Indians Activate Jefry Rodriguez, Transfer Danny Salazar To 60-Day IL
The Indians announced Friday that they’ve reinstated right-hander Jefry Rodriguez from the 60-day injured list. In order to open a spot on the 40-man roster, Cleveland has transferred fellow right-hander Danny Salazar from the 10-day IL to the 60-day IL.
The move puts an end to Salazar’s 2019 regular season after just one appearance, although that already looked to be the case after Salazar asked the club for some time away from the organization after exiting his latest rehab appearance early (link via MLB.com’s Mandy Bell). Salazar, who has been sidelined since Aug. 2 due to a groin strain, missed the 2018 season and much of the 2019 campaign following shoulder surgery. His future with the organization is clearly up in the air following the latest sequence of events.
Salazar, 29, always looked to have front-of-the-rotation potential based on an electric arsenal and his typically gaudy strikeout rates, but he’s only been healthy enough to make 30 starts once in the past six seasons. The 2016 All-Star posted a 3.82 ERA with 10.5 K/9 against 3.2 BB/9 in 587 1/3 innings from 2013-17 but has been rendered an afterthought in the wake of his recent shoulder woes. The Indians paid Salazar a $5MM salary in 2018 and tendered him a contract at $4.5MM for the 2019 season due to the upside he possesses, but the organization will ultimately receive just four innings of work in return for that $9.5MM investment. Salazar is arbitration-eligible again this offseason, but he’s a surefire non-tender candidate at this point.
Meanwhile, the 26-year-old Rodriguez will return to the Indians after some shoulder troubles of his own. Acquired in the offseason swap that sent catcher Yan Gomes to Washington, Rodriguez started eight games for Cleveland earlier this season and worked to a 4.74 ERA with 6.6 K/9, 3.9 BB/9, 1.03 HR/9 and a 49.3 percent ground-ball rate.
Rodriguez topped out at 3 2/3 innings in his minor league rehab stint, so he’s not fully stretched back out just yet. He could function as a long reliever or perhaps make a start with the understanding that his workload would be limited, should the need arise. Cleveland has club control over the righty through the 2024 season.
NHL’s San Jose Sharks Hire Former Dodgers GM Ned Colletti
In case last night’s report that Carlos Correa has hired Bobby Flay’s agent wasn’t strange enough for you — fear not, cravers of odd baseball news! The NHL’s San Jose Sharks announced today that they’ve hired former Dodgers general manager Ned Colletti as a professional scout. Sharks general manager Doug Wilson offered the following statement on the matter:
Ned has an extensive background working in professional sports and talent evaluation and he will bring a fresh perspective to our organization’s evaluation process. This was a unique opportunity to add someone of Ned’s experience to our staff.
Colletti has never worked in hockey before but does join the Sharks with more than three decades of experience working in a Major League front office — including 18 seasons as an assistant general manager or general manager of a Major League team. Clearly, the Sharks are convinced enough of Colletti’s hockey acumen to make a decidedly outside-the-box hire.
[Related: Pro Hockey Rumors’ coverage of the Sharks hiring Ned Colletti]
Colletti isn’t the only notable executive to completely change sports in recent years, but it seems he’ll have a more direct say in player evaluation than Paul DePodesta took on when joining the NFL’s Cleveland Browns as their Chief Strategy Officer in early 2016. (DePodesta, per the Browns, is “tasked with implementing systems and processes to strengthen the Browns organization and decision making” in his role with the team.)
Since being replaced by the Dodgers following the 2014 season, Colletti has been rumored to be a part of the GM searches for both the Diamondbacks and the Orioles, but he’s never signed on as an executive with another MLB organization. Colletti served as an adviser to Dodgers president Stan Kasten after being removed as GM and has also served as a television analyst with Sportsnet Los Angeles.
Braves Activate Austin Riley
The Braves announced this morning that they’ve reinstated outfielder/third baseman Austin Riley from the 10-day injured list. A knee sprain wound up sidelining the young slugger for nearly a month.
