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Quick Hits: Donaldson, Holliday, Rangers, Perez, Cubs, Hamels

By Connor Byrne | August 25, 2018 at 10:25pm CDT

Injured Blue Jays third baseman Josh Donaldson will be eligible to go on August trade waivers if he embarks on a rehab assignment, but “it appears unlikely” that’s going to happen, Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet tweets. Donaldson has been out since the end of May with a calf strain, which has stopped the out-of-contention Blue Jays from dealing him as he closes in on free agency. If Toronto’s unable to trade Donaldson this month, it’ll have to keep him through season’s end and then decide before the market opens whether to issue the soon-to-be 33-year-old a qualifying offer (worth $17.4MM last winter). Donaldson was among the majors’ best players as recently as last year, which suggests the Blue Jays will tender him a QO, though multiple DL stints this season have limited him to 36 games and an unspectacular .234/.333/.423 line in 159 plate appearances.

Minor MLB Transactions: 8/25/18

By Kyle Downing | August 25, 2018 at 9:30pm CDT

Here are some minor transactions from today…

The Dodgers have reinstated lefty Julio Urias from the 60-day DL and optioned him to Single-A Rancho Cucamonga. In a corresponding move, Los Angeles transferred reliever Josh Fields to the 60-day DL. The promising Urias, 21, is yet another step closer to returning from June 2017 shoulder surgery, and manager Dave Roberts said Saturday (via Ken Gurnick of MLB.com) that he’s on track to rejoin the Dodgers in September. Fields has been on the shelf since June 28 with shoulder inflammation, so moving to the 60-day DL won’t affect his timeline. He’ll also be back in September, according to Roberts (via Gurnick).

Earlier updates:

Phillies righty Jose Taveras cleared waivers today and has been outrighted to Double-A Reading, per a club announcement. The 6’4″ 24-year-old had been designated for assignment earlier this week in order to make room for the recently-acquired Luis Avilan. Taveras has a 6.28 ERA in 14 1/3 innings so far this season. Though he pitched at the Triple-A level in 2017, he hasn’t seen time there during the current campaign.
The Pirates activated righty A.J. Schugel from the 60-day disabled list today and sent him outright to Triple-A. Schugel has been out with a shoulder injury for the past two months, and indeed has only managed to toss 11 1/3 innings all season for the Indianapolis Indians, during which time he’s been tagged for seven earned runs, including three homers. Schugel was a 25th-round pick of the Angels back in 2010, and has also spend time with the Diamondbacks organization during his career.

Cafardo’s Latest: Posey, Braves, Bumgarner, Yanks, O’s, Jones

By Connor Byrne | August 25, 2018 at 8:30pm CDT

Some San Francisco-heavy rumblings from Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe:

Giants catcher Buster Posey drew trade interest from the Braves prior to the July 31 non-waiver deadline, Cafardo reports. Moreover, “there was talk” Boston was interested in Posey, but a team source shot down that, Cafardo adds. Regardless, it’s no surprise the Giants didn’t trade Posey, a franchise institution who remains a high-end catcher at the age of 31. It was revealed this week, however, that Posey will undergo season-ending hip surgery – a procedure which could also prevent him from being ready to start next year on time. The 2019 campaign will be the third-to-last guaranteed season of the nine-year, $167MM extension Posey signed in 2013.
Like Posey, Giants ace Madison Bumgarner isn’t someone who has been seen as a realistic trade candidate to this point. But that didn’t stop the Yankees from being “in the hunt” for Bumgarner around the deadline, per Cafardo, who notes that “the price was too high” for the Bombers’ liking. Although San Francisco hasn’t been willing to part with Bumgarner, its control over the 29-year-old is running out. As of now, he’s slated to rake in a $12MM club option in 2019 and then reach the open market during the ensuing offseason.
The Orioles won’t trade center fielder Adam Jones this month, according to Cafardo, who writes that the 33-year-old “was open to going elsewhere.” Jones’ apparent willingness to leave Baltimore runs counter to various reports from last month, when he would not waive his 10-and-5 rights to join a contender for the stretch run. Now, having cleared revocable waivers this month, Jones is eligible to be traded anywhere, but it appears the longtime Oriole will end the season with them. After that, he’s scheduled to reach free agency.

