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Red Sox Acquire Josh Taylor From Diamondbacks

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The Red Sox announced Tuesday that they’ve acquired minor league left-hander Josh Taylor from the Diamondbacks as the player to be named later in the trade that sent infielder Deven Marrero to Arizona back on March 24.

Originally signed by the Phillies as a non-drafted free agent, Taylor was traded to the D-backs alongside right-hander Chris Oliver back in the 2015 trade that sent the top international bonus slot from Arizona to Philadelphia. He’s in his first full season as a reliever after struggling as a starter in the minors and has pitched to a 2.81 ERA with a 20-to-5 K/BB ratio in 16 innings, albeit as a 25-year-old pitching against younger competition at the Class-A Advanced level. Alex Speier of the Boston Globe tweets that Taylor is headed to Boston’s Double-A affiliate in Portland, Maine.

Last season, Taylor worked to a 4.96 ERA with 8.4 K/9, 4.2 BB/9 and a 49 percent ground-ball rate in 98 minor league innings — 97 of which came at the Double-A level. He’s not considered to be among the D-backs’ 30 best prospects by either MLB.com or Baseball America.

The Marrero pickup, thus far, has provided the Diamondbacks with some quality glovework at multiple infield positions but netted sub-par value with the bat. In 56 plate appearances, Marrero is hitting just .196/.250/.235, with a triple representing his lone extra-base hit of the season. Of course, he’s played sparingly and can’t be sent down to sharpen his approach with regular at-bats, given the fact that he’s out of minor league options.

Stephen Vogt To Undergo Shoulder Surgery

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Brewers catcher Stephen Vogt met with Dr. Neal ElAttrache to have another examination of his ailing shoulder and received an unfortunate but largely expected diagnosis, reports Adam McCalvy of MLB.com (Twitter links). He’ll require season-ending shoulder surgery that could threaten his career.

The 33-year-old Vogt was emotional last week when talking to reporters about the injury, which he sustained when making a throw to third base on a recent minor league rehab assignment. Vogt’s shoulder is said to have damage in each of the rotator cuff, labrum and anterior capsule, making the surgical procedure he’ll require extremely complex.

It’ll be the second major shoulder surgery of Vogt’s career, and the veteran backstop acknowledged last week that having been through a similar process before, there are “big implications” he’s being forced to think about. “I felt everything go wrong that could go wrong with a shoulder,” Vogt said at the time.

Vogt, commonly cited as a significant clubhouse fixture for both the Athletics and the Brewers (who acquired him last summer) is by all accounts beloved by both teammates and fans, as evidenced by the popular “I believe in Stephen Vogt” chants at O.Co Coliseum and the corresponding t-shirts created by fans. A two-time All-Star, Vogt is a career .251/.310/.416 hitter in parts of six big league seasons and slashed .254/.281/.508 with eight homers in just 129 plate appearances for the Brewers down the stretch last season.

[Related: Milwaukee Brewers depth chart]

With Vogt now decidedly out of the catching mix in Milwaukee, the Brewers will continue to rely on Manny Pina and Jett Bandy behind the plate. However, neither player has produced much offensively this season, which could push the Brewers to eventually give a longer look to either Jacob Nottingham or Christian Bethancourt. Giving Bethancourt a look would require a 40-man roster move for the Brewers. Vogt is already on the 60-day DL, so he couldn’t be transferred there as a means of clearing room.

A.J. Pollock Out Four To Eight Weeks With Fractured Thumb

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Diamondbacks center fielder A.J. Pollock has been diagnosed with an avulsion fracture of his left thumb, the Diamondbacks announced on Tuesday. He’s expected to miss between four and eight weeks, per manager Torey Lovullo. The injury will not require surgery, per FanRag’s Jack Magruder (Twitter link), and Pollock will wear a soft cast for the time being.

