Rockies Sign Yonder Alonso
The Rockies have signed first baseman Yonder Alonso to a minor league contract, Jon Heyman of MLB Network reports. Alonso unofficially announced the move himself earlier today on his Instagram page, and debuted tonight for the Rockies’ Triple-A affiliate.
Alonso was released by the White Sox last week, bringing to end a short and disappointing tenure for the 32-year-old in the Windy City. Alonso was acquired in a trade from the Indians last December, with Chicago somewhat surprisingly agreeing to take on all of the $8MM owed to the first baseman in 2019, plus the $9MM club option ($1MM buyout) on his services for 2020. At the time, much of the speculation focused on Alonso as a possible harbinger of a Manny Machado (Alonso’s brother-in-law) signing for the Sox, though Machado’s eventual decision to join the Padres got Alonso’s time with the Pale Hose off to something of an awkward start.
After a big 2017 season, Alonso was a slightly below-average offensive producer in 2018 (97 wRC+, 97 OPS+) and his bat went ice-cold in a White Sox uniform. The veteran hit just .178/.275/.301 with seven homers over 251 plate appearances, putting him on pace for what would be easily the worst full-season performance of his ten years in the majors. While his expected outcomes (xBA, xSLG, xwOBA) significantly outpaced his real-world numbers, his expected slash line of .235/.376/.311 was also far from impressive.
That 2017 performance was generated largely by Alonso retooling his swing to become an extreme fly-ball hitter, and though his ability to keep the ball in the air has diminished over the last two years, the Rockies are undoubtedly intrigued by what a revived Alonso could potentially do in the thin air at Coors Field. Since the White Sox are covering Alonso’s salary (minus the prorated MLB minimum if Alonso makes the big league roster), there’s no risk for Colorado in seeing if a change of scenery will get Alonso on track.
The Rockies already have another left-handed hitter in Daniel Murphy holding down the first base, so without a DH spot in the National League, Alonso would likely be limited to bench duty if he did crack the 25-man roster. It’s worth noting that the Rox had some mild interest in Edwin Encarnacion prior to the slugger’s trade to the Yankees last month, so Colorado gave at least some vague thought to shifting Murphy back to second base. Such move might have only been seriously considered to accommodate a player in the midst of a strong season like Encarnacion, however, rather than a struggling veteran like Alonso.
The Constant Gardner
Raise your hand if you thought Brett Gardner would lead Yankees outfielders in fWAR at the All-Star break. Weeks-long, injury-forced absences to starting outfielders Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton and Aaron Hicks helped Gardner ascend to the top of the heap in the season’s first three-plus months, but the long-productive 35-year-old has been legitimately good yet again. With 2.1 fWAR through 323 plate appearances, Gardner is tied for 46th among all qualified position players, having notched the same total as Juan Soto, Anthony Rizzo, Josh Donaldson and others. He’s also continuing to make a case as one of the most valuable Yankees ever in the eyes of that metric, which places him 24th among the storied franchise’s all-time position players.
Even though Gardner is enjoying his latest quality season, there is a chance it’ll be the last in pinstripes for the soon-to-be free agent and career-long Yankee. The club brought Gardner back last offseason for $7.5MM after declining its $12.5MM option over him. At that point, Gardner didn’t look as if he’d be in line for his typical amount of playing time. The team had Judge, Stanton and Hicks, after all, and while they (especially Stanton) have each sat out significant time this year, all three will reprise starting roles next season. The club could also have Edwin Encarnacion, Miguel Andujar (yet another 2019 injury case), Clint Frazier (if he’s still with the organization by then) and an out-of-options Mike Tauchman further clouding the outfield and/or DH mix.
Of course, if you’re Yankees general manager Brian Cashman, there are more important matters at hand than worrying about 2020. He can map out Gardner’s future then. As of now, Cashman’s choice to retain Gardner last winter has proven to be a shrewd decision for a team that has jumped out to the American League’s leading record (57-31).
