Yankees Acquire Andrew Heaney
The Yankees made a late deal to bolster the back of their rotation prior to Friday’s trade deadline, announcing the acquisition of Angels left-hander Andrew Heaney. New York is sending minor league righties Janson Junk and Elvis Peguero back to the Halos in the deal.
Heaney, 28, will be a rental option for the Yankees, as he’s playing out his final arbitration season on a $6.75MM salary. He’s posted an unsightly 5.27 ERA in 94 innings this season, although he’s been sharp in his past couple starts and the underlying metrics suggest he’s been a bit unlucky.
Heaney has excellent strikeout (28.2%) and walk (7.7%) rates on the season and consistently posts strong swinging-strike and opponents’ chase rates. He’s been done in, to an extent, by a low strand rate and a penchant for the long ball that has increased in recent years. A move to Yankee Stadium doesn’t figure to help that latter issue, though the Yankees surely have some ideas to help him curb those troubles.
While the 2021 season hasn’t been Heaney’s best, he’s a former first-round pick — No. 9 overall to the Marlins in 2012 — and top prospect who came into the 2021 season with a decent track record. From 2018-20, Heaney pitched 342 innings for the Halos and worked to a solid 4.42 ERA with strikeout and walk rates that were notably better than the league average. He’s not a flamethrower, but he’s been a solid fourth starter whose K/BB profile has long made him appear as though he’s capable of taking another step.
Beyond having an outstanding name for a pitcher, the 25-year-old Junk is having an outstanding season in Double-A, where he’s pitched 65 2/3 innings of 1.78 ERA ball with a 26.8 percent strikeout rate and a 7.9 percent walk rate. A 22nd-round pick in 2017, Junk has never ranked among the Yankees’ best prospects but provides the club with an arm who’s enjoyed some decent success in the upper minors this year — albeit with the help of a .233 average on balls in play and a 91 percent strand rate.
Peguero, 24, is another strong performer who was omitted from prospect rankings of the Yankees system. He’s split the season between Class-A Advanced and Double-A, working to a combined 2.23 earned run average with a 57-to-16 K/BB ratio in 44 1/3 innings of work. Peguero’s ground-ball rate checks in at 53 percent. FanGraphs’ Eric Longenhagen gave him a mention as an unranked player in his latest overview of the Yankees’ system, noting that Peguero is a strong 6’5″ righty who experienced a big bump in velocity recently, which suggests that he could see his stock rise.
Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reported (via Twitter) that the Yankees were acquiring Heaney. The YES Network’s Jack Curry reported the return.
Braves To Acquire Jorge Soler
The Braves have acquired outfielder Jorge Soler from the Royals, reports MLB Network’s Jon Heyman (via Twitter). ESPN’s Jeff Passan tweets that Kansas City will receiver minor league right-hander Kasey Kalich in return.
In the wake of Ronald Acuna’s season-ending ACL tear and Marcell Ozuna‘s dislocated fingers and subsequent domestic violence arrest, Braves President, Baseball Operations & General Manager Alex Anthopoulos has remade his outfield by acquiring Soler, Joc Pederson, Eddie Rosario, and Adam Duvall in trades. Despite being a game below .500, the Braves are only four games out in the NL East.
Soler, 29, has logged 46 games in right field this year while serving as a DH in 44. As you might expect from the time spent at DH, Soler is not known for his defensive chops. His best year came in 2019, when he shook off a history of injuries to play in 162 games and post a 136 wRC+ with 48 home runs in 679 plate appearances. Soler has fallen on hard times since then, with a 90 wRC+ in 534 PA. His bat seems to have come alive in his last 14 games, with seven home runs during that span. Soler is earning $8.05MM this year, and it’s unclear if the Royals are picking up any of the tab. He’s due for free agency after the season.
Signed to a nine-year, $30MM deal out of Cuba by the Cubs back in 2012, Soler came to the Royals in the December 2016 Wade Davis deal. Oddly, he’s one of six key members of the 2016 Cubs to be traded in the last few days, along with Kris Bryant, Anthony Rizzo, Javier Baez, Jon Lester, and Kyle Schwarber.
