Headlines

Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Minor MLB Transactions: 6/10/17

By | at

Saturday’s minor moves:

  • Utilityman T.J. Rivera has lost his spot on the Mets’ roster, as the team optioned him (and right-hander Tyler Pill) to Triple-A on Saturday, Mike Puma of the New York Post was among those to report (Twitter link). The Mets sent Rivera and Pill down to make room for outfielder Yoenis Cespedes and righty Seth Lugo, both of whom are back from the disabled list. Rivera ranks among the Mets’ top nine in plate appearances this year, having taken 114 and batted a passable .255/.310/.402. He swatted his second home run of the season Saturday, but it wasn’t enough to stave off a demotion.
  • The Padres have outrighted righty Tyrell Jenkins to make room for reliever Carter Capps, whom they reinstated from the 60-day disabled list and optioned to Triple-A El Paso, tweets AJ Cassavell of MLB.com. A former big-time prospect with the Cardinals, Jenkins joined the Padres off waivers from the Reds over the winter and has struggled with San Diego’s Triple-A affiliate, notching a 6.71 ERA, 6.42 K/9 and a 5.98 BB/9 over 61 2/3 innings in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League. Capps, meanwhile, continues to work his way back from the Tommy John surgery he underwent as a Marlin in 2016.
  • The Twins have selected the contract of left-hander Nik Turley from Triple-A and optioned fellow southpaw Randy Rosario, per Phil Miller of the Star Tribune (on Twitter). Minnesota will need to dump someone from its 40-man roster to make room for the addition of Turley, who has excelled at both the Double-A and Triple-A levels this season. The 27-year-old will make his major league debut Sunday with a start in San Francisco, with which he was a farmhand in 2015.

Rosenthal’s Latest: Pirates, Orioles, Twins, Mariners

By | at

At 27-35, the Pirates on track to miss the playoffs for the second straight year. But the club’s recent woes aren’t threatening the job security of either GM Neal Huntington or manager Clint Hurdle, says FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal, who reports that the two are good bets to sign contract extensions before the season ends. Huntington has been at the helm since 2007, Hurdle dating back to 2011, and the team has gone to the playoffs three times during their six-plus-year partnership. The Pirates are now headed for their fourth sub-.500 season under the Huntington-Hurdle tandem, though, and look as if they’ll sell at the deadline, as MLBTR’s Charlie Wilmoth wrote earlier Saturday.

More from Rosenthal:

  • The Orioles have experienced a fair amount of success since 2012, when they hired GM Dan Duquette to team with manager Buck Showalter. Despite that, Duquette and Showalter have an “unsteady” relationship, according to Rosenthal. Therefore, with their contracts set to expire after next season, one or both might end up on the outs in the near future. Showalter, who will be 62 after next season, could take over Duquette’s current job, per Rosenthal.
  • If the 32-26 Twins remain in contention around the deadline, not only will they have a hard time parting with trade candidates such as Ervin Santana and Brian Dozier, but they could end up as buyers, suggests Rosenthal. In that situation, the Twins would likely target cheap starting help to aid a rotation that’s missing Phil Hughes and Hector Santiago, both of whom are on the disabled list. Hughes and Santiago have struggled even when healthy this year for Minnesota, whose rotation entered Saturday a solid 12th in the majors in ERA but a troubling 26th in FIP.
  • The Mariners will have to address long-term needs in their rotation either at the deadline or during the offseason, notes Rosenthal. Hisashi Iwakuma, Yovani Gallardo and Drew Smyly are only under control for another two years at the most (the first two have club options for 2018), leaving Seattle with James Paxton, Felix Hernandez and Ariel Miranda as its only current prominent starters under contract through 2019.

Cafardo’s Latest: Yankees, Vargas, Gray, Cobb, Volquez

By | at

The Yankees are 35-23 and atop the AL East, but both GM Brian Cashman and manager Joe Girardi are currently lame ducks, notes Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe. Cashman isn’t worried about his contract status, telling Cafardo: “I’ve been to this point a few times now. It’s just not unusual. It’s not something you can spend a lot of time thinking about. When the time comes, hopefully things will be taken care of, but it’s not something I talk a lot about.” Cashman, in his 20th year as the Yankees’ GM, is likely underpaid, writes Cafardo. The same goes for Girardi, who has been in his position since 2008. Both make around $4MM per year, which Cafardo points out is a far cry from the salaries of contemporaries such as Cubs president Theo Epstein ($10MM), manager Joe Maddon ($7MM) and Dodgers president Andrew Friedman ($7MM).