A roughly league-average offensive player since his career started in 2008, Gardner has posted a 109 wRC+ so far this year. If the season ended now, it would go down as the fourth-best figure of his career. Gardner’s more conventional output – his triple-slash line – checks in at .246/.328/.470. While Gardner has usually derived a sizable portion of his offensive value from his ability to get on base, having done so at a .343 lifetime clip, he’s one of countless major leaguers whose uptick in power has ruled the day in 2019.
Gardner has already piled up 15 home runs, six fewer than the high-water mark of 21 he hit in 2017, with a .225 ISO that comes in 90 points above his career mean. Unlike many other hitters, though, Gardner hasn’t needed to sell out for power by upping his strikeouts. In fact, Gardner has gone down on strikes a meager 15.5 percent of the time – his lowest since 2009 – and is tied with Mike Trout for the game’s eighth-ranked swing-and-miss rate (5.3 percent). Plus, having walked in better than 10 percent of trips to the plate, Gardner’s 0.66 BB/K ratio almost doubles the league average (0.37).
Gardner’s sturdy output this year has come in spite of a .248 batting average on balls in play, down 59 points compared to his .307 lifetime BABIP. Still one of the majors’ fastest runners, Gardner looks like a good bet on paper to see his BABIP skyrocket. That’s not a lock, though, if Gardner’s new approach holds up. He’s hitting more fly balls and fewer ground balls/line drives than usual. That’s not conducive to a high BABIP, and it’s worth noting that hitting the ball out of the park doesn’t count toward the stat.
The question is whether Gardner’s newfound power is here to stay. The fact that he’s pulling the ball at a career-high rate and going opposite field at a personal-low percentage bodes well in that regard. Furthermore, FanGraphs indicates Gardner’s hard-hit rate is his highest since 2012. It also may help that the left-handed Gardner plays his home games at Yankee Stadium, but the venue surprisingly has been a difficult one for lefties to amass HRs at this season, according to Baseball Prospectus. For his part, Gardner has been better on the road (114 wRC+) than at home (102) this year, though he has totaled eight of his homers in the Bronx. Historically, Gardner has offered league-average or better numbers both home and away.
Sticking with Gardner’s history, he has typically been usable, albeit unspectacular, versus same-handed pitchers (88 wRC+). But they’ve stifled Gardner this season, having limited him to a woeful .206/.260/.324 (53 wRC+) in 73 PA. Moreover, Gardner has been far from great in general in the estimation of Statcast, which puts his expected weighted on-base average (.314) significantly below his real wOBA (.339). It also indicates his expected slugging percentage, hard-hit rate, exit velocity and expected batting average are all worse than mediocre.
Elsewhere, however, Gardner remains a defensive and base running stalwart in spite of his advanced age. In almost 700 innings divided between left and center, he has accounted for 4 Defensive Runs Saved and a 3.8 Ultimate Zone Rating. And while Gardner’s no longer the 40-steal threat he once was, the speedster has swiped eight of 10 bags this year and rated as one of FanGraphs’ top base runners.
The overall package has almost always been effective for Gardner, who has quietly been one of the Yankees’ greatest draft picks in recent memory after going in the third round in 2005. Fourteen years later, Gardner remains a legitimate major league regular and someone who could help the franchise to the second World Series title of his career this fall. Whether Gardner will stay with the lone organization he has ever known once its season ends will be one of the Yankees’ main questions when the offseason rolls around.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Minor MLB Transactions: 7/11/19
The latest minor moves from around the game…
Most Recent
- The Orioles‘ Triple-A affiliate in Norfolk announced several roster moves today, including the news that right-hander Matt Wotherspoon was outrighted to Triple-A after clearing waivers. Wotherspoon was designated for assignment last week, and this marks the second time this season that the O’s outrighted him off their 40-man roster. Now in his sixth pro season, Wotherspoon made his Major League debut earlier this year, getting hit hard for eight earned runs over 4 2/3 innings for Baltimore.
