Padres To Place Tatis, Kinsler On Injured List
The Padres will place infielders Fernando Tatis Jr. and Ian Kinsler on the injured list, Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune reports. It was already known that a back issue — now reported to be a strain — would likely send Tatis to the IL for the second time this season. A herniated disk in Kinsler’s neck will send him there alongside Tatis. Infielder Ty France and outfielder Travis Jankowski are coming up from Triple-A to fill the two roster spots.
Tatis is still undergoing tests, though Acee writes that the Padres hope he’s able to return in a couple of weeks. A timeline for Kinsler is less clear. With the Padres eight games below .500 and out of the playoff racing barring a stunning resurgence, the loss of Tatis doesn’t impact the postseason picture. However, a second stint on the IL throws a wrench into the 20-year-old Tatis’ Rookie of the Year candidacy. The young phenom is hitting .317/.379/.590 with 22 homers and 16 stolen bases in just 84 games this season. Kinsler, meanwhile, has seen his role dramatically reduced amid a career-worst season at the plate and was hitting just .217/.278/.368 through 281 plate appearances in the first season of a two-year, $8MM contract.
This’ll mark the season debut for Jankowski, 28, who began the season on the 60-day injured list due to a broken wrist. He’s batted .299/.387/.343 in 155 plate appearances with Triple-A El Paso since his wrist healed up to the point where he could return to the field. Jankowski, who’ll be arbitration-eligible this winter, is a lifetime .242/.319/.321 hitter in 953 plate appearances. Depending on how he performs, Jankowski could represent either a trade candidate or a non-tender candidate this winter.
France will return to the big leagues after posting a lackluster .235/.290/.357 batting line in 107 plate appearances earlier this season. However, France has posted an absurd .399/.477/.770 batting line with 27 home runs and 27 doubles apiece in just 76 games (348 plate appearances). The 25-year-old will have a tough path to regular MLB playing time with Manny Machado, Tatis and Eric Hosmer locked into three of the four infield positions and Luis Urias the likely second baseman of the future. France, though, could serve as a utility player who can play multiple positions for the Friars in the future, and his terrific numbers in Triple-A should put him in position for a long-term opportunity to do so. He’s controllable through at least the 2025 season.
Rays Promote Peter Fairbanks
10:40am: The Rays announced the move. Righty Jose De Leon was optioned back to Durham in place of Fairbanks.
10:22am: The Rays will promote pitching prospect Peter Fairbanks from Triple-A Durham, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports (via Twitter).
Fairbanks, 25, was acquired in a perhaps under-the-radar deadline trade that sent fellow prospect Nick Solak from the Rays to the Rangers. The right-hander brings an electric two-pitch mix to the Tampa Bay bullpen. Both MLB.com and Fangraphs give him a 70 grade (on the 20-80 scale) for his fastball and a 55 on his slider, though Eric Longenhagen and Kiley McDaniel noted in their ranking of the prospects moved at this year’s deadline that Fairbanks’ slider will flash plus-plus (70) at times as well. MLB.com lists Fairbanks 24th among Rays farmhands, while he checks in at No. 22 on Baseball America’s list and No. 30 over at Fangraphs.
Fairbanks already made his MLB debut with the Rangers earlier this season, but he’ll now give the Rays their first look at him on a Major League mound. The 2015 ninth-rounder has pitched to a 3.96 ERA with a whopping 14.6 K/9, 3.0 BB/9, 0.49 HR/9 and a well above-average ground-ball rate in 36 1/3 minor league innings in 2019. His brief stint with the Rangers didn’t go well, as he nine earned runs and walked seven batters in 8 2/3 innings, but Fairbanks also collected 15 strikeouts in at time and averaged 97.3 mph on his heater.
There’s a good bit of injury risk with Fairbanks, as he’s already had Tommy John surgery twice — once in high school and once again in 2017 while in the Rangers’ system. He missed the entire 2018 season on the heels of that 2017 surgery, so Fairbanks is only in his first year back from the procedure. The minor league results have been rather encouraging, however, and he’ll now get a chance to show off his high-octane right arm as he auditions for a long term spot in the club’s relief mix. The Rays figure to be somewhat cautious not only with regard to his season-long workload but also in pitching Fairbanks on back to back days — at least in 2019.