Pollock, a free agent at season’s end, was originally diagnosed with a sprain earlier today, though further testing revealed the fracture, it seems. He sustained the injury while diving for a ball in last night’s game. This specific type of fracture, per the Mayo Clinic, occurs when “a small chunk of bone attached to a tendon or ligament gets pulled away from the main part of the bone.”

Jarrod Dyson and Chris Owings can step in to handle some of the team’s work in center field, though obviously the loss of Pollock is a notable blow for a Diamondbacks club that leads the NL West by two games with a 24-17 record. It’s also a  substantial blow to Pollock, who’s been among the game’s best players early in the season and was doing a nice work in padding his free agent stock as the offseason approached. Through 160 plate appearances this season, he’s hitting .293/.349/.620 with 11 homers — just nine shy of his career-high despite the fact that we’re just a quarter of the way through the regular season. Pollock’s .620 slugging percentage leads all qualified hitters in the NL.

The D-backs haven’t yet announced a corresponding move for the clearly inevitable DL trip, though MLB.com’s Steve Gilbert tweeted earlier that first baseman/outfielder Christian Walker has a locker set up in the Diamondbacks’ clubhouse, so it seems that he’ll be added to the roster for tonight’s game with Pollock heading to the 10-day disabled list. The 27-year-old Walker went 2-for-15 in a brief stint with Arizona earlier this season and is hitting .286/.288/.521 through 52 PAs with Arizona’s Triple-A affiliate in Reno.

Dee Gordon To See Time At Second Base For Mariners

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The Mariners will give Dee Gordon some time at his natural position of second base in the wake of Robinson Cano’s shocking 80-game suspension, GM Jerry Dipoto told Seattle reporters today (Twitter links via Corey Brock of The Athletic). The organization has already approached Gordon about the possibility, and Brock notes that Gordon is “all in” and will play wherever the team asks of him. The transition won’t happen right away, however, as Gordon hasn’t been taking ground-balls since being acquired by the Mariners. They’ll instead give him some time to readjust to the position and take part in fielding drills outside of a game setting.

It’s not yet certain that Gordon will simply take over as the club’s everyday second baseman, though that possibility certainly exists. Rather, Gordon’s flexibility and willingness to move back to the infield on a full-time basis, if needed, will allow Dipoto and his staff the luxury of exploring the addition of both infielders and outfielders as they look to bolster the roster in Cano’s absence. Asked by TJ Cotterill of the Tacoma News Tribune if the Mariners could reallocate some of the funds they’ll save on Cano’s suspension to a roster upgrade, Dipoto responded in the affirmative (Twitter link). By my calculation, Cano’s suspension will cost him about $10.26MM of his $24MM salary for the 2018 campaign.

The ever-active Dipoto is never one to shy away from a trade, so it’s not especially surprising that Dipoto plans to search outside the organization for potential acquisitions in both the infield and the outfield (Twitter link via Greg Johns of MLB.com). The Mariners are currently sitting 1.5 games out of the division lead in the AL West and an identical 1.5 games back from a Wild Card berth thanks to a strong 23-17 start to the season. Clearly, they’re at something of a disadvantage on the trade market given their thin farm system and the lack of teams selling off high-quality MLB assets this time of season, though the fact that they can apply some unexpected financial resources toward a potential trade could work to their advantage.

Regarding Cano, it’s also worth noting that Mark Feinsand of MLB.com reports that the infielder will indeed undergo surgery to repair his fractured hand tomorrow (Twitter links). Of course, given his suspension, the fact that he’s undergoing surgery won’t prolong his absence from the roster. He’ll serve his suspension while on the disabled list, though he won’t be paid for any of the time he misses, of course, and remains ineligible for postseason play should the Mariners qualify.

[Related: Seattle Mariners depth chart]

For the time being, when Gordon does eventually move back onto the infield dirt, the Mariners can push Guillermo Heredia into an outfield role alongside both Mitch Haniger and Ben Gamel. Utilitymen Taylor Motter (currently in Triple-A) and Andrew Romine (on the 25-man roster) can both see time in both the middle infield and the outfield corners, giving manager Scott Servais some options to mix and match while the front office scours the trade market.