Kalich, a 23-year-old righty reliever, has a 3.26 ERA, 24.6 K%, and 12.0 BB% in 30 1/3 High-A innings this year. Baseball America gave him a 45 grade prior to the season, noting that Kalich “overwhelms hitters with a powerful two-pitch combination” and “has the stuff to pitch in late relief.”
Padres Acquire Jake Marisnick From Cubs
The Padres have acquired outfielder Jake Marisnick from the Cubs, tweets ESPN’s Jeff Passan. Righty Anderson Espinoza heads to the Cubs in return, tweets Jeff Sanders of the San Diego Union-Tribune.
Marisnick, 30, signed a $1.5MM free agent deal with the Cubs back in February. He’s got a 95 wRC+ in 144 plate appearances this year. A right-handed hitter, Marisnick has a 112 wRC+ against lefties in 198 plate appearances from 2019 to present. Marisnick is known for his center field defense, but seemed to excel more in that area earlier in his career with the Astros. He’ll supplement a Padres outfield that includes Tommy Pham, Trent Grisham, Wil Myers, and Jurickson Profar.
The Padres were in the mix for big names at the trade deadline, as always, but they came away with Marisnick, Daniel Hudson, and Adam Frazier after falling short on Max Scherzer and Jose Berrios.
Espinoza, 23, was considered one of the 20 best prospects in baseball prior to the 2016 and ’17 seasons. Before 2016, Baseball America graded Espinoza as a 70 prospect, writing, “Espinoza’s precocious feel for a high-quality, three-pitch mix and efficient delivery are uncommon traits for a teen, to say the least.” He was traded from the Red Sox to the Padres in July 2016 for Drew Pomeranz, going down for Tommy John surgery a year later and then again in April 2019. Espinoza has pitched at High-A this year, remarkably his first pro ball work since 2016 – a gap of four years and eight months. He’s got a 5.02 ERA, 29.4 K%, and 10.3 BB% in a dozen starts so far.
Giants To Acquire Tony Watson From Angels
The Giants are acquiring reliever Tony Watson from the Angels, reports Jon Morosi of MLB.com (Twitter link). The Giants will send Sam Selman, Jose Marte, and Ivan Armstrong to Los Angeles, per Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle (via Twitter).
Watson is well known in San Francisco, of course, having only recently completed a three-year run with the Giants from 2018 to 2020. It’s been a bit of a down year for Watson, who owns a 4.64 ERA/4.10 FIP in 33 innings with the Angels. His walk rate, in particular, has bothered his performance, ballooning to 10.4 percent from a career 6.7 percent.
That said, the understated veteran has been remarkably reliable throughout his 11-year career. Giants’ President of Baseball Operations Farhan Zaidi said of the acquisition (per Slusser), “He’s a battled-tested relievers, and we’re going to have a lot of important games down the stretch. His influence, his demeanor, is really an example we want to have set.”
The Angels, meanwhile, continue in their mission to add pitching to their organization. After using their entire draft to add pitchers, the Angels now add three more in the form of Selman, Marte, and Armstrong.
Selman has the best chance of simply taking Watson’s roster spot. The 30-year-old southpaw has appeared in each of the past three seasons for San Francisco, totaling 37 2/3 innings with a 4.06 ERA/5.00 FIP. Selman has been a fine option for the Giants, though he doesn’t come with the same track record that Watson does.
As for the youngsters, Marte, 25, made it as high as Double-A this season. He’s marked a 3.57 ERA in 19 appearances totaling 22 1/3 innings. Armstrong, 21, is a burler 6’5″, 247-pound right-hander pitching out of the bullpen in Single-A. He’s impressed with a 1.88 ERA in 38 1/3 innings while striking out 28.7 percent of opponents.
Phillies Acquire Freddy Galvis
The Phillies are acquiring Freddy Galvis from the Orioles, reports Jon Heyman of MLB Network (Twitter link). The Orioles are sending cash as well as paying for $250k of Galvis’ trade bonus, tweets MLB.com’s Joe Trezza. The move is official.
Galvis doesn’t fill a huge need for the Phillies, who were more desperately in need of pitching as they approached the deadline. That said, a low-cost veteran addition comes with very little risk.