Fairbanks will be controllable through at least the 2025 season, depending on future optional assignments, and the earliest he’d be eligible for arbitration would be after the 2022 season.
NL East Notes: Doolittle, Camargo, Chisholm
Sean Doolittle is on pace to finish just enough games to trigger the clause in his contract that turns the Nationals‘ $6.5MM club option into a mutual option, and the reliever spoke to Jesse Dougherty of the Washington Post about his future this week. “I mean, you play this game for a really long time, and any time you have even a little control over your fate, over the direction your career goes, that’s something that we all hope to have,” said the Washington closer.
It’s a critical clause for the Nationals, as the club has had perennial issues with its bullpen over the past few seasons. Doolittle himself was a midseason upgrade on the trade market and has emerged as Washington’s most reliable reliever since being acquired in 2017. He’ll need to finish 17 of the club’s final 42 games to get there, but he’s already finished 48 of 120, making that a distinct possibility. If his option converts to a mutual option, it’s quite likely that the 32-year-old will enter free agency, as he should be able to top a year and $6.5MM easily on the open market. Doolittle has a 2.65 ERA with 10.7 K/9, 1.9 BB/9 and 73 saves in 125 2/3 innings as a National.
More from the NL East…
- The Braves plan to stick with infielder Johan Camargo despite his considerable struggles at the plate and with the glove, writes Gabe Burns of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Camargo’s playing time has increased with Dansby Swanson shelved, but the 25-year-old has turned in a career-worst .222/.268/.344 batting line through 236 plate appearances this season. And while he’s previously rated as a standout defender at third base and a passable option at shortstop, he’s had some glaring defensive miscues this season (including six errors in 320 total innings of defense after making just 13 in nearly 1100 innings a year ago). Camargo’s hard-hit rate, exit velocity and launch angle have all dipped in 2019 — so much so that Statcast doesn’t feel he’s been the victim of much poor luck. (His .262 wOBA only narrowly trails his .268 xwOBA.) Both manager Brian Snitker and GM Alex Anthopoulos acknowledged the struggles. “I don’t know that anyone knows what the answer is,” said Anthopoulos when discussing the root of Camargo’s struggles.
- Marlins CEO Derek Jeter plans to travel to meet recently acquired shortstop prospect Jazz Chisholm in the near future, he told reporters this week (link via David Wilson of the Miami Herald). However, it won’t be the first time that Jeter gets to see Chisholm play in person. Jeter saw the 21-year-old play in last year’s Arizona Fall League and said that Chisholm immediately caught his eye. “…[I]t took about three innings when I said, ‘Who is that?'” Jeter recalled. “He’s someone that stood out on the field and obviously he has all the tools to be successful.” The Marlins made the risky play of dealing a Major League starter who can be controlled all the way through 2025, Zac Gallen, in order to acquire Chisholm from the Diamondbacks. Jeter, though, explained that the Marlins felt they were dealing from positions of depth when trading away Gallen, Trevor Richards, Nick Anderson, Sergio Romo and prospect Chris Vallimont. Those deals netted Chisholm and prospects Jesus Sanchez (Anderson, Richards) and Lewin Diaz (Romo, Vallimont) — adding some power upside to the organization.
Yankees Sign Tyler Lyons
The Yankees have signed left-hander Tyler Lyons to a minor league contract and assigned him to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, per Conor Foley of the Scranton Times-Tribune (Twitter link). He’s the second veteran reliever the club has added on a minor league deal this week and the third veteran piece of bullpen depth the club has picked up overall. New York inked righty David Hernandez to a minor league contract two days ago and also claimed right-hander Ryan Dull off waivers from the Giants this week.
