Headlines

Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Rays Interested In Christian Vazquez

By | at

Looking to upgrade behind the plate in both 2020 and beyond, the Rays have shown interest in Red Sox catcher Christian Vazquez, according to The Athletic’s Brittany Ghiroli and Eno Sarris (subscription required).  “Early discussions” between the two clubs have seen the Sox look at adding young pitching in return.

With the Rays holding World Series aspirations, the Red Sox in seller mode, and former Rays VP of baseball operations Chaim Bloom now running Boston’s front office, the two AL East rivals make a lot of sense on paper as natural trade partners.  Vazquez in particular would fill a major need for Tampa Bay, given that catcher has been a longstanding problem position for the team.

The catching combo of Mike Zunino and Michael Perez have produced sub-replacement level numbers in 2020, as the duo (and Kevan Smith, who made two plate appearances) have combined for a collective .160/.241/.340 slash line in 112 PA.  While Vazquez himself hasn’t had an exceptional year at the plate, his .260/.294/.423 line over 109 still represents a marked improvement over the Rays’ current catching mix.  Plus, Vazquez’s highly-regarded defensive and game-calling abilities would also provide a boost.

After hitting .276/.320/.477 with 23 homers last season, Vazquez’s production has taken a step backwards.  The catcher’s 27.5% strikeout rate and 4.6% walk rate are both career lows, his hard-hit ball rate is down considerably from 2019, and his .253 xwOBA is in the bottom fifth percentile of any player in baseball.  Now in his sixth MLB season, Vazquez’s offensive numbers have been somewhat all over the board, as he preceded his career-best 2019 with a dreadful 2018 campaign.  Evaluating Vazquez’s bat through only 112 PA, of course, is a difficult task — in a normal season, Vazquez could just be off to a slow start.

As with any Rays trade target, money is a factor, though Vazquez’s contract is reasonable for even a low-spending team like Tampa Bay.  He is owed approximately $780K for the remainder of this season, $6.25MM in 2021, and there is a $7MM club option his services for 2022 that can be bought out for $250K.  Since the Rays were willing to commit $4.5MM to Zunino this season, it stands to reason that they would be open to spending a bit more in 2021 for what they hope would be considerably better production both offensively and defensively.

Vazquez’s modest contract and extra year (or years) of control make him a particularly interesting trade chip for a Red Sox team that seems to be more or less open to moving almost anyone prior to Monday’s trade deadline.  While the Rays can technically only trade players currently on their 60-man player pool, they could work around that restriction simply by making a handshake deal to trade any prospect now and then reveal that prospect as a “player to be named later” within a few months’ time.  Bloom’s familiarity with Tampa Bay’s highly-rated farm system could put any number of minor league arms in play for a potential deal.

Support MLBTR And Go Ad-Free

By | at

Many of you have already shown your support for MLB Trade Rumors by signing up for an ad-free membership.  The benefits of the $29.99 yearly membership continue to grow:

  • Ad-free faster viewing experience
  • New feature: Trades That Should Happen, by Steve Adams
  • Connor Byrne’s weekly MVP/Cy Young/Rookie of the Year Power Rankings
  • Exclusive member-only online chats with our expert MLB writers every week
  • Exclusive Trade Rumors Front Office badge when leaving comments on the site
  • Become a member of Trade Rumors Front Office today!

Minor MLB Transactions: 8/28/20

By | at

Friday’s minor moves…

  • The Marlins announced that they’ve sent infielder Logan Forsythe to the 60-day injured list with a right oblique strain. That should wrap up the 2020 season for Forsythe, whom the Marlins signed July 29. He made his Marlins debut Aug. 4 and went on to hit a miserable .118/.211/.235 with one HR in 35 plate appearances before going on the IL. Overall, it has been a rough few years for Forsythe, a once-valuable member of the Rays who has combined for minus-0.3 fWAR since the beginning of the 2018 campaign.
  • The Angels outrighted Michael Hermosillo to their alternate training site after he cleared waivers, the team announced. Hermosillo, whom the Angels designated for assignment last Sunday, has slashed a paltry .188/.288/.287 with one home run 118 plate appearances with the Angels since 2018. The 25-year-old outfielder has been far better at the Triple-A level, where he has batted .261/.344/.478 with 32 homers over 748 trips to the plate.

