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Athletics Acquire Mike Fiers

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The A’s have acquired right-hander Mike Fiers from the Tigers in exchange for cash considerations or two players to be named later, the team has announced (Twitter link).  Left-hander Jeremy Bleich has been designated for assignment to create room for Fiers on Oakland’s roster.

Fiers drew attention from multiple clubs prior to the trade deadline, with the Athletics reportedly making a strong bid to land the 33-year-old on deadline day itself.  Less than a week later, the A’s finally landed the righty to help reinforce its injury-plagued starting staff, with Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reporting that Oakland put a claim on Fiers while he was on revocable trade waivers.

Mike FiersAfter being non-tendered by the Astros last winter, Fiers signed a one-year, $6MM deal with the Tigers and did a solid job of rebuilding his stock after a rough 2017 season.  Fiers posted a 3.48 ERA, 6.58 K/9, and 3.35 K/BB rate over 119 innings (21 starts) for Detroit, and has been particularly effective after a slow start to the season, as Fiers has a 2.57 ERA over his last 70 frames.

There are some red flags about his performance, however, most notably the career-low (over a full season) strikeout rate and swinging strike rate (8.3 %).  Fiers is getting away with allowing some hard contact, as evidenced by the gap between his .321 wOBA and his .345 xwOBA, and he has also benefited from an 83.1% strand rate and a .277 BABIP.  Advanced metrics such as FIP (4.66), xFIP (4.82) and SIERA (4.54) all sit over a run higher than his real-world ERA.

Even if a bit of regression is in order, Fiers will likely still represent an upgrade for an A’s rotation that has posted middling numbers over the course of the season (though they have been dominant as of late).  Fiers joins ace Sean Manaea and veterans Brett Anderson, Edwin Jackson, and Trevor Cahill in the Athletics’ starting five, and Fiers is also an option for the 2019 staff, as he is controlled via salary arbitration.  It’s worth noting that Fiers left his last start after just two innings after being hit in the shin with a line drive, though the injury isn’t thought to be particularly serious, and obviously the A’s weren’t concerned enough to hold off on making the trade.

As per Slusser, the Tigers have the option of taking money back for Fiers, or selecting two names from a list of prospects.  It’s safe to assume that none of Oakland’s top minor leaguers are on that list, though Detroit should still get some kind of decent return on their $6MM investment in Fiers in the offseason.

Bleich made his Major League debut this season, appearing in two games for the A’s though getting through just one-third of an inning.  A supplemental first-round pick (44th overall) for the Yankees in the 2008 draft, Bleich has pitched for five different organizations over 10 professional seasons and he also played for Team Israel in the 2017 World Baseball Classic.  Bleich has a 3.92 ERA, 7.2 K/9, and 2.06 K/BB rate over 601 1/3 career minor league innings.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Cardinals Place Tyler O’Neill On 10-Day DL, Promote Adolis Garcia

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The Cardinals will place outfielder Tyler O’Neill on the 10-day disabled list due to inflammation of the groin area, as the team announced on Twitter.  The placement was retroactive to August 4.  In a corresponding move, the Cards have selected the contract of outfielder Adolis Garcia.

Ranked as a top-100 prospect by both Baseball America and MLB.com in each of the last two seasons, O’Neill was acquired by St. Louis from Seattle in exchange for southpaw Marco Gonzales in July 2017.  O’Neill made his Major League debut this season, and has hit .309/.333/.491 with three home runs over his first 60 plate appearances in the Show.  In between a few different stints on the big league roster, O’Neill has been crushing Triple-A pitching, hitting .311/.388/.711 with 26 homers over 260 PA.  That slash line is impressive by any measure, though the high on-base percentage is a particularly encouraging sign for O’Neill, who had struggled with plate discipline in his pro career.  (Though the problem is far from solved, as 24 of O’Neill’s 60 MLB plate appearances have resulted in strikeouts.)

