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Added To The 40-Man: Ortega, Stewart, Sobotka, Kelly

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There has been a fair amount of roster movement today. We’ll use this post to keep tabs on the players moving onto MLB rosters:

  • After shipping out first baseman Justin Bour earlier today, the Marlins announced they would replace him by selecting the contract of outfielder Rafael Ortega. The 27-year-old Ortega got a solid shot with the Angels in 2016 but could not take advantage. He had a productive season last year with the plate at Triple-A and has been solid as well at the highest level of the minors in 2018, though he hasn’t sustained the power he showed in 2017. In the current season, he has slashed .275/.375/.404 with an impressive combination of 44 walks and 31 strikeouts over 328 plate appearances.
  • The Twins will select the contract of righty Kohl Stewart, according to Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer-Press (via Twitter). Chosen fourth overall in the 2013 draft, Stewart is now slated for his MLB debut after being left unprotected from the Rule 5 draft last winter. Through 108 2/3 innings this season in the upper minors, he owns only a 4.47 ERA. But Stewart has seen a real boost in his K/BB numbers over past years. He’s carrying 8.4 K/9 against 2.7 BB/9 along with a 57.3% groundball rate on the season.
  • As part of a series of pitching moves, the Braves purchased the contract of righty Chad Sobotka. He and lefty Chad Bell will join the active roster as the team has optioned down relievers Wes Parsons and Adam McCreery. Sobotka is a 25-year-old reliever who came to the Atlanta organizatino as a fourth-round pick in 2015. He had already climbed to Triple-A for the first time after dominating performances at High-A (2.21 ERA, 28:7 K/BB in 20 1/3 innings) and Double-A (2.89 ERA, 37:13 K/BB in 28 innings). He has been giving out too many free passes so far at the highest level of the minors (eight in 6 1/3 frames) but has still been getting strikeouts and keeping runs off the board.
  • The Giants announced that they selected the contract of righty Casey Kelly, bumping Johnny Cueto to the 60-day DL as he continues to rehab from Tommy John surgery. Kelly, a first-round pick way back in 2008, has seen brief MLB action in parts of three seasons. He owns only a 4.78 ERA in his 130 Triple-A innings this year, with 7.2 K/9 against 2.6 BB/9.

AL East Notes: Gibbons, Judge, Davis, Dombrowski

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In an appearance on MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM this morning (audio link), Blue Jays manager John Gibbons addressed a recent Ken Rosenthal report stating that the Jays “seem destined” for a managerial change.  “That’s the reality of these jobs.  Sooner or later it’s going to happen,” Gibbons said, though he didn’t believe he would be replaced anytime in the near future.  As for the longer term, Gibbons raised the possibility that he might not be the best fit for a team “starting to get into a full-blown rebuild,” which could describe the Jays’ approach.  “Maybe they would benefit from getting a new fresh face that could grow with the young players and things like that.  I’m not so sure I want to go through one of those things, a total rebuild, but we’ll probably sit down before it’s all said and done and talk it out,” Gibbons said.  The skipper’s deal runs through the 2019 season, with the Blue Jays holding a club option for 2020.