Now for the latest pitching-related rumblings from Cafardo:

  • Royals left-hander Jason Vargas and Athletics right-hander Sonny Gray are the hurlers who are most asked about in trade discussions (in that order), reports Cafardo. While Vargas is a soft-tossing 34-year-old with below-average strikeout and ground-ball rates (7.14 and 37.0, respectively), he’s only walking 2.06 batters per nine and his run prevention hasn’t shown signs of wavering this season. Vargas’ ERA is currently at 2.18 through 74 1/3 frames and hasn’t gone over 2.39. Unlike Vargas, who will be a free agent next winter, Gray comes with multiple years of team control. He’s on a more-than-reasonable $3.575MM salary this year and isn’t scheduled to become a free agent until after the 2019 season. The 27-year-old Gray hasn’t prevented runs to the extent that he did from 2013-15 (2.88 ERA in 491 frames), but he has rebounded from a dreadful 2016 to log a 4.37 ERA, 8.94 K/9, 2.66 BB/9 and a 56.7 percent grounder rate over 47 1/3 innings. Also, his 3.35 FIP is right in line with the 3.36 mark he registered from 2013-15.
  • The Yankees are leaving the door open for southpaw C.C. Sabathia’s return in 2018, according to Cafardo. A free agent in the offseason, Sabathia’s next deal certainly won’t come anywhere close to his expiring five-year, $122MM contract. Still, the erstwhile ace is making a case for a decent payday at the age of 36. Across 71 1/3 innings this year, the soft contact-inducing Sabathia has recorded a 3.66 ERA, 7.32 K/9, 2.9 BB/9 and a 48.8 percent ground-ball rate.
  • Righty Alex Cobb is the Rays starter most likely to end up on the move by the trade deadline, relays Cafardo. The 29-year-old hasn’t been as stingy as he was prior to 2015, when he underwent Tommy John surgery, but has given the Rays 79 2/3 innings of 4.29 ERA ball (with a matching FIP) this year. Along the way, the impending free agent – who’s on a $4.2MM salary – has somewhat offset a low K/9 (6.44) with a quality BB/9 (2.6) and generated grounders at a 43.9 percent clip.
  • If the Marlins go into fire-sale mode, righty Edinson Volquez could draw interest, suggests Cafardo. The offseason signing has been lights out recently, especially during his 11-strikeout no-hitter last Saturday, and has dropped his ERA nearly a run and a half over the past three weeks (from 4.87 on May 18 to 3.41). Volquez, 33, has helped his cause by pairing his best K/9 in five years (8.52) with a 48.6 percent ground-ball rate, though his BB/9 (4.59) is also at its highest since 2012. An acquiring team would take on the remainder of Volquez’s $9MM salary this year and another $13MM in 2018.

Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Mariners, Braves, Bucs, Nats, Dodgers, Rox

By | at

This week in baseball blogs:

Please send submissions to ZachBBWI @gmai.com.

Brewers Place Jonathan Villar On DL, Promote Lewis Brinson

By and | at

The Brewers have announced that they’ve placed infielder Jonathan Villar on the 10-day DL with a lower back strain. To take Villar’s place on the active roster, the Brewers have promoted outfield prospect Lewis Brinson.

Villar’s injury is the latest setback in a miserable campaign for a player who was an offensive standout for the Brewers last year. Then a shortstop/third baseman, Villar led the majors in stolen bases (62) and delivered a terrific .285/.369/.457 batting line with 19 home runs in 679 plate appearances. Villar, now a second baseman, remains a threat on the base paths (14 steals), but his work at the plate hasn’t given him the opportunity to swipe as many bags. Across 248 PAs, Villar has batted a meager .213/.283/.342. As long as Villar’s out, the majority of the work at the keystone figures to go to Eric Sogard, who has hit a red-hot .375/.500/.609 in 80 PAs.

With Brinson now up, Milwaukee has added its two best prospects in as many days, having promoted left-hander Josh Hader on Friday. Brinson is regarded as the better of the two, as Baseball Prospectus (No. 12), MLB.com (No. 13), FanGraphs’ Eric Longenhagen and Baseball America (No. 20) each rank the 23-year-old among the game’s 20 best prospects, while ESPN’s Keith Law (No. 38) is only slightly less bullish.