With Tommy Pham dealt to Tampa and Dexter Fowler on the disabled list, it looked as if O’Neill was in line for more playing time in the Cards’ outfield.  This injury opens the door for another young outfield prospect in Garcia, who was recently named the Cardinals’ minor league player of the month for July.  Garcia is hitting .269/.296/.531 with 21 homers over 372 Triple-A plate appearances this season, displaying some on-base issues himself.

The younger brother of former Braves third baseman Adonis Garcia, the 25-year-old Adolis signed with St. Louis as an international free agent in the 2016-17 offseason, landing a $2.5MM bonus.  The 2018 Baseball America Prospect Handbook ranked Garcia as the ninth-best minor leaguer in the Cardinals’ farm system prior to the season, citing his good hitting potential as well as plus baserunning skills and an elite throwing arm (earning “a borderline 80,” or the top scouting grade available) from right field.

AL Central Links: Drake, Pineda, Chernoff, Herrera, Tigers

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Oliver Drake earned an unusual spot in the record books upon making his Twins debut on Saturday, as the right-hander became the first player in history to pitch for five different MLB teams in a single season.  After three waiver claims and a trade, the well-traveled Drake has now taken the hill for the Twins, Blue Jays, Angels, Indians, and Brewers since the start of the 2018 campaign.  “It’s definitely been a long year,” Drake told MLB.com’s Rhett Bollinger and other reporters.  “It’s always a good thing to be wanted in this game. My wife definitely would appreciate being a little more settled. She’s been moving around a lot with me, and it’s kind of chaos. But it’s all part of it, it’s the lifestyle we live, and we’re just making the best of it.”  Drake had already taken a long journey of a different sense just to reach the Show, as he was a 43rd-round pick for the Orioles in the 2008 draft and didn’t crack the big leagues until 2015.  Ironically, Drake had a pretty stable run for much of his pro career, as he was a member of Baltimore’s organization until he was dealt to Milwaukee in April 2017.

Here’s more from around the AL Central…

  • Also from Bollinger’s piece, Michael Pineda will officially begin his rehab assignment with the Twins’ Gulf Coast League affiliate today.  This will mark the right-hander’s first action since undergoing Tommy John surgery in July 2017.  Minnesota signed Pineda to a two-year, $10MM contract last winter, with $8MM of that deal owed in 2019 as the team sees him as a potential rotation contributor when healthy.  If all goes well in his rehab, Pineda is slated to get some Major League innings under his belt when rosters expand in September.
  • Indians GM Mike Chernoff talks to The Athletic’s Zack Meisel (subscription required) about how a front office prepares for the trade deadline, as well as managing the hectic, last-minute flurry of calls and messages from other teams on deadline day itself.  Cleveland had already acquired Brad Hand and Adam Cimber to reinforce the bullpen earlier in July, leaving the team with one less positional target to worry about as July 31 approached.  “There have been times at the deadline where we’ve had multiple needs and you’re juggling a lot of different things at the same time….Because we addressed the bullpen much earlier in the process, we could really shift our focus to, ’How do we help the outfield?’ “, Chernoff said.  The piece is well worth a full read for an insight into the many factors that every team must juggle as it looks to make any trade, let alone multiple deals at the busiest time of the year for transactions.
  • Rosell Herrera’s rookie season has seen him go from the Reds to the Royals on a waiver claim, though now the 25-year-old looks to be shaping into a useful asset for his new club, the Kansas City Star’s Maria Torres writes.  Herrera hasn’t shown much at the plate (.257/.291/.358 over 159 PA with Cincinnati and Kansas City), though he has displayed some versatility, lining up at second base, third base, and all three outfield spots this season.  Torres details how Herrera, once a top-100 ranked prospect coming up in the Rockies’ system, first started playing the outfield since Colorado already had Nolan Arenado and Troy Tulowitzki on the left side of the diamond, and how wrist problems slowed his ascent through the farm system.
  • The trade that sent J.D. Martinez to the Diamondbacks in July 2017 was the first of six major deals made by the Tigers as they began their rebuilding process, and MLive.com’s Evan Woodbery looks back on the prospect haul that Detroit has collected in those swaps.  While it will obviously be several years before the impact of these deals can be fully assessed, the trade that sent Justin Wilson and Alex Avila to the Cubs at the 2017 deadline is already “a big win for the Tigers” since Jeimer Candelario has become a lineup regular.