Some more rumblings from around the AL East…

  • Aaron Judge was originally projected for a three-week absence after suffering a chip fracture in his wrist on July 26, though Yankees manager Aaron Boone told MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch and other media that Judge is going to need more time.  Judge hasn’t yet begun swinging a bat, and an examination on Thursday revealed that the fracture still hasn’t fully healed.  Once the pain subsides, Judge and the team are planning on a fairly quick return to the lineup, as Judge has been otherwise able to stay in game shape and train with the game while on the DL.  Judge told Hoch and others today that he doesn’t anticipate being out of action for much longer.
  • In a wide-ranging and very candid interview with MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubatko, Orioles slugger Chris Davis provides some insight into his disastrous 2018 season.  Davis is struggling to a near-historic extent, hitting just .159/.242/.297 over 388 PA and posting the worst fWAR (-2.3) of any player in the league.  “I’d be lying if I said the frustration and the negativity and just the overall lack of performance wasn’t weighing on me. I think it’s definitely taken a toll on me this year more than ever,” Davis said, even noting that he’d thought about quitting the game.  The interview is well worth a full read, as Davis details the various tactics he and the O’s have tried to get him back on track, the extra pressure he put on himself after signing his seven-year, $161MM contract to remain in Baltimore, and his clubhouse role as one of the few veterans left after the Orioles cleaned house at the trade deadline.
  • The powerhouse Red Sox roster has come at the expense of a rather depleted farm system, though president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski tells the Boston Herald’s Jason Mastrodonato that it wasn’t his intent to deal away as many prospects in Boston as he did in his previous job as the Tigers’ GM.  When the White Sox approached Dombrowski about dealing Chris Sale, however, it was an opportunity Dombrowski couldn’t pass up.  “The Chris Sale trade came out of the blue, because we were not anticipating the White Sox (trying) to trade him and we wanted to get involved and we traded some talent,” Dombrowski said.  While Boston has dealt a lot of blue chip talent, however, it was also firm in holding onto other youngsters that the Red Sox feel are cornerstone pieces, such as Andrew Benintendi and Rafael Devers.  “I don’t think it was ever tempting to trade Devers,” Dombrowski said. “People continue to ask about him a lot. But we like him a lot, same thing with Benintendi.”

Padres Designate Phil Hughes, Select Jacob Nix

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The Padres announced that they have designated right-hander Phil Hughes for assignment. He’ll step aside in favor of young starter Jacob Nix, whose contract was selected.

Acquired earlier in the season in a swap that netted the Friars an extra draft choice, Hughes struggled quite a bit during his brief time in San Diego. In 16 appearances, the former starter allowed 14 earned runs on thirty base hits — including seven long balls.

Hughes did manage 24 strikeouts against just five walks in his 20 2/3 innings with the Pads, but he has missed bats less than he has missed barrels when opposing hitters have made contact. On the season as a whole, the 32-year-old is allowing a whopping 54.1% hard-hit rate. Indeed, Statcast even suggests Hughes has been fortunate, charging him with a .454 xwOBA-against that dwarfs the (already-hefty) .404 wOBA figure that batters have actually produced.

Needless to say, a run of recent injuries has taken quite a toll on a pitcher who had reemerged with the Twins after ending his tenure with the Yankees. Under the terms of the agreement that brought Hughes to the Padres, the organization is responsible for $7.25MM of the remaining salary owed to the righty under his extension with the Twins. The Minnesota org is still on the hook for a chunk of the $13.2MM he’s playing for this year and the balance of the same amount for 2019. While the Twins’ obligations are fixed, the Padres can still save some cash (albeit only a pro-rated portion of the league minimum salary) if Hughes ends up pitching for another club.

Nix was also a high-school star in California, but he’s ten years Hughes’s junior. He famously saw a deal with the Astros torn up when they failed to sign 1-1 pick Brady Aiken back in 2014, though he reached a settlement with Houston and ended up back in the draft in the ensuing winter. Nix went to the Padres in the third round.

Now in his third full season as a professional, Nix has taken a step forward in the results department. Though he has been limited to ten starts in the upper minors this year due to injury, his most recent outing was his first at the Triple-A level. Through 58 2/3 innings in 2018, Nix has allowed just 39 base hits and owns a sparkling 1.84 ERA with 6.8 K/9 and 1.4 BB/9.

Latest On The Mets’ Front Office Plans

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3:01PM: “Several Mets officials” hope that Ben Cherington becomes a general manager, SNY.tv’s Andy Martino writes.  Cherington, the former Red Sox GM and current Blue Jays VP of player development, was recently cited as a potential candidate in reports.  While he recently said that he is happy with his job in Toronto, Cherington also said he’d be open to considering an opportunity to run a front office once more.  Josh Byrnes, however, may not be in the running, as he has told colleagues that he will likely remain in his current role as the Dodgers’ senior VP of baseball operations.

10:49AM: With Sandy Alderson unlikely to return as the Mets’ general manager in 2018, the team is beginning to lay the groundwork for its search for a new baseball operations leader.  Mike Puma of the New York Post reports that Cardinals director of player development Gary LaRocque is one of the early candidates “receiving consideration” from Mets ownership, though the GM hiring process won’t fully begin after the season since the Mets will need permission from rival teams to interview several candidates.