NL Notes: Harper, Giants, Wacha, Cardinals, Marlins

By Connor Byrne | August 25, 2018 at 7:22pm CDT

The Giants have been long-rumored suitors for Nationals outfielder Bryce Harper, who’s expected to reach free agency in the offseason and sign one of the richest contracts in baseball history. While Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle opines that the deep-pocketed Giants should go after Harper, he casts doubt on the possibility of the soon-to-be 26-year-old superstar signing with them. Giants CEO Larry Baer said this week that the club should “lean more toward the development” side of things in the immediate future, Schulman points out, adding it’s doubtful Harper would select San Francisco over teams in better position to contend immediately. Schulman also suggests that the Giants’ stadium, pitcher-friendly AT&T Park, could work against them during the Harper sweepstakes. It’s worth noting, then, that the Giants’ venue currently ranks 19th among 30 parks in HR factor for left-handed hitters, per Baseball Prospectus.

A couple more notes from the National League…

Cardinals right-hander Michael Wacha is slated to rejoin the team’s rotation during the first week of September, manager Mike Shildt told Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and other reporters Saturday. Wacha will first need to get through a Double-A rehab outing on Tuesday, when he could throw 75 to 80 pitches, per Goold. A left oblique strain has kept Wacha out since June 21, before which he made 15 starts and tossed 84 1/3 innings of 3.20 ERA/4.21 FIP ball. Meanwhile, reliever Dominic Leone is also on track to return to the Cardinals early next month, Joe Trezza of MLB.com tweets. The offseason trade acquisition from Toronto landed on the DL on May 5 with a nerve issue in his right biceps – an injury which has prevented Leone from properly following up the excellent 2017 he had with the Blue Jays.
Marlins first baseman Garrett Cooper suffered a setback during a rehab assignment on Wednesday and is “likely” done for the season, Joe Frisaro of MLB.com writes. Cooper has been dealing with right wrist problems since the second game of the season, when the Cubs’ Kyle Hendricks hit him with a pitch, and hasn’t played since July 20. With the Marlins having traded former starting first baseman Justin Bour to the Phillies earlier this month, a healthy Cooper perhaps could have made a case for the job heading into 2019. Instead, it appears the 27-year-old’s season will end with a .212/.316/.242 batting line over just 38 major league plate appearances.

East Notes: G. Sanchez, Pedroia, Mets, Alonso, Braves

By Connor Byrne | August 25, 2018 at 6:06pm CDT

Catcher Gary Sanchez may be in line to rejoin the Yankees on Sept. 3, when they start what could be a crucial series in Oakland, per George A. King III of the New York Post. Sanchez, out since July 24 with a groin injury, began a rehab assignment at the rookie level Saturday and will eventually progress to Triple-A before returning to the majors. This has been a surprisingly rough year for Sanchez, a star from 2016-17 who has endured two DL stints and slashed a disappointing .188/.283/.416 in 279 plate appearances. Nevertheless, Sanchez’s return will be a welcome one for New York, which has seen backup catcher Austin Romine plummet to earth offensively after a terrific first half of the season.

Here’s more from the East Coast:

Left knee problems have limited Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia to 13 PAs this season and shelved him since May 31, though there is optimism he’ll return in 2018, according to manager Alex Cora (via Jason Mastrodonato of the Boston Herald). “We don’t have anything set as far as timetables, but we’re feeling good with the progress,” Cora said of Pedroia, adding that the 35-year-old will “contribute here in the dugout” even if he’s unable to play again this season. The Pedroia-less Red Sox haven’t gotten much production from any of their second base options this year, evidenced in part by their minus-0.2 fWAR at the position, though the team has still managed easily the majors’ best record (90-40).
The Mets may promote one of their top prospects, first baseman Peter Alonso, when rosters expand next month, manager Mickey Callaway told Brian Heyman of MLB.com and other reporters on Saturday. The 23-year-old Alonso, whom Baseball America, MLB.com and FanGraphs regard as a top-75 prospect, has slashed .243/.345/.545 with 17 home runs in the hitter-friendly environs of Triple-A Las Vegas this season. In the process, Alonso has overtaken the struggling Dominic Smith as the Mets’ best first base prospect. Smith earned his first promotion last August, when multiple outlets viewed him as a top-50 prospect, but his stock has plunged since then. The Mets, despite being well out of contention, demoted him to Las Vegas on Friday in order to give veteran outfielder Jay Bruce an extended look at first.
The NL East-leading Braves expect to get closer Arodys Vizcaino and fellow relievers Shane Carle, Brandon McCarthy and Peter Moylan back by mid-September, perhaps “much sooner” in some cases, Gabe Burns of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution writes. The two most effective members of that group this season have been Vizcaino and Carle, though both have battled shoulder issues. McCarthy has been on the shelf since June 24 because of knee troubles, meanwhile, and he’ll be pitching the final innings of his career when he does come back. The 34-year-old announced earlier this month that he’s going to retire at season’s end.