AL East Notes: Sale, E-Rod, Red Sox, Orioles, Davis

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After suffering a four-game sweep at Fenway Park, the Yankees are now 9.5 games behind the Red Sox for first place in the AL East.  New York has posted only a 18-20 record over its last 38 games, and this slump has not only seemingly put the division title out of reach, but also raised some concern that a turn-around is needed just to ensure a wild card berth.  As the New York Post’s Joel Sherman puts it, “the Red Sox are no longer the Rivals in 2018. The A’s and Mariners are.”  The Yankees are just 2.5 games ahead of the red-hot Athletics for home field advantage in the wild card game, while Seattle (who also been struggling lately) is 2.5 games behind Oakland.  It’s worth remembering, of course, that the Yankees are still 68-42 on the season and one rough series doesn’t write them off as World Series contenders, particularly since the club will eventually get key players like Aaron Judge and Gary Sanchez back from the disabled list.

Some more from around the AL East…

  • While Chris Sale won’t be activated from the disabled list as soon as he’s eligible, Red Sox manager Alex Cora told reporters (including the Boston Herald’s Jason Mastrodonato) that the delay isn’t due to any setback with Sale’s shoulder.  The team was simply lining up its rotation so that Sale wouldn’t be starting, and thus batting, during an interleague series in Philadelphia next week.  The ace left-hander will likely make his return to start against the Orioles on August 11 or 12, Cora said.
  • In other Red Sox health news, Eduardo Rodriguez threw 30 pitches off a mound on Sunday and came away “feeling good,” he told reporters (including Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe).  While it isn’t yet certain what the next step in the left-hander’s recovery process will be, or even if Rodriguez will be able to return before August is through, Sunday’s throwing session was a good sign given that Rodriguez looked to have suffered a particularly severe ankle sprain back in mid-July.  Rodriguez hopes to come back as a starter but is open to pitching out of the bullpen; Abraham notes that returning as a reliever would likely mean a shorter rehab process.  One would think that Rodriguez (3.44 ERA, 9.5 K/9, 3.44 K/BB over 104 2/3 IP) has pitched well enough that the Sox would want him back in the rotation, but with Nathan Eovaldi now in the fold, Rodriguez may have more value in a Boston bullpen that currently lacks any left-handers.
  • With the Orioles now in full rebuild mode, MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubatko looks ahead to what the team might have in store for the offseason.  The O’s could quite possibly continue to move veterans such as Mark Trumbo or Tim Beckham if any trade partners could be found, or potentially keep a familiar face around to serve as an experienced clubhouse voice on what is shaping up to be a much younger roster in 2019.
  • It also remains to be seen if the Rule 5 Draft will continue to be a significant part of the Orioles’ offseason strategy.  The O’s have put a notable focus on acquiring young talent via the Rule 5 Draft in recent years, including selecting three players last winter.  One player the O’s considered but didn’t select last winter was left-hander Austin Davis, Kubatko reports.  Davis has since made his MLB debut and posted some strong results (3.38 ERA, 4.33 K/BB rate, 26 strikeouts in 21 1/3 IP) out of the Phillies’ bullpen this season.  Given that the Orioles and Phillies were heavily involved in trade talks for such players as Manny Machado and Adam Jones in the lead-up to the July 31 deadline, it’s fair to wonder if Baltimore again tried to acquire Davis as part of negotiations.