Atlanta has had a starting outfield’s worth of injuries, with Riley joined by Ender Inciarte and Nick Markakis on the shelf. In the absence of that trio, the Braves have utilized Matt Joyce, Rafael Ortega, Charlie Culberson, Adam Duvall and Billy Hamilton in the outfield alongside young star Ronald Acuna Jr.
Leading up to his injury, Riley had seen his playing time diminish thanks to a dismal slump, but the general play of the Atlanta outfield during his absence could again lead to increased opportunities for playing time. Since Riley’s last game, non-Acuna outfielders for the Braves have batted a collective .228/.321/.320. Riley’s own offensive output cratered after his blistering start to the season, but improving upon that collective level of production is a fairly low bar to clear.
Riley burst onto the Braves’ roster with a .293/.333/.629 batting line and an 11 homers in his first month of MLB action but has faceplanted with a .192/.258/.383 slash and a 38.6 strikeout rate in 132 plate appearances since that time. He batted .250/.286/.325 with three doubles and 10 strikeouts in 42 plate appearances during a 10-game minor league rehab assignment.
Barring a catastrophic collapse, the Braves have the National League East locked down for a second straight season, so Riley’s return to the roster has little bearing on whatever glimmer of a race for the division title remains. However, getting Riley on back on track in advance of the postseason would provide a significant boon to the team’s chances of advancing beyond the NLDS for the first time since 2001.
AL West Notes: A’s Rotation, Sanchez, Goodwin
The Athletics will effectively deploy a six-man rotation for the time being, writes Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle. Sean Manaea‘s return puts him alongside Mike Fiers, Brett Anderson, Chris Bassitt, Tanner Roark and Homer Bailey in the rotation, and it seems that there’s no immediate plans to push any of that bunch into a bullpen role. Skipper Bob Melvin called the situation “fluid” and left open the possibility for a change should the need arise. The flexibility could prove particularly important in the season’s final few games, as Melvin could potentially have the ability to optimize some matchups late in the year as the A’s look to secure a Wild Card playoff berth for the second straight season.
Of that bunch, the Athletics will lose Roark, Bailey and Anderson to free agency this winter, although the team isn’t exactly short on internal replacement options. Top prospect A.J. Puk is fully recovered from Tommy John surgery, and while he’s in the bullpen for 2019, he’s expected vie for rotation gig in 2020. Righty Jharel Cotton is in a similar position, while uber-prospect Jesus Luzardo is also on the cusp of MLB readiness. Oakland, of course, also has righty Frankie Montas on the sidelines until late September due to an 80-game PED suspension, but he’ll be back in the starting mix next year.
Elsewhere in the AL West…
- Aaron Sanchez‘s season-ending shoulder surgery could give the Astros a difficult decision regarding the right-hander’s future in the organization, writes Jake Kaplan of The Athletic (subscription required). The organization has yet to divulge details on what type of procedure he’ll require, but Sanchez is owed a raise on this season’s $3.9MM salary in arbitration. His lackluster season won’t make the ultimate price point too steep, so it seems worthwhile to tender Sanchez a contract so long as he’s not expected to be sidelined well into next summer, but the sudden uncertainty surrounding his outlook is an unwelcome development as the club plans for the 2020 campaign. The extent of Sanchez’s expected recovery will play a role in how aggressively the ‘Stros need to pursue rotation help in the offseason; Gerrit Cole, Wade Miley and Collin McHugh are free agents, while Justin Verlander, Zack Greinke and Lance McCullers Jr. (who’ll ideally be recovered from 2018 Tommy John surgery) are all signed or controlled through at least 2021.