Lyons, 30, was released by the Pirates earlier this week but has posted strong numbers in Triple-A in 2019: a 3.35 ERA (3.46 FIP) with 10.8 K/9, 3.2 BB/9, 0.79 HR/9 and a 39.8 percent ground-ball rate in 45 2/3 innings. He made three big league appearances with Pittsburgh as well but was tagged for five runs in four innings during that time.
Not long ago, Lyons was a reliable bullpen option for the Cardinals. The lefty logged 162 innings with a 3.33 ERA, 9.7 K/9 and 2.7 BB/9 from 2015-17 out of the St. Louis bullpen. His best season, in 2017, saw Lyons put together a 2.83 ERA and a near-identical 2.86 FIP to go along with a career-best 30.9 percent strikeout rate (11.33 K/9).
With that being his third straight quality season in the Majors, Lyons looked to have established himself as a go-to reliever for the Cardinals. However, his 2018 campaign was shortened by back and elbow issues, and the Cards cut him loose in what looked at the time to be a potentially hasty DFA that summer after a total of just 16 innings. Lyons went unclaimed on waivers, though, and took a minor league pact with Pittsburgh this offseason. He’ll now hope to pitch his way back to the big leagues in the Bronx. He’d technically be arbitration-eligible for another two seasons if he impresses the Yankees’ front office, though he’d need a quick call to the big leagues and a very strong showing to convince the club to tender him a contract this winter.
Brian Cashman Reflects On Gio Urshela Acquisition
Even though the Yankees had 2018 AL Rookie of the Year runner-up Miguel Andujar manning third base, surprise abounded when they didn’t aggressively pursue free agent Manny Machado in the offseason. Plenty has changed for those two players since then. Machado took a 10-year, $300MM offer from the Padres and has gone on to post a solid but unspectacular season. Andujar, meanwhile, amassed just 49 plate appearances – during which a shoulder injury limited him to a disastrous .128/.143/.128 line – before undergoing season-ending surgery in mid-May.
The lack of Machado and Andujar could have made the hot corner a black hole for this year’s Yankees, but the position has unexpectedly been a significant strength. Once-anonymous third baseman Gio Urshela is one of many Yankees who have come from nowhere to flourish, thus helping the club to a major league-best 81-42 record.
Urshela joined the Yankees in what looked like a minor trade with the division-rival Blue Jays last August. New York parted with cash considerations for Urshela, whom Toronto had just designated for assignment. It was understandable that the Blue Jays (and the Indians before them) gave up on Urshela. After all, at the time the Jays sent him to the Yankees, Urshela was just a .225/.274/.315 major league hitter over 499 plate appearances. He wasn’t exactly a force in the minors, either.
Despite the less-than-stellar pro track record Urshela once had, general manager Brian Cashman explained to Mike Mazzeo of Yahoo Sports this week that the club “had been trying to acquire him for awhile. We daydreamed about him being a very versatile utility player. We loved his glove. We were very fortunate that we ran into him at the proper time of his development.” Cashman admitted, though, that “nobody thought Gio would be this guy” and “no one expected him to be Manny Machado.”
If the Yankees had splurged on Machado over the winter, they wouldn’t have complained had he opened his Bronx tenure with a .337/.379/.585 batting line, 18 home runs and 3.1 fWAR in 364 PA. Amazingly, that’s the production they’ve received this season from the 27-year-old Urshela, whom the Yankees re-signed to a minor league deal during the winter. His offensive output since then has been an astounding 50 percent better than that of the typical MLB hitter, according to FanGraphs’ wRC+ metric. Urshela ranks eighth in the league in that category among batters with 350-plus PA, sandwiched between Anthony Rendon and Fernando Tatis Jr.
Whether Urshela can continue to handle opposing pitchers to this extent is rightly in question, though there are encouraging signs. Thanks to help from Triple-A Scranton hitting coach Phil Plantier, Urshela’s “staying through his legs more,” said Cashman, who added Urshela has also gotten stronger. Cashman believes those factors have“created a whole new dynamic.”
