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Pirates Designate Kelvin Marte, Curtis Partch

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The Pirates have designated both lefty Kelvin Marte and righty Curtis Partch, the team announced. Their 40-man spots were needed to accommodate the organization’s latest wave of call-ups, which includes Tyler Glasnow, Pedro Florimon, Drew Hutchison, and Trevor Williams.

The 28-year-old Marte made his major league debut this year, throwing three and one-third scoreless innings but allowing two walks and five hits in that span while recording only a lone strikeout. He has converted to a relief role at Triple-A after previously working mostly as a starter, and carries a 3.67 ERA with 7.0 K/9 and 2.6 BB/9 over 73 2/3 frames there.

Partch, 29, was bombed in his two MLB appearances this year. But he was rather effective in his own stint at Indianapolis, compiling a 2.24 ERA in 60 1/3 frames. Partch notched sixty strikeouts in that span, though he also racked up thirty free passes.

The group of call-ups certainly holds some interest. Glasnow is the team’s highest-rated prospect, and he’ll return after making his debut earlier in the year. Trevor Williams has impressed at Triple-A despite lacking gaudy strikeout numbers. Florimon always seems to play a role somewhere in September, given his versatile glove.

And then there’s Hutchison, who was picked up in the somewhat controversial trade that sent Francisco Liriano (plus his contract) and two prospects to the Blue Jays at the trade deadline. The 26-year-old, who will be arbitration-eligible again next year, has worked to a 4.50 ERA in his 36 frames with Indy, with peripherals (7.0 K/9 against 3.8 BB/9) that fall shy of his work earlier this year at Buffalo.

MLBTR Mailbag: Phils, Jansen, Trout, Jays

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Thanks as always for your questions. We’ll never get to them all, but remember to join our weekly chats if yours wasn’t covered here. (Steve Adams at 2pm CST on Tuesday; Jason Martinez at 6pm CST on Wednesday; and myself at 2pm CST on Thursday.)

We’re at the stage of the season where trades are scarce, and while extensions remain a possibility, free agency seems increasingly to be occupying our readers’ transaction-related baseball attention. Here are this week’s

What do you think the odds are that the Phillies can sign a big bat in the off season and speed up the rebuild? Would a high profile player have interest in going to Philly at this stage? – Anonymous

I don’t think the Philly front office will see free agency as an opportunity to speed up the rebuilding process so much as a chance to take advantage of the team’s relative resources. Philadelphia has to finish paying off a few veterans, but has basically completely cleared its ledger for future seasons. And this is the same organization that was not only one of the league’s biggest spenders not long ago, but recently inked a sizable new television deal.

My expectation is that the Phils will be looking at two types of players: First, undervalued, reasonably young players who could be signed to somewhat longer-term deals. Remember when the Twins snatched Phil Hughes for three years and $24MM? Perhaps a similar strike could allow the Phillies to fill a near-term need while delivering some upside. And second, low-cost bounceback candidates — something on the order of what they did in acquiring Jeremy Hellickson, Charlie Morton, and David Hernandez last winter.

But look, that’s not who you’re asking about! You want to know if they will challenge for a truly premium free agent. I honestly think they could pull it off if they wanted to, since they’d likely be pursuing multiple such targets and could pitch them all on the same vision. Agents would know the organization has the assets to make it happen. But this just isn’t the right time to do that. There have been positive and negative developments from young talent, as you’d expect, but the existing roster doesn’t look like a 2017 contender unless you put on your rose-colored glasses. And it isn’t as if this market is full of the kind of younger, premium free agents that would allow for a reasonable gamble.

At the end of the day, Matt Klentak and co. aren’t likely to make any decisions now that have any potential to seriously gum up the finances a few years down the line. That means no Yoenis Cespedes, in my view.

Do you think that the Dodgers will sign their top free agents such as Kenley Jansen and Justin Turner? Or will they go bigger and better for Aroldis Chapman, etc.? – Jacob M.

Reports suggest that Los Angeles has real interest in pursuing Jansen, Turner, Chase Utley, and Rich Hill (more on Hill here), so there’s every reason to believe that they’ll be targeted to some extent. That being said, as the team’s decision not to match the D-Backs on Zack Greinke shows, there will likely be stopping points in the Dodgers’ efforts to re-sign these players or pursue alternatives.

To me, the interesting aspect of this question relates to the relievers. For one thing, Jansen has a combination of relative youth and premium talent that the other major Dodgers free agents don’t. Comparing him to Chapman, moreover, you’d be hard pressed to identify one or the other as the more appealing investment, particularly when one considers that L.A. already pulled back from a chance to add Chapman over his domestic violence situation. And teams are generally more successful at bringing back their own free agents, though that may be attributable mostly to the fact that they have better information when they decide to pursue them.

Regardless of what happens, Jansen’s situation ought to tell us something about the Dodgers. Since Andrew Friedman took over, the club has signed only one pen arm — Joe Blanton — to a reasonably significant contract (one year, $4MM). But as the halted agreement to add Chapman shows, the Dodgers believe in the value of premier late-inning arms. Jansen has spent his entire career in the organization and is as steadily dominant as you could hope. Perhaps he’ll be the type of reliever that even this Dodgers front office is comfortable with paying absolute top dollar to retain?

