Download Our Free Trade Rumors App
If you’re a fan of MLB Trade Rumors, be sure to download our free Trade Rumors app for iOS and Android. The Trade Rumors app is the easiest way to keep up with the MLB Trade Deadline on your mobile device, and it allows you to set up custom notifications for any player or team so you’ll never miss breaking news. Trade Rumors has consistently averaged 4.7-4.8 stars out of five on both app stores, and best of all, it’s free!
Turn $5 Into $5000 At DraftKings
For just a $5 entry fee, you can take home a $5,000 prize! DraftKings is offering a winner-take-all contest to MLBTR readers, so first place will take home the entire $5,000. The lineup submission deadline is Thursday August 1st at 7:05pm eastern time, and there’s a limit of one entry per person. Enter the contest now!
This is a sponsored post from DraftKings. Eligibility restrictions apply. See website for details.
Padres Interested In Extending Kirby Yates
There has been no shortage of interest this summer in Padres closer Kirby Yates, one of baseball’s top trade chips. It doesn’t appear the Padres are going to move Yates by Wednesday’s deadline, though, according to Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune. The team instead hopes to extend Yates, who’s in his penultimate year of club control.
Yates has unexpectedly turned into a core Padre and one of the elite relievers in baseball since they claimed him off waivers from the Angels in April 2017. At that point, the right-hander owned a 5.38 ERA across 98 2/3 innings divided among the Rays, Yankees and Angels. With help from the splitter he added to his repertoire upon joining the Padres, Yates has pitched to a stellar 2.38 ERA/2.47 FIP with 13.78 K/9, 2.49 BB/9 and 44 saves on 50 chances over 162 2/3 innings in San Diego.
While Yates was tremendous a year ago, he has found yet another gear this season. Through 44 frames, Yates ranks first among qualified relievers in ERA (1.02) and FIP (1.07), second in K/BB ratio (8.00), third in xFIP (2.12), fourth in K/9 (14.73) and 20th in BB/9 (1.84). Hitters have recorded a matching and feckless .208 weighted on-base average/expected wOBA off Yates, who has converted 31 of 33 save opportunities.
The Padres are likely out of contention this season, Yates is set to play his age-33 campaign in 2020, and relievers are known for their volatility. Those are all arguments for the Padres to sell Yates when his value’s at its zenith, and the fact he’s earning a bargain salary ($3MM-plus) would make an impressive haul easier for them to land. But it looks as if the Padres, hoping to snap their lengthy playoff drought in 2020, will keep Yates and make an effort to reach a new deal with him.
Outrighted: Torres, Lavarnway
A couple of noteworthy outrights from Tuesday…
- Right-hander Carlos Torres has rejected an outright assignment from the Twins and returned to free agency, Dan Hayes of The Athletic tweets. The Twins designated Torres for assignment last weekend just over a month after signing him to a minor league contract. The 36-year-old Torres didn’t make it to Minnesota’s roster, instead logging a 4.15 ERA/4.10 FIP with 8.31 K/9 and 4.15 BB/9 in 17 1/3 innings with its Triple-A affiliate in Rochester. The nomadic 36-year-old previously pitched for the Padres’ and Tigers’ Triple-A teams this season. He also totaled six innings with Detroit.
- Reds catcher Ryan Lavarnway has been sent outright to Triple-A Louisville after clearing waivers, per Mark Sheldon of MLB.com. Lavarnway could have chosen free agency, but he’ll remain in the organization. The 31-year-old joined the Reds on July 18 after the Yankees released him, but the Reds designated Lavarnway over the weekend. He totaled 19 plate appearances with the Reds before then and slashed a productive .278/.316/.722 with two home runs. However, Lavarnway struggled with the Yanks’ top affiliate in a much larger sample of work.
Pitching Rumors: Reds, Bauer, Yanks, Phils, MadBum, Greene, Fish, Nats
The Reds just agreed to acquire right-hander Trevor Bauer from the Indians on Tuesday evening. Could the Reds now turn around and flip Bauer by Wednesday’s trade deadline? Not likely, according to Bob Nightengale of USA Today and Mark Feinsand of MLB.com. Meanwhile, two of Bauer’s new Cincinnati rotation mates – Alex Wood and the previously reported Tanner Roark – have drawn interest from the Phillies. Philly has “taken a very close look at” Wood, per Matt Gelb of The Athletic. Wood finally just made his season debut Sunday after months of back troubles, but the non-contending Reds could now attempt to get what they can for the pending free agent. The 28-year-old Wood, who’s on a $9.65MM salary, posted quality production with the Braves and Dodgers from 2013-18.