He’ll serve as a backup in the infield, where Alex Bohm, Didi Gregorius, and Juan Segura hold the starting spots. Gregorius has had his health issues this summer, however, while Bohm has yet to hit his stride at third.
This represents a homecoming for Galvis, of course, who began his career with the Phillies, for whom he played from 2012 to 2017. He was the Phillies starting shortstop from 2015 to 2017.
He signed with Baltimore this offseason, fully expecting to be moved at the deadline. He played well for Baltimore, however, slashing .249/.306/.414 across 274 plate appearances.
For their effort, the Orioles are receiving right-hander Tyler Burch from Philly, per the Orioles’ press release announcing the move. The 23-year-old right-hander has split this season between Single-A Clearwater and High-A. Since being promoted to the Jersey Shore BlueClaws, Burch has logged 11 innings over eight outings and pitching to a 2.45 ERA. He’s been closing games at both levels, finishing 18 of his 23 overall outings. Burch was not among the Phillies’ top 41 prospects posted by Fangraphs at the start of the year, nor the top 30 from Baseball America’s midseason report.
Red Sox Acquire Hansel Robles From Twins
The Red Sox acquired reliever Hansel Robles from the Twins, tweets ESPN’s Jeff Passan. The Twins are including $500k in the deal, per Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com (via Twitter). That should cover much of the remaining money owed to the right-hander, who signed a one-year, $2MM deal with the Twins this past winter. In exchange, the Twins will receive RHP Alex Scherff, the teams announced.
Robles fills a need for Boston as a hard-throwing righty in the pen. He will slot in somewhere behind setup man Adam Ottavino and closer Matt Barnes in the pecking order – though it’s worth noting that bullpen usage is hardly ever that clean, and Robles should no doubt expect some high-leverage work in the heart of the AL East playoff race.
Robles spent three and a half years with the Mets and two and a half years with the Angels before joining the Twins this offseason. He closed for a short time in LA, notching 23 saves in 2019 while tossing 7 2/3 innings and marking a stellar 2.48 ERA/2.88 FIP. He looked like a borderline elite bullpen arm at that point, but he hasn’t matched those run prevention numbers in the two seasons since.
The overall numbers for Robles this season aren’t all that confidence-inspiring: 45 appearances covering 44 innings with a 4.91 ERA/4.82 FIP worth -0.7 rWAR. He does have 10 saves as he stepped up to cover some high-leverage situations throughout the year. He’s struggled of late, however, with an 11.12 ERA in his last 12 appearances dating back to late June. He doesn’t have to be “the guy” in Boston, however, where he’ll make up just one part of manager Alex Cora‘s final line of defense to close out games.
For the Twins, they are adding an intriguing bullpen arm to their system. The 23-year-old Scherff has split this year between High-A and Double-A, racking up exceptional strikeout numbers. Eric Longenhagen of FanGraphs notes that his fastball is “is 92-96 with a good changeup”.
Do-Hyoung Park of MLB.com was the first to note that Scherff was the return.
Brewers Acquire John Curtiss
The Brewers and Marlins have agreed to a swap sending right-handed reliever John Curtiss from Miami to Milwaukee in exchange for minor league catcher Payton Henry, the teams announced just prior to Friday’s trade deadline.
Curtiss, 28, was at one point a fairly well-regarded bullpen prospect in the Twins system but never panned out in Minnesota, Anaheim or Philadelphia after bouncing around in a series of transactions. Like so many others, however, he found a home with the Rays in 2020, pitching to a brilliant 1.80 ERA in 25 innings of relief and posting a 25.3 percent strikeout rate against a masterful 3.0 percent walk rate. The Rays nevertheless flipped Curtiss to the Marlins in a late offseason trade for minor league first baseman Evan Edwards — perhaps not sold on Curtiss being able to sustain his otherworldly command.
While Curtiss’ command has indeed backed up a bit — sustaining a three percent walk rate is a near impossibility for any pitcher — it’s still sitting at a brilliant 5.6 percent so far in what has been a terrific 2021 season. Curtiss pitched 40 innings for the Marlins and notched a tidy 2.48 ERA with a solid 24.8 percent strikeout rate.