Earlier Today
- Brewers right-hander Deolis Guerra cleared waivers and was assigned outright to Triple-A San Antonio, per MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy (Twitter link). The 30-year-old Guerra made just one appearance with the Brewers after having his contract selected, wherein he was hammered for four runs in two-thirds of an inning. Ugly as that outing was, Guerra has been excellent in an extraordinarily hitter-friendly Triple-A environment in 2019: 2.61 ERA, 10.5 K/9, 2.2 BB/9, 1.09 HR/9 in 41 1/3 innings of relief. It seems the well-traveled Guerra will remain in the organization as a depth piece; he had the right to reject the assignment in favor of free agency, but there’s no indication he plans to do so.
- Lost in the All-Star shuffle on Tuesday was the Indians‘ announcement that righty Chih-Wei Hu cleared waivers and was assigned outright to Triple-A Columbus. Hu, 25, was originally signed by the Twins as an amateur free agent out of Taiwan but was traded to the Rays in 2015 (for Kevin Jepsen) and then to the Indians this past offseason (for minor leaguer Gionti Turner). Hu pitched 23 innings of 3.52 ERA ball with a 21-to-7 K/BB ratio for Tampa Bay in 2017-18, but he’s been rocked for a 7.95 ERA while allowing 2.96 HR/9 in 48 2/3 innings in Triple-A this year. Hu had a 4.06 ERA and solid K/BB numbers in parts of four prior seasons of Triple-A ball prior to 2019, and he’ll strive to get back to that level of performance while no longer occupying a 40-man roster spot.
Mets Likely Won’t Trade Syndergaard, Matz Unless “Overwhelmed” By Offer
While it is becoming increasingly likely that the Mets will be sellers at the deadline, the team won’t be going into a full fire sale. Noah Syndergaard and Steven Matz are two of the names that aren’t likely to be going anywhere before the July 31st deadline, as Mike Puma of the New York Post hears from an industry source that the Mets “would likely have to be overwhelmed by a trade proposal” to deal Syndergaard or Matz.
The Mets’ reluctance to move Syndergaard is well-known, despite the fact that at least three teams (the Brewers, Astros and Padres) have shown interest already, and several more would surely join the bidding if the man they call Thor was actually shopped. We haven’t heard much about Matz as a trade candidate this summer, and it’s interesting that he is seemingly in the same boat as the more heralded Syndergaard, though New York would have largely the same reasons to want to keep either pitcher.
Matz has a 4.89 ERA, 2.69 K/BB rate, 46.9% grounder rate, and 8.7 K/9 over 81 innings this season. Despite some pretty decent overall advanced metrics, Matz has been once again undone by problems with the home run ball. After posting a 1.5 HR/9 in 2017-18, that number jumped even higher to a full 2.0 HR/9 in 2019, as 20.9% of all fly balls allowed by Matz have left the yard. Matz’s struggles peaked in June, as a string of poor outings led the Mets to remove him from the rotation, though he is slated to start on July 17 against the Twins.
Now in his fourth season as a regular, Matz has shown some flashes of brilliance for the Mets but injuries and his propensity for the home run ball have limited his value. After generating 2.4 fWAR in his 2016 rookie season, he has been little more than a replacement-level pitcher since, with 1.3 total fWAR over his next 301 2/3 innings. Matz hasn’t approached the type of ace-level ability Syndergaard has shown at his peak, though like Syndergaard, the Mets would arguably be selling low on Matz if they dealt him now.
Matz is in his first year of arbitration eligibility, earning $2.625MM for the season and thus in line for cost-effective salaries in both 2020 and 2021 even if Matz has a breakout next year. Syndergaard also has two-plus years of team control remaining, though at a higher price (he is earning $6MM in 2019). Between the control and the lack of payroll strain caused by either hurler, the Mets don’t have any particular reason to make a trade, especially since neither is pitching particularly well.
Brewers Sign Shelby Miller To Minors Deal
The Brewers have signed right-hander Shelby Miller to a minor league contract, The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal reports (Twitter links).
After being released by the Rangers last week, Miller will now return to the National League as he tries to once again revive his career. Miller posted an 8.59 ERA over 44 innings for Texas, recording almost as many walks (29) as strikeouts (30), and eventually losing his rotation job due to his inability to his ongoing struggles.
