Headlines

Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Tyler Skaggs Diagnosed With Mild Flexor Strain; No Ligament Damage Found

By | at

6:42pm: Skaggs’ MRI revealed no damage to his surgically repaired ulnar collateral ligament, tweets Pedro Moura of the Los Angeles Times. General manager Billy Eppler told reporters that Skaggs has a “mild flexor pronator strain” and will sit out for the next week (also via Moura, on Twitter). The southpaw could still pitch again in 2016, tweets Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register.

7:52am: Angels lefty Tyler Skaggs has been scratched from his outing today with tightness in his forearm, as Pedro Moura of the Los Angeles Times was among those to tweet. Instead, he’ll head in for an MRI on the trouble area.

The organization is surely holding its breath while awaiting the results of the imaging. Skaggs, 25, finally returned recently from his August 2014 Tommy John surgery. After two years of recovery, another scare in the elbow area is the last thing anyone wanted to go through.

Things had been progressing rather well for the talented southpaw before this news. In his nine starts on the year, he logged 48 frames with a 4.13 ERA and excellent 9.4 K/9 against 3.9 BB/9. The hope, surely, is that he will be able to log thirty-plus high-quality starts in 2017.

For the Halos, any questions surrounding Skaggs are yet more concerning given the healthy-related uncertainty of other key arms. Andrew Heaney is already out for all of 2017 after his TJ procedurew, while Garrett Richards remains a question mark as he tries to stave off a UCL replacement. As I just explained in assessing three key needs for the organization, securing pitching depth is essential — but figures to be a challenge with a low-supply free agent market.

It’s certainly too soon to jump to any conclusions about Skaggs, who is obviously and understandably being handled with added care. As MLBTR contributor Bradley Woodrum has written in explaining his statistical assessment of Tommy John likelihood, prior TJ surgery is a significant indicator of future susceptibility, and Skaggs had already been slow to make his way back.

Braves Acquire Josh Collmenter

By | at

5:31pm: David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution tweets that Collmenter is actually more likely to help the Braves’ Major League roster and could even draw a start for the Braves on Saturday. With right-hander Williams Perez sidelined by an elbow impingement after a pair of rough starts earlier this month (via O’Brien on Twitter), it seems that Collmenter will be a depth piece at the big league level.

Collmenter entered the season with exactly five years of service time and won’t reach the requisite 172 days to move up to six years of MLB service time, so he can be controlled through the 2017 season via arbitration if the Braves wish.

5:23pm: The Braves announced that they’ve acquired right-hander Josh Collmenter from the Cubs in exchange for cash. The longtime D-backs hurler joins fellow righty Joe Wieland as the second pitcher picked up by the Braves today in exchange for cash.

Josh Collmenter

The 30-year-old Collmenter was the Diamondbacks’ Opening Day starter as recently as 2015 but lost his rotation spot after a poor start to that season. Collmenter thrived in a bullpen role for his final 52 innings in 2015 and remained in the ’pen to open the 2016 campaign. (The offseason additions of Zack Greinke and Shelby Miller and the return of Patrick Corbin from the disabled list all but closed the door on a return to the rotation.) In 22 1/3 innings of relief work this season, however, Collmenter labored to a 4.84 ERA and was ultimately released by the D-backs. He went on to ink a minor league pact with the Cubs and posted a 2.25 ERA across 16 Triple-A innings with his new organization, though his 9-to-8 K/BB ratio wasn’t especially encouraging.

Collmenter, like Wieland, will give Atlanta some pitching depth as the team’s Triple-A affiliate continues on in the playoffs. But, like Wieland, he’ll also be able to elect free agency at season’s end if he’s not added to the 40-man roster, so his time with the Braves organization could potentially be quite brief in nature.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Braves Acquire Joe Wieland From Mariners

By | at

The Braves have acquired right-hander Joe Wieland from the Mariners, reports ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick (via Twitter). MLB.com’s Mark Bowman tweets that the Mariners will receive cash in return. The 26-year-old Wieland was outrighted off Seattle’s 40-man roster (for the second time this season) in late August, so he won’t immediately require a 40-man spot from the Braves.