Injury Notes: Smith, Samardzija, Tulo, Pineda

By Kyle Downing | August 25, 2018 at 3:51pm CDT

The Rays had a scare yesterday in regards to outfielder Mallex Smith, who was hospitalized due to a viral infection and has since been placed on the 10-day DL. Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times has the full details here, noting that the infection doesn’t seem gravely serious and is a far cry from the severity of the bacterial infection that ended Indians outfielder Leonys Martin’s season. Smith was hitting .307 and functioning as the Rays’ leadoff hitter prior to being hospitalized, so the club will be keeping a close eye on his recovery. For the time being, right-hander Andrew Kittredge will take his spot on the active roster.

Other injury news and updates from around baseball…

Though recent trends would have led Giants fans to believe Jeff Samardzija would be making a return to the mound in 2018, a new development has made that significantly less likely. Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle hears that Samardzija has suffered a setback in his rehab from a shoulder injury. “There is a little concern there, to be honest,” manager Bruce Bochy said of the right-hander’s shoulder. “There’s some soreness. He’s not real close.” Samardzija has only taken the mound for ten starts so far this season, posting a nauseating 6.25 ERA.
The Blue Jays don’t expect Troy Tulowitzki to make a return to the field this season, Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet.ca tweets. The message comes courtesy of manager John Gibbons. That means Tulo will have missed the entirety of the 2018 season after undergoing surgery on both of his heels at the outset of April. Even last season, Tulo played at replacement level by measure of Fangraphs’ WAR formula. With the shortstop’s lengthy injury history, it’s fair to wonder whether his playing career is in jeopardy.
Though Michael Pineda was set to make a rehab start on Monday for the Twins’ Triple-A affiliate, Phil Miller of the Star Tribune reports that it’s been canceled in favor of a trip to the doctor. Pineda will undergo an MRI to get to the bottom of the irritation in his right knee. Pineda signed a two-year pact with Minnesota this offseason, even though it was well-known that he wouldn’t pitch for most of the season while recovering from a Tommy John surgery he underwent in 2017.

Rangers Select Carlos Perez

By Kyle Downing | August 25, 2018 at 2:31pm CDT

The Rangers have selected the contract of catcher Carlos Perez after placing Hanser Alberto on the disabled list with a hamstring injury (first report: Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News). In order to make room on the 40-man roster, they’ve recalled right-hander Nick Gardewine and placed him on the 60-day DL with a forearm strain.

Perez has been waiver wire bait multiple times already this season. The Braves designated him for assignment earlier this season, which is how he ended up with Texas in the first place. While the Rangers gave him a brief look, they ultimately outrighted him to Triple-A Round Rock in order to make room for lefty reliever Joe Palumbo after he’d fully recovered from Tommy John surgery. He’s spent the past six weeks in the minors waiting for his next opportunity.

Perez has never showed much talent with the bat in the majors; indeed he’s hit just .159/.197/.238 this season. His usefulness comes more from his defensive capabilities behind the plate, where he’s been well above-average. Still, despite his pathetic numbers in the majors, he’s been fantastic at clobbering minor league pitching across the past two seasons. He owns a .316/.368/.494 at Round Rock in 2018, and while those 87 plate appearances don’t serve as a significant sample size, he managed an even better .352/.423/.502 performance in Triple-A while with the Angels organization last season. If he can realize even a semblance of that potential in the majors, he’ll be a useful major-leaguer for the Rangers.

Marlins Reportedly Pulled Dan Straily Off Revocable Waivers

By Kyle Downing | August 25, 2018 at 12:21pm CDT

A source close to Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald tells him that the Marlins have pulled right-hander Dan Straily off revocable waivers after an unnamed team put in a claim on him. Straily will now almost certainly remain with the Marlins through the end of the 2018 season.

Straily, 29, was one of few veteran pieces the Marlins kept this offseason amidst a fire sale of assets that saw Giancarlo Stanton, Marcell Ozuna, Christian Yelich and Dee Gordon all end up in different cities with new teams. Though he’d been a mediocre pitcher for most of his career, Straily managed a league-average performance in 2017 by posting a 4.26 ERA across 181 2/3 innings while boasting 8.42 K/9. That came courtesy of an ability to limit walks and homers, to a reasonable degree. The Marlins didn’t feel as though offers from other clubs were enough to move Straily, so they held onto him throughout the winter.

