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Giants Sign No. 2 Overall Pick Joey Bart

By Steve Adams | June 17, 2018 at 2:59pm CDT

JUNE 17: Bart’s signing is now official, per an announcement from the Giants. He signed for $7.025MM, the largest upfront bonus given to a position player in the history of the draft, Callis tweets.

JUNE 13: The Giants are closing in on a deal with No. 2 overall pick Joey Bart, reports John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle. The former Georgia Tech catcher needs only to pass a physical, per the report, before the deal is official. An announcement from the team could come as soon as Friday, according to Shea, who adds that Bart is expected to sign for a bit south of the $7.494MM value of the No. 2 overall slot.

Bart, 21, obliterated college opposition this season, hitting .359/.471/.632 with 16 homers and a dozen doubles in 220 at-bats. While he has a fair bit of swing-and-miss in his game at present (56 strikeouts), he also drew 41 walks in that time and was hit by another eight pitches, contributing to his robust OBP.

It seemed fairly certain for much of the spring that Bart would go in the top few picks, and in the weeks leading up to the draft, virtually every mock draft from major outlets pegged Bart within the top three (most frequently going to the Giants). Kiley McDaniel and Eric Longenhagen of Fangraphs rated Bart as the third-best prospect in the class, while the Baseball America staff pegged him fifth, Jim Callis and Jonathan Mayo of MLB.com ranked him sixth, and ESPN’s Keith Law slotted him in as the draft’s 10th-best talent.

Bart’s arm draws rating of 60 to 70 on the 20-80 scale, and he draws frequent praise for his hands, footwork and athleticism behind the dish. He’s expected to stay behind the plate and hit for plenty of power as a regular catcher down the line, though his strikeout tendencies might suppress his average. That said, an above-average defensive catcher who can get on base and hit for power is a rare commodity in Major League Baseball, and if Bart realizes that potential in a few years, he’ll more than justify his selection near the top of the draft.

Shea notes that San Francisco GM Bobby Evans scouted Bart in person on multiple occasions and effused praise for Bart both as a player and a leader. “Joey just has this drive to be the best,” said Evans. “He’s a leader on his team, somebody guys look to on both sides of the ball, offensively and defensively. You love to see a guy love his craft the way Joey loves being behind the plate.”

Quick Hits: Napoli, Cubs, Koehler, Tigers

By Mark Polishuk | June 17, 2018 at 1:57pm CDT

Even after tearing his right ACL and meniscus last April, Mike Napoli isn’t ready to close the book on his career, the veteran slugger tells The Athletic’s Zack Meisel (subscription required). “I’m going to train like I’m going to play next year,” Napoli said. “When it’s time to make that decision, I’ll make it, but I still really want to play. I don’t want to go out like that. I feel like I can still play. We’ll see. We’ll see what opportunities there will be and go from there.” Even if his chances at a 13th big league season seem remote, it wouldn’t be too surprising for a team to take a flier on Napoli on a minor league deal next spring, assuming he is healthy enough to play. If a comeback doesn’t materialize, Napoli said his next dream would be to become a Major League manager, and he believes he would be able to start his post-playing career as a coach somewhere in the Indians organization.

Here’s some more from around the league…

The Cubs aren’t yet sure what their plans are for the trade deadline, GM Jed Hoyer told Patrick Mooney of The Athletic (subscription link). “What we may need on July 31 may be totally different than what we know sitting here right now,” Hoyer said. “I do think that right now the answers are here….Now, that might not be the answer in six weeks. But I think that’s the answer today.” Chicago already has quite a bit of depth and talent on the roster, plus Yu Darvish and Carl Edwards Jr. will provide reinforcements upon returning from the disabled list, though it would be surprising if the Cubs didn’t make at least one notable addition as they push for another postseason berth.
Right-hander Tom Koehler has had a setback in his recovery from an AC strain and isn’t expected back until August, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts told J.P. Hoornstra of the Southern California News Group (Twitter link) and other reporters. Koehler signed a one-year, $2MM deal with Los Angeles last winter but has yet to officially pitch for the club after suffering the injury during Spring Training. He initially hoped to return by the All-Star break but will now have to wait longer to properly don the Dodger blue.
The Tigers are considering deploying a six-man rotation, as manager Ron Gardenhire hinted to MLive.com’s Evan Woodbery and other reporters. With Blaine Hardy pitching well, Detroit wants to find a way to keep him in the rotation when Francisco Liriano makes his expected return from the DL this week, plus the other starters could benefit from the lesser workload. “We’ve got some guys in there that could probably use extra days, take innings off our load. We started thinking we could probably do this. Not saying we’re going to, but we could,” Gardenhire said.