After entering the year with a nonthreatening .090 isolated power figure, the stronger Urshela has put up an imposing .248 mark this season. He hasn’t had to sell out for it with more strikeouts, having fanned in only 15.9 percent of plate trips and swung and missed at an above-average 10.4 percent clip. With an 81.3 percent contact rate, Urshela sits 5 percent better than average in that regard. His ability to consistently put the bat on the ball has helped offset a paltry walk rate (5.5 percent), and Statcast is mostly buying into Urshela’s enormous uptick in meaningful contact. He ranks toward the top of the league in hard-hit rate (75th percentile), average exit velocity (87th), expected slugging percentage (91st) and expected batting average (98th). Urshela’s also in the 91st percentile in expected weighted on-base average, owning a .382 mark that isn’t a great distance from his real wOBA (.403).
The Yankees may have found a bargain gem in Urshela, who’s on a minimum salary this year and still has three seasons of arbitration eligibility. Come 2020, the presences of Urshela and what should be a healthy Andujar ought to make for an intriguing setup. Having battled a litany of injuries to key players this year, the Yankees will likely be thrilled to have the depth.
13 Pitchers Whose Saves Tallies Will Drive 2020 Earnings
The ability to handle late-inning pressure still has value to teams. But the accumulation of saves, standing alone, isn’t generally the driver of open-market bullpen salaries that it once was. For arbitration, however, saves tallies pay big, opening the door to significant earning opportunities for relievers.
So, which players have put themselves in position to command nice salary boosts this fall owing to their saves tallies? Here’s a list of the baker’s dozen hurlers who’ll be eligible for arbitration next year and have already accrued double-digit saves in 2019:
- Kirby Yates, Padres ($3.062MM current salary; entering final season of eligibility): Currently pacing all of baseball with 33 saves, Yates is lining up quite a fruitful final trip through arbitration. He’s not working off of the biggest platform, but he’s likely to get the biggest raise of this group with his saves totals and general brilliance (1.13 ERA, 77 strikeouts) … unless he and the Friars strike an extension.
- Roberto Osuna, Astros ($6.5MM current salary; entering 2nd to last season of eligibility): Osuna has been effective, but not exceptionally dominant. Having blown five saves, and not been ridden particularly hard by the Houston org, he has accumulated somewhat fewer saves (26) than might have been anticipated for one of the league’s winningest teams. Osuna is still on pace to out-earn every other pitcher on this list in total arbitration earnings, owing to his massive Super Two starting salary.
- Edwin Diaz, Mets ($607K current salary; entering 1st of 3 seasons of eligibility): Though he is still racking up strikeouts, Diaz is also proving exceptionally homer-prone in New York. His 5.56 ERA is an unquestionable disappointment. Still, having already picked up 25 saves and with more yet to come, he is going to command a big first-time arb salary. It just won’t be nearly as much as it would have been had his platform year looked more like his 2018 effort.
- Alex Colome, White Sox ($7.325MM current salary; entering final season of eligibility): The 30-year-old has the saves total (23) and ERA (2.30) of an ace reliever, with the peripherals (7.7 K/9 vs. 3.6 BB/9; 4.53 SIERA, 4.59 xFIP) of a passable middle reliever. There’s an argument to be made that he shouldn’t be tendered, since it’s going to cost a pretty penny, though that seems rather unlikely given that the South Siders decided against trading him when they had the chance this summer.
- Shane Greene, Braves ($4MM current salary; entering final season of eligibility): Unfortunately, Greene blew his shot — his first one, anyway; we’ll see how things progress in Atlanta — at building up his saves tally after being dealt to the Braves. He has already accumulated 22, so he’ll be in line for a nice raise regardless. In his last arb experience, Greene earned a raise of just over $2MM by closing out 32 wins in 2018.
- Hector Neris, Phillies ($1.8MM current salary; entering 2nd to last season of eligibility): The Philadelphia closer is still building on his 21-save figure. He has also already accumulated 68 strikeouts this season.
- Taylor Rogers, Twins ($1.525MM current salary; entering 2nd of 4 seasons of eligibility): The extra year of arbitration afforded by Super Two status sure can pay off. Rogers has 18 saves, 68 strikeouts, and a 2.68 ERA through 53 2/3 innings. A big raise this year will further raise his base for two additional arb trips.