- The Angels‘ March claim of Brian Goodwin off release waivers from the Royals may have initially been intended to find a capable stopgap for the injured Justin Upton, but the 28-year-old Goodwin looks to have played himself into the team’s plans in 2020, writes Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register. “Truthfully, I thought he was going to be a filler until Upton came back,” manager Brad Ausmus admitted. “But then he just proved himself to be way too valuable. Much more than just a stop-gap player. He’s turned himself into, shoot, you could make the argument he should play more.” Goodwin, indeed, has been a boon to the Halos’ roster, hitting at a .286/.346/.507 clip with 15 home runs, 27 doubles, two triples and five steals through 380 plate appearances. He’ll be eligible for arbitration for the first time this winter and should secure the first seven-figure salary of his career. The Angels hold a club option on Kole Calhoun and will have both Upton and Mike Trout back in 2020, but Goodwin at the very least should be a fourth outfield option next season.
Outrighted: Castillo, Hart
These are the latest players to be outrighted after being designated for assignment …
- Marlins catcher Wilkin Castillo is headed back to the Triple-A roster after being outrighted, per the PCL transactions page. The 35-year-old had returned to the majors this season for the first time since 2009, though he only appeared in two contests. An exceptionally versatile player, Castillo has spent most of his professional career behind the dish but has also lined up at every other position on the field. (Only barely. Though he has five pitching appearances, Castillo has logged just one inning in center field.)
- The Mets outrighted southpaw Donnie Hart to their top affiliate after he cleared waivers, the International League transactions page reflects. Hart, who turns 29 tomorrow, has spent time this year with the Mets and Brewers. He previously appeared in parts of three seasons with the Orioles. While Hart carries a 3.13 ERA in 89 career MLB innings, that relies heavily upon his unsustainable debut showing (one earned run in 18 1/3 innings in 2016). Though he hasn’t been much of a strikeout pitcher in the big leagues, the soft-tossing lefty does have a career 54.1% groundball rate.
Neil Ramirez Elects Free Agency
Righty Neil Ramirez has elected free agency from the Blue Jays, according to the International League transactions page. He had been outrighted by the Toronto organization but had the right to decline the assignment.
It remains to be seen whether Ramirez will draw any interest on the open market. With less than a month left in the regular season and the minor leagues already engaged in playoff battles, there isn’t a ton of room for opportunity.
Still, it’s possible that some team will find a need for an experienced reliever and decide to give a run to the 30-year-old. He certainly wasn’t in top form this year, working to a 5.40 ERA with 8.6 K/9 and 5.4 BB/9 — along with an unhealthy 2.5 homers per nine — in 25 total MLB innings. But Ramirez did punch out 51 batters on strikes in 41 2/3 frames last year and has sported a hefty 13.8 K/9 strikeout rate in minor-league action in 2019.
Carlos Correa Hires New Representation
Astros star Carlos Correa is making an unusual switch in representation, Mark Feinsand of MLB.com reports (Twitter links). Correa has parted ways with agent Greg Genske and is now being represented by talent agency William Morris Endeavor. WME is not a baseball agency and does not even have a MLBPA-certified agent at present, although WME agent Jon Rosen is in the process of being certified by the union, Feinsand adds.
WME’s client list includes names like Bobby Flay, Rachel Ray and Al Roker, and Feinsand adds that Rosen represented both Alex Rodriguez and Matt Vasgersian in negotiating their broadcast contracts with ESPN. Jeff Passan of ESPN further reports that Rodriguez has been advising Correa on his future, which surely influenced the shift to some degree.
On the one hand, it’s not exactly a surprise to see Correa find new representation. Genske’s former Legacy Agency was acquired by Gatemore Sports & Entertainment and rebranded as GSE Worldwide last year, and several agents have broken off to start their own shops (e.g. Tidal Sports Group, VC Sports Group). Alex Bregman and Mookie Betts are among the former Legacy clients who’ve followed their representatives to those newly started agencies.
A player — particularly one of this caliber — enlisting an agency that has never worked in baseball before is obviously quite rare. In some respects, the switch is reminiscent of Robinson Cano leaving Scott Boras to sign with Jay-Z’s Roc Nation Sports, although Jay-Z partnered with CAA Baseball (agent-turned-Mets-GM Brodie Van Wagenen, specifically) early in that endeavor. Whether WME seeks out a similar partnership or hires an experienced baseball representative remains to be seen.