Player Pool Additions: Giants, Mets, Rays, Nats

By and | at

Teams have been tinkering with their 60-man player pools throughout the 2020 season, at times cutting veterans to make room for prospects and at times cutting bait on some lower-tier organizational pieces in order to make room for more experienced additions (be they via waiver claim, free-agent signing, etc.). There have been several clubs to announce additions to their player pools already Friday, and while such moves seem innocuous, it’s of course worth pointing out that adding a player to the 60-man pool makes him eligible to be traded.

That doesn’t mean all of the players added to pools today are on the trading block — far from it. We’ve also already seen the Marlins (in the Richard Bleier trade) and the Blue Jays (in the Taijuan Walker trade) take advantage of using players to be named later to get around the rule that only players in a 60-man pool are eligible to be traded. Both sent a PTBNL to their trade partner, each of whom is expected to be a non-60-man player that will be announced after the season.

So while not all of today’s additions will change hands, it’s still notable that some of these players now could change hands without needing to be listed as a PTBNL. In that scenario, a new club could get a look at said player at its alternate training site and, if close enough to the Majors, perhaps even promote them in September.

Here’s a quick rundown…

  • The Giants announced that first baseman/outfielder Chris Shaw and righty Melvin Adon were added to the 60-man player pool. Shaw, 26, was San Francisco’s first-round pick (No. 31 overall) back in 2015 and rated among the club’s best prospects for several years. His shine has worn off, however, after some shaky showings in the upper minors and the Majors. Shaw carries a .280/.328/.538 slash in 1092 Triple-A plate appearances but has struck out at a 30 percent clip there. He’s hit .153/.244/.222 in 82 big league PAs. Speculatively, he seems like a change-of-scenery candidate. Adon, also 26, received an 80 grade on his heater at FanGraphs this offseason and was called the hardest thrower in the minors by Eric Longenhagen and Kiley McDaniel. However, they also gave him just 30 command on the 20-80 scale and called his chances of realizing his ceiling low due to his inability to locate. Adon walked 34 batters, hit another and threw 11 wild pitches in 55 1/3 innings last year.
  • The Mets added third baseman Brett Baty, tweets Anthony DiComo of MLB.com. Baty, 20, was the No. 12 pick in the 2019 draft and is considered to be among the organization’s top prospects. He divided last year between rookie and Low-A ball, where he batted .234/.368/.452 with seven home runs in 228 plate appearances. Now that Baty’s in the fold, the Mets have all of their top five prospects in the player pool — including Andres Gimenez in the Majors — as DiComo points out.
  • Right-hander Brent Honeywell has been added to the Rays’ pool and reported to their alternate site in Port Charlotte, tweets MLB.com’s Juan Toribio. The highly touted Honeywell underwent Tommy John surgery in February 2018, hasn’t pitched since and may not take the mound for the Rays this season. By adding Honeywell to their pool, though, the Rays will give the 25-year-old an opportunity to rehab while facing professional hitters, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times notes. For now, though, “there are still plenty of boxes” for Honeywell to check before he makes his MLB debut, according to manager Kevin Cash.
  • The Nationals already added righty Sterling Sharp and outfielder Jeremy De La Rosa earlier today (as covered here), and this afternoon they announced two more additions: infielders Jackson Cluff and Drew Mendoza. Both have reported to the alternate site in Fredricksburg. Cluff was a 2019 sixth-rounder who spent his first pro season in Single-A, where he batted .229/.320/.367 with five homers and 11 steals in 280 trips to the plate. The 23-year-old is now generally regarded as one of the Nationals’ top 20 prospects. Mendoza, another 2019 draft choice (third round, No. 94), hovers around Washington’s top 10 farmhands at multiple outlets. The 22-year-old also spent 2019 at Single-A, slashing .264/.377/.383 with four HRs and three steals in 239 plate appearances.

Athletics Acquire Tommy La Stella For Franklin Barreto

By | at

10:26pm: Both teams have announced the trade.

9:15pm: The Athletics have acquired infielder Tommy La Stella from the division-rival Angels, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports. Fellow infielder Franklin Barreto is headed to the Angels, per Rosenthal.

Now 31 years old, La Stella was a capable part-time player with the Braves and Cubs from 2014-18, but he has found another gear since joining the Angels before last season. Going back to 2019, La Stella has slashed .289/.353/.483 (125 wRC+) with 20 home runs and as many walks as strikeouts (35). La Stella even earned his first All-Star nod a season ago, though he was unable to play in the game after suffering a fractured tibia.