Dodgers Activate Justin Turner, Logan Forsythe

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The Dodgers announced Tuesday that they’ve reinstated infielders Justin Turner and Logan Forsythe from the disabled list today. Fellow infielders Kyle Farmer and Tim Locastro were optioned to Triple-A Oklahoma City to create room on the 40-man roster.

[Related: Updated Los Angeles Dodgers depth chart]

Turner will take the field for the Dodgers tonight for the first time this season after missing a quarter of the season due to a broken wrist suffered late in Spring Training. In his absence, Dodgers third basemen have combined to post a woeful .209/.291/.374 batting line in 158 plate appearances. Forsythe, Farmer, and Max Muncy have combined for all of the Dodgers’ activity at third base in lieu of Turner this season, and the largely futile results have played no small role in the team’s 16-24 start to the year.

Forsythe, meanwhile, will be returning to the club after landing on the disabled list exactly a month ago due to inflammation in his right shoulder. He’ll slot back into the mix at second base and share time with veteran Chase Utley there, though he’ll be looking to rebound from a slow start that saw him bat just .174/.224/.283 in 49 trips to the plate before his own placement on the disabled list.

In other Dodgers health-related news, Andy McCullough of the L.A. Times tweets that Clayton Kershaw played catch once again today, though it doesn’t sound as if the lefty is nearing a return to the active roster. Via McCullough, manager Dave Roberts indicated that Kershaw isn’t expected to pitch off a mound on the current road trip. It’s been reported that Kershaw will miss a matter of weeks rather than months, though a specific timeline hasn’t yet been put in place on his return to a Dodgers rotation that will also be without lefty Hyun-Jin Ryu until sometime after the All-Star break.

Orioles Grant Michael Saunders His Release

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Veteran outfielder Michael Saunders has asked for and been granted his release by the Orioles, per David Hall of the Virginian Pilot (Twitter link). Saunders had an opt-out clause in his deal, Hall adds.

The 31-year-old Saunders signed a minor league pact with the Orioles in early April after bouncing from the Pirates to the Royals in Spring Training. He opened the season with Baltimore’s Triple-A affiliate in Norfolk but has gotten off to a rough start, hitting just .161/.291/.253 with a homer, three doubles, a triple and two steals in 103 plate appearances. Saunders punched out 23 times but also drew 16 walks in his brief stint with the Tides.

Saunders enjoyed an All-Star first half with the Blue Jays in 2016 but wore down in the second half of that season before a disastrous 2017 with the Phillies. The former top prospect often showed potential with the Mariners produced in Seattle when on the field, but injuries have been an ongoing issue throughout his career. Most recently, he missed the majority of the 2015 season after suffering a torn meniscus in Spring Training that required surgery. Saunders has also dealt with shoulder injuries and missed time due to an oblique issue in the Majors as well.

Adam Eaton Targeting Return In Six Weeks

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Though last week’s unexpected ankle surgery for Nationals outfielder Adam Eaton created a potential long-term issue for the Nats to navigate, the outfielder explained to reporters today that he believes he can return from the disabled list in six weeks’ time (Twitter link via Mark Zuckerman of MASNsports.com). Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post adds that the cast is coming off Eaton’s ankle today (Twitter links). She also notes that Eaton revealed he dislocated and did additional damage to his ankle last year on the same play in which he suffered a season-ending ACL tear.

A return in six weeks would still allow Eaton to play a bit more than half the season for the Nats, which is no small boost to the team’s aspirations of capturing yet another division title in the NL East. While Eaton has been limited to just 31 games since being acquired by the Nationals in a 2016 Winter Meetings blockbuster with the White Sox, he’s been terrific when healthy enough to take the field. In 140 plate appearances, he’s batted .308/.400/.508 with four homers, 10 doubles and a triple.