LaRocque is a known figure within the organization, having previously worked for the Mets from 1998-2008 as scouting director, director of player of development, and then as assistant general manager.  The 65-year-old LaRocque has never been a general manager, though he has over 40 years of experience in various front office roles, as a scout, and as a minor league coach and manager in the Dodgers’ farm system.  This track record of overseeing and developing young talent, as well as LaRocque’s familiarity with the Mets, make him a logical candidate for the team as it moves into what could be a mini-rebuild, though New York held off on dealing any of its true roster cornerstones (i.e. Jacob deGrom, Noah Syndergaard) at the trade deadline.

LaRocque also has the sort of old-school front office resume that is reportedly the preference of Mets owner Fred Wilpon, as Puma writes that “the growing belief is Wilpon will look toward a more traditional baseball person” as the next general manager.  While more teams are increasingly turning towards younger executives with analytics backgrounds to run their baseball operations departments, as the 81-year-old Wilpon isn’t likely to hire the type of younger executive “with whom he would perhaps have difficulty connecting.”

This stance isn’t likely to be popular with Mets fans, who are already displeased with the team’s lack of recent success and the common perception that the Wilpon family takes too a heavy hand in the Mets’ day-to-day baseball operations.  Puma also notes that some Mets officials feel that the Alderson front office “became too analytics driven in recent seasons.”

Mets assistant GM John Ricco has long been considered to be a candidate to eventually take over the top job, and though he is still in the running, Puma reports that New York is “more likely” to hire its new general manager from outside the organization.  Ricco and special assistants J.P. Ricciardi and Omar Minaya have been acting as a three-person management unit in Alderson’s absence, and it appears as though the trio will have at least some influence in the hiring process.  Minaya in particular “will have a strong voice in the search,” Puma hears from sources.

Athletics Designate Chris Hatcher

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The Athletics announced today that they have designated righty Chris Hatcher for assignment. That’ll create space for just-acquired reliever Fernando Rodney.

Meanwhile, the Oakland organization has outrighted southpaw Jeremy Bleich after he cleared waivers. Bleich had recently been designated himself.

Hatcher still works in the mid-nineties with his fastball, but he carries a 4.24 ERA with even worse peripherals on the year. He’s sitting at 7.4 K/9 and 4.5 BB/9, while generating a 7.5% swinging-strike that sits well below his recent levels.

Tigers Sign Zach McAllister, Designate Jacob Turner

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The Tigers announced today that they have signed a MLB pact with righty Zach McAllister. To create roster space, the club designated fellow right-hander Jacob Turner.

McAllister just wrapped up a lengthy tenure with the Indians, who released him after designating him for assignment. Now he’ll head to the division-rival Tigers to finish out the year before reaching free agency at season’s end.

The 30-year-old hurler has overseen declines in both his peripherals and his results this season. McAllister provided the Indians with 183 1/3 innings of 2.99 ERA ball from 2015-17, but his fortunes have turned. Through 41 2/3 frames in 2018, he has coughed up seven long balls and is allowing 4.97 earned runs per nine with 7.3 K/9 versus 2.2 BB/9.

Turner, of course, is a former first-rounder turned journeyman who found his way back to Detroit recently. He was shelled in a recent start, lasting only one inning. In eighty frames this year, he carries a 4.50 ERA with 6.5 K/9 and 3.2 BB/9.

Phillies Designate Jake Thompson

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The Phillies announced this afternoon that they have designated righty Jake Thompson for assignment. His roster spot will go to the just-acquired Justin Bour.

Once a prospect of note, Thompson came to Philadelphia as part of the Cole Hamels swap. He has not yet established himself in the majors, however, despite seeing action in each of the past three seasons.

Thompson has shifted to a relief role this season after almost exclusively working as a starter previously. The former second-rounder owns a 4.87 ERA in 116 1/3 MLB innings with 6.3 K/9 against 4.7 BB/9.

Though his velocity and swinging-strike rate have trended up a bit since the move to the pen, the recent numbers don’t paint a terribly promising picture for the 24-year-old. Thompson has handed out eleven walks in 16 1/3 MLB frames this year and carries a 4.60 ERA in his 47 Triple-A frames.