Beyond his excellent production, Curtiss was no doubt appealing to the Rays due to the fact that he’s not yet arbitration-eligible and is controlled through the 2025 season. Curtiss won’t even reach arbitration until the 2022-23 offseason, so there’s potential for him to step up as a long-term bullpen piece for the Brew Crew.
The Brewers will gain those four and a half years of control at the expense of the 24-year-old Henry, whom they selected in the sixth round of the 2016 draft. Henry ranked among the Brewers’ top 30 prospects at Baseball America each season from 2018-20 but fell off this year. He’s still 25th among their farmhands over at FanGraphs, where Eric Longenhagen notes that he was a bat-first catcher in the draft who has made enough defensive gains to stick behind the plate. Henry’s raw power is his best tool.
So far in 2021, however, that pop hasn’t really been on display. He’s batted a combined .297/.372/.390 with just two homers between Double-A and Triple-A. That said, Henry has curbed his once-problematic strikeout rates by a wide margin this year; he fanned in 32 percent of his trips to the plate in Class-A as recently as 2018, but he’s down to an even 25 percent between Double-A and Triple-A this year (with fewer punchouts in Triple-A).
The Marlins are known to have been looking for potential long-term options behind the dish, and while Henry is a long shot to step up as their everyday option back there, he gives the Fish an upper-minors option who is producing at the dish and may not be too far from getting a shot in the big leagues.
MLB Network’s Jon Heyman first reported the deal (Twitter link).
Blue Jays To Acquire Joakim Soria From Diamondbacks
The Blue Jays are acquiring reliever Joakim Soria from the Diamondbacks, according to John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7 FM. The Jays will send a pair of players to be named later back to Arizona, according to the team. Outfielder Jonathan Davis was designated for assignment to open a spot for Soria.
Soria, 37, joins the ninth team of his career. A legendary closer in his first four seasons with the Royals back in 2007-10, Soria is now more of a useful depth piece. This year the veteran owns a 4.30 ERA, 24.8 K%, and 6.4 BB% in 29 1/3 innings. He lengthens a Blue Jays bullpen that also added Brad Hand, Adam Cimber, and Trevor Richards this summer. Blue Jays Executive Vice President, Baseball Operations & General Manager Ross Atkins saved his big splash for the rotation, acquiring Jose Berrios from the Twins for Austin Martin and Simeon Woods Richardson.
The Blue Jays, who return to the Rogers Centre in Toronto tonight for the first time in 670 days, are currently 4.5 games out of a wild card spot.
Astros, Indians Swap Myles Straw For Phil Maton
The Astros and Indians have made a trade that will see Cleveland acquire outfielder Myles Straw, while Houston will land right-handed reliever Phil Maton and minor league catcher Yainer Diaz. Both teams have announced the swap.
Straw, 26, becomes the latest acquisition in a long line of attempts for the Indians to find some consistency in the outfield. It’s been an ongoing organizational issue for the past several seasons, with center field in particular standing out as a problem.
Center field has been Straw’s lone position for Houston in 2021 (though he does have experience at shortstop as well). He’s handled the position quite nicely, turning in two Defensive Runs Saved and a 6.6 Ultimate Zone Rating in 831 innings there. At the plate, Straw has virtually no power of which to speak, but he’s still batting a passable .262/.339/.326 thanks in large part to a strong 10.3 percent walk rate. Straw’s speed is nothing short of excellent, which has contributed both to those strong defensive ratings and to his value on the basepaths, where he’s swiped 17 bases in 22 attempts on the year.
Straw is a long-term option in center for Cleveland, as he’ll finish out the season with just two-plus years of service time. He won’t have quite enough days to reach Super Two status, so he won’t be eligible for arbitration until the 2022-23 offseason at the earliest. He’s controllable through 2025.
Maton, 28, gives the ‘Stros a bullpen option for the remainder of this year and for each of the two subsequent seasons, as he’s controllable through 2023 via arbitration. He’s posted a 4.57 ERA through 41 1/3 innings this season and carries a career 4.74 mark through 190 frames.