Wieland once looked like a potential back-of-the-rotation option for the Padres, logging a 4.55 ERA across his first five MLB starts on the heels of some promising minor league work in 2011-12, but he underwent Tommy John surgery shortly thereafter and struggled with his recovery before being traded to the Dodgers as part of the Matt Kemp blockbuster. Seattle acquired him this past offseason in exchange for minor league infielder Erick Mejia, but Wieland’s struggles became more pronounced than ever early in his Seattle tenure, and the Mariners outrighted him to Triple-A in early May.

Wieland opened the season with a dreadful 17.31 ERA through his first 13 1/3 innings, prompting that initial outright, but he actually recovered after that unthinkably poor start. From May 4 through Aug. 6, Wieland posted a 3.67 ERA with an 83-to-23 K/BB ratio in 90 2/3 Triple-A innings before having his contract once again selected to the Major League roster. He made one start for the Mariners at the big league level, surrendering six runs in five innings, before being optioned back to Triple-A and eventually outrighted off the 40-man a second time.

Per Bowman’s tweet above, he’ll provide the Braves’ Triple-A roster with some additional rotation depth throughout the remainder of the postseason. While he could potentially serve as rotation depth for the big league team as well, Wieland has enough Major League service time to elect free agency at season’s end if he’s not on the 40-man roster. In 52 2/3 MLB innings, Wieland has a 6.32 ERA with 6.7 K/9, 3.2 BB/9 and a 40.6 percent ground-ball rate.

Lourdes Gurriel Hosts Showcase For MLB Clubs

By | at

Lourdes Gurriel Jr., the younger brother of Astros infielder Yulieski Gurriel, hosted a showcase for 60 to 70 Major League scouts today in Panama City, per a pair of reports from MLB.com’s Jesse Sanchez and El Nuevo Herald’s Jorge Ebro.

The Marlins had a pair of scouts on hand to watch Gurriel, per Ebro, while the Houston Chronicle’s Jake Kaplan reported yesterday that the Astros would be in attendance as well. And earlier this month, FanRag’s Jon Heyman reported that the Cardinals were planning on attending the workout, too. Realistically, though, given the number of scouts reported to be in attendance and the fact that the younger Gurriel brother is one of the most well-regarded prospects on the international scene, it’d probably be more notable to list the teams (if any) that didn’t attend his showcase. Heyman said that roughly 20 teams were likely to be represented, and it wouldn’t come as much of a surprise if that number ended up closer to 30.

Gurriel, 22, is currently subject to international bonus pools. That, however, will change next month on Oct. 19 when he celebrates his 23rd birthday. Despite his relative youth, Gurriel spent parts of six seasons playing in Serie Nacional, Cuba’s top league, meaning he’ll have the requisite experience to qualify as a professional upon turning 23, thus exempting him from bonus pools and allowing him to a Major League contract with any team for any amount and length.

Gurriel began his pro career in Cuba at just 16 years of age and batted .277/.362/.426 in 305 games from 2010-16, including an impressive .344/.407/.560 with 10 homers and eight steals across 59 games in his final season on the island. Capable of playing both shortstop and center field, Gurriel showcased his skills at both positions today, per Sanchez, fielding grounders and turning double plays from the shortstop position while also catching fly balls and making throws from center field. He also took four rounds of batting practice, two rounds against live pitching and ran a 6.65 in the 60-yard dash (all via Sanchez’s report). Sanchez writes that Gurriel’s physique and strong arm drew praise, though some teams felt he could use some more work against live pitching.

From here, the likeliest step for Gurriel will be to conduct private workouts for teams with interest in signing him. Because he’s unlikely to sign before his birthday, the Wasserman client should have ample time to allow multiple clubs to make an evaluation before agreeing to terms with a team. In the above-linked piece from the Houston Chronicle, Kaplan spoke to Baseball America’s Ben Badler about Gurriel’s overall skill set, with Badler explaining that the soon-to-be 23-year-old could open next season in Double-A or Triple-A, suggesting that a reasonably quick rise to the Majors is possible.

Blue Jays Hire Ben Cherington As VP Of Baseball Ops

By | at

The Blue Jays have announced the hiring of Ben Cherington as vice president of baseball operations, as Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.ca first reported. Cherington was speaking with other organizations about other roles before deciding to head to Toronto, per the report.

