is no doubt hoping to take another crack at competing next season. Rendon signed a seven-year, $245MM free agent contract over the 2019-20 offseason, so he’ll remain in the fold for quite some time. Under the terms of his backloaded deal, Rendon will earn $36MM next season, followed by successive $38MM salaries from 2023-26.
While Naughton surely wouldn’t have liked for his promotion to come under these circumstances, he is in line to make his big league debut. The 25-year-old began his career as an ninth-round draftee of the Reds out of Virginia Tech in 2017. He was flipped to the Angels last summer as part of the return for outfielder Brian Goodwin. Naughton has spent the 2021 campaign with Salt Lake, working to a 5.23 ERA across 51 2/3 innings in an extremely hitter-friendly league. While he has struck out a below-average 21.5% of opponents, the southpaw has only walked a tiny 5.7% of batters faced, a common theme throughout his minor league career.
Orioles Designate Shaun Anderson, Domingo Leyba For Assignment
The Orioles announced they’ve designated right-hander Shaun Anderson and infielder Domingo Leyba for assignment. The moves were needed to clear 40-man roster space for the previously reported selections of right-handers Marcos Diplán and Dusten Knight.
Anderson has bounced around the league on waivers over the past few months and is now slated to again find himself on the wire. Traded from the Giants to the Twins in a lopsided deal that sent LaMonte Wade Jr. to San Francisco, he’s been waived by Minnesota, Texas and now Baltimore in rather rapid succession. He never pitched in the big leagues with the Rangers, but he’s combined for 18 2/3 relief innings of 9.16 ERA/5.23 SIERA ball between the Twins and Orioles this season.
The 26-year-old has yet to find much success at the major league level over parts of three campaigns. Anderson broke in as a starting pitcher with the Giants in 2019 but has worked exclusively out of the bullpen over the past two seasons. Overall, he’s logged a 5.75 ERA across 130 frames, posting worse than average strikeout and walk rates (17.3% and 10.1%, respectively).
That said, Anderson has clearly piqued the interest of a number of teams around the league. He was once a fairly well-regarded prospect, and he’s pitched to a solid 3.61 ERA over parts of three Triple-A campaigns. Anderson can be optioned for the remainder of this season and next, so he’d be a flexible depth option for a pitching staff if another club is willing to give him a 40-man roster spot. The former third-round pick has been claimed by teams near the top of the waiver priority list both times he’s previously been designated, so it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him land elsewhere over the next few days.
Baltimore added Leyba off waivers from the Diamondbacks in early June. The 25-year-old has seen action at both second and third base but stumbled to a .115/.198/.161 line over 96 plate appearances between the two teams. Leyba is out of options, so any claiming team would need to keep him on the active roster or waive him themselves. Arizona passed him through outright waivers last November, so Leyba has the right to reject a minor league assignment in favor of free agency should he clear again.
The O’s will likely need to make another move in the coming days. Southpaw Ryan Hartman, claimed off waivers from the Astros over the weekend, was placed on the COVID-19 injured list while he goes through intake protocols. That temporarily opened space for Baltimore to reinstate infielder Richie Martin from the 60-day IL on Monday. Once Hartman is cleared to report to the team, the Orioles will have to create additional 40-man roster space.