A smorgasbord of other pitcher-related rumors…
- Despite their recent run of excellence, the Giants are fielding calls and “engaging in negotiations” for starter Madison Bumgarner and reliever Will Smith, Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle reports. The Astros are reportedly among the teams chasing Bumgarner, but Smith is the more likely of the two to find himself in a new uniform by Wednesday, Schulman suggests. Although he’s a pending free agent, it’s likely Smith would bring back a significant return. He’s affordable ($4.225MM salary) and enjoying a marvelous season as the Giants’ closer.
- Back to Bauer, who was reportedly one of the Yankees’ preferred targets in their search for starting help. That may have been overblown, though, as the Yankees and Indians didn’t engage in “serious talks” over Bauer, Andy Martino of SNY relays.
- The asking price for Tigers closer Shane Greene is “far more reasonable” than the requests for other high-end relievers around the league, Feinsand tweets. Feinsand points to the Pirates’ Felipe Vazquez, the Reds’ Raisel Iglesias, the Mets’ Edwin Diaz and the Padres’ Kirby Yates as relievers who would be much harder to acquire, which isn’t surprising.
- Reliever Nick Anderson is among Marlins hurlers garnering interest, though he’ll be difficult to pry loose, Joe Frisaro of MLB.com writes. As a 29-year-old rookie, the hard-throwing Anderson has put up a 3.92 ERA with a much better 2.73 FIP in 43 2/3 frames this season. While Anderson has only induced ground balls at a 27.3 percent clip, he has helped offset that by racking up a prodigious 14.2 strikeouts against 3.3 walks per nine. Adding to his value, Anderson’s on a league-minimum salary and won’t be eligible for arbitration until after the 2021 season.
- The Giants and Nationals “have discussed” southpaw Drew Pomeranz, Jon Morosi of MLB.com tweets. Pomeranz, whom the Giants recently demoted to their bullpen amid a rough season, has also been drawing interest from elsewhere in recent days.
Luke Voit To Undergo MRI On Core Muscle Injury
Yankees first baseman Luke Voit departed the team’s game Tuesday with a core muscle injury, the club announced (via Bryan Hoch of MLB.com). Voit will undergo an MRI.
Voit already went to the injured list with an abdominal strain earlier this month, though he returned after missing the minimum amount of time. The 28-year-old’s offensive production has dipped somewhat since he came back, but not to an alarming extent. Voit has slashed .278/.392/.493 (135 wRC+) with 19 home runs in 416 plate appearances this year, giving the Yankees their most productive full-time first base option since a brief Mark Teixeira resurgence in 2015.
New York replaced Voit on Tuesday with Gio Urshela, but he doesn’t figure to line up at first regularly if the former’s forced to head back to the IL. Urshela, after all, has unexpectedly emerged as a valuable third base regular for the Yankees. Meanwhile, the club has designated hitter Edwin Encarnacion and infielder DJ LeMahieu on hand as more logical first base possibilities. Those two and Mike Ford, who’s currently in the minors, handled the position during Voit’s brief absence a few weeks ago.
Braves Acquire Chris Martin
The Braves added a new arm to their late-inning relief mix in advance of tomorrow’s trade deadline, announcing the acquisition of right-hander Chris Martin from the Rangers on Tuesday evening. Atlanta will send left-hander Kolby Allard to Texas in return. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic first reported the trade shortly before the teams announced the swap (Twitter link).
Martin, 33, bounced around the league as a minor league journeyman for much of the decade before reinventing himself in a stint with Japan’s Nippon Ham Fighters. The towering, 6’8″ righty emerged as one of the best relievers in Japan and parlayed that success into an affordable two-year pact with the Rangers prior to the 2018 season.
After a so-so first season in Arlington, Martin has turned in a very strong 3.08 ERA with an eye-popping 43-to-4 K/BB ratio in 38 innings of work. That fourth walk issued by Martin came in his most recent appearance — his most recent one had come nearly three months prior.