The 44 innings represents the most Miller has pitched in the last two seasons, as Tommy John surgery and a separate set of elbow problems limited the right-hander to just 38 innings total in 2017-18. Before those two injury-ravaged seasons and his poor 2016 debut year with the Diamondbacks, Miller was considered one of the more promising young arms in baseball, coming off three impressive years with the Braves and Cardinals from 2013-15.
Miller is still just 28 years old and still averages close to 95mph on his fastball, making him a risk worth taking for the Brewers on a flier of a minor league deal. Milwaukee will owe Miller only the prorated minimum salary if he reaches the club’s MLB roster, as the Rangers are on the hook for the remainder of the one-year contract he signed last winter ($2MM in guaranteed salary, and $400K in achieved incentives).
The Anti-Gerrit Cole
Astros right-hander Gerrit Cole is currently on pace to join the prestigious 300-strikeout club, a group with no shortage of Hall of Fame-level talent. Cole leads the majors with a dazzling 13.11 strikeouts per nine innings, whereas Athletics left-hander Brett Anderson resides on the opposite end of the spectrum. Anderson places dead last among qualified starters in K/9 at 4.56. His K/BB ratio (1.58) ranks a similarly unappealing fourth worst in the game. Nevertheless, in a season filled with setbacks for the A’s rotation, Anderson has been one of the unit’s few stabilizing forces.
The 31-year-old Anderson’s 2019 success has come at a nominal fee. After Anderson inked a minor league deal entering 2018 and helped pitch the Athletics to the playoffs, he re-signed on an MLB pact worth $1.5MM during the offseason. Now, for the second year in a row, Anderson may aid in a postseason berth for Oakland.
Injuries have been an all-too-common occurrence for Anderson, who began his career with the Athletics in 2009 and later spent time with the Rockies, Dodgers, Cubs and Blue Jays before circling back to the A’s a year ago. This season, though, Anderson has stayed healthy in a season chock-full of poor fortune for Oakland’s pitching staff. Not only haven’t the A’s gotten a single inning from the injured quartet of Sean Manaea, Jesus Luzardo, A.J. Puk, Jharel Cotton, but they lost their ace, Frankie Montas, to an 80-game performance-enhancing drug suspension June 21.
Anderson’s first start after Montas’ ban – a three-inning, seven-run performance in a June 23 loss to the Rays – was a nightmare. However, since then, Anderson has yielded a meager two earned runs on seven hits over 14 innings in a pair of starts – both wins for a playoff-contending A’s team that needs every victory it can get. Anderson now owns an above-average 3.86 ERA through 102 2/3 frames on the season. Known throughout his majors tenure for inducing ground balls, Anderson has done so at a 53.1 percent clip this year. As always, Anderson’s worm-burning tendencies have enabled him to limit home runs to a respectable extent. The average starter has surrendered HRs on 15.2 percent of fly balls in 2019, but Anderson’s at just 11.1.
Despite the laundry list of injuries Anderson has contended with throughout his time in the majors, his velocity remains in line with career figures. He’s averaging approximately 90 mph on his four-seam fastball and sinker, and has thrown the latter pitch 10 percent more than he did last season, according to Statcast. The results haven’t been great, though, as hitters have posted a .353 weighted on-base average/.382 expected wOBA against it. Anderson has stifled hitters with his slider, on the other hand, though his usage of it has decreased by 6 percent since 2018. In the 19.8 percent of the time Anderson has leaned on the pitch this year, batters have logged a non-threatening .286 wOBA/.298 xwOBA against it.
Perhaps Anderson would be well-served to turn to his slider more often, especially considering he has benefited from quite a bit of luck with his overall arsenal thus far. Anderson’s expected wOBA (.350) portends trouble compared to his real wOBA (.302). The same applies to Anderson’s 4.54 FIP – which ranks 21st from the bottom among qualified starters. Likewise, Anderson’s .268 batting average on balls in play against may be tough to maintain for someone who has surrendered a .309 BABIP during his major league career.
