Central Trade Rumblings: Indians Starters, Castellanos, Cervelli
Let’s round up the latest trade chatter from the central divisions:
- Though he had previously indicated otherwise, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports (subscription link) that the Indians are exploring trade scenarios in which they’d dump a big contract (likely Jason Kipnis or Edwin Encarnacion) while dealing a top starter (Corey Kluber or Trevor Bauer). Clearly, the Indians are still working through scenarios that’ll increase their roster flexibility. Infusing young talent and enhancing payroll flexibility would both be of interest, and it’s not clear that either is a particular priority. It’ll certainly be fascinating to see how the market develops for those high-end righties.
- In talks with the Dodgers, per Jon Morosi of MLB.com (Twitter link), the Indians are showing interest in highly regarded prospect Alex Verdugo. The Los Angeles outfielder is clearly due for a full crack at the big leagues after turning in consecutive strong seasons at the Triple-A level. Still just 22 years of age, Verdugo is noted for his high-end left-handed hit tool and contact ability — not unlike Michael Brantley, who recently wrapped up a successful tenure with the Cleveland organization and who is expected to land a large contract elsewhere.
- The Tigers are “determined to move on” from outfielder Nicholas Castellanos, Antony Fenech of the Detroit Free Press reports. There’s initial interest from other clubs, per MLB.com’s Jon Morosi (via Twitter). It seems the Braves have at least “checked in” on the 26-year-old, who is projected by MLBTR to earn a $11.3MM salary in his final season of arbitration eligibility. The Atlanta organization has an opening in right field and has plenty of assets that’d be of interest to Detroit. Castellanos certainly has produced the kind of offensive output that’d be of interest — he’s slashing .285/.336/.495 over the past three seasons — but comes with anything but a sterling defensive reputation.
- Pirates backstop Francisco Cervelli emerged recently as a possible trade chip, but Bill Brink of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette tweets that the market situation may not be ripe for a move. With a $11.5MM salary and history of concussions, Cervelli seems not to be drawing the kind of interest that the Bucs would need to see to make a deal. While the Pirates obviously have confidence in their internal replacement options, Elias Diaz and Jacob Stallings, they surely also value Cervelli. After all, he just turned in one of the best seasons of any backstop in the game in 2018 and the Bucs made a notable pair of win-soon moves at the ’18 trade deadline.
Mariners Claim Kaleb Cowart
The Mariners have claimed infielder Kaleb Cowart off waivers from the Angels. Notably, the Seattle club referred to Cowart as an infielder and right-handed pitcher in its announcement. He’ll “come to Spring Training as a two-way player,” per the M’s.
Cowart has never taken the hill as a professional. But he was an accomplished high-school pitcher, a fact with which Mariners GM (and former Angels GM) Jerry Dipoto is obviously familiar.
Since he was taken with the 18th overall pick of the 2010 draft, Cowart has generally fallen shy of hopes. He’s only a .177/.241/.293 hitter through 380 plate appearances. That said, Cowart has shown somewhat more promise at the Triple-A level, where he carries a .298/.361/.469 batting line in 1,402 trips to the plate over the past four campaigns.
Rangers Claim Carlos Asuaje
The Rangers have claimed infielder Carlos Asuaje off waivers from the Padres, per a club announcement. The San Diego club had designated Asuaje for assignment recently.
It’s unclear just how Asuaje will fit into the Texas roster mix. He’s mostly a second baseman by trade, a position that ought to be filled regularly by Rougned Odor. Asuaje has also seen some time in the minors at third base, though Jurickson Profar presently profiles as the everyday piece there. All of these players hit from the left side, though Profar is also a switch-hitter, and have historically performed much better against right-handed pitching.
Cardinals Claim Ryan Meisinger
The Cardinals have claimed righty reliever Ryan Meisinger off waivers from the Orioles, the Baltimore club announced.
Meisinger, 24, cracked the bigs last year for the first time and surrendered six long balls in 21 innings. Still, he has turned in some intriguing numbers at times in the minors. Last year, for instance, he worked to a 3.13 ERA in 46 innings in the upper minors, with 10.8 K/9 and 2.9 BB/9.
Orioles Claim Rio Ruiz
The Orioles announced today that they have claimed third baseman Rio Ruiz off waivers from the Braves. Ruiz becomes the first 40-man roster addition of new O’s GM Mike Elias.
