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Quick Hits: Otani, Ortiz, Bour, Yanks, A’s

By Connor Byrne | June 5, 2017 at 10:33pm CDT

A left hamstring injury has limited Nippon Ham Fighters right-handed ace/left-handed slugger Shohei Otani to just eight games this year in what could be his final season in Japan. Otani’s going to stay on the shelf for a while longer, it seems, as Dylan Hernandez of the Los Angeles Times tweets that he won’t take the field again until at least July. All of the 22-year-old’s appearances this season have come at designated hitter. (In case you missed it, MLBTR contributor Chuck Wasserstrom recently put together a must-read piece on Otani.)

NL Notes: Harper, J. Peralta, Mets

By Connor Byrne | June 5, 2017 at 9:15pm CDT

Nationals right fielder Bryce Harper is in the midst of rebounding from a relatively disappointing 2016, which is putting him on track to secure a contract worth at least $400MM if he hits free agency after next season, writes Eddie Matz of ESPN.com. In the event Harper is willing to sign for a Giancarlo Stanton-esque 13 years (or more), a deal worth $500MM-plus might even end up on the table, Matz contends. At least one general manager agrees, telling Matz: “Four hundred million is light. It’s going to be more than that. If you could sign him to a 15-year contract, you do it. I would say something in the range of $35 million a year, maybe closer to the high 30s. It could approach 40 million dollars a year.” With his .324/.441/.648 batting line in 213 plate appearances this season, the 24-year-old Harper is making a case for a record payday, but one GM cautions that certain owners won’t be so gung-ho on breaking the bank for him. “Some owners will bow out because they think becoming the highest-paid player should be sufficient,” said the GM. “Having to go 10, 20, 30 percent above that is going to become increasingly challenging for people who are uber-successful businessmen.”

Minor MLB Transactions: 6/5/17

By Connor Byrne | June 5, 2017 at 8:07pm CDT

Monday’s minor moves from around baseball:

The Mariners announced that outfielder Andrew Aplin has cleared waivers and been outrighted to Triple-A Tacoma. Aplin, whom Seattle designated for assignment last Friday, joined the team in a trade with the division-rival Astros in late May. The 26-year-old still doesn’t have any major league experience on his resume, and has only hit .245/.341/.333 in 979 Triple-A plate appearances. Aplin’s defense has drawn positive reviews, however, with Baseball America lauding his “above-average, accurate arm” and “good routes and reads.”
The Angels have signed left-hander Jason Gurka to a minor league contract, as shown on the Pacific Coast League transactions page. Gurka opened the season with the Yankees’ Triple-A affiliate and posted a 5.40 ERA over 16 2/3 innings, thereby cancelling out excellent strikeout and walk rates of 10.8 and 1.08 per nine, respectively. The 29-year-old comes with some major league experience, though run prevention has been a significant issue for him at the game’s highest level. In 17 1/3 frames with the Rockies from 2015-16, Gurka logged a 9.35 ERA, but he did pair respectable strikeout and walk numbers (7.27 and 2.08) with a solid ground-ball rate (47.7 percent).

NL West Notes: Giants, Turner, Padres, Hoffman, Mathis

By Connor Byrne | June 5, 2017 at 6:48pm CDT

With the trade deadline approaching, the bottom-feeding Giants may soon have to “take some bold, big-picture steps,” writes Jerry Crasnick of ESPN.com. One potential problem for the Giants, if they end up selling, is that they might not have any players they could deal who would do much to restock their mediocre farm system, notes Crasnick. And even if they do try to move trade candidates such as Johnny Cueto and Jeff Samardzija, there are roadblocks in the way. Cueto has the ability to opt out of his contract at season’s end, of course, and neither that nor his relatively unspectacular output this year are doing his trade value any favors. Samardzija, meanwhile, has a 21-team no-trade clause, making it likely he’ll remain in San Francisco.

A look at the rest of the National League West:

Dodgers third baseman Justin Turner, on the disabled list since May 19 on account of a hamstring strain, could rejoin the team by the end of the week, tweets Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times. Turner will begin a rehab assignment with Class-A Rancho Cucamonga tonight. As they continue to await Turner’s return, the Dodgers are likely to recall utilityman Mike Freeman from Triple-A, according to J.P. Hoornstra of the Southern California News Group. Freeman, whom Los Angeles claimed off waivers from Seattle on May 26, would join Logan Forsythe and Enrique Hernandez in giving the Turner-less Dodgers another third base-capable option.
The Padres’ attempt to turn Christian Bethancourt into a viable pitcher probably isn’t going to pan out, observes Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune. The 25-year-old catcher/outfielder struggled mightily as a major league reliever this season before the Padres outrighted him in late April, and the experiment hasn’t gone much better in the minors. Across 10 1/3 innings with Triple-A El Paso, Bethancourt has given up 13 earned runs on 15 hits and 12 walks, with just five strikeouts. Bethancourt’s Triple-A woes have come in the notoriously hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League, leading Lin to wonder if the Padres would’ve been better off sending him to Double-A to develop.
Like Bethancourt, Padres catcher Luis Torrens has fared poorly this season. Nevertheless, the club hasn’t considered jettisoning the Rule 5 pick, according to AJ Cassavell of MLB.com. Torrens, a former Yankees farmhand and one of an unprecedented three Rule 5 selections on the Padres’ roster, has collected a mere five hits (four singles and a double) and two walks in 41 plate appearances. Still, San Diego remains bullish on Torrens, particularly as a defender, suggests Cassavell.
A lack of self-awareness kept Rockies right-hander Jeff Hoffman in the minors to begin the season, manager Bud Black told Nick Groke of the Denver Post. “You have to critically evaluate your performance,” Black said. “Was that a good pitch? Was that located well? Was that pitch truly where I intended it to be? Was the homer I gave up a good piece of hitting?” Hoffman seems to have improved in that aspect, as Black noted that the 24-year-old has “come a long way in a short amount of time in a lot of areas.” Ranked as Baseball America’s 27th-best prospect, Hoffman has produced spectacular results this year over 20 2/3 innings in Colorado (2.61 ERA, 11.32 K/9, .87 BB/9), and has made a case to stay in the team’s rotation even when the injured Jon Gray and Tyler Anderson return.
Thanks to his pitch-framing skills, Diamondbacks catcher Jeff Mathis has emerged as an important offseason signing, opines Travis Sawchik of FanGraphs. The light-hitting Mathis, whom the Diamondbacks added on a two-year, $4MM deal, has been a sizable upgrade behind the plate over predecessor Welington Castillo, as Sawchik details. The change in backstops seems to be benefiting right-hander Zack Greinke, who has pitched to Mathis in all 12 of his starts this year and bounced back from a pedestrian 2016.

Rangers Nearing Sam Dyson Trade

By Jeff Todd | June 5, 2017 at 5:45pm CDT

JUNE 5, 5:45pm: The Twins remain in the mix for Dyson, tweets Wolfson. Daniels indicated that four or five teams have made serious offers to acquire the reliever, per Shan Shariff of 105.3 The Fan (on Twitter).

4:37pm: Daniels told the Ben & Skin show on 105.3 The Fan on Monday that he’s weighing two to three offers for Dyson. The GM added that he hopes to trade Dyson in the next day or two (Twitter link via Jamey Newberg).

JUNE 2: The Rangers anticipate being able to find a trade partner for just-designated reliever Sam Dyson, Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News writes. The alternative, of course, would be to place Dyson on waivers and wait to see if he clears.

There are at least two teams said to be looking into the possibility of adding Dyson. That’s the case for the Rays, tweets Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times, though it’s not yet clear just how serious the interest is. And the Twins, too, are at least considering the possibility of bringing Dyson into their struggling pen, per Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN (via Twitter).

GM Jon Daniels suggested that Texas believes it will work out some kind of swap, given the interest shown already by rival organizations. He also made clear that Dyson does not have any health problems.

Rather, per Daniels, the struggling reliever “just hasn’t been able to get back to what we know he’s capable of.” With the Rangers still trying to hang in the postseason picture, it seems the club simply couldn’t afford to let him work things out at the major league level.

Through 16 2/3 innings on the year, Dyson carries a 10.80 ERA. Even more shockingly, he has managed just 3.8 K/9 to go with 6.5 BB/9. While he’s still pumping mid-nineties sinkers with the grounders (61.4%) to match, something is clearly amiss. Indeed, Dyson’s swinging-strike rate has plummeted to 5.8% after topping out at 12.4% in 2015.

There are some hurdles to a deal, beyond Dyson’s on-field problems. He’s only a Super Two player, increasing the upside for teams considering a move, but he’s already earning $3.52MM this year due to his saves tallies in prior campaigns. Plus, Dyson can’t be optioned — the same reason that Texas was forced to send him into DFA limbo in the first place.

Still, it’s possible to imagine any number of teams having interest in Dyson; after all, he carried a 2.45 ERA through 187 2/3 innings over the prior three seasons. Rebuilding teams could take a chance; clubs that have fallen back a bit could hope to strike gold; and certain contenders might even consider the idea of easing Dyson back in with low-leverage work. Scouting assessments will likely drive the decisionmaking process, but it will be interesting to see what kind of return the Rangers can manage to find in this situation.