For now, the A’s are enjoying the inexpensive ride with Anderson, who might be on his way to another major league contract in the offseason. But while the strikeout-happy Cole could score $200MM-plus in free agency over the winter, the contact-heavy Anderson may be fortunate to net much more than the sub-$2MM guarantee he secured coming into the season.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Padres Interested In Matt Boyd
You can add Matt Boyd to the long list of starting pitchers on the Padres’ radar, as MLB.com’s Jon Paul Morosi reports that San Diego is “evaluating” the southpaw as a potential trade acquisition. Things still seem to be in the exploratory phase, however, as Morosi says no “serious talks” have taken place between the Padres and Tigers.
San Diego has been looking for a controllable front-of-the-rotation arm for months, dating back to offseason reports that linked them to such names as Marcus Stroman, Corey Kluber, Trevor Bauer, and Noah Syndergaard in trade rumors. Syndergaard is reportedly still a player of interest for the Padres, and it’s probably safe to assume that the Friars have at least checked in on virtually any top pitcher who might be on the market.
This search now includes Boyd, who has become one of the most intriguing names of this pre-trade deadline period thanks to a 3.87 ERA, 11.9 K/9, and league-best 7.1 K/BB rate over 107 innings for Detroit. The Astros, Cubs, and Red Sox are some of the teams known to have had some level of interest in the 28-year-old left-hander, who is controlled through the 2022 season.
Understandably, the Tigers want a big haul of young talent back in any Boyd trade, though San Diego’s deep farm system certainly has the quality to meet Detroit’s demands. Morosi also suggests that the Padres could offer Franmil Reyes or Hunter Renfroe off the Major League roster to address the Tigers’ lack of young outfield depth, perhaps even with Nick Castellanos going to San Diego as part of a larger multi-player deal if the Padres don’t want their current lineup to suffer an offensive hit.
Cardinals Place Yadier Molina On 10-Day IL; Activate Matt Carpenter
5:22pm: Molina will likely miss around three weeks and surgery won’t be required, Cardinals manager Mike Shildt told MLB.com’s Anne Rogers and other media.
4:14pm: The Cardinals have announced (Twitter links) a series of roster moves in advance of their second-half opener on Friday. Catcher Yadier Molina is heading to the 10-day injured list due to a right thumb tendon strain, with an IL placement retroactive to July 8. Coming back from the IL is infielder Matt Carpenter, who has been out of action since June 29 with a lower back sprain. The Cards also sent Rangel Ravelo and southpaw Tyler Webb to Triple-A and moved Jordan Hicks to the 60-day IL, while calling up catcher Andrew Knizner and selecting the contract of left-hander Chasen Shreve from Triple-A.
This is the second time this season that Molina has missed time due to his troublesome right thumb, as the same injury also put the longtime St. Louis backstop on the IL from May 31 to June 11. It’s fair to assume that the nagging nature of Molina’s thumb problem is at least partially responsible for his lack of production this season, though Molina was also struggling prior to May 31. Overall, Molina has only a .261/.286/.368 slash line and four homers over 276 plate appearances, making him one of several veteran Cardinals who are seemingly all having down years at the same time.
This list includes Carpenter, who has a career-worst .216/.325/.381 with 10 home runs over 326 PA. While his IL stint was minimal, he and the Cards are surely hoping that this brief time off combined with the All-Star break is enough to finally get his bat moving close to the MVP-level production that Carpenter provided over the last three-plus months of the 2018 season. Carpenter only had a .739 OPS over his first 234 PA last season before exploding for a .983 OPS over his final 443 PA.
Last season’s results notwithstanding, Carpenter’s cold streak this season has lasted longer and reached deeper depths than his slow start to 2018. His power and hard-hit ball rates have both fallen significantly, while the quality of his contact has also dropped off (.324 xwOBA in 2019, as opposed to a .392 xwOBA in 2018).
Carpenter will resume his usual duties at third base, though the hot-hitting Tommy Edman retained his spot on the MLB roster after his strong performance as Carpenter’s fill-in. Knizner and Matt Wieters will handle the catching duties while Molina is out.
Marlins Have Received Interest In Starlin Castro
The Marlins are firmly in seller mode as the deadline approaches, and one of the veterans who has received some interest from rival teams is Starlin Castro, as the Miami Herald’s Jordan McPherson reports that the Fish have received some calls about the second baseman.