The fact that Eaton is set to return in a relatively short window likely rules out any possibility of the Nationals taking to the trade market to pursue an upgrade. Once Eaton is able to return to the Nats, they’ll be able to trot out a strong outfield of Michael A. Taylor, Eaton and Bryce Harper, with Brian Goodwin, Howie Kendrick and Matt Adams on hand as reserve options. For the time being, Taylor should continue to hold down the center field gig, with Adams and Kendrick platooning in left field.

Should additional injuries arise or should Eaton incur a setback in his recovery, the Nats also have top prospect Victor Robles waiting in the wings in Triple-A, though he’s been on the shelf himself due to a hyperextended elbow. Top prospect Juan Soto is rapidly ascending through the minor league ranks, though he only just reached Double-A and isn’t likely to be considered a candidate for a promotion anytime soon, despite his otherworldly production early in the 2018 campaign.

Yankees Recall Clint Frazier, Designate David Hale For Assignment

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The Yankees announced this afternoon that they’ve recalled outfielder Clint Frazier from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and designated right-hander David Hale for assignment in order to open a spot on the roster.

This’ll be the first big league stint for Frazier in 2018 after sustaining a concussion during Spring Training and spending the first few weeks of the season on the disabled list. He’s played in four games with Class-A Tampa and another 12 in Triple-A, raking at a .362/.423/.702 clip with three doubles, two triples and three homers in Scranton. He’ll add some additional depth in the outfield for a Yankees club and, for the time being, return the club to a 12-man pitching staff with the subtraction of Hale. His presence will also give the Yankees an additional bat on the bench for an upcoming NL series, which undoubtedly played a role in his promotion.

It’s the second time the Yankees have designated Hale for assignment this season. The 30-year-old inked a minor league pact with the Yankees this winter and was designated after tossing a pair of shutout innings on April 23 against the Twins. Once he hit waivers, it was actually Minnesota who claimed Hale, though the Twins were forced to DFA Hale themselves after just one rough appearance when their bullpen was stretched to thin levels by a series of rough losses. Hale wound up back with the Yanks on another minor league deal, had his contract selected once again, and allowed a pair of runs in three innings in yet another one-appearance stint with the Yankees last week.

Indians Place Bradley Zimmer On DL, Select Neil Ramirez

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The Indians announced today that they’ve placed outfielder Bradley Zimmer on the 10-day DL. He’ll be replaced on the active roster by righty Neil Ramirez, whose contract was selected. Clearing a 40-man spot was accomplished by shifting lefty Ryan Merritt to the 60-day DL.

Zimmer has been diagnosed with a left rib contusion, which does not seem likely to keep him out for too terribly long. The 25-year-old outfielder has been struggling quite a bit, with a .224/.283/.337 slash and 39 strikeouts through his first 106 plate appearances on the season.

The 28-year-old Ramirez, meanwhile, will again look to reestablish himself in the majors. He was once a quality pen option with the Cubs but has struggled in recent years. Ramirez was throwing quite well at Triple-A, compiling 17 2/3 innings of 2.55 ERA ball with a whopping 15.8 K/9 against just 1.5 BB/9.

Red Sox Place Carson Smith On 10-Day DL

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The Red Sox announced that righty Carson Smith has been placed on the 10-day DL with a subluxation of his right shoulder. He’ll be replaced for the time being by lefty Bobby Poyner.

It’s obviously not terribly promising news to hear that the injury is to Smith’s throwing shoulder. It’s still unknown at this point just what kind of absence the team expects from the veteran reliever, but it seems that it could be a rather serious matter.

President of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski told reporters, including Evan Drellich of NBC Sports Boston (via Twitter), that “it’s got the potential of being a major injury.” Smith, who hurt himself flinging his glove after a poor outing, will go for a second opinion.

The 28-year-old Smith had been playing a significant role in the Sox pen after missing most of the past two seasons. He carries a 3.77 ERA in 14 1/3 innings on the year, with 11.3 K/9 (on an 11.8% swinging-strike rate) against 3.8 BB/9 as well as a 52.5% groundball rate.

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