Assuming Rosen is indeed certified as a player agent by the MLBPA, he’ll immediately be thrust into a high-profile arbitration case in his first offseason on the job. Correa is earning a $5MM salary in 2019 as a first-time arbitration-eligible player and stands to receive a sizable raise on that sum in 2020.
It’d be more interesting, though, to see how Correa’s new representation approaches his looming free agency in the 2021-22 offseason. It’s certainly possible that WME could hire a more seasoned baseball agent so that his trip to the open market wouldn’t be a totally foreign experience for the company’s fledgling baseball department. More broadly looking beyond Correa, it also stands to reason that a company with WME’s considerable resources and marketing capabilities would have little difficulty in luring other MLB players to a newly created baseball department (which could, of course, serve as another means of gaining experience in free agency prior to Correa hitting the open market).
As always, the change in representation has been reflected in MLBTR’s Agency Database, which contains representation information on hundreds upon hundreds of current and former players. If you see an error or omission within the database, please let us know: mlbtrdatabase@gmail.com.
Cubs Place Craig Kimbrel On Injured List
The Cubs have placed closer Craig Kimbrel on the injured list due to inflammation in his right elbow, tweets Jesse Rogers of ESPN Chicago. President of baseball operations Theo Epstein told reporters that the team performed a precautionary MRI on Kimbrel, which came back clean and did not reveal any structural damage (Twitter link, with video, via Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune). Kimbrel’s placement is retroactive to Monday, and he’ll be eligible to return next Thursday. The move allows the Cubs to recall David Bote from Triple-A Iowa before the 10-day optional assignment minimum.
It’s been an up-and-down season for the 31-year-old Kimbrel, who sat out the first two months to shed the burden of draft pick compensation before ultimately signing a three-year, $43MM contract with the Cubs. Kimbrel had a rough couple of outings early in his Cubs tenure but rebounded with eight consecutive scoreless appearances. Most of Kimbrel’s outings have been clean, but he’s also allowed three earned runs on three separate occasions, leaving him with a bloated 5.68 ERA in 19 total innings since signing.
Kimbrel’s 96.3 mph average fastball velocity is down from last year’s 97.1 mph average, although his heater has gained some life as the summer has worn on. Like his velocity, Kimbrel’s K/9 rate (12.3) and swinging-strike rate (14.6 percent) are better than the league average but are both down relative to his elite standards. The biggest struggle, though, has been control — or lack thereof. Kimbrel has walked 11 batters and plunked another two in just 19 innings of work (5.2 BB/9), and his ability to locate the ball within the zone has clearly diminished. He’s already served up six home runs in those 19 innings — a mark that is only one shy of last year’s career-high seven homers allowed.
The extent to which the lengthy layoff early in the season has contributed to Kimbrel’s control issues can’t be known, but a return to form will be critical for the Cubs’ immediate playoff chances and their long-term outlook. Kimbrel would hardly be the only free agent who has struggled in the wake of a shortened (or, in his case, completely missed) Spring Training, but he also displayed some red flags late in 2018 — particularly in the postseason. If this proves to be the start of a pronounced decline, Kimbrel’s $16MM salary in each of the next two seasons will become particularly burdensome.
Red Sox Push Back Price’s Next Start; Chavis Suffers Setback In Rehab
The Red Sox’ faint Wild Card hopes may have taken another hit, as manager Alex Cora told reporters today that David Price won’t make his scheduled start against the Yankees this weekend after experiencing tightness in his ailing wrist during his most recent bullpen session (Twitter links via the Boston Globe’s Alex Speier). The outlook on infielder Michael Chavis is worse, it seems, as a setback in his rehab from an oblique strain has placed the remainder of the season in jeopardy for the 24-year-old rookie.
Price is currently able to throw fastballs but is having difficulty throwing his cutter and changeup. Cora didn’t offer a specific return date on the lefty, but his scratch will now relegate the Red Sox to a pair of bullpen games against the Yankees in their four-game series this weekend. Recently signed righty Jhoulys Chacin is a candidate to start tomorrow’s game in place of Price, but he’d apparently function as more of an opener than a traditional starter; Chacin hasn’t pitched in a big league game since July 24 and hasn’t pitched more than three innings in an appearance since July 14.