Castro has been a trade candidate since the moment he first came to Miami, dealt in December 2017 (mostly as salary offset) as part of the blockbuster deal that sent Giancarlo Stanton to the Yankees. The rebuilding Marlins didn’t have much use for a veteran with a pricey contract, though their efforts to deal Castro over the last year and a half haven’t been successful. If nothing else, that time diminished the money attached to Castro’s services — he is still owed roughly $4.7MM of his $11MM salary for the 2019 season, and his $16MM club option for 2020 can be bought out for $1MM.
It’s easy to imagine Miami eating virtually all of that remaining salary just for the sake of accommodating a move, since Castro’s trade value is minimal. As MLBTR’s Connor Byrne recently outlined, Castro is suffering through the worst season of his ten-year career, hitting only .245/.272/.336 through 371 plate appearances and some of the least-impressive advanced metrics (via Statcast) of any player in baseball.
It’s probably safe to assume that interested teams are looking at Castro just as infield depth for the stretch run, and perhaps hoping that getting away from the last-place Marlins and into a pennant race would help jolt Castro back into something resembling his old self. Conversely, a team keen on adding Castro may not feel the need to give up even a minor prospect to acquire his services when it’s quite possible the Marlins could just release him after July 31 anyway. Marlins prospect Isan Diaz is tearing up Triple-A pitching and pushing hard for MLB playing time at second base, so if a trade partner for Castro can’t be found, the Marlins could release Castro and end up eating his salary anyway (with a new team then responsible for a prorated league minimum salary if they were to sign Castro).
NL East Notes: Stroman, Braves, Phillies, Doolittle
The Braves and Blue Jays haven’t had any discussions about Marcus Stroman, MLB Network’s Jon Heyman reports (Twitter link). While Stroman would be a fit on at least half the teams in the league, Atlanta stands out as a natural landing spot due to both the Braves’ talented but generally inexperienced rotation, and the connection between Stroman and Braves GM Alex Anthopoulos (who had the same job in Toronto from 2009-15). While a lack of talks to this point doesn’t mean that Stroman couldn’t eventually become a Braves target, Atlanta has been linked to other pitchers such as Madison Bumgarner or Zack Wheeler, and could simply prefer one of those players (or another arm altogether) to Stroman.
More from the NL East…
- The Phillies focused heavily on position-player additions during their splashy offseason, but a lack of focus on the rotation looks to now be a mistake, the Philadelphia Inquirer’s Scott Lauber writes. The team’s starters have delivered middling-to-mediocre results all season, and depth has now become a particular issue given Jake Arrieta‘s injury concerns. While the Phils could still make a move to acquire a starting pitcher (or two) at the deadline, such a move will cost the club more prospects from a system that has already been thinned out by other trades. As Lauber notes, the Phillies also haven’t done a great job of developing their own pitchers over the last four years, with Aaron Nola standing out as the last success story.
- Trades and trade rumors come with the territory for any baseball player, particularly at this time of year. This being said, there’s an obvious personal toll that comes with knowing one could soon to be moved to another team on another city, and it’s naturally hard to entirely block out all of the speculation. “You see a couple things and that’s all it takes for your brain to run wild a little bit with some of that stuff,” Nationals closer Sean Doolittle told NBC Sports Washington’s Todd Dybas about some early-season rumors buzzing that the Nats could start trading Doolittle and other veterans if the team continued to struggle. Doolittle is no stranger to midseason deals, of course, as it was almost exactly two years ago that he came to D.C. as part of a very notable five-player trade with the Athletics. Needless to say, the Nats’ re-emergence back into the postseason race has ended talk of the club being deadline sellers, which is good news for Doolittle given how he and his wife quickly grew to love being part of the Nationals family. “I will say it’s tough because you don’t have control over [a trade],” Doolittle said. “For some people, it might be easy to say, ‘Hey, I’m not going to think about it because I can’t control it.’ At the same time, that’s why it’s a little disconcerting, is you don’t have control over it. After going through it once before, it’s not as scary as maybe it was. I don’t know. I really want to be here. I like it here.”