Mets Notes: Cespedes, Astros, Bruce

By Mark Polishuk | June 17, 2018 at 12:50pm CDT

The latest out of Citi Field…

The Mets faced a tough challenge from the Astros in the race to sign Yoenis Cespedes in the 2016-17 offseason, John Harper of the New York Daily News reports. The Astros reportedly made Cespedes a similarly-sized offer (four years, $110MM) that the outfielder was “strongly considering,” according to one Mets source. Another Mets-connected person tells Harper that Cespedes’ “considerations were [to play for a] contender, money, no-trade clause, and [to] train in Florida near his ranch,” and Houston checked off all of those boxes but was unwilling to provide full no-trade protection. Mets GM Sandy Alderson was also wary about the no-trade clause, yet ultimately agreed to add it to the deal in order to get Cespedes back in the fold. That “separator” in talks, as another Mets source described it, may have also been necessary to retain Cespedes given his issues with former manager Terry Collins, which Harper relates at length. It’s safe to assume that the Astros don’t harbor much regret about missing on Cespedes, as they instead spread out their money to acquire multiple players (Josh Reddick, Brian McCann, Carlos Beltran) that helped them win the World Series, while Cespedes has been hampered by injuries since re-signing with New York.
Earlier this week, Joel Sherman of the New York Post floated a hypothetical trade of struggling players, with the Mets sending Jay Bruce to the Rockies in exchange for Bryan Shaw. There isn’t any indication that either team is considering such a deal, and a trade of either player would be pretty surprising since both Bruce and Shaw just signed three-year free agent contracts last winter. Sherman’s argument, however, is that this trade would solve some problems on both rosters — Colorado would get a veteran bat who could help in the corner outfield or at first base, while the Mets would add a long-term relief piece and clear up some of their own cluttered first base/corner outfield situation. Shaw could also be helped by a reunion with Mickey Callaway, his former pitching coach in Cleveland.
Speaking of Bruce, the veteran hasn’t played in the last three games due to some lingering injuries in his back, hip, and foot. Newsday’s Tim Healey writes that Bruce had two days fully off before being available off the bench on Saturday, though he wasn’t used. These minor injuries aside, Bruce said that he has felt healthy this season, which makes his mediocre numbers (.216/.297/.327 with three homers in 232 PA) all the more frustrating. “I feel so close. I hit balls at people. Fly out, just miss the ball. Stuff you really can’t control,” Bruce said. Advanced metrics partially bear out Bruce’s assessment — he only has a .263 BABIP, and his .344 xwOBA is far beyond his actual .275 wOBA. His 32.7% hard-hit ball rate, however, is below his career average and his .111 Isolated Power (ISO) total is by far the lowest of his career.

Rangers Select Yovani Gallardo’s Contract

By Jeff Todd | June 17, 2018 at 10:58am CDT

TODAY: The move is official, as announced by Rangers executive VP of communications John Blake (Twitter link). To create space on the 25-man and 40-man rosters, lefty Brandon Mann was optioned to Triple-A while Doug Fister was moved to the 60-day DL. Fister hit the DL with a knee strain last weekend, and now won’t be eligible to return to the Rangers’ roster until August.

FRIDAY: The Rangers will select the contract of veteran righty Yovani Gallardo, per a club announcement. He’ll join the team in time to make a start on Sunday, at which time corresponding moves will be made.

