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Phillies Select Trevor Plouffe, Designate Hoby Milner For Assignment

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The Phillies announced a series of roster moves today, revealing that in addition to the previously reported promotion of right-handed pitching prospect Enyel De Los Santos, they’ve selected the contract of Trevor Plouffe. In order to create space for both De Los Santos and Plouffe on the 40-man roster, the Phils designated left-hander Hoby Milner for assignment and moved Pedro Florimon from the 10-day DL to the 60-day DL. Additionally, outfielder Dylan Cozens was optioned to Triple-A Lehigh Valley to create 25-man roster space.

Plouffe, 32, turned in the worst season of his career between the A’s and Rays last season, hitting just .198/.272/.318 in 313 plate appearances. However, the long-time Twins third baseman has shown signs of a rebound this season in Triple-A, hitting a combined .242/.371/.488 with a dozen homers and 15 doubles through 256 PAs between the Rangers and Phillies organizations. Plouffe has extensive experience at both infield corners, and his right-handed bat has long been a thorn in the side of left-handed pitching.

As for Milner, the lefty will be either traded, placed on outright waivers or released in the next week now that he’s been designated. The 27-year-old allowed four runs in 4 2/3 MLB innings this season but was considerably better in Triple-A, where he’d worked to a 2.39 ERA with 9.6 K/9, 4.8 BB/9 and 0.68 HR/9 with a 46.8 percent ground-ball rate. Milner has a pretty solid track record in Triple-A over the past three seasons and has multiple minor league option years remaining, so it wouldn’t be a surprise to see a club in need of a left-handed bullpen option take a look.

Orioles Select Jhan Marinez

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The Orioles are set to select the contract of right-handed reliever Jhan Marinez. Rich Dubroff of PressboxOnline.com was among those to tweet the news, and Jon Meoli of the Baltimore Sun tweets that Marinez already has a locker set up in the Orioles’ clubhouse. Baltimore’s 40-man roster already had an open spot, so the O’s won’t need to make a corresponding move in that regard.

[Related: Updated Baltimore Orioles depth chart]

Marinez, 29, is in the midst of a very nice season in Triple-A, having worked to a 2.78 ERA with 9.1 K/9, 2.4 BB/9, 0.99 HR/9 and a 42.5 percent ground-ball rate in 45 1/3 innings of work. He’s no stranger to the Majors, either, having logged 126 frames with a 3.43 ERA at the game’s top level.

Most recently, Marinez totaled 58 1/3 innings between the Brewers, Pirates and Rangers last season. He notched a 3.70 ERA along the way, though his 45-to-26 K/BB ratio, seven hit batters and six wild pitches all indicated that he was a bit fortunate to post that mark. Marinez doesn’t miss many bats and has long had somewhat shaky control, but he averages nearly 95 mph on his fastball and is good about keeping the ball on the ground and limiting hard contact.

Manny Machado Rumors: Tuesday

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Yesterday’s news wire included quite a lot of chatter surrounding Orioles infielder Manny Machado, who is the clear top player available on this summer’s trade market. Last we checked, the Brewers and Dodgers were said to be working hard at making a deal with the Yankees also entering the fray.

Here’s the latest:

  • The Brewers and Dodgers are indeed still trying to sort out arrangements with the Baltimore front office, per Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic, who provides more details on the talks in a subscription link. Rosenthal suggests that the O’s are targeting Milwaukee hurler Corbin Burnes and Dodgers prospects Gavin Lux and Dustin May, none of whom appear to be available in talks. Notably, per the report, the Brewers “would prefer to build their package” around outfielder Brett Phillips and pitching prospect Luis Ortiz — both highly-ranked young talents in their own rights, perhaps suggesting that the Orioles have had some success in generating quality offers. Of course, every team will have its own preferences on young talent, and prospect rankings are little more than a general guide for outside observers. Broadly, it does not sound as if either the Milwaukee or Los Angeles organizations are close to striking a deal for Machado. It also seemingly remains an open question whether the Orioles are really interested in dealing him before the All-Star Game. That’d surely be the approach taken if the club feels it can best maximize the return right now, though it would also be tough to see Machado lined up in a different uniform down the street in D.C.
  • Meanwhile, after Machado himself threw a bit of cold water on the notion of a shift back to third base — which would be the only way he’d really fit in with the Yankees — New York GM Brian Cashman cast further shade on the concept of a move to the Bronx. As Joel Sherman of the New York Post reports, Cashman suggests he’s focused primarily on boosting his team’s starting pitching. The third base position, he says, is a clear strength for the club. That hardly rules out a move for Machado, of course, though Cashman did make clear that he views it as his “job” to “attack weakness” on the roster. All things considered, it seems this intriguing match is a low-likelihood match, but one that shouldn’t be dismissed entirely.
  • Of course, some teams that once figured to represent suitors no longer really seem to be in the mix. That’s the case for the Cubs, Bob Nightengale of USA Today writes. He cites an O’s source that pegs the Diamondbacks as another leading contender to land Machado, along with the two noted above, so it seems Arizona is still involved even if the team hasn’t been linked as strongly in recent days. But the Chicago organization seems understandably pleased with its existing lineup, with pitching representing a greater need. Likewise, the Cardinals don’t appear to be involved on Machado, which Ben Frederickson of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch argues is a reflection of the front office’s accurate assessment of the team’s outlook.