Ruiz, 24, signed for well over the slot value after the Astros selected him in the fourth round of the 2012 draft — their first under Elias’s direction. After a few seasons with the Houston organization, Ruiz was sent on to Atlanta along with Mike Foltynewicz in the deal that delivered Evan Gattis to the ‘Stros.
Over the years, Ruiz has at times shown hints of his long-valued talent, but hasn’t generally produced consistently at the plate and did not take advantage of a brief shot at the majors in 2017. He spent the bulk of the 2018 campaign at Triple-A, where he slashed .269/.322/.390 with nine home runs in 541 plate appearances.
Giants Claim Mike Gerber
The Tigers announced today that the Giants have claimed outfielder Mike Gerber off waivers. He’ll head onto the San Francisco 40-man roster — representing the first such addition of new president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi.
Gerber, 26, only briefly touched the bigs last year and struggled for much of the year at Triple-A. Previously, though, he had been a steady producer on the Tigers farm. Indeed, he produced .800+ OPS figures over each of his first four seasons as a professional.
Reds Claim Robby Scott
The Reds have acquired lefty Robby Scott from the Red Sox, per Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic (via Twitter). It seems to be a straight waiver claim, MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand tweets.
Scott, 29, was a useful contributor in Boston in 2017, when he worked to a 3.79 ERA in 35 2/3 innings. He carried 7.8 K/9 and 3.3 BB/9 in that stretch, managing a healthy 11.0% swinging-strike rate despite only possessing an upper-eighties fastball.
Clearly, though, the Boston organization didn’t have much of a need for Scott last year and desired to make better use of his 40-man spot this winter. Scott struggled through nine MLB appearances in 2018 but did turn in a nice season at Triple-A, where he spun 48 1/3 innings of 1.86 ERA ball with 11.7 K/9 and 3.9 BB/9.
Free Agent Chatter: Nats/Harper, Miller, Kelly, Keuchel, Halos
So, are the Nationals really out of the picture for Bryce Harper, as owner Mark Lerner strongly suggested recently? Barry Svrluga of the Washington Post writes that he’s not yet sold that the incumbent Nats have completely bid adieu to their franchise-defining star. It’s an interesting read for fans to contemplate as Harper’s still-uncertain market continues to evolve … particularly now that president of baseball operations Mike Rizzo nudged the door back open to a return in an interview today on MLB Network Radio on Sirius XM (Twitter link).
Here are the latest free agent notes emanating from the Winter Meetings:
- Free agent lefty Andrew Miller is among the relievers drawing wide interest, per Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic (subscription link). Nine teams, in fact, are knocking down the doors of Miller’s reps. It’s hardly surprising to hear that the veteran has interested about a third of the league. After all, there are indications he may be returning to full health, and he’s among the game’s best relievers when he’s at full speed.
- Right-handed reliever Joe Kelly is also among those hurlers who is getting plenty of calls, as Rob Bradford of WEEI.com writes. Kelly’s physical tools — especially, a blistering heater — have never been in doubt, and he showed some promise of turning them into sustainable productivity late in 2018 with some notable pitch usage tweaks and a strong postseason run. Entering the winter, MLBTR predicted that Kelly would match Miller with a three-year, $27MM deal.
- It’s still difficult to get a sense of the precise teams to watch on most relievers. The same is largely true, it seems, of lefty starter Dallas Keuchel. He’s the most accomplished hurler on the market, but there’s also clearly some cause for trepidation as to how he’ll age. There are also conflicting signals now as to his top suitors. Jon Heyman of Fancred (Twitter links) recently said that Keuchel topped the Braves‘ “wish list,” with the Reds and Phillies the other two “primary teams” involved in his market. But MLB.com’s Mark Bowman strongly contests that characterization, tweeting that the Atlanta organization has not even “had any discussions regarding Keuchel” to this point. And Heyman now tweets that the Atlanta organization is “not currently engaged” with Keuchel. The bottom line seems to be that, even if the Braves would like to add Keuchl (or another particular hurler), they are not interested in chasing the market on any specific starter.
- To this point, it has been hard to gauge the Angels‘ stance on the market this winter. While the organization no doubt hopes to add pieces in a bid to build a winner around Mike Trout, financial restraints, rotation questions, and a challenging division pose barriers. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic writes (subscription link) that the Halos were in on both Patrick Corbin and Nathan Eovaldi before they signed elsewhere, perhaps indicating that the club will knock on some other notable doors over the coming weeks. MLBTR’s in-depth recent assessment of the Angels’ payroll situation reveals that there could be some real money to work with, though precisely how much and how it’ll be deployed remains to be seen.