Quick Hits: Padres, Cano, Relievers

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Ronnie Freeman came close to his first stint on a Major League roster today, as Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle details how the Giants minor leaguer was on hand this weekend in case Buster Posey had to be placed on the seven-day concussion DL.  Posey left Friday’s game after taking a foul ball off his catcher’s mask, but passed his tests and returned to the lineup today as a first baseman.  This left Freeman watching the Giants play from the comforts of the clubhouse, as he wasn’t officially allowed to the join the team in the dugout since he was never selected for the roster.  Freeman, a fifth-rounder in the 2012 draft, had spent his entire pro career in the Diamondbacks’ organization before signing with the Giants last spring, and he’ll have to wait at least a bit longer before he makes his proper big league debut.

Here’s more from around the baseball world…

  • The Padres let Tyson Ross and Jordan Lyles respectively go to the Cardinals and Brewers on trade waivers earlier today, moves that San Diego general manager A.J. Preller told reporters (including The Athletic’s Dennis Lin) were made to create more room for up-and-coming pitchers on the Padres’ roster.  “From our standpoint, it’s an eye toward next year and turning the page right now to give us a head start at looking at some guys we think could be in the bigs with us next year,” Preller said.  Right-hander Trey Wingenter had his contract from Triple-A El Paso today, and rookie Brett Kennedy is slated to make his MLB debut in a start on Wednesday.  Lin’s piece names some other Padres minor leaguers that could debut between now and season’s end, with the team also taking future roster organization and 40-man protections into consideration given the glut of young talent in San Diego’s system.
  • Robinson Cano has been working out as a third baseman in his preparations to return from his PED suspension, which Mariners manager Scott Servais tells reporters (including the Tacoma News Tribune’s TJ Cotterill) is indicative of how Cano’s “just wants to help any way he can.  If that means giving Kyle [Seager] a day off at third, or helping at first base, playing a game at second base, he’s going to play wherever we need him to play.”  Cano has only played 16 games at third base in his pro career, and none since 2005 when he was in the Yankees’ minor league system.  With Dee Gordon stepping in at second base and Nelson Cruz locked into DH duties, the assumption was that Cano would mostly take time away from first baseman Ryon Healy, who has struggled to consistently hit in his first season in Seattle.  Seager, however, is actually going through a rougher season at the plate, hitting only .231/.280/.421 with 18 homers (including two today) over 447 plate appearances.
  • More position players than ever are being called on for emergency mop-up work as relief pitchers, with ESPN.com’s Buster Olney calculating that a record 39 players have made 49 appearances out of the pen this year.  With the trend showing no signs of slowing down, Olney wonders if the MLBPA should make a point of exploring the issue in the next round of collective bargaining agreement talks, given the additional risks faced by players in the unfamiliar role of pitcher.

Minor MLB Transactions: 8/5/18

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The latest minor moves from around baseball…

Latest Moves

  • The Phillies announced (Twitter link) that infielder Trevor Plouffe has been outrighted to Triple-A after clearing waivers.  Plouffe was designated for assignment on Tuesday to create roster room for newly-acquired southpaw Aaron Loup.  After signing a minors contract with the Phils in April, Plouffe cracked the 25-man roster and appeared in seven games (12 PA) for the team.  The clear highlight of this brief stint was Plouffe’s three-run walkoff homer to end a 16-inning marathon against the Dodgers on July 24.

Earlier Today

  • The Padres have selected right-hander Trey Wingenter’s contract from Triple-A El Paso, the club announced. The 24-year-old reliever, a 17th-round pick in 2015, is now in line to make his major league debut. Wingenter, who has also garnered his first Triple-A experience this season, pitched to a 3.45 ERA/4.58 FIP with 10.76 K/9, 4.87 BB/9 and a 46.5 percent groundball rate in 44 1/3 innings prior to his promotion.
  • The Mets have signed infielder Dylan Tice and left-hander Matt Gage to minor league deals, Anthony DiComo of MLB.com tweets. Both Tice and Gage had been playing independent ball before catching on with the Mets. The 25-year-old Tice was most recently in affiliated ball from 2015-16 with the Cardinals, who chose him in the 36th round of the 2015 draft. Gage, a 10th-round selection of the Giants in 2014, had been with the San Francisco organization until earlier this season. Also 25, Gage opened 2018 with a 3.18 ERA and 6.0 K/9 against 1.2 BB/9 in 22 2/3 innings at the Double-A level.