Phillies Acquire Justin Bour

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2:15PM: The Marlins will receive left-hander McKenzie Mills, Fancred’s Jon Heyman reports (Twitter link).  Mills was an 18th-round pick for the Nationals in the 2014 draft, and the 22-year-old has a 3.51 ERA, 2.58 K/BB rate, and an 8.5 K/9 over 89 2/3 IP for high-A Clearwater this season, with Mills starting 16 of his 20 appearances.  This is the second notable trade Mills has already been part of in his young career, as he was sent to the Phillies from the Nationals last summer in the Howie Kendrick deal.

2:07PM: The minor league pitcher headed to the Marlins is an A-ball player, according to Jim Salisbury of NBC Sports Philadelphia.  MLBPipeline.com’s Jonathan Mayo notes that the prospect wasn’t ranked as one of MLB.com’s top 30 minor leaguers in the Phillies’ system.  (Both links to Twitter.)

1:09PM: The Phillies have acquired first baseman Justin Bour and cash considerations in a trade with the Marlins, The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal reports (Twitter links).  Miami will receive a minor league pitcher in return.  The two sides worked out a trade after Philadelphia claimed Bour on revocable waivers.

The Marlins will cover roughly half of Bour’s remaining salary for the season, ESPN.com’s Jerry Crasnick reports (via Twitter), which works out to around $450K of the $900K left on the $3.4MM Bour won in an arbitration case with the Phils last winter.

[Updated Phillies and Marlins depth charts at Roster Resource]

Justin BourBour has two more years of arbitration eligibility remaining, though he doesn’t necessarily have a long-term role in Philadelphia with Carlos Santana locked in at first base (at a $20MM average annual salary) at least through the 2020 season.  It could be that the Phillies look to deal or maybe even non-tender Bour this winter, as Rosenthal suggests, and for now they’ll use him as a perhaps overqualified left-handed bench bat.  Bour has badly struggled against southpaws this year while the switch-hitting Santana has hit only a modest .209/.362/.387 against right-handed pitching, so there is some room for a platoon situation.  The Phillies’ collective 93 wRC+ against righty pitching this season ranks just 21st in baseball, so the offense can certainly benefit from some pop from the left side of the plate.

Bour drew a lot of trade attention last winter in the midst of the Marlins’ fire sale, though we didn’t hear much buzz about the first baseman until deadline day itself, when he was the subject of some late-breaking talks.  Bour’s numbers were dampened by an extended slump throughout July, though he is still posting above-average (108 wRC+, 113 OPS+) offensive numbers overall, hitting .227/.347/.412 with 19 homers in 447 plate appearances.

Still, 2018 is shaping up as the weakest of Bour’s four seasons as a regular Major Leaguer, and certainly a step back from his breakout 2017 campaign.  Limited to just 429 PA last year due to a variety of injuries, Bour still managed 25 homers and slash .289/.366/.536 for a 133 wRC+ and 142 OPS+, even if his overall value (2.2 fWAR) was lowered by subpar baserunning and defense.

This season, however, Bour is hitting for less power (.184 ISO compared to .247 last year) while also striking out slightly more often and making a bit more soft contact.  Bour also enjoyed a .322 BABIP in 2017 as opposed to a .267 BABIP this year, and there’s also the simple fact that opposing pitchers can focus more directly on Bour since Giancarlo Stanton, Marcell Ozuna, and Christian Yelich are no longer in the Marlins’ lineup.  That said, there is also some evidence that Bour could be due for an uptick in production, as evidenced by that low BABIP and a .352 xwOBA that outpaces his real-world .329 wOBA.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Orioles Designate Danny Valencia, Select Cedric Mullins

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The Orioles announced today that they have designated infielder Danny Valencia for assignment. The move will make way for outfielder Cedric Mullins, whose contract was selected.

Valencia, 33, joined the Baltimore organization on a minors deal but had played a fairly significant role on the roster for much of the season. Over 282 plate appearances, he carries a .263/.316/.408 batting line — good for an exactly league average 100 OPS+ (albeit only a 93 wRC+).