Ben Cherington

Blue Jays president Mark Shapiro has been hard at work revamping his team’s front office, and he’s now set to hire a familiar face. Cherington is best known for his time as the Red Sox general manager, but got his start in baseball under Shapiro when the latter was in charge of the Indians.

Ross Atkins is already in place as the Toronto GM — he’s also an executive VP — and he won’t be supplanted. Instead, Cherington will “work closely” with player development director Gil Kim and report to Atkins, the team says. The “emphasis” will be on the player development side, Davidi writes.

There were both successes and failures for Cherington during his time at the helm of the powerful Boston organization. He helped deliver a World Series after taking over for Theo Epstein before the 2012 campaign, but also oversaw some disappointing seasons. Cherington decided to leave the organization after it hired Dave Dombrowski as president of baseball operations in the middle of 2015 and has not worked for another team since — instead serving as an “executive in residence” at Columbia University.

Cherington still commands broad respect around the game, making him an intriguing addition for the Jays. It doesn’t hurt that some of the seemingly poor moves he made with the Red Sox look better at this point than they have in the past. More important, though, are the deals he didn’t make. Players like Mookie Betts, Xander Bogaerts, and Jackie Bradley Jr. were often mentioned as trade candidates in years past, but they are now providing immense value to the Sox. Cherington’s ability to assess and develop young talent will no doubt provide an asset to his new club.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

NL Notes: Wright, deGrom, Matz, Kang, Padres Prospects

By | at

A trip to the doctor resulted in generally positive news for Mets third baseman David Wright, Jon Heyman of Fan Rag reports. Wright’s surgically-repaired neck is said to be healing as hoped, though Wright will not even be able to do full-scale workouts until next spring. Still, it seems that he and the team have reason to hope that he’ll be able to attempt a comeback for 2017.

  • Meanwhile, the Mets are considering an interesting way of working injured starters Jacob deGrom and Steven Matz back into the major league mix, as MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo was among those to report. If both are ready to pitch, but not handle a full starter’s workload, then the pair could work in tandem in a single outing, skipper Terry Collins suggested. With wins at a premium, that ought to represent a potent one-two punch, especially since the righty/lefty combo would be hard to match up against.
  • It doesn’t appear as if the investigation into sexual assault allegations against Pirates infielder Jung Ho Kang is progressing much, as Andrew Goldstein of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports. The Chicago police who are looking into the claims say that they are not having success in making contact with the woman who says she was assaulted by the Korean star. At this time, though, it appears that it still remains an open matter. The police “are seeking clarification on several items to corroborate the allegations made,” police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said. MLB commissioner Rob Manfred has stated that the league will not take action on the matter until the investigation has progressed.
  • Four significant Padres prospects have notably yet to receive major league promotions this year, as Jason Martinez of MLBTR and Roster Resource recently explored. The organization has preferred to keep those players together for the Triple-A playoffs, MLB.com’s AJ Cassavell writes, with manager Andy Green saying that more call-ups are expected once the PCL campaign has wrapped up. Catcher Austin Hedges seems to be an easy call now that a promotion won’t cost the team a year of control, as he’s already on the 40-man and the team just lost Christian Bethancourt. Manuel Margot is also on the 40-man, but the team may wish to watch his service time. Meanwhile, a bump for outfielder Hunter Renfroe and/or infielder Carlos Asuaje could make sense since both need roster spots this winter for Rule 5 protection.

Cardinals Activate Michael Wacha For Pen Duty, Consider Rotation Change

By | at

The Cardinals have activated righty Michael Wacha today, MLB.com’s Jenifer Langosch tweets. While that represents a welcome return, he will not slot into his accustomed spot in the rotation. After missing over a month with shoulder issues, there simply isn’t time for him to build up to a full workload.

[Related: Updated Cardinals Depth Chart]

When Wacha moves into the pen, he may soon find company from another starting stalwart. According to ESPN.com’s Mark Saxon, St. Louis is still undecided whether to allow Jaime Garcia to take the ball when he is next scheduled. The 30-year-old lefty has struggled to a 4.65 ERA over 164 2/3 innings on the year, and has been hit hard particularly of late.