DL Placements: Felix Hernandez, Sean Doolittle, Josh Tomlin

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With several players hitting the disabled list this afternoon, we’ll round them up in this post:

  • The Mariners announced that starter Felix Hernandez will hit the DL owing to lower back tightness. It seems the idea is to afford him a longer rest by lining up the placement with the coming All-Star break, as Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times tweets. Reliever Nick Rumbelow and infielder Gordon Beckham will head onto the active roster, with outfielder John Andreoli being optioned out. Hopefully for the M’s, a bit of a respite will allow Hernandez to bounce back in the second half. It has been a frustrating season to this point, as he has allowed 5.13 earned runs per nine over 105 1/3 innings.
  • Likewise, the Nationals announced that closer Sean Doolittle is hitting the shelf with left toe inflammation. His placement is retroactive to July 7th, meaning he’ll be eligible to return immediately after the break. The roster will get two fresh arms in Wander Suero and Austin Voth, while fellow right-hander Jefry Rodriguez was optioned after his start yesterday. As for Doolittle, it had been hoped that he would be able to return to action, but the team can ill afford an un-utilized roster spot with a tired relief corps. The club has other capable late-inning arms to turn to, though obviously the fervent hope will be that this placement will stave off any more concerning health matters.
  • Indians righty Josh Tomlin is going to the DL with a right hamstring strain, per another announcement. He’ll be replaced by Adam Plutko, who has seen seven games (including six starts) of action in the majors this year. Tomlin has struggled both before and after being bumped from the rotation. Though he hasn’t been hit quite as hard in a relief capacity, he’s still allowing a .256/.294/.538 slash to opposing hitters while working from the bullpen. The 33-year-old owns a 6.98 ERA with 5.5 K/9 and 1.8 BB/9 — and an unhealthy 3.9 homers per nine — over 49 total innings this year.

Marco Hernandez Undergoes Season-Ending Surgery

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Red Sox infielder Marco Hernandez has again required season-ending surgery on his left shoulder, the team announced today. The team described the procedure as an anterior stability revision.

It’s a disappointing outcome for the 25-year-old, who missed the bulk of the 2017 season after it was determined that he needed to go under the knife. He also had another procedure this spring. Clearly, he has not responded as hoped since that time.

Hernandez had reached the majors in 2016 and opened the ensuing season on the MLB roster. Through 116 total plate appearances at the game’s highest level, he owns a .284/.328/.349 batting line with one home run and one steal.

Martinez has shown a bit of pop in the upper minors, providing hope that he could turn into a solid hitter who is capable of lining up at short, second, and third. First, though, he’ll have to get his shoulder joint back to full function.

Rays Announce Stadium Plans

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The Rays held a long-awaited press conference today to announce the team’s plans for a new ballpark in the Ybor City neighborhood of Tampa, Florida, as Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports in a still-developing story. While hurdles still remain for making the vision a reality, it’s certainly an encouraging moment for the organization and supporters of baseball in the region.

Since beginning play in 1998, the then-Devil Rays have utilized Tropicana Field as a home park. The domed facility has long drawn criticism for its inconvenient location, among other demerits, and the club has never drawn particularly well.

Of course, poor attendance is now a leaguewide concern. And it’s an issue that has plagued the Rays’ neighbors to the south, the Marlins, even since they got a shiny new ballpark. The Tampa Bay organization is surely hoping to avoid some of the pitfalls from that experience.

The design unveiled today is for a cozy and quite unusual facility with a total capacity that would max out at 30,842 paying visitors (with 28,216 fixed seats). That would make it the smallest MLB park in existence.

Architecturally, the plan is unique: a fixed, translucent roof with flourishes that evoke the manta ray that originally inspired the team’s nickname and still features in its logos. Sliding glass walls would also allow natural light while permitting partial exposure to the outside elements, though unfortunately grass is not considered compatible with the approach. At first glance, it seems a rather appealing means of balancing local peculiarities with a classic ballpark experience, though it’s certainly not a design that will be loved by purists. (Some images are available at the above link.)