Though he has mostly lined up at third base, Valencia has also spent time in right field for the O’s. He’s not generally regarded as much of a defender, and the advanced metrics have reflected that reputation this year.

It’s perhaps not out of question that a contending organization in search of a bench threat against left-handed pitching could put in a claim. As he has for much of his career, after all, Valencia has bludgeoned opposing southpaws this year. He’s also earning a palatable $1.2MM salary for the season.

As for Mullins, the diminutive 23-year-old will make his MLB debut. He has steadily ascended the ladder since joining the Orioles organization as a 13th-round pick in 2015. This season, he knocked around Double-A pitching before earning a promotion to the highest level of the minors, where he carries a .267/.332/.425 slash with five home runs and a dozen steals over 267 plate appearances.

Heyman’s Latest: Donaldson, Braves, Machado, Wheeler, Harper, Fiers, Riggleman

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If Josh Donaldson is able to return from the DL soon and display some of his usual form, Fancred Sports’ Jon Heyman writes that the Blue Jays might yet be able to trade the third baseman before August ends.  In this scenario, the Indians are “perhaps the most realistic landing spot.”  Jays president Mark Shapiro and GM Ross Atkins have ties to Cleveland and knowledge of the franchise’s prospects, plus the Tribe was trying to make a splash at the deadline by checking in on big names like Manny Machado and Bryce Harper.  Acquiring Donaldson would allow Cleveland to move Jose Ramirez to second, and Jason Kipnis into the outfield to help shore up the Tribe’s outfield depth.  Heyman also lists the Cardinals, Braves, Cubs (if Kris Bryant’s shoulder keeps him on the DL), and Red Sox as potential suitors for Donaldson, though Boston seems like the longest shot of that group.

Here’s more from Heyman, via his weekly notes column…

  • The Braves “check in on just about everyone” in trade talks and were involved in many discussions around the deadline.  While Atlanta swung two deals with the Orioles for Kevin Gausman, Darren O’Day, and Brad Brach, Heyman writes that “the player the Braves really wanted was Manny Machado.”  The Dodgers acquired Machado during the All-Star break, and at that time, the Braves weren’t entirely sure they were contenders, so they didn’t make the blockbuster offer to land the infielder.
  • Heyman also connects the Braves to Zack Wheeler, noting that they and the Brewers looked to have the most interest in the Mets right-hander.  Neither team was close to actually landing Wheeler, however.
  • The Orioles originally hoped to land a trade package for Gausman similar to what the A’s received for Sonny Gray at last year’s trade deadline, though as Heyman puts it, “the reality is that Gray was thriving in Oakland when dealt while Gausman has been perpetually average.”  Baltimore ended up moving Gausman and O’Day to the Braves for four relatively unheralded prospects, though the O’s saved a lot of payroll space and obtained some international bonus pool funds.
  • The Nationals received calls from “about eight teams” about Bryce Harper when rumors arose around the trade deadline that Washington was at least open to considering dealing the star outfielder.  Despite the interest in Harper’s services, it doesn’t seem like talks got very far with any suitor, as the Nats were understandably hesitant about dealing Harper whatsoever.  The Indians were the only team known to have shown interest in Harper.
  • The Athletics added some needed starting pitching by acquiring Mike Fiers from the Tigers this week, though Heyman wonders why the Mariners didn’t block their divisional and wild card rivals by putting a waiver claim on Fiers themselves.  The A’s were already known to have interest in Fiers prior to the trade deadline, and since Seattle was behind Oakland in the standings when Fiers was on waivers, the M’s had first dibs on claiming the right-hander.  Heyman wonders if the Mariners simply weren’t interested in Fiers actually ending up on their roster, if Detroit had let the claim stand in order to get his remaining salary off their payroll.  Of course, an extra arm might look pretty good to the Mariners right about now, given how the team is without a stable fifth starter now that Felix Hernandez is out of the rotation.
  • Reds interim manager Jim Riggleman’s chances of winning the full-time job look to be increasing, as team owner Bob Castellini is reportedly “a big fan” of the veteran skipper.  Cincinnati has posted a 47-50 record since Riggleman took over from Bryan Price, who was fired after the Reds stumbled out of the gate with a 3-15 start to the season.

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