While Martin will only finish the season with two-plus year of MLB service time, he’s nevertheless a pure rental for Atlanta. The two-year, $4MM contract Martin signed upon returning to MLB stipulated that he can become a free agent at the end of the deal, so the Braves are only acquiring him for the current stretch run (barring some type of extension).
Martin will join, if not anchor a late-inning mix that currently looks nothing like the Atlanta front office expected heading into the season. Luke Jackson has emerged as the club’s primary closer, while former starter Sean Newcomb has become one of manager Brian Snitker’s more reliable setup men. Atlanta already added Anthony Swarzak in a minor trade that has paid big dividends earlier this season, and Josh Tomlin is still on board as a long reliever after only joining the organization late in Spring Training.
Dealing Allard will no doubt come as a shock to many Braves fans as the southpaw was Atlanta’s first-round pick (14th overall) back in 2015 and has ranked among baseball’s top 100 prospects in three different offseasons. Allard had back surgery in 2015 but has been relatively healthy since that time. However, his prospect star has dimmed in recent years.
Scouting reports have long touted Allard’s fastball control, which allows a fastball with rather pedestrian velocity to play up a bit. But he’s regarded more as a potential back-of-the-rotation starter at this point than the midrotation arm Atlanta may have once hoped. Baseball America and Fangraphs both dropped Allard to 12th among Braves minor leaguers on their summer re-rankings of the club’s farm system. In 110 innings with Triple-A Gwinnett in 2019 — his second full season at that level — Allard has pitched to a 4.17 ERA with 8.0 K/9, 3.0 BB/9, 1.23 HR/9 and a 50 percent grounder rate.
It’s nevertheless a strong return for the Rangers to receive in exchange for two months of a rental reliever. The Texas farm system has been starved for upper-level pitching, and even if Allard indeed tops out as a fourth or fifth starter, that’s precisely the top of serviceable asset the Rangers haven’t been able to squeeze out of their own farm system in recent years. The lack of such assets is what prompted Texas to (unsuccessfully) attempt to patch together the back of its rotation with the combination of Shelby Miller, Drew Smyly and Edinson Volquez this winter. Allard will give the team a potential immediate rotation candidate in the event of a Mike Minor trade or another injury among current starters. He may only have been considered to be the Braves sixth- or seventh-best pitching prospect but will quickly become one of Texas’ top overall farmhands.
Cardinals Exploring Trade Options For Jedd Gyorko
The Cardinals are “exploring trade options” involving infielder Jedd Gyorko now that the 30-year-old is nearly ready to return from the injured list, tweets Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. St. Louis moved Gyorko to the 60-day injured list today, but he’s already spent 52 days on the IL, so he’d be able to return a week after the trade deadline.
Gyorko, 30, has appeared in only 38 games for the Cardinals and has taken just 62 plate appearances. Gyorko opened the season on the IL due to a minor calf strain but has been out since early June due to a low back strain that Goold suggests is now fully healed. The acquisition of Paul Goldschmidt pushed Matt Carpenter to third base, and Gyorko wasn’t starting over either of Paul DeJong or Kolten Wong when healthy, either. In Gyorko’s current IL absence, both Yairo Munoz and Tommy Edman have emerged in the Majors, though neither has performed at the same levels a healthy Gyorko has reached in recent seasons.
Clubs interested in Gyorko will surely be intrigued by his versatility and offensive track record. He’s appeared at all four infield positions as a big leaguer, including 2000-plus innings at second base and third base, nearly 500 innings at shortstop and more than a hundred innings at first base. Gyorko has generally received plus ratings at third and passable marks at second base, though he’s not considered a quality defender at shortstop.
That said, he’s been a highly productive bat throughout his time with the Cardinals, hitting at a .256/.328/.456 clip with 63 home runs, 49 doubles and four triples in 1383 plate appearances dating back to 2016. Gyorko is earning $9MM this season and is still owed $3MM of that sum plus a $1MM buyout on a $13MM club option for the 2020 season.
Pirates, Brewers Have Discussed Keone Kela
Pirates reliever Keone Kela is drawing trade interest, including from the division-rival Brewers, according to Robert Murray of The Athletic. No deal appears “imminent,” Murray adds.