Those numbers may not seem like much, but there’s good reason to believe that Maton could have a breakout in him. A rather pedestrian strikeout rate for the right-hander jumped to 33.3 percent last year upon arriving in Cleveland, and he’s managed that uptick so far in 2021 as well (34.3 percent). Command is something of an issue, but Maton’s rough ERA is in many ways tied to an awful and rather unfortunate .356 average on balls in play. He’s posted that .356 mark despite generally limiting hard contact nicely.
In fact, it’s possible Maton is already experiencing the positive regression those numbers seem to foreshadow. Over his past 18 games — a span of 17 2/3 innings pitched — he’s posted a 2.04 ERA while punching out 25 of his 76 opponents. Maton’s 11 walks in that time are still too plentiful, but the hits have stopped dropping in quite so frequently. He’s certainly not going to sustain this 2.00-ish ERA pace, but metrics like SIERA (3.13), FIP (also 3.13) and xFIP (3.56) all think he’s pitched far better than his raw earned run average would indicate.
The 22-year-old Diaz, meanwhile, wasn’t considered to be among Cleveland’s better prospects, but he’s having a nice season in Class-A, where he’s batting .314/.357/.464. He’s hit at every minor league stop he’s made since signing as an amateur back in 2016. He’ll be Rule 5 eligible this winter if the Astros don’t add him to the roster, though it might be hard for some clubs to justify carrying a 23-year-old catcher who’s scarcely played above A-ball (assuming he gets a late promotion to Double-A, even). Still, the Astros have been thin on catching depth in recent years, so there’s a decent chance they protect him if he keeps tearing up minor league pitching.
FOX 26’s Mark Berman first reported the trade.
Giants, Rockies Continue To Discuss Trevor Story
2:26 pm: The Giants and Rockies remain engaged on Story with a little more than a half hour to go before the deadline, reports Feinsand.
1:03 pm: With just under two hours before the deadline, the Rockies have lowered their asking price on Story, one executive tells Sherman. That person suggests it’s now more likely than not that Story will be traded.
12:03 pm: There’s little traction between the Rockies and either of Tampa Bay or Toronto on a Story deal at the moment, hears Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post. Of course, the Jays just parted with a pair of top prospects to land José Berríos from the Twins, so it’s possible they might be disinclined to continue to mine the farm system for Story.
11:29 am: Some rival executives think the Rays and Blue Jays are the main contenders to land Rockies shortstop Trevor Story before this afternoon’s trade deadline, reports Joel Sherman of the New York Post (Twitter link). Bob Nightengale of USA Today adds that the Rays, in particular, are making a “hard push” to land Story. Mark Feinsand of MLB.com suggests the Giants also have interest, while Thomas Harding of MLB.com indicates the Rockies have had discussions regarding Story with the Cardinals as well.
Of course, that’s only if Story winds up traded at all, which Sherman confirms is far from a lock. The Rockies have expressed comfort with holding onto Story for weeks. While that could just be public posturing, it seems Colorado’s planning to hang onto fellow impending free agent Jon Gray past the deadline.
The end game there, however, is to try to hammer out a long-term deal with Gray. Story, on the other hand, isn’t seen as especially likely to sign an extension. The Rockies instead would be more likely to make him a qualifying offer and receive a compensatory draft choice if/when he rejects and signs elsewhere in free agency.
Of course, Story’s play this season has complicated matters. While he looked like an obvious trade candidate coming into the year on the heels of a .293/.361/.544 performance from 2019-20, he’s struggled to produce at the plate this season. The 28-year-old has a below-average .240/.312/.429 line (84 wRC+) over 375 plate appearances. That’s surely depressing the caliber of prospect teams are willing to part with, so there’s some sense for Colorado in recouping a high 2022 draft choice if rivals aren’t putting forth especially strong offers.
The Rays, Jays, Giants and Cardinals are all new reported entrants into the Story market. Sherman adds that the Mets — who have been linked to Story for a while — are still on the periphery but that the Rockies shortstop doesn’t seem to be their top priority at this time. The Yankees, Brewers and White Sox have also all been tied to Story in the past but seem less likely after adding to their infield in other ways (Anthony Rizzo, Eduardo Escobar and César Hernández, respectively).