Instead, the Cards may turn to young righty Alex Reyes, who continues to impress in multiple roles. Whether functioning as a single-inning reliever, starting, or taking a long relief role, Reyes has racked up the strikeouts (34 in 28 innings) and kept runs off the board (1.29 ERA). After opening the year with a suspension for marijuana use, Reyes has still yet to hit 100 frames — a fair bit shy of his prior career-high of 116 1/3. While he also threw in extended spring training, St. Louis ought to have some flexibility in utilizing him without concern of over-use.

Though the team certainly faces some tough decisions, it seems at least two starters will end up in the pen. That could come in handy down the stretch and (the team hopes) in the postseason, giving skipper Mike Matheny the ability to piggyback starters, get multiple quality relief innings, and generally stay flexible in managing his pitchers’ workloads.

Regarding Garcia, it’s tempting to wonder whether a potential move out of the rotation could be the beginning of the end of his time with the Cardinals. His $12MM club option isn’t exactly a slam dunk given his rough year and past injury issues, though a barren market for starting pitching likely makes that a reasonable value. Even if it is picked up, St. Louis could conceivably market the talented lefty.

AL Notes: Gomes, Pearce, Despaigne, Judge, Sale, Medlen

By | at

The Indians expect to welcome back catcher Yan Gomes on Friday, Paul Hoynes of the Plain Dealer reports on Twitter. Gomes had been sidelined with a separated shoulder that was considered a threat to end his campaign, but it seems he’ll have a chance to come back online in advance of a likely postseason berth. That’s welcome news for Cleveland, which has struggled to find production from the catching position. Of course, Gomes himself has scuffled to a .165/.198/.313 batting line, but the club can at least hope he’ll return to providing quality glovework while hopefully swinging out of his malaise.

Here’s more from the American League:

  • Orioles utility slugger Steve Pearce is set to visit Dr. David Altchek tomorrow for his arm injury, Eduardo Encina of the Baltimore Sun reports. Pearce’s elbow/forearm issues have failed to abate, leaving the club unsure of his status as the postseason push intensifies. The 33-year-old has managed only 70 trips to the plate since he was picked up at the trade deadline, with his production trailing off with the injury.
  • Meanwhile, the Orioles have placed righty Odrisamer Despaigne on waivers, per Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com (Twitter links). Given that Despaigne was designated on the fifth, Kubatko suggests that the O’s were trying to work out a deal before settling for the wire. The 29-year-old carries a 5.60 ERA over his 27 1/3 innings on the year, with 5.6 K/9 against 4.9 BB/9, so he doesn’t figure to hold much appeal at present.
  • The Yankees have ordered an MRI for outfielder Aaron Judge after he came down with an oblique injury, Jack Curry of YES Network reports (Twitter links). It remains to be seen whether the 24-year-old will be able to make it back to finish out his late-season promotion. He has struggled thus far in the majors, with 41 strikeouts in 93 plate appearances, and New York will surely hope to get him as much work as possible to assess his readiness to contribute in 2017.
  • White Sox ace Chris Sale has already seen his name tossed around quite a bit in trade talks, and he figures to be an intriguing trade candidate this winter, but he tells Bruce Levine of CBS Chicago that he hopes to stay in Chicago. “I don’t worry about that stuff,” Sale said. “That will shake out on its own. I wear this uniform with a lot of pride. I hope I can continue to do that.” Of course, the South Siders will not part with the star southpaw lightly, if at all. The 27-year-old has turned in another strong campaign, putting up a 3.03 ERA with 9.1 K/9 and 1.9 BB/9 over 201 2/3 innings.
  • Righty Kris Medlen hopes to return to the Royals in 2017, MLB.com’s Jeffrey Flanagan reports on Twitter. The former standout hurler struggled badly in limited action this year, and hasn’t pitched since May owing to shoulder issues. That makes it an easy decision for the team to pay him a $1MM buyout rather than picking up his $10MM option, but something else could be worked out if Kansas City sees cause for optimism. “I feel like I’m not done yet with this team,” said Medlen. “I feel like I owe them something.”

A’s Unlikely To Retain Danny Valencia For 2017

By | at

SEPT. 13, 10:49pm: Valencia’s roster spot isn’t at risk now, but he is unlikely to return for 2017, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports. She notes that it’s unclear whether he could be traded or non-tendered.

Read more

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