Gallardo, 32, enjoyed his last run of success in the majors when he turned in 184 1/3 frames of 3.42 ERA pitching for the Rangers back in 2015. Through 251 MLB innings since that time, he has limped to a 5.81 ERA with 6.5 K/9 and 4.5 BB/9.

Since coming back to the Texas organization earlier this year on a minors deal, following a very brief and unsuccessful stint with the Reds, Gallardo has taken the ball for ten starts at Triple-A. He has been in solid form there, working to a 3.81 ERA with forty strikeouts and 14 free passes.

The Rangers will turn to Gallardo with Doug Fister hitting the DL and Matt Moore being pushed to the pen. If Gallardo throws well enough to stick, he might help the team cover for potential trade deadline moves (or, less likely, turn into an asset himself). The Texas pen is also increasingly hurting, with Chris Martin and Matt Bush going on the DL today.

Braves Sign Luke Jackson, Option Luiz Gohara To Triple-A

By Mark Polishuk | June 17, 2018 at 10:26am CDT

The Braves have signed right-hander Luke Jackson to a Major League contract, the team announced via Twitter. Jackson will return to Atlanta’s roster in place of Luiz Gohara, who was optioned to Triple-A.

Jackson was designated for assignment by the Braves earlier this week, and had elected to become a free agent rather than accept an outright assignment to Triple-A. That would have been the fourth time in the last six months that Jackson had been outrighted off Atlanta’s 40-man, so now he has a bit of extra security in the form of an MLB deal. The 26-year-old tossed 50 2/3 innings out of the Braves’ bullpen last season, and has an overall 4.66 ERA, 6.8 K/9, and 1.83 K/BB rate over 56 total IP in a Braves uniform.

Gohara will head down to Triple-A to get some regular action as a starter, as the Braves are looking to get one of their top young arms back on track after a rough start to the 2018 season. Gohara was hampered by injuries in Spring Training and in early April, and since being called up in early May, he has made just seven appearances for the team (though he also spent a week on the bereavement list). Gohara made just one start and otherwise worked as a long reliever, struggling to a 6.89 ERA over 15 2/3 innings of work.

Acquired as part of a deal with the Mariners in January 2017, Gohara made a rapid rise in his first year in Atlanta’s farm system, going from high-A ball to a September call-up to the big leagues. His strong performance (2.62 ERA, 10.7 K/9, 3.34 K/BB over 123 2/3 combined minor league IP) put him on the radar as a big prospect in not just the Braves’ system, but in the minor leagues as a whole. Gohara began to emerge on top-100 prospect rankings last summer, and Baseball America considered him to be the 23rd-best minor league in baseball in their pre-2018 prospect listings.

Royals Place Jorge Soler On 10-Day DL, Promote Adalberto Mondesi, Select Wily Peralta’s Contract

By Mark Polishuk | June 17, 2018 at 10:20am CDT

The Royals announced a flurry of roster moves (Twitter links) this morning, including outfielder Jorge Soler’s official placement on the 10-day DL with a left toe fracture. Left-hander Eric Skoglund was transferred to the 60-day DL, while infielder Ramon Torres and right-hander Scott Barlow were optioned to Triple-A. Joining the 25-man roster are infielder Adalberto Mondesi, outfielder Rosell Herrera, and righty Wily Peralta, as the Royals selected Peralta’s contract from Triple-A Omaha.

[Updated Royals depth chart at Roster Resource]

Soler is expected to miss at least six weeks of action with the injury, which was seemingly originally caused by a foul ball off his foot and then exacerbated when Soler was running on Friday night. Soler’s production has cooled off following a huge opening six weeks, though he still had a .265/.354/.466 slash line and nine homers through 257 total plate appearances this season. It seemed as though Soler was finally enjoying the breakout campaign long expected of him since his (not long ago) days as one of the game’s best prospects coming up in the Cubs farm system, though this DL stint is an unfortunate interruption to Soler’s season.