- Luke Jackson, Braves ($585K current salary; entering 1st of 3 seasons of eligibility): Few expected Jackson to remain on the Atlanta roster all year, let alone to accumulate 18 saves and 73 strikeouts to this point. He isn’t especially likely to pad his total down the stretch, having surrendered the job to a still-unsettled cast of incoming relievers, but Jackson ha set the stage regardless for a much-better-than-expected offseason payday.
- Ken Giles, Blue Jays ($6.3MM current salary; entering final season of eligibility): The Toronto organization was never going to win a ton of games, so Giles was never likely to accumulate a huge number of saves. But he’s stuck on 16 owing to an unfortunate elbow issue that arose in the midst of an outstanding season (1.89 ERA, 62 strikeouts in 38 innings). If he had remained healthy and taken over the 9th for a contender, he’d have had much greater earning capacity. Fortunately for Giles, he has a high starting point to build from.
- Hansel Robles, Angels ($1.4MM current salary; entering 2nd to last season of eligibility): Another unexpected save tallier, Robles has picked up 16 with more to come. He has established himself as a key cog in the Halos pen, though it remains to be seen whether he’ll hang onto the closer’s role for 2020.
- Blake Treinen, Athletics ($6.4MM current salary; entering 2nd to last season of eligibility): Treinen enjoyed a record-setting arb run last year but has regressed on the mound, working to a 4.74 ERA with just 8.4 K/9 against 5.7 BB/9 along with an uncharacteristically low 42.9% groundball rate. With 16 saves already logged, Treinen is going to command a not-unsubstantial raise on top of his already hefty salary. It’d be awfully tough to give up on a pitcher with his upside, particularly since he’s still pumping upper-nineties heat, but the tab seems steep for the A’s. If he’s not a non-tender candidate, Treinen will likely be batted around in offseason trade talks.
- Roenis Elias, Nationals ($910K current salary; entering 2nd to last season of eligibility): There’s no real chance that Elias will add to his sum of 14 saves, all accrued with the Mariners before he was dealt to D.C., but that’s still a nice feather in his cap. Elias can also hope to add some holds down the stretch, though he’ll have to work back from the injured list first.
- Liam Hendriks, Athletics ($2.15MM current salary; entering final season of eligibility): Since taking the reigns from Treinen, the breakout Aussie hurler has picked up 13 saves with more to come. While he’s not going to drive a huge raise with the save numbers alone, Hendriks is also pacing this list with a hefty 63 1/3 inning workload and has already recorded 88 strikeouts.
Rhys Hoskins Undergoes X-Ray On Hand
The Phillies staged one of the most memorable comebacks of the season Thursday, rallying from a 5-1 ninth-inning deficit against the Cubs to pull off a 7-5 victory. The game ended on a walk-off grand slam from outfielder Bryce Harper, with first baseman Rhys Hoskins among the players he knocked in. Hoskins got on base after taking a Pedro Strop pitch off the right hand, and it’s possible he suffered an injury in the process. The slugger underwent an X-ray on his hand afterward, Jim Salisbury of NBC Sports Philadelphia was among those to report. Hoskins is optimistic he’ll be OK, but there’s no official word on his status yet.
Although Thursday was a resounding success for the Phillies, losing Hoskins would dampen enthusiasm in regards to their outlook. The club’s Harper-led triumph Thursday completed a three-game sweep of Chicago and raised Philadelphia’s record to 63-55. The Phillies are now just a game back of the Cubs for the National League’s second wild-card spot. Although Hoskins has been cold in August, the 26-year-old has still been one of the driving forces behind the Phillies’ solid record. Hoskins has batted .241/.381/.485 (125 wRC+) with 24 home runs and 2.4 fWAR across 532 plate appearances.