To his credit, La Stella has come back strong from his injury this year. He could soon emerge as the No. 1 option at second base for a contending Oakland club that has relied on Tony Kemp to handle the position so far.

Although La Stella was terrific as an Angel, they’re well out of contention, and he’s a pending free agent. As such, it made sense for the club to move on from La Stella and take on the 24-year-old Barreto, a former top prospect who didn’t receive consistent playing in Oakland.

Originally acquired from the Blue Jays as part of the two teams’ Josh Donaldson trade before 2015, Barreto batted a woeful .180/.210/.360 with nine homers in 219 plate appearances as an Athletic, and he has totaled just 10 trips to the plate this year. However, in addition to his prospect pedigree and youth, Barreto owns a strong track record in Triple-A, where he has hit .285/.356/.505 with 53 HRs in 1,285 PA. The Angels are obviously hoping Barreto will tap into his potential in their uniform, but because he’s out of minor league options, they won’t have the luxury of demoting him without possibly losing him.

Defensively, most of Barreto’s MLB playing time has come at second, where La Stella and Luis Rengifo have gotten the lion’s share of action for the club this year. But as the Angels go through the final month of what’s very likely to be another non-playoff season, they should be in position to evaluate Barreto as a possible everyday option at the keystone. The A’s, on the other hand, are taking a chance that La Stella will provide yet another weapon on a team aiming for an AL West title and a World Series this year.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Steve Cohen In Exclusive Negotiations To Purchase Mets

By | at

The Mets appear to be close to finding a new owner. Steve Cohen is now engaged in exclusive negotiations to buy the club, David Faber of CNBC reports. Alex Rodriguez, who has also been vying for the team, issued a statement to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic conceding defeat.

“The consortium led by Alex Rodriguez and Jennifer Lopez has informed the Mets that they are no longer pursuing the acquisition of the team,” Rodriguez said. “The consortium, which included Vincent Viola, Mike Repole, and Marc Lore had submitted a fully funded offer at a record price for the team which was supported by binding debt commitments from JP Morgan and equity commitment letters from credit worthy partners. The consortium said that they are disappointed to not be part of the revitalization of New York City and provide an exhilarating experience for the fans and wish the Wilpon family and the entire Mets organization well.”

Cohen, the Rodriguez-Lopez team and the Josh Harris-David Blitzer duo were the finalists to land the Mets, but current owners Fred Wilpon and Jeff Wilpon selected Cohen as the favorite, according to Jon Heyman of MLB Network. It’s “believed” the Rodriguez group was willing to offer as much as $2.3 billion, per Faber, but they’ll lose out to Cohen.

While Cohen hasn’t reached the finish line yet, his approximate net worth of $15 billion, long-running pursuit of the franchise and his status as a minority owner of the Mets seem to make it unlikely he’ll fall short. Cohen’s previous attempt to buy the Mets fell apart over the winter, but the Wilpons’ urgency to sell the team has reportedly increased since then, owing in part to the financial losses they’ve taken as a result of the pandemic-shortened season with no fans in the stands. Now, any new owner would lose upward of $100MM this year and in 2021, Faber reports.

Cohen’s collapsed deal with the Mets included a five-year sale plan in which he’d assume 80 percent of the reins in 2025, but he’d take over as the team’s control person immediately in this instance, Faber writes. It’s unclear what a new agreement could look like in terms of cost or whether Cohen would receive any part of the coveted SNY Network in a sale. Cohen bid $2.6 billion before, but it’s now likely he’ll land the franchise for less, according to Faber.

Manny Ramirez Signs In Australia

By | at

Manny Ramirez’s professional baseball career isn’t over yet. The 48-year-old has signed with the Sydney Blue Sox of the Australian Baseball League, Jon Heyman of MLB Network reports.

Last we heard from Ramirez, he was pursuing a comeback in Taiwan in May. However, no deal ever materialized for Ramirez in the Chinese Professional Baseball League. He’ll now go to Australia in hopes of logging his first professional action since he played in the Dominican Winter League in 2014-15.

Although he’s statistically one of the greatest hitters Major League Baseball has ever seen, there’s little to no chance Ramirez will return to MLB as he approaches the age of 50. He last graced the majors in 2011 with the Rays, though he’s obviously better known for his highly successful runs with the Indians, Red Sox and Dodgers. Ramirez slashed .312/.411/.585 (153 wRC+) with 555 home runs and 66.3 fWAR in 9,774 plate appearances during his time in the bigs.