Nationals Agree To Sign Greg Holland

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10:36pm: There “is nothing official” between Holland and the Nationals yet, Chelsea Janes tweets, though it seems like a deal will indeed happen eventually.

9:58pm: The two sides have reached an agreement, Heyman tweets.

1:19pm: It appears the two sides are “moving toward a deal,” Jon Heyman of Fancred reports.

11:42am: The Nationals and free-agent reliever Greg Holland are in discussions on a contract, Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post reports. They’re one of several teams to show interest in the Scott Boras client since the Cardinals released him on Friday.

On paper, Holland would help replenish a Washington bullpen which lost fellow right-handers Brandon Kintzler (traded to the Cubs) and Shawn Kelley (designated for assignment) earlier this week. However, both Kintzler and Kelley have outpitched Holland, who endured a shockingly poor stint as a member of the Cardinals.

Thanks to his past work as a closer with the Royals and Rockies, Holland secured a $14MM guarantee from the Cardinals on Opening Day. That came after Holland unexpectedly sat on the open market for the entire offseason, and it’s likely that not getting to partake in spring training contributed to his subpar St. Louis tenure. Regardless, Holland posted an equally peculiar and unacceptable line with St. Louis, where he notched a 7.92 ERA with 7.92 K/9 and 7.92 BB/9 over 25 innings (32 appearances). Consequently, despite the Redbirds’ sizable investment in Holland – whose signing also cost them their second-round pick in 2019 – they cut the cord on him after four months.

Landing Holland would be a far less risky play for the Nationals than it was for the Cards, as he’d only cost the Nats the prorated league minimum through season’s end. Reeling him in would also add yet another Boras client to a roster which already has seven such players, give Holland a chance to rebuild his stock going into the offseason and perhaps help keep Washington in contention. At 56-54, the Nationals will enter play Sunday trailing the NL East-leading Phillies by six games and a wild-card spot by 4 1/2.

Cubs Notes: Bryant, White Sox, Cease

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It was on this day in 2014 that Javier Baez made his MLB debut, hitting a solo home run in the 12th inning that held up as the winning run in a Cubs victory over the Rockies.  Baez celebrated his anniversary as a big leaguer with another solo homer today as part of a 2-for-5 performance against the Padres, though Chicago wasn’t as successful, dropping a 10-6 result to San Diego.  Baez is now hitting .300/.333/.585 with 24 homers in 433 PA this season, with this breakout offensive performance combining with his usual excellent defense to make him one of the game’s most overall valuable talents.

Some more from Wrigleyville…

  • Kris Bryant has yet to swing a bat since returning to the DL to deal with his bothersome shoulder, and the Cubs slugger tells reporters (including the Chicago Tribune’s Paul Sullivan) that he doesn’t yet know when he might be back on the field.  Bryant was eligible to return on August 3, though he was expected to remain beyond the 10-day minimum DL stint to fully allow his shoulder to heal up.  He reiterated, however, that he doesn’t have long-term concerns about the injury.  The former NL MVP is enjoying another strong season (.276/.380/.474 with 11 homers in 358 PA), though his shoulder troubles could explain why his production has dipped a bit from his 2016-17 levels.
  • Dylan Cease was a top-1oo ranked minor leaguer when he was traded as part of the four-prospect package sent by the Cubs to the White Sox for Jose Quintana in July 17.  As The Athletic’s Patrick Mooney writes in a subscription-only piece, however, the Cubs were ultimately willing to deal Cease due to a significant injury history (Tommy John surgery in 2014) and because he was still pitching in A-ball.  Cease has since made his Double-A debut in the White Sox system and looked outstanding, with a 1.99 ERA, 12.8 K/9, and 4.48 K/BB rate over 40 2/3 IP that has only elevated his status as a future building block for the Sox.  Mooney tracks the Cubs’ initial pursuit of Cease through an interview with scout Keith Lockhart, who originally signed the young righty, and is well aware of the risk involved in moving such blue chip prospects.  “When it first came down, it was easy to say, ’Listen, we got an established big-league starter for some guys that were in A-ball,’ ” Lockhart said. “As the years go on, if Dylan turns out to be a No. 1 starter for the White Sox and leading a rotation, then the story just stays alive.”
  • In other recent Cubs news on MLBTR, Yu Darvish updated the media with his rehab status.