Along with posting quality production, Hoskins has been among the Phillies’ most durable players. To this point in the season, only two of the team’s other players – catcher J.T. Realmuto and third baseman Maikel Franco – have started games at first, and they’ve each done so just once. It’s unclear which Phillie would receive the bulk of the work at first in the event of a Hoskins injured list stint, but just-promoted veteran Logan Morrison seems like a strong bet.
Chris Taylor Begins Rehab Assignment
Injured Dodgers utilityman Chris Taylor began a rehab assignment at the Single-A level Thursday, Ken Gurnick of MLB.com relays. There’s no word on how long it’ll take Taylor to return to the majors.
The Dodgers have been without the versatile Taylor since July 14, when he fractured his left forearm. The hope then was Taylor would only sit out four to six weeks, but he obviously won’t make it back to the Dodgers at the low end of that timeline. Unsurprisingly, the depth- and talent-laden Dodgers have continued to thrive in Taylor’s absence. They owned a 62-33 record after the game in which he incurred his injury and now sit 81-42, which is easily the best record in the National League and places them a ridiculous 19 games up in the NL West.
Los Angeles’ roster figures to become even formidable with the return of Taylor, who overcame a slow start to post respectable numbers prior to his injury. While the 28-year-old’s overall production has fallen short of the figures he recorded from 2017-18, he has still slashed .261/.334/.452 (105 wRC+) with eight home runs and seven stolen bases.
Defensively, Taylor has logged double-digit appearances at both middle infield positions and in left field. LA has been in good hands in those spots without Taylor, however, as Max Muncy has manned the keystone and Corey Seager has handled short. As for the corner outfield, although Alex Verdugo‘s also on the IL, the Dodgers have largely deployed NL MVP candidate Cody Bellinger, Joc Pederson and Matt Beaty to successful results of late.
Injury Notes: Cueto, Stanton, Hill, Morrow
Johnny Cueto‘s rehab outing with Single-A San Jose is set for tonight, manager Bruce Bochy told reporters (including NBC Sports Bay Area’s Alex Pavlovic and Kerry Crowley of the Bay Area News Group), with the veteran righty slated to make 45 pitches. Cueto is expected to make one more start beyond tonight for San Jose, though the original plan of two further rehab outings at Triple-A would be altered, as Cueto might simply get called back to the majors if he is healthy and throwing well. By having “Cueto get up to speed in big league games,” as Pavlovic puts it, the Giants would get some needed rotation help, even if Cueto is limited to only four or five innings per start. All will depend on how Cueto is feeling as he reaches the final stages of his Tommy John rehab, of course, though getting Cueto back in anything close to his old form would certainly help a San Francisco club that is struggling to stay in wild card contention.
Here’s more on some other injury situations from around baseball….
- Yankees manager Aaron Boone and GM Brian Cashman both believe Giancarlo Stanton will be ready to return sometime in September, and the slugger himself told reporters (including MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch) that he hopes to get “a few weeks of at-bats before October.” Those at-bats could come in the form of simulated games or minor league games, however, as Stanton has yet to be cleared for on-field activity. A variety of injuries have limited Stanton to just nine games, making it a “brutal” season that has only been salvaged by the Yankees’ success. “That’s what’s kept it not so bad for me, is to watch everyone bring together wins all different ways….That’s what I’ve been focusing on, not ‘poor me’ or all that stuff,” Stanton said.
- Rich Hill and Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman haven’t closed the door on the possibility of Hill starting for the team in the postseason, Jorge Castillo of the Los Angeles Times writes, assuming Hill’s rehab from a flexor tendon strain proceeds as expected. Hill played a 50-toss game of catch from 120 feet today, and the next steps in his rehab include throwing off a mound next week and then tossing four bullpen sessions. From there, Hill “will make what amounts to rehab appearances in the majors. He would start with an inning or two, and increase the workload with each outing, one inning at a time, like in spring training.” This plan could get Hill ready to go for October, though if length is still an issue, the Dodgers could also use one of several other arms in combination with Hill in a piggyback situation.