Speaking of top prospects, the most noteworthy of Kansas City’s corresponding moves is the promotion of Mondesi, who is back in the majors for the first time in 2018. Mondesi was a consensus top-40 prospect prior to the 2016 season, with Baseball Prospectus rating him as high as 16th on their list of baseball’s top 100 minor leaguers, though he has shown next to nothing at the plate in two brief stints in the Show. Mondesi has just a .181/.226/.271 slash line over 209 career PA in the majors, though he has shown more composure as a hitter at the Triple-A level. With the usual caveat that the Pacific Coast League is very hitter-friendly, Mondesi has hit .292/.328/.527 with 19 homers over 551 Triple-A plate appearances.

Mondesi has already displayed excellent speed and strong defensive ability, so his prospect ceiling would only be further elevated if he can add value as a hitter. He has mostly played shortstop in the minors with some time at second base, and with the Royals in rebuild mode, Mondesi could get an extended look at either position now that he’s back on the 25-man roster. Whit Merrifield is certainly staying in the everyday lineup but can play other positions than second base, so Mondesi could displace Ryan Goins for regular time at the keystone, or potentially displace starting shortstop Alcides Escobar. Manager Ned Yost told reporters (including The Athletic’s Rustin Dodd) that Mondesi will play four games a week for the time being, to keep Mondesi fresh after some injuries earlier in the season.

Peralta signed a one-year, $1.5MM contract (with a $3MM club option for 2019) last winter, though he has yet to appear in a big league game for the Royals after being outrighted off the 40-man roster at the end of Spring Training. Peralta has a 4.37 ERA over 35 innings at Triple-A, posting a strong 10.0 K/9 but a troubling 5.4 BB/9. The hard-throwing veteran is looking to rebound after a very rough 2017 season that led his being outrighted off Milwaukee’s roster last summer.

Minor MLB Transactions: 6/17/18

By Mark Polishuk | June 17, 2018 at 10:08am CDT

The latest minor league moves from around baseball…

The Cardinals signed left-hander Tommy Layne to a minor league deal, and Layne made his organizational debut last night with an inning of work for Double-A Springfield. Layne posted a 7.62 ERA and 1.13 K/BB rate over 13 relief innings for the Yankees last season before being released, and he has since bounced around in the Dodgers and Red Sox farm systems on minors contracts. Prior to his rough 2017 campaign, Layne had a solid 3.23 ERA and 8.4 K/9 (albeit against a 4.2 BB/9) over 136 2/3 career innings with the Padres, Red Sox, and Yankees, displaying some LOOGY tendencies thanks to some wide career splits. Left-handed batters have managed just a .516 OPS against Layne in his big league career, while right-handed batters have a strong .840 OPS.

Indians Place Carlos Carrasco, Tyler Olson On 10-Day DL

By Mark Polishuk | June 17, 2018 at 9:46am CDT

The Indians placed right-hander Carlos Carrasco and left-hander Tyler Olson on the 10-day disabled list today, as per a team press release. Righties Shane Bieber and Evan Marshall have been recalled from Triple-A to fill the two spots on the 25-man roster, with Bieber starting today’s game against the Twins.

Carrasco is headed to the DL with what the team describes as a “right elbow contusion,” which would be a best-case scenario after Carrasco took a Joe Mauer line drive off his throwing elbow yesterday. The 99.6mph liner forced Carrasco to leave the game, and he was scheduled to undergo x-rays this morning, though there aren’t yet any details on the results of those tests.

Cleveland has off-days this Thursday and on June 28, so it’s possible Carrasco could only miss one start if his injury isn’t serious and he spends the minimal amount of time on the DL. The right-hander has been a big contributor to the Tribe’s rotation, posting a 4.24 ERA, 9.5 K/9, and 4.36 K/BB rate over 91 1/3 innings this season. The ERA is a bit higher than Carrasco is used to over the last three seasons, though ERA predictors (3.40 FIP, 3.43 xFIP, 3.43 SIERA) have a more favorable view of his performance.