The Pirates and Brewers already swung a deal Monday, when Pittsburgh sent starter Jordan Lyles to Milwaukee. The rotation and bullpen still look like concerns for the Brewers, whose less-than-stellar pitching has left the reigning NL Central champions in danger of missing the playoffs. However, with a 56-51 record, the Brewers are very much in the thick of the postseason race. They’re a game back of the division-leading Cubs and Cardinals, facing the same deficit in the wild-card hunt and could make further upgrades by Wednesday’s trade deadline.
To this point, acquiring Kela at last year’s deadline hasn’t paid off as planned for the Pirates (nor has their 2018 deadline pickup of starter Chris Archer). The Pirates sent two pitching prospects to the Rangers for Kela, but the trade didn’t help lead to a playoff berth then and it won’t this season.
Kela has missed most of 2019 with right shoulder problems, and just as he returned from the injured list last week, the Pirates issued the 26-year-old a two-game suspension for an altercation with one of their coaches. The Pirates are now reportedly open to trading Kela, who has tossed three scoreless innings with four strikeouts, a walk and two hits allowed since returning from his short ban. Overall, Kela has logged a 3.68 ERA (and a much less encouraging 5.07 FIP) with 9.2 K/9, 3.07 BB/9, 1.84 HR/9 and a 31.0 percent groundball rate in 14 2/3 innings this season.
While 2019 has been a campaign to forget for Kela, he has mostly been an effective late-game option since debuting with the Rangers in 2015. Dating back to then, the hard-throwing Kela owns a 3.43 ERA/3.35 FIP with 11.04 K/9, 3.43 BB/9, 0.99 HR/9 and a GB percentage of 41.0 across 199 2/3 frames. He’s also affordable ($3.175MM salary) and set to go through arbitration one more time.
Phillies Move Zach Eflin To Bullpen
The Phillies are sending right-hander Zach Eflin from the rotation to the bullpen, Scott Lauber of the Philadelphia Inquirer reports. Eflin will “most likely” back up current rotation members Jake Arrieta and Vince Velasquez, though the Phillies could also use him in games started by other pitchers, according to manager Gabe Kapler (Twitter links).
Eflin may not be the last Phillies starter dropped from their rotation, which could acquire more help by Wednesday’s trade deadline. He’s moving out to make room for Jason Vargas, whom the Phillies acquired from the Mets on Monday. Philadelphia also picked up Drew Smyly in free agency earlier this month after he pitched so poorly with the starter-needy Rangers that they released him. Smyly did, however, pitch a gem in a win over the Pirates in his Phillies debut on July 21. As of this writing, Smyly has gotten off to a terrific four-inning start versus the Giants on Tuesday.
This season has represented a step back for the 25-year-old Eflin, who was more impressive during his first truly extensive action as a starter in 2018. Eflin pitched to a 4.36 ERA/3.80 FIP with 8.65 K/9, 2.6 BB/9 and a 41.2 percent groundball rate in 128 innings then. His ERA (4.63), walk rate (2.48 per nine) and GB percentage (41.2) look much the same this season, but some of his other numbers have markedly declined. His K/9 (7.35) has sunk by almost a batter per inning, which has aided in a sizable FIP increase (4.86) and a noticeable uptick in home runs. Eflin yielded HRs on 11.2 percent of fly balls last year, but he’s up to 14.9 in that category this season.
Eflin, it should be noted, has seemingly been victimized by some poor fortune. His .316 expected weighted on-base average against looks far superior to the .338 real wOBA hitters have recorded off him. He also owned a 3.34 ERA as recently as June 29, but a horrid four-start stretch in July helped lead to his ouster from the Phillies’ rotation, at least for now.
Aside from Aaron Nola, the Phillies’ starting staff has been a general disappointment this year. Arrieta, who’s dealing with elbow issues, has fallen flat in Year 2 of a big contract. Velasquez and Nick Pivetta have shuffled between the rotation and the bullpen because of underwhelming performances, and the now-injured Jerad Eickhoff also couldn’t hold a starting job before going on the injured list with right biceps tendinitis in mid-June. The Phillies have brought in Vargas and Smyly as a result, though it’s fair to be skeptical that either will be able to cure what ails the playoff contenders’ rotation.