Knocking Down The Door: Adams, Blackburn, Fisher, Meadows, Therrien

By Jason Martinez | June 5, 2017 at 5:22pm CDT

This week’s installation of “Knocking Down The Door” includes two highly-touted center field prospects, a reliever who had been doing his best Kenley Jansen impression in Double-A before a recent promotion to Triple-A, and a pair of starting pitchers who can’t be too far off from making their MLB debuts after dominating in their last outings.

Chance Adams, SP, New York Yankees (Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre)

If the Yankees, one of three teams in baseball to have only used five starting pitchers this season, need to dip into their farm system for rotation help, they appear to be in good shape with Chance Adams waiting in the wings.

The 22-year-old right-hander has risen up the ladder swiftly without much of a struggle in 220 2/3 minor league innings. After posting a 1.03 ERA in six Double-A starts to begin the season, he hasn’t slowed him down one bit since a promotion to Triple-A. He recently lowered his ERA to 1.57 after tossing one-hit ball over six shutout innings with two walks and a season-high 12 strikeouts in his fourth start with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

There doesn’t appear to be an immediate opening in the Yankees’ rotation, although Masahiro Tanaka’s recent performance—21 earned runs and 30 hits over his last 17 2/3 innings—might be an indication that he’s not completely healthy and could use a stint on the disabled list.

Yankees Depth Chart

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Paul Blackburn, SP, Oakland Athletics (Triple-A Nashville)

Acquired from the Mariners this past offseason for Danny Valencia, Blackburn has not wasted time in impressing his new organization. After not allowing a run in three of his last four starts, including seven shutout innings on Sunday, the 23-year-old has his ERA down to 3.26 with a 2.4 BB/9 and 6.7 K/9.

With Jharel Cotton’s demotion to Triple-A last month lasting only two starts due to injuries to Kendall Graveman and Jesse Hahn, Blackburn’s emergence could afford the A’s the opportunity to get him back down to there to work on things for an extended period this time around.

Athletics Depth Chart

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Derek Fisher, OF, Houston Astros (Triple-A Fresno)

It’s clear that Fisher’s overall game needs some work—50 strikeouts in 53 games; caught stealing 10 times in 19 attempts—and the powerful Astros lineup doesn’t appear to need any help right now. But it’s hard to ignore the rest of his numbers (.338/.397/.606; 14 HR, 16 2B, 19 BB) and not wonder how much more firepower he could add to the bottom of the Astros’ lineup in place of left fielder Nori Aoki, who isn’t doing much out of the No. 9 spot (.624 OPS).

Prior to a hitless game on Sunday, the 23-year-old Fisher had been on a nine-game hitting streak in which he had a .486 batting average (18-for-37), four doubles and four homers. It would likely benefit him to continue working on his game down in Triple-A, but he could also learn on the job in a low-pressure environment while giving the Astros much more production than they’re currently getting out of left field.

Astros Depth Chart

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Austin Meadows, OF, Pittsburgh Pirates (Triple-A Indianapolis)

When the Pirates were in need of an outfielder in mid-April after the 80-game suspension of Starling Marte was announced, Meadows was in a deep slump and not deserving of his first MLB call-up. With Marte’s return still more than a month away, however, it’s not too late for the Pirates to get a look at their top prospect, who has turned things around and has the potential to give a struggling team a much-needed shot in the arm.

Since posting a .503 OPS with five walks and 20 strikeouts in April, the 22-year-old has hit .302 with two homers, 12 doubles, 11 walks, 20 strikeouts and six stolen bases over his last 31 games. Adam Frazier, who is currently getting most of the starts in left field, has been one of the few bright spots for the Pirates. His ability to play multiple positions, however, makes him valuable as a super-utility man, which will be his role if Meadows gets the call.

Pirates Depth Chart

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Jesen Therrien, RP, Philadelphia Phillies (Triple-A Lehigh Valley)

Therrien is only one scoreless appearance into his first Triple-A stint, but if his numbers at Double-A are any indication—1.26 ERA, 28 2/3 innings, 14 hits, three walks, 39 strikeouts—the 24-year-old right-hander shouldn’t be far away from helping a beleaguered Phillies bullpen.

With Joaquin Benoit on the disabled list, Jeanmar Gomez demoted to the bottom of the depth chart and Edubray Ramos not having the impact the team was hoping for, the rebuilding Phillies could not only use some reinforcements, they could also start looking towards the future and finding out which young arms will be able to help them in 2018 and beyond.

Phillies Depth Chart

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“Knocking Down the Door” is a weekly feature that identifies minor leaguers who are making a case for a big league promotion.

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Nationals Designate Rafael Martin For Assignment

By Connor Byrne | June 5, 2017 at 5:20pm CDT

The Nationals have designated right-hander Rafael Martin for assignment, per a team announcement. As was previously reported, his spot on the Nationals’ 40-man roster will go to outfielder Ryan Raburn.