Price only just returned from a month-long absence that stemmed from a cyst in his wrist. The Athletic’s Jen McCaffrey tweets that the left-hander underwent a platelet-rich plasma injection while on the injured list that was intended to help break up the cyst. Now, however, the ongoing discomfort in the area makes offseason surgery to remove the cyst a likelier outcome.
Chavis, meanwhile, has been out since Aug. 11 with the oblique injury that now threatens to put an to his rookie campaign. Long one of the organization’s top prospects, Chavis burst onto the scene in late April and turned in an OPS north of .900 through his first month-plus in the big leagues. His offensive contributions have slowly waned in recent months, though, and Chavis was mired in an ugly 5-for-32 slump at the time of his IL placement. In all, he’s given the Sox a respectable .254/.322/.444 line through 382 trips to the plate, clubbing 18 home runs, 10 doubles and a triple along the way.
Even with Chavis now unlikely to return in 2019, Cora noted that there’s still no thought to adding top infield prospect Bobby Dalbec to the Major League roster. Dalbec, also 24, hit .234/.371/.454 with 20 home runs in a very pitcher-friendly setting in Double-A — that slash line was 43 percent better than league average, per wRC+ — before graduating to Triple-A and hitting .257/.301/.478 (91 wRC+) in 123 plate appearances there.
Report: Dayton Moore To Receive Extension Under New Royals Ownership
The impending sale of the Royals from David Glass to John Sherman has created a lot of speculation about the team’s future, though one key face within the organization doesn’t appear to be changing. According to MLB Network’s Jon Heyman in the latest edition of the Big Time Baseball podcast (audio link), current Royals GM Dayton Moore “will receive a long extension and be there for a long time” once Sherman officially takes control of the franchise. As a minority owner of the Indians, Sherman is no stranger to the AL Central, and thus “knows Dayton Moore well” and “is an admirer” of the GM and his work in Kansas City.
A new contract would keep Moore at the helm throughout the Royals’ ongoing rebuild, which would be the second time Moore has overhauled the club since first taking the general manager job in 2006. That first rebuild, lengthy as it was though losing seasons from 2007-12, eventually paid off in major fashion. K.C. won the American League pennant in both 2014 and 2015, and captured the franchise’s second-ever World Series title in 2015.
That success wasn’t sustained, however, and the Royals haven’t since topped the .500 mark. In fact, over Moore’s 13 full seasons as general manager, Kansas City has only three winning seasons. Nonetheless, Moore is a well-respected executive throughout baseball, and he has a proven track record in shepherding a small-market team all the way to championship glory.
It isn’t yet known how Sherman will operate the franchise or whether he’ll authorize a higher payroll, though Moore has already demonstrated that his front office can identify and develop young talent. In fairness to Glass, he was willing to boost spending to try and extend the Royals’ contention window, though many of Moore’s big signings from the 2015-16 offseason (Alex Gordon, Ian Kennedy, Chris Young) didn’t pan out.
Moore’s current deal is believed to run through the 2020 season, though the exact terms of his 2016 extension weren’t officially revealed. Heyman thinks the Royals may have given Moore another extension in the aftermath of the 2017 offseason, when the Braves heavily pursued Moore (who worked in Atlanta’s front office prior to taking Kansas City’s GM job) to run their vacant baseball operations department after John Coppolella’s shocking resignation as general manager.
While Moore may not be going anywhere, the same might not be true of manager Ned Yost, as Heyman said “the likelihood is that [the Royals] will move on.” Though Moore has given his skipper more or less permanent job security, the 65-year-old Yost has indicated in the past that he is taking things on a year-to-year basis, even once citing the end of the 2019 season as a potential endpoint. Yost is nearing the end of his 16th season as a Major League, and his 10th in Kansas City. Yost will soon meet with Royals officials to discuss his future, Heyman said, with these meetings possibly taking place as early as this week.