Brinson joined the Brewers last summer as the centerpiece of the package they received from the Rangers for catcher Jonathan Lucroy and reliever Jeremy Jeffress. The right-handed-hitting Brinson, a first-round pick in 2012, has done nothing but produce since he joined the Milwaukee organization, slashing .382/.387/.618 in 93 PAs with its Triple-A affiliate in Colorado Springs last year and .312/.397/.503 in 204 plate trips this season. Along the way, Brinson has drawn walks in 10.8 percent of PAs and added six homers and seven stole bases. Brinson has the type of power and speed that could lead to his emergence as a 30-30 threat in the majors, according to MLB.com. Unsurprisingly, his speed also comes in handy in center field, continues MLB.com, as it it helps him overcome “shaky jumps and reads.”

Brinson could open in left field for the Brewers (depth chart), whose top option, Ryan Braun, has been on the disabled list since late May. Once Braun returns, it’s unclear how the Brewers will handle the young outfield quartet of Brinson, Domingo Santana, Keon Broxton and Brett Phillips for the rest of the season and in the coming years. All four have minor league options remaining, and only Santana has fared well this year at the big league level. If Brinson holds his own, it could lead to a bench role or a minor league demotion for the strikeout-prone Broxton, whose output has paled in comparison to that of both Braun and Santana. The Brewers could also trade Braun, who’s controllable through 2020, but there’s no indication they’re in any rush to do that.

In the event Brinson remains with the Brewers for the rest of the season, he’ll accrue 114 days of service time and should fall short of Super Two eligibility. If that happens, Brinson wouldn’t be eligible for arbitration until after the 2020 season and he wouldn’t be in line to hit free agency until the conclusion of the 2023 campaign.

Injury Notes: Stanton, Hernandez, Dozier

By | at

Here are a few notes on developing injury situations throughout the league.

  • Marlins slugger Giancarlo Stanton left today’s game with what appeared to be a hand or wrist injury after being struck by a 95-MPH fastball by Trevor Williams of the Pirates, Tim Healey of the South Florida Sun Sentinel and other reporters have noted. It appears, however, that Stanton and the Marlins have lucked out, as the team announced after the game that X-rays were negative and that Stanton only has a hand contusion. He is day-to-day.  Losing Stanton would have been a significant blow to the Marlins — he’s in the midst of a healthy and terrific .288/.365/.566 season, and the team, as Healey notes, is already dealing with injuries to lineup regulars Justin Bour, Adeiny Hechavarria and Martin Prado.
  • Phillies second baseman Cesar Hernandez suffered an oblique or abdominal injury on Friday and appears likely to head to the disabled list, CSNPhilly.com’s Jim Salisbury writes. Hernandez was not placed on the DL before today’s game, but he was not in the lineup. As Salisbury notes, the Phillies do have a good second base prospect in Scott Kingery who’s batting .304/.379/.621 at Double-A Reading, although Kingery has not yet played at Triple-A, so it’s unclear whether they would see him as a candidate to play second at the big-league level if Hernandez were to miss significant time.
  • The Royals have announced that OF/3B Hunter Dozier has been placed on the minor-league DL with a hamate fracture. Dozier, the eighth overall pick in the 2013 draft, currently ranks as the Royals’ top prospect, according to MLB.com. But he’s had a rough 2017 season, missing almost two months to start the season with an oblique strain and now dealing with his hamate issue, which will likely cause him to miss several weeks. Dozier batted .294/.357/.506 for Triple-A Omaha last season.

Orioles Designate Francisco Pena For Assignment

By | at

The Orioles have announced they’ve reinstated catcher Welington Castillo from the 10-day disabled list. To clear space for him on the active roster, they’ve designated fellow catcher Francisco Pena for assignment. Castillo had missed the last ten days with a groin injury, and Pena had served as Caleb Joseph’s backup during that time.

[Related: Updated Baltimore Orioles Depth Chart]

This is the third time the Orioles have designated the out-of-options Pena this year. The O’s acquired him from the Royals during the 2015-16 offseason, then optioned him back and forth between Triple-A Norfolk and the big leagues last season. They designated him the first time in Spring Training this year, then again in May. He has cleared waivers each time, so the O’s could be hoping to send him back to Norfolk yet again if he clears for a third time. The 27-year-old is a career .247/.292/.450 hitter in 327 Triple-A games. He’s regarded as a strong defender.

Pirates Designate Pat Light For Assignment

By | at

The Pirates announced today that they’ve designated righty Pat Light for assignment. The move clears space on the Bucs’ 40-man roster for righty Edgar Santana, who was promoted today, as anticipated, along with fellow reliever A.J. Schugel. The move fills the Bucs’ 25-man roster after the demotions of starter Tyler Glasnow and reliever Dovydas Neverauskas.