Rays Acquire Cody Reed

By | at

The Rays have acquired left-hander Cody Reed from the Reds for righty Riley O’Brien, C. Trent Rosecrans of The Athletic tweets. To make room for Reed, Tampa Bay placed newly acquired outfielder Brett Phillips on the COVID-19 injured list as he goes through intake protocols, the team announced. Meanwhile, O’Brien is now a member of the Reds’ 60-man player pool, per Rosecrans.

The Reds designated Reed for assignment earlier this week after he started 2020 with 9 1/3 innings of 10-hit, six-earned run ball with 10 strikeouts and eight walks. But the 27-year-old was effective for Cincinnati in 2018-19, and the AL East-leading Rays are in a position where they need to acquire pitching help in the wake of several injuries – including to notable bullpen arms in Nick Anderson, Jose Alvarado, Jalen Beeks, Oliver Drake, Andrew Kittredge, Colin Poche and Chaz Roe.

In the event Reed turns things around in a Rays uniform, he could be a multiyear piece for the club, as he’s not due to reach free agency until after 2024. However, Reed doesn’t have any minor league options remaining, so he’ll have to stick on the Rays’ MLB roster or be subjected to the waiver wire.

The Reds are getting a promising farmhand in O’Brien, a 25-year-old who made his Double-A debut in 2019 and registered a 3.93 ERA/3.49 FIP with 9.44 K/9, 3.8 BB/9 and a 45.7 percent groundball rate in 68 2/3 innings. Prior to the trade, O’Brien ranked as a top 25 Rays prospect at MLB.com (No. 20), Baseball America (24) and FanGraphs (24). MLB.com, the most bullish of those outlets, writes that O’Brien has the potential to amount to a mid-rotation starter or “a late-inning force,” depending on whether he’s able to improve his control.

Mariners Place Matt Magill On 10-Day Injured List

By | at

The Mariners announced that they’ve placed right-hander Matt Magill on the 10-day injured list with a shoulder strain. They recalled righty Zac Grotz in a corresponding move.

As MLBTR highlighted earlier this week, Magill could be a trade candidate for the Mariners heading into Monday’s deadline, so it’s rather unfortunate for the club that he’s headed to the shelf. Depending on the severity of his injury, Magill’s IL placement may not completely kill the chances of a trade, but it certainly decreases the odds he’ll go anywhere before August concludes.

Even if healthy, Magill’s not exactly a premium trade candidate, as the 30-year-old has only logged a 4.63 ERA/5.24 FIP in a combined 149 2/3 innings with the Dodgers, Reds, Twins and Mariners since he debuted in 2013. But Magill was solid with Seattle a year ago, and he did coast through his first eight appearances this season before things went haywire. Since Aug. 17, Magill has made three appearances and yielded seven earned runs on seven hits (including three homers) in 2 1/3 innings.

Magill’s on a relatively minimal salary this year and controllable via arbitration through 2023. As such, the Mariners aren’t under pressure to sell low on him in the wake of a couple of poor performances and what could be a concerning injury.

Mets Designate Walker Lockett For Assignment, Activate David Peterson

By | at

The Mets have designated right-hander Walker Lockett for assignment, Tim Healey of Newsday was among those to report. His roster spot will go to lefty David Peterson, who’s coming off the 10-day injured list.

In what could go down as his final Mets appearance, Lockett threw two scoreless innings to pick up a win over the Yankees on Friday. For the most part, though, success has eluded Lockett as a Met. Since they acquired him from the Indians in a deal for catcher Kevin Plawecki before 2019, the 26-year-old Lockett has recorded an 8.16 ERA/5.96 FIP with 6.59 K/9 and 2.51 BB/9 in 30 1/3 innings. Lockett did pitch well last year at Triple-A (3.66 ERA with 5.9 K/9 and 1.7 BB/9 over 59 frames), but as someone who’s out of minor league options, he may have a harder time latching on elsewhere in the next week.

Meanwhile, the return of Peterson will be a welcome one for the Mets, as the rookie began his career with a 2.91 ERA/4.03 FIP and 7.06 K/9 against 3.32 BB/9 across 21 2/3 innings before going to the IL on Aug. 18 with shoulder fatigue. Peterson has been the Mets’ top complement to ace Jacob deGrom so far this season.

MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

Do not Sell or Share My Personal Information

hide arrows scroll to top