Of course, the Marlins Park troubles aren’t really related to ballpark design so much as financial and political considerations. Public financing will be a hot topic surrounding the Rays’ prospective facility, no doubt, with supplemental economic opportunities representing an important element.

As John Romano of the Tampa Bay Times explains, in a nice overview of the broader situation, the general circumstances seem favorable to finally getting something done, but the dollars and cents remain a looming obstacle. Club president Brian Auld acknowledges, regarding financing, that the team still does not “have those answers yet,” as Topkin adds (Twitter links). Preliminary estimates are that the new park would cost $892MM to install.

Whit Merrifield Says He Hopes For Long-Term Deal With Royals

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Royals utilityman extraordinaire Whit Merrifield has been a bright spot on a struggling roster, playing his way into trade consideration. If he has his way, though, he’ll remain with the Kansas City organization on a long-term deal, Rustin Dodd of The Athletic reports (subscription link).

Merrifield is an unusual player. Not only is he a late bloomer — the 29-year-old entered the current season with just 1.101 years on his service clock — but he has succeeded thus far in the majors with a still-evolving profile.

Last year, he hit a surprising 19 home runs but registered only a .324 on-base percentage even with a lofty .288 batting average. Thus far in 2018, the power is down (five home runs, .427 SLG, .125 ISO) but Merrifield sports a .369 OBP. He has already drawn more walks (32) than he did in nearly twice the plate appearances in 2017 (29).

Meanwhile, Merrifield has diversified his game on the defensive side. He has continued to grade out as a quality fielder at second. But he’s also holding his own in the outfield, with positive marks on his 102 innings in center field. Of course, Merrifield remains one of the game’s better baserunners, too.

Clearly, the overall profile is rather compelling. I examined the case for a long-term arrangement with Merrifield earlier this year and he has only continued to impress. Despite the fact that the Royals are really only just now launching a rebuilding effort,  the team is hoping it’ll be a relatively quick turnaround, as evidenced by their prioritization of college arms in the recent amateur draft.

If there’s a compelling case to be made for K.C. to do a deal, it’s that locking up Merrifield would not only ensconce him as part of a new roster core, but could also provide an opportunity to realize significant value. The control rights leave the team with leverage. And it certainly seems as if he’s keen to sign on for the long run.

Indeed, per Dodd, Merrifield and his representatives sought to get talks started on an extension last winter. While that didn’t lead anywhere, he expressed an interest in revisiting talks — after the current season, at least. “Hopefully it’s something that could be possible down the road,” he says.

What’s interesting about this dynamic is that it offers a tantalizing and clear alternative to the Royals as the summer trade period gets underway in earnest. The possibility of an affordable, long-term arrangement will surely be weighed as part of the decisionmaking when offers come in the door.

Of course, the club already controls Merrifield for quite some time, and the limits of the arbitration process cap his potential earnings, so the possibility of a lengthier pact doesn’t drastically change the situation. But for an organization weighing how best to engineer a turnaround, and retain the goodwill it built with its fans over a multi-year run of contention, it’s a factor. The fact that Merrifield can play multiple positions makes it less likely that he’d get in the way of young talent, too.

All that being said, there ought to be some interesting possibilities on the trade front, too — whether at the deadline or in the ensuing offseason. Merrifield would fit quite nicely on quite a few contending rosters. His cheap remaining seasons of control will have plenty of appeal, even if the true upside is discounted a bit by his age and (to a lesser extent) lack of a lengthy MLB track record, particularly given that he’s shown aptitude in multiple places on the diamond.

White Sox Place Avisail Garcia On 10-Day DL

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The White Sox announced today that outfielder Avisail Garcia is headed back to the 10-day disabled list with a strained right hamstring. That’s the same essential injury that forced him out of action for much of the first half of the season.

To take the open spot on the active roster, the Chicago organization has promoted Ryan LaMarre. The outfielder was acquired recently in a waiver claim from the division-rival Twins, who had designated him for assignment.

The news is rather disappointing for Garcia, who had been on fire at the plate since being activated. In 17 games since his return to the roster in late June, he carried a .333/.347/.783 slash with eight home runs. Though that stretch also included just two walks to go with 17 strikeouts, Garcia showed last year that he can be quite productive even when carrying a marginal walk rate.

It now seems reasonable to presume that Garcia won’t really factor in this summer’s trade deadline build-up. Questions about the sustainability of his hitting, poorly graded glovework, and nagging hamstring problems already posed questions. Now, though the team hasn’t ruled out a return before the end of the month, it’s especially hard to imagine a trade coming together.

Garcia is earning $6.7MM this year and remains eligible for one more season of arbitration, which obviously reduces any urgency to work out a trade this summer. Certainly, the rebuilding South Siders could try to deal him next winter or instead decide to pursue an extension. Garcia, after all, is just 27 years old. Of course, his age, earnings to date, and proximity to free agency also leave him with a fair bit of leverage. There has been no clear indication to date whether a long-term deal is a serious consideration for the club.