Olson, meanwhile, has suffered a left lat strain. The southpaw famously didn’t allow a single run over 22 innings (20 in the regular season, two in the playoffs) for Cleveland last season, though his 2018 has been much rockier, with a 7.27 ERA over 17 1/3 frames. Olson is still missing bats to the tune of an 11.9 K/9, however, and while his 4.15 BB/9 is problematic, he has also faced a lot of bad luck in posting that ungainly ERA. Olson isn’t allowing a lot of hard contact (his .306 xwOBA is well below his .365 wOBA), and he has an unusually low strand rate (just 54.6%) and a very high .378 BABIP.

With Olson out, veteran Oliver Perez is the only left-hander in the Indians pen, as Andrew Miller is still sidelined with knee inflammation. Miller has been tossing bullpens in recent days, however, and is expected to at least be starting a rehab assignment relatively soon.

Indians Designate Melky Cabrera For Assignment

By Steve Adams | June 17, 2018 at 9:14am CDT

SUNDAY: The team expects to know by Monday whether or not Cabrera will accept an outright assignment, according to the Indians’ official Tribe Insider Twitter news feed.

THURSDAY: The Indians announced Thursday that they’ve activated outfielder Brandon Guyer from the disabled list and cleared a spot for him on the active roster by designating Melky Cabrera for assignment.

Signed to a minor league deal in late April, the 33-year-old Cabrera appeared in 17 games with Cleveland and tallied 66 plate appearances, though he managed just a .207/.243/.293 batting line in that small sample of work.

Cabrera, of course, was operating without the benefit of a full Spring Training during his short time with the Indians. While he did pick up 42 plate appearances in Triple-A before making his debut with the team, it’s perhaps not surprising that he exhibited a fair bit of rust at the plate. To his credit, Cabrera posted a 34.6 percent hard-hit rate, per Fangraphs, and punched out just 10 times in his 66 PAs (15.2 percent).

The switch-hitting Cabrera is only a year removed from providing roughly league-average offense at the big league level. In 666 plate appearances between the White Sox and Royals last season, Cabrera slashed .285/.324/.423 with 17 homers, 30 doubles and a pair of triples — good for a 99 OPS+ and a 98 wRC+.

While he’s long graded out as a sub-par defensive outfielder — never more so than in 2017 — he’s also been a steadily average or better producer at the plate throughout his late 20s and early 30s. From 2014-17, Cabrera racked up 2616 plate appearances between the Blue Jays, White Sox and Royals, hitting a combined .289/.333/.431 in that time (110 OPS+). So while things didn’t work out for the Melk Man in Cleveland, it’s certainly not out of the question that another team could look to pick him on a similarly low-cost investment with the hopes that he can provide some additional offense.

The Indians will have a week to trade Cabrera or run him through outright or release waivers, though a veteran player with his service time will have the option of refusing an outright assignment and again exploring free agency. He’s better-suited for an AL club who can plug him in at DH periodically, though Cabrera could also function as a bench bat and occasional outfielder in the NL.

Quick Hits: Brewers, Mariners, Ichiro, Mets, R. Hill, Rays

By Connor Byrne | June 16, 2018 at 10:34pm CDT

Rival executives expect the Brewers to be aggressive in targeting starting pitching help this summer, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reports (video link). The Brewers’ rotation has been a middle-of-the-pack group to this point, as it entered Saturday 13th in the majors in ERA (3.92) and 19th in fWAR (3.8). Of course, the unit has been without its top starter from 2017, Jimmy Nelson, who’s working back from the right shoulder surgery he underwent last September and should return sometime this season. He and another starter acquired from elsewhere could help the Brewers hold on to a playoff spot, which they were unable to do a year ago during an 86-win campaign. Rosenthal also points to catcher and shortstop as positions the Brewers could upgrade, though he notes they’re “unlikely” to be in play for Manny Machado at the latter spot.

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