[Related: Updated Pittsburgh Pirates Depth Chart]

The 26-year-old Light has pitched this season for Triple-A Indianapolis, posting a 3.76 ERA and 6.8 K/9 over 26 1/3 innings, but with 5.1 BB/9. The former Red Sox first-round pick throws hard but has struggled with his control in the high minors and in brief big-league stints with Boston and Minnesota. The Bucs acquired him from the Twins in a minor deal in February.

The 25-year-old Santana got off to a late start to his pro career, making his pro debut in the Dominican Summer League at age 22, but he’s quickly emerged as one of the Bucs’ most interesting young relievers. This year, he’s posted a 1.93 ERA, 8.5 K/9 and 1.9 BB/9 over 32 2/3 innings with Indianapolis. He ranks 21st in MLB.com’s list of the Pirates’ top 30 prospects, receiving praise for his 96-97 MPH fastball and his slider.

Pirates Option Tyler Glasnow, Will Activate Jameson Taillon

By | at

The Pirates have optioned starter Tyler Glasnow and reliever Dovydas Neverauskas to Triple-A Indianapolis, MLB.com’s Adam Berry tweets. The idea, as Stephen J. Nesbitt of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette tweets, is that Jameson Taillon will return and start on Monday, with Chad Kuhl pitching in Glasnow’s rotation spot on Wednesday. There’s no official word on who will Glasnow and Neverauskas on the roster in the short term, although the agent for righty reliever Edgar Santana recently tweeted congratulations to his client for making it to the big leagues for the first time.

Of these moves, the most newsworthy is Taillon’s quick return. Taillon had surgery for testicular cancer in early May and returned almost immediately, hopping back into baseball activities and then making three rehab starts in the high minors during which he showed little rust. That he will have been able to rejoin the Pirates’ rotation so quickly is heartwarming news after his shocking cancer diagnosis. Before his surgery, he had a 3.31 ERA, 7.6 K/9 and 3.3 BB/9 over 31 1/3 innings this season.

Glasnow, who once joined Taillon atop lists of the Pirates’ best pitching prospects, has struggled greatly this season, posting a 7.45 ERA, 8.3 K/9 and 4.8 BB/9 over 54 1/3 innings. The 23-year-old has size and elite stuff, with a mid-90s fastball and an excellent curveball, but he has made little evident progress in the development of his control.

Taking Inventory: Pittsburgh Pirates

By | at

MLBTR is launching a new summer series entitled Taking Inventory, in which we’ll preview the potential trade chips that could become available on a number of likely and borderline selling clubs throughout the league.

Heading into the 2017 season, the Pirates looked like a potential contender, as it wasn’t hard to imagine scenarios in which Andrew McCutchen and Gerrit Cole bounced back, Jameson Taillon built on a strong rookie season, Josh Bell and Tyler Glasnow emerged as solid contributors and an offensive core built around McCutchen, Starling Marte and Gregory Polanco gave pitchers fits. Not much of that has happened, though, and the Bucs have also dealt with Jung Ho Kang’s visa limbo, Taillon’s unexpected testicular cancer diagnosis and Marte’s PED suspension. They’re now 26-35. While there might still be an outside shot they’ll contend, since no other club has yet run away with the NL Central, it looks increasingly likely they’ll consider selling as the summer progresses. If they do, here’s what they’ll have to offer.

Rentals

Tony Watson, LHP (reliever) | Salary: $5.6MM

Watson at one point might have been a good trade chip, but the Pirates recently bumped him from the closer role, and he’s posted a 6.00 ERA since the start of May. Watson is still left-handed, can touch the mid-90s, and has a good overall track record, however, so there’s still a chance a team could part with a real prospect to get him, particularly if he can reemerge over the next six weeks. He did pitch a scoreless inning yesterday against the Marlins, which is perhaps a good sign.

Juan Nicasio, RHP (reliever) | Salary: $3.65MM

The hard-throwing Nicasio appears to have finally settled in as a key contributor to the Pirates’ bullpen this season, posting a 1.35 ERA, 8.4 K/9 and 2.7 BB/9. That low ERA probably unsustainable, but he’s a good bet to continue to be successful. A team could also conceivably use him as a starter, but since he’s almost completely scrapped his changeup and tends to fare better as a reliever, it’s likely teams will pursue him as a bullpen asset. He could further boost his stock by pitching well in any save chances he gets in the wake of Watson’s demotion from the closer role.