Market Notes: Hand, Snell, Ziegler, Dietrich, Cubs, Mets

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In a piece in which he discusses several players whose All-Star participation will be colored by trade rumors, Bob Nightengale of USA Today holds a particularly interesting chat with Padres closer Brad Hand. The lefty has been through the rumor mill before, of course, so he knows what to expect. This time, though, he’s in the first season of a new deal he struck with the organization over the winter. That doesn’t mean that Hand is certain to remain in San Diego, however, and he gave a realistic appraisal of the implications of his extension from a broader perspective. “You can look at it from both sides,” Hand said. “It’s like you signed a long-term deal to stay in San Diego or you just increased your trade value by adding more years of control. Obviously, I have more value now, because instead of teams having control of me for one year, now it’s possibly for three years.” Though he expressed interest in remaining with the Friars, that’s ultimately not in Hand’s control, as his deal does not include trade protection.

Here’s more from the market:

  • With relatively few truly compelling rental starters available this summer, we’ve heard a variety of young hurlers mentioned as possible targets. Among them is emerging Rays lefty Blake Snell, who carries a sparkling 2.09 ERA with 10.2 K/9 and 3.4 BB/9 through 116 frames this year. It seems, though, that fans pining for Snell will need to adjust their expectations. A National League executive tells Peter Gammons (Twitter link) that there’s no reason whatsoever to think the southpaw is available. The unnamed front office member says his or her club was left with the impression that there’s “no chance” of making a deal for Snell, so much so that any suggestions put out about a possible deal are little more than “fictional garbage.” It always seemed it’d take a major haul to land Snell, who is just 25 years of age and won’t be a free agent until 2023, but this report indicates that even a bold effort may be fruitless to attempt. Frankly, that’s not terribly surprising: though the Rays have spun off many quality pitchers over the years, they have typically done so when those hurlers began to get expensive and close in on free agency.
  • The Dodgers have shown some interest in Marlins reliever Brad Ziegler, according to Jon Heyman of Fancred (via Twitter). As Heyman notes, Ziegler has turned things around of late; indeed, since the calendar flipped to June, he has allowed just two earned runs on ten hits while recording a 19:3 K/BB ratio over 21 innings. The wily 38-year-old is earning $9MM this year before hitting the open market, and had struggled previously in a Marlins uniform, so there are some obvious limits to his value. Still, he’s showing now that he can still be effective and could well end up on the move to a contender this summer. Whether it’ll be the Dodges that get him remains to be seen. The Los Angeles club seemingly has opened quite a few potential trade avenues of late, but will likely also be judicious in taking on salary with the luxury tax line representing an important ongoing consideration.
  • In other news from Miami, the Marlins are getting some hits on utilityman Derek Dietrich, Heyman also tweets. Soon to turn 29, and controllable for two more years via arbitration after earning $2.9MM this season, the left-handed-hitting Dietrich is another interesting asset for the Fish. He’s slashing a sturdy .287/.353/.452 and can play in the infield or corner outfield. Of course, his defensive flexibility doesn’t really come with a positive reputation for glovework. Among the teams that “could” have interest, per the report, are the Brewers and Cubs. Both of those organizations seem to have more pressing needs and better potential fits elsewhere, though it’s always possible they could make Dietrich a priority if they really believe in his bat.
  • Speaking of less-than-perfect fits for the Cubs, Ken Rosenthal and Jayson Stark of The Athletic report (subscription link) that the organization is also considering some other potential outfielders. He cites Adam Jones of the Orioles and Curtis Granderson of the Blue Jays as players that have come up in internal discussions, at least, though neither really seems to be a priority. This report indicates that the driving force is less about roster need than adding a respected veteran, though the above-noted interest in Dietrich perhaps puts a slightly different spin on things. As The Athletic reporters note, bringing in a position player likely wouldn’t happen unless an existing asset is moved in a deal for a quality starter. Whether or not that takes place will surely be the primary factor in whether the Cubs do ultimately add another piece to the lineup.
  • In that same post, Rosenthal dedicates significant space to the Mets’ situation. He advises not to be distracted by reports suggesting shifting winds on the team’s stance regarding controllable aces Jacob deGrom and Noah Syndergaard. The organization, Rosenthal suggests, must be and is willing to consider offers on either hurler. Of course, there’s also no need to strike a deal and the Mets have little cause to discount hefty sticker prices on both pitchers. This assessment of the circumstances aligns with common sense. After all, if a rival organization dangles a truly compelling trade package, the Mets could certainly face some tough choices. But there’s no reason to forego the opportunity to make those determinations before they’re even presented.

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