Martin, 33, debuted with the Nationals organization back in 2011 but didn’t crack the majors until 2015. Over the previous two seasons, Martin combined for 16 innings out of the Nats’ bullpen and, despite an excellent strikeout rate (16.88 per nine) and a decent walk rate (3.88), logged a 4.50 ERA. So far this year, Martin has tossed 24 1/3 frames with the Nationals’ Triple-A squad and recorded a 5.18 ERA, 7.77 K/9 and a 1.85 BB/9.

Eduardo Rodriguez Could Rest Knee For 3-4 Weeks

By Jeff Todd | June 5, 2017 at 4:28pm CDT

JUNE 5: Dr. James Andrews has advised Rodriguez to rest his knee for three to four weeks, reports Drellich. Rodriguez will avoid surgery for the time being, then, but Drellich notes that it’s not completely off the table. If he does end up having to go under the knife, Rodriguez would face a five- to six-month recovery, per Drellich. Fortunately, though, he doesn’t have any ligament damage.

JUNE 2, 3:30pm: Rodriguez suffered a subluxation — which is a partial dislocation of the kneecap that he is uniquely prone to — according to president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski (via Drellich; Twitter links). The expectation is that Brian Johnson will take the open rotation slot.

2:34pm: The Red Sox will place lefty Eduardo Rodriguez on the 10-day DL, according to Michael Silverman of the Boston Herald. Rodriguez experienced right knee discomfort today after slipping while getting ready for yesterday’s outing. Reliever Brandon Workman will take the open roster spot, per Evan Drellich of CSNNE.com (via Twitter).

Rodriguez was ultimately shelled yesterday, a rare dud of a start in what has been an excellent overall performance thus far in 2017. The 24-year-old southpaw owns a 3.54 ERA with 9.6 K/9 and 3.1 BB/9 through 61 innings on the year.

News of a knee injury is of greater concern in his case, though, given his history of such ailments. Rodriguez missed action with knee troubles in 2016 and tweaked the joint over the winter.

While it’s far from clear at this point how long Rodriguez will be out, the absence means the Boston rotation will again be without a key member for at least some time. David Price has only just returned to the majors, which momentarily gave the organization the kind of five-man group it had anticipated over the winter. Righty Steven Wright is expected to miss the entire rest of the season after undergoing surgery on his knee, so another fill-in option will ultimately be called upon to take Rodriguez’s next scheduled start.

Nationals To Place Jayson Werth On DL, Select Ryan Raburn

By Connor Byrne | June 5, 2017 at 4:20pm CDT

The Nationals will send left fielder Jayson Werth to the disabled list, reports Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post (on Twitter). Infielder/outfielder Ryan Raburn will take Werth’s place, Janes suggests, though adding him would put the Nationals over the 40-man limit.

Werth fouled a ball off his left foot during the Nationals’ loss to the Athletics on Saturday, and although he was on crutches Sunday, his injury doesn’t seem significant, tweets Janes. That’s a relief for a Washington club that’s already without its Opening Day center fielder, Adam Eaton, who’s unlikely to play again this season after he tore his left ACL at the end of April.

As Eaton was before landing on the shelf, the 34-year-old Werth has been a quality contributor for the Nationals’ elite offense this season. Playing the final season of the seven-year, $126MM contract he signed with the Nationals in December 2010, Werth has posted a .262/.367/.446 line with eight home runs in 196 plate appearances.

In Werth’s absence, the Nats have Raburn, Brian Goodwin and Adam Lind, primarily a first baseman, as candidates to play left field. Raburn, whom Washington acquired from the White Sox on May 26, has the most major league outfield experience of the three. The 36-year-old owns a respectable .253/.317/.436 line in 2,665 big league PAs and got off to a nice start this season with the White Sox’s Triple-A affiliate, hitting .277/.419/.434 in 105 trips to the plate. Raburn hasn’t been as successful at Triple-A with the Washington organization (.261/.269/.478), but he has only totaled 26 PAs since the trade.

AL East Notes: Austin, Beliveau, Rays, Sox

By Steve Adams | June 5, 2017 at 3:05pm CDT

The Yankees announced that they’ve reinstated first baseman/outfielder Tyler Austin from the 60-day disabled list and optioned him to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Austin, who suffered a foot fracture in Spring Training, has been limited to just 13 games on a rehab assignment thus far in 2017. He’s hit quite well in that time and comes with a very solid track record of performance in Triple-A. Given the terrible performance the Yankees have received their first basemen this season — they’re hitting a collective .150/.265/.278 this season — Austin could factor into the Major League mix for playing time if he continues to hit well in Triple-A.

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