AL East Notes: Estrada, Judge, Rays, Pirates

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Marco Estrada threw a gem for the Blue Jays on Saturday, allowing one earned run and just one hit while walking two and striking out four over seven innings against the Mariners.  As Sportsnet.ca’s Shi Davidi notes, “the outing is sure to renew [trade] interest in” Estrada’s services, as the right-hander spent most of July on the disabled list recovering from a glute strain and a minor blister issue.  It has been an inconsistent 2018 season for Estrada, though he was turning things around to the tune of a 2.35 ERA over five June starts before his injury problems cropped up.  Had Estrada stayed healthy, he almost surely would’ve joined J.A. Happ, Seunghwan Oh, and other veterans moved by the Jays as the team looks to rebuild for 2019 and beyond.  Toronto will continue to be a team to watch in the August trade market, given the presence of Estrada, Josh Donaldson, and others that could be enticing trade candidates if they can be worked through the waiver process.

Here’s more from the AL East…

  • Yankees slugger Aaron Judge gave reporters (including ESPN.com’s Coley Harvey) an update on his recovery from a chip fracture in his wrist, saying that he is still feeling some pain, though “some of the range of motion is coming back,” and he has been able to make short-range throws of up to five feet.  Judge was originally estimated to miss roughly three weeks, and while that timeline hasn’t officially changed yet, he has yet to begin taking dry swings.  On the plus side, Judge is participating in conditioning and running drills so he’ll theoretically be able to make a quick return once his wrist is ready.
  • The Rays were one of baseball’s busiest teams during trade deadline season, and Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times provides a recap on all of the club’s dealings.  With salaries always a concern in Tampa, the Rays now have only a bit over $8MM committed to their 2019 payroll, all owed to Kevin Kiermaier via the outfielder’s multi-year contract.  Topkin calculates that between the minimum salary players, Kiermaier, and arbitration-eligibles Tommy Pham and Matt Duffy (but not C.J. Cron), the Rays may have approximately $25MM in payroll for 2019.  Even if the Rays won’t approach even their modest $70MM payroll from the start of this season, they’ll still have some room to spend on upgrades this winter.  In regards to Cron, Topkin thinks his home run total could push his arbitration number beyond the Rays’ comfort zone, so the first baseman could potentially be a trade candidate or maybe even a non-tender candidate despite his solid season.
  • Also from Topkin’s piece, the player to be named later acquired by the Rays from the Pirates in the Chris Archer trade still isn’t known, and the mystery prospect may not change organizations until the minor league season ends.  Indeed, Pirates GM Neal Huntington said today during his radio show (hat tip to MLB.com’s Adam Berry) that “nothing’s imminent” about the players to be named later involved in the Archer trade and also in the trade with the Rangers for Keone Kela.

MLB Weekend Roster Roundup: Fowler, McCullers, Myers, Osuna, Snell

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ROSTER MOVES BY TEAM
(August 4th-August 5th)

NATIONAL LEAGUE

  • CINCINNATI REDS | Depth Chart
      • Promoted:  RP Austin Brice
        • Brice was the 26th man for Saturday’s double-header.
  • WASHINGTON NATIONALS | Depth Chart
    • Promoted: RP Austin Voth
      • Voth was the 26th man for Saturday’s double-header.

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AMERICAN LEAGUE

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FUTURE EXPECTED MOVES

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