Antonio Bastardo, LHP (reliever) | Salary: $6.5MM

Bastardo is currently on the DL with a quad strain (though he’s close to a return) and pitched miserably in April (allowing 12 runs and six walks in 6 2/3 innings). One team, the Mets, has already essentially dumped his contract when they shipped him to Pittsburgh for Jon Niese at last August’s non-waiver deadline. It’s unlikely Bastardo will have much value this summer, although he’s perhaps worth watching as a possible addition to the lefty reliever trade market if he returns and pitches reasonably before then.

John Jaso, 1B/OF | Salary: $4MM

Jaso boasts a good eye at the plate and has gamely attempted to be versatile in the field. Unfortunately, his abilities to hit for contact and power seem to be fading (he’s batting just .236 this season and has only three homers in 140 plate appearances), and he isn’t really an outfielder. He might attract limited interest from a team interested in a veteran left-handed bat off the bench.

Controlled Through 2018

Andrew McCutchen, OF | Salary: $14MM

McCutchen has a team option for 2018 worth $14.5MM, with a $1M buyout. The former MVP once appeared to be a significant trade asset, of course; even after a down 2017 season, the Pirates appeared last winter to be on the verge of trading him to the Nationals for a package that included Lucas Giolito and Dane Dunning. McCutchen’s even worse hitting performance in 2017 (.237/.319/.411), though, makes his mediocre 2016 season look like less of an anomaly, leading to questions about whether the Pirates would even exercise his option if they were to keep him beyond this summer. McCutchen seems to have gotten back on the right track in the past few weeks, batting .350/.449/.525 over the past 14 days. Another month or so of that kind of hitting would go a long way toward solidifying his market.

Daniel Hudson, RHP (reliever) | Salary: $5.5MM

Hudson is also under contract for 2018 at $5.5MM. He has not pitched well in 2017 (5.33 ERA, 8.2 K/9, 3.9 BB/9, although he’s fared decently since a five-run blowup against Miami in late April), and the Pirates, who believe in their ability to boost the stock of struggling pitchers, might be inclined to keep him and hope he benefits from their coaching.

Wade LeBlanc, LHP (reliever) | Salary: $750K

LeBlanc has a $1.25MM option or a $50K buyout for 2018. He has fared reasonably well this year (3.89 ERA, 7.5 K/9, 1.7 BB/9 over 37 innings), although he wouldn’t be an exciting pickup, given his modest pedigree and limited velocity. He could still attract interest from a team in need of a reliever capable of pitching multiple-inning stretches, although he would continue to be useful for the Pirates thanks to that ability, particularly if they were to trade other pitchers.

Jordy Mercer, SS | Salary: $4.325MM

Mercer has been a steady but unspectacular regular shortstop throughout his career and would have only modest trade value despite a solid .347 OBP this season. Particularly with Kang still on the restricted list, the Pirates don’t yet have an obvious replacement for Mercer. They might therefore be inclined to keep him.

Chris Stewart, C | Salary: $1.4MM

Stewart also has a $1.5MM option or a $250K buyout for 2018. The backup is currently on the DL and would have very limited trade value even if he were healthy.

Longer-Term Assets

Righty Gerrit Cole is controllable through 2019 through the arbitration process. Connor Byrne recently examined Cole’s trade candidacy, noting that the problem with Cole as a trade asset is that he hasn’t pitched well recently — he’s given up a total of 23 runs over his last four starts. The Astros have reportedly had interest in Cole, and they’d surely join a long list of teams making calls about Cole should be the Bucs make him available (which they reportedly haven’t). The Pirates, though, might be reluctant to part with him given the years of control they have remaining and the possibility that they could be selling low. Of course, teams might be willing to pay high prices for him anyway, given his stuff, solid peripherals (7.8 K/9, 2.0 BB/9, 45.7 GB%) and unsustainably high home-run rate. Cole could be an interesting player to watch as the summer unfolds.

Other longer-term assets who could potentially come up in trade discussions include Ivan Nova (controllable through 2019), Francisco Cervelli (2019), David Freese (2019) and Josh Harrison (2020). None of those players seem terribly likely to be traded, although it’s possible to imagine Cervelli or Freese heading elsewhere under certain circumstances. Cervelli is currently on the 7-day concussion DL, and youngster Elias Diaz has hit well in limited opportunities. Perhaps Cervelli could be dealt should the Pirates choose to rebuild more aggressively than it currently appears they will. Freese has batted .273/.376/.432 this season and would undoubtedly be an attractive trade candidate, although with Kang out, the Bucs can certainly still use him.

MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

Do not Sell or Share My Personal Information

hide arrows scroll to top