Latest On Scooter Gennett
11:06am: MLB.com’s Mark Sheldon hears that, to the contrary, the Reds are “not actively looking to trade” Gennett. (Twitter link).
9:54am: The Reds are interested in dealing second baseman Scooter Gennett, according to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic (subscription link). Though the hometown hero had previously seemed to profile as an extension candidate, Cincinnati president of baseball operations Dick Williams recently threw cold water on that concept.
Gennett is entering his final season of arbitration control at a projected $10.7MM price point. On the heels of consecutive standout seasons at the plate, the 28-year-old would be among the best second basemen available on the market. But he’s also limited to playing at the keystone defensively and has historically struggled against left-handed pitching, limiting his appeal.
Beyond that, as Rosenthal notes and as we have emphasized repeatedly of late here at MLBTR, it’s hardly an opportune time to be shopping a player at that position with so many others available. It’s not immediately clear what the Reds would be looking for in a trade scenario.
Presumably, the organization would be interested in improving its rotation if at all possible, though doing so directly in a Gennett trade would be challenging. After all, any hypothetical suitor would need to be in a win-now stance. That said, teams such as the Dodgers (Alex Wood), Nationals (Tanner Roark), Pirates (Ivan Nova), and Yankees (Sonny Gray) do have similarly priced rental starters who could theoretically be swapped in some kind of arrangement — though there’s no indication at present that those or any other particular clubs would be interested in trying to work something out.
Moving Gennett for some kind of prospect return would surely also be a consideration, particularly if it’d mean freeing assets (trade chips and salary) for pursuit of other players — with a center fielder and rotation upgrade likely at the top of the wish list. Rosenthal says that the organization is motivated by the desire to open the door to top infield prospect Nick Senzel, who could step right in at second, perhaps in partnership with a veteran utility infielder. Such a reallocation of resources could make sense for a team that is clearly interested in improving its near-term product without sacrificing its vision for the future.
NL West Notes: Dodgers, LeMahieu, Belt, Greinke
Entering the Winter Meetings with a wide variety of potential moves under consideration, the Dodgers will “in all likelihood” move an existing starter via trade, ESPN.com’s Alden Gonzalez writes. Just what the might look like isn’t yet clear, but the club’s numerous options will surely hold appeal to rivals. To be sure, the Dodgers have found ways on numerous occasions in the recent past to juggle seeming roster overloads, but Gonzalez says that the ability to utilize a player such as Kenta Maeda as a trade piece (while improving in other areas) will likely prod a deal of some kind.
- The Dodgers, meanwhile, are “showing continued interest” in second bagger DJ LeMahieu, per MLB.com’s Jon Morosi (via Twitter). Certainly, the club has seen plenty of the 30-year-old over his career, virtually all of which has taken place with the division-rival Rockies. LeMahieu would presumably be seen as a near-everyday piece at second base in Los Angeles, though it’d hardly be surprising to see a lefty hitting platoon mate utilized to some degree if he’s added. Beyond the team’s general predilection for such arrangements, LeMahieu has been 80 OPS points better against left-handed pitching in his career.
- Giants first baseman Brandon Belt is drawing calls from “several” other teams, according to Bob Nightengale of USA Today (via Twitter). Belt is still owed a hefty $48MM over the next three seasons and also can block deals to ten teams. His worrisome concussion history also poses a clear concern. And, of course, the market has not been particularly kind to first basemen of late. Certainly, Belt’s OBP-heavy bat would promise to improve quite a few lineups around the game, but it’s unclear as yet exactly what kind of trade scenarios might be under consideration.
- As the Diamondbacks weigh their next move, they are finding Zack Greinke‘s partial no-trade rights a “major impediment,” according to Jon Heyman of Fancred (Twitter link). Numerous potential landing spots for Greinke appear among the 15 clubs to which he can block a deal, which leaves the veteran no small amount of leverage and complicates things for the Arizona organization. It is not clear whether the D-Backs have engaged with Greinke and his reps about his willingness to green-light a deal to certain destinations, but obviously the clause adds a notable variable to an already-tricky situation. While he’s still a high-level performer, Greinke is already 35 years of age and is entitled to a hefty $104.5MM ($95.5MM of salary, the remainder signing bonus) over the next three seasons.