After an injury delayed his start to the 2018 season, Straily succumbed to a significant regression in pitching ability. Though his 4.35 is nearly in line with last season’s figure, his walk rate has ballooned to 4.19 batters per nine; more than a full run above the 2.97 mark from a year ago. He’s striking out batters at the lowest rate of his entire career, and he’s been incredibly lucky with batted balls (.264 BABIP). FIP pegs him as a pitcher who deserves a 5.33 ERA based on his work this year.

Still, the Marlins evidently see value in his contract. He’s owed about $800K for the remainder of the season, and can be controlled for two additional years via baseball’s arbitration process, so there’s no rush to give him up for nothing. Miami is perhaps holding out hope that he can bounce back in 2019 and return to his 2017 form. The mystery team that claimed him was apparently unable to offer any prospects the Marlins believed to be worth Straily’s departure. He’ll continue to pitch for the Fish amidst their thin rotation for the remainder of the present campaign.

Blue Jays Designate Jaime Garcia

By Kyle Downing | August 25, 2018 at 12:12pm CDT

The Blue Jays have designated left-hander Jaime Garcia, the club announced today. The move was made in order to make room for Aaron Sanchez on the active roster, whom they activated from the disabled list.

It’s the end of a dramatic fall from grace for the 32-year-old hurler, whom the Blue Jays gave a $10MM guarantee to pitch for them this year. Part of that contract is a $2MM buyout for next season’s $10MM option; that buyout will clearly be used. If his 5.93 ERA wasn’t enough of a convincing factor to that end, the added shoulder issues that have cost him significant playing time would seal the deal. Garcia’s had multiple DL stints this season owing to inflammation in his pitching shoulder.

Toronto had initially hoped that Garcia could perform at least serviceably, as he had across the past two seasons, with perhaps the upside of the 2.43 ERA he flashed across the 2015 season with the Cardinals. Instead, he’s gone from okay to dreadful, resulting in a demotion to the bullpen and now a loss of his spot on the club’s roster. That’s significant, considering the Jays haven’t got much to play for, and even more significant considering there’s only about a week left until active rosters expand. The Jays could have simply demoted one of their players with options remaining and kept Garcia through September, but it appears as though he’d fallen out of favor with the organization to a point at which even that minor inconvenience wasn’t worth the trouble.

Alex Cobb, Andrew Cashner Clear Waivers

By Kyle Downing | August 25, 2018 at 11:48am CDT

Orioles starting pitchers Alex Cobb and Andrew Cashner have both reportedly cleared revocable trade waivers, per Jon Heyman of Fancred Sports. They’re now eligible to be traded to any team for the remainder of the season.

It should be noted that a trade of either pitcher doesn’t seem particularly likely. Cashner, for his part, owns a 4.84 ERA on the season, and his 4.95 FIP suggests that bad luck has taken no part in that performance. He’s owed another $8MM beyond this season, and at the age of 31 it seems more likely than not that his performance could continue to decline. In addition to his rough surface numbers, Cashner’s skill set leaves plenty to be desired. He’s only managed to strike out 6.25 batters per nine innings while walking almost four. Meanwhile, his 42.4% ground ball rate this season would be a career-low by far.

On the other hand, Cashner’s only a year removed from a performance that made him a league-average pitcher by fWAR. In 28 starts, the right-hander managed to post a 3.40 ERA. While peripheral statistics considered that output to be incredibly lucky (on the extreme end, xFIP estimated him to have performed at the quality of a 5.30 ERA hurler), it convinced the Orioles to hand him a two-year pact, and that small glimmer of promise could convince a pitching-desperate contender to bring him into the fold. The $10MM or so left on his contract isn’t cheap, but it’s not a franchise-altering sum, either.

Cobb has seemingly turned his season around after an abominable first-half showing. The right-hander has now posted six consecutive quality starts dating back to July 26th, and owns an elite 2.16 ERA since the All-Star Break. Owing in part to a resurgence in the effectiveness of his wicked change-up, Cobb has been a nightmare for opposing hitters of late, and the $46MM owed to him beyond 2018 is certainly a significant deterrent to any potential trade partner, Cobb would seemingly be an upgrade to the rotations of many contending ballclubs. For their part, the Orioles would almost certainly be happy to unload most of Cobb’s remaining contract as they enter what looks to be a lengthy rebuilding process.

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