- Brandon Morrow threw a live batting practice session in Arizona yesterday, Cubs GM Jed Hoyer told 670 The Score radio (hat tip to Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune). It remains to be seen if Morrow will pitch at all in 2019, though he projected a possible return in early September in his most recent update, as he had been facing hitters and wasn’t feeling any soreness in his forearm or elbow.
6 Extended Players Who Have Improved In 2019
There was a well-documented run on contract extensions prior to this season, which bled into the current campaign in multiple instances. All told, 30 players inked multiyear pacts with their clubs between January and April. We highlighted five last week who’ve disappointed this year since landing their new deals. Now, here are six who have actually improved in 2019, thereby making their teams look that much better for locking them up…
Xander Bogaerts, SS, Red Sox (six years, $120MM):
- There were many who believed Bogaerts left a good amount of money on the table last spring when he inked a long-term deal with the Red Sox a year before a potential trip to free agency. It was debatable then whether that was truly the case, but not anymore. The consistently terrific Bogaerts is now enjoying a career year at the age of 26. Bogaerts has totaled 5.5 fWAR on the strength of a .308/.384/.563 line (good for a 142 wRC+) through 539 plate appearances. With a personal-best 27 home runs, he’s a shoo-in for his first 30-HR campaign. It helps that Bogaerts has swung at fewer out-of-zone pitches than ever and walked at a career-best rate.
Ronald Acuna Jr., OF, Braves (eight years, $100MM):
- Thanks in part to what’s somehow a team-friendly nine-figure contract, the FanGraphs crew recently ranked Acuna as the player with the most trade value in baseball. Anyone care to argue? The 21-year-old may become the game’s latest 40/40 player this season, having amassed 34 home runs and 28 stolen bases over 562 trips to the plate. He has also slashed .298/.377/.539 (134 wRC+), posted nine Defensive Runs Saved and a 1.3 Ultimate Zone Rating among all three outfield positions, and racked up 4.8 fWAR.
Ozzie Albies, 2B, Braves (seven years, $35MM):
- The majority of observers regarded the Albies deal as an absolute steal for the Braves when he signed it. The 22-year-old hasn’t done anything to change minds since then, having batted .298/.353/.502 (117 wRC+) with 18 homers and 11 steals across 530 PA. Albies has added three DRS and a 1.3 UZR in the field, helping lead to a 3.4 fWAR a year after he logged 3.8. The switch-hitting Albies was clearly among the game’s best second basemen before landing his extension, and the contract has only made him more valuable from Atlanta’s perspective.
Max Kepler, OF, Twins (five years, $35MM):
- Back in May, the Kepler extension was one of two MLBTR’s Jeff Todd highlighted as a gem for the club. The 26-year-old Kepler was off to an impressive start to the season at that point, and he hasn’t let up. Kepler’s already up to 32 homers, 12 more than his previous high-water mark, in 501 PA. Overall, he has batted .258/.337/.536 (124 wRC+) with 3.7 fWAR. Unlike many hitters who’ve increased their power, Kepler’s excellence hasn’t come with more strikeouts. He has fanned in a meager 16 percent of plate appearances and drawn walks at an above-average 10.2 percent clip.
Sonny Gray, RHP, Reds (three years, $30.5MM):
- The Reds extended Gray immediately after acquiring the 29-year-old from the Yankees, with whom he struggled. Wise choice. Gray was mostly successful with the Yankees before an adverse year and a half in New York, and he has returned to his top form as a member of the Reds. He owns a stellar 2.98 ERA/3.40 FIP with 10.45 K/9 (easily a career-high amount), 3.39 BB/9 and a 52.6 percent groundball rate over 132 2/3 innings. The fact that Gray has reverted to being a front-of-the-rotation arm is a key reason why the Reds’ starting staff has taken massive steps forward this season.
Jorge Polanco, SS, Twins (five years, $25.75MM):
- Polanco’s extension was another brilliant preseason decision by the Twins, who’ve seen the 26-year-old hit .294/.357/.487 (118 wRC+) with 17 long balls and 3.3 fWAR since signing it. Polanco, like Kepler, has been rather difficult to strike out, having gone down in that manner in a mere 15.8 percent of PA.