Do teams actually target specific prospects when looking to trade players away? Were the Yankees actually looking for Gleyber Torres or Dillon Tate, for example, or did those just end up being the best prospects/packages on the market? It seems more likely to me that trades would be driven from the demand side, even if the club says afterward that they got who they wanted. – Anonymous

When general managers are asked about trade possibilities as the trade deadline begins to approach, you’ll often hear platitudes from prospective buying organizations about looking at all options and considering many different ways to improve. But they’ll also acknowledge that their scouts are trying to pin-point exactly who is playing well and can help fill the biggest needs.

We tend not to hear about this from the sell side, but really it’s a similar process. The major difference is that, except with regard to some upper-level prospects, the point isn’t to fill a need so much as it is to achieve prospect value. That means assessing the talent levels of various young players to facilitate negotiations when the time comes.

So, are those particular players targeted, or is it more the case that the selling organization picks the package it most values? It’s probably highly situation-dependent. But teams with major veteran MLB trade assets, especially, have some ability to aim for certain prospects they want to pursue — so long as they are playing for organizations that will make a worthwhile match. Consider these comments from Brewers GM David Stearns early in July, which suggest that the process requires identifying which rival organizations are most likely to be interested so that their best pieces can be identified: “You try to get a sense of what other clubs are doing, where you might have fits, so you can begin to do additional target work on certain target organizations.”

The Angels need to trade Mike Trout this winter. They have him and will finish 4th or last in their division.  They could finish there without him so why not get full value for him while you can? What is a prospective trade that you think would actually get it done? – Jeff D.

Sorry, but I am not going to get baited into trying to piece together a trade for the single most valuable player/contract asset in baseball! And really, I’m not sure that the Angels should be looking to trade away a player who might end up as one of the greatest in history. This is a large-market organization that can find other ways to deal with its many needs.

That being said, I actually think that some who have tried to guess at Trout deal scenarios are failing to recognize his true worth. At any given point in time over the last several years, there were perhaps a handful of players who seemingly approached him in terms of on-field ability and overall contract value. And yet, it is Trout who is always there right at the top of the leaderboards, even as the would-be contenders change season by season. Much like Clayton Kershaw, that is what sets him apart.

Interestingly, only Josh Donaldson comes anywhere near to Trout in terms of fWAR since the start of 2014. Looking back to the true start of Trout’s career in 2012, though, it’s a total landslide — he has been nearly 50% more productive than anybody else in that span. And Trout just turned 25 a month ago, so he still has many prime years left to go. Really, it’s all just astounding — he has already out-WAR’ed all but 211 position players since the game of baseball was invented. He’s a unique player who would require a unique trade package to acquire at this point — you’d have to start with any other team’s best young trade pieces and add loads of talent from there — in the unlikely event that the Halos are even willing to listen.

What are your current salary projections and length of contracts that will be needed for the Blue Jays to re-sign the trio of Edwin Encarnacion, Jose Bautista, and Michael Saunders? And which, if any do you think will resign with Toronto? – Matthew H.

I wasn’t going to answer this question at first — you want contract projections for three guys with a month of the season left to go?! — but I think it’s worthwhile to address. In my view, the general market standing of Encarnacion and Bautista is relatively static at this point, while that of Saunders is an utter wild card.

EE has now established himself as one of the truly elite sluggers in the game. There have been a few in-season ups and downs, but he hasn’t strayed very far from the ~.900 OPS level over the last five seasons. At 33 years of age, Encarnacion is younger than Victor Martinez was when he locked down four years and $64MM and is about the same age that Nelson Cruz was when he got $57MM over four seasons. But the Blue Jays star has a far more consistent and impressive track record than either of those power hitters did when they signed. The recent lawsuit against him poses some real questions, but from a purely on-field perspective, I think he will come close to — but perhaps not quite reach — the Hanley Ramirez contract (which was 4/$88MM).

You might think that Bautista is more variable, but in my view the biggest impact of his relatively mediocre, injury-riddled campaign is in the number of years he can expect to command. Heading into his age-36 season, Bautista looks like a classic three-year candidate. He still has impeccable plate discipline, and his drop in power can be explained by the injuries and a bit of bad luck (.242 BABIP). Plus, he has a .200+ ISO, has popped 17 home runs in 408 plate appearances, is producing plenty of hard contact, and comes with a highly-regarded work ethic. I’m not necessarily ready to put a specific price tag on Joey Bats, but I think it’s fair to expect that he’ll come in around the general range of Encarnacion on an annual basis with one less guaranteed season. Things only get really interesting if you start considering opt-out scenarios; he may find that appealing, but would need to sacrifice the total promised money to get it done.

That brings us to Saunders, who has an impressive overall batting line but carries only a .194/.300/.411 slash in his last 150 plate appearances. He has actually hit opposing southpaws quite well, albeit in limited action. One major remaining question is whether he’ll receive a qualifying offer; if one is issued, he’d have to strongly consider it, as it could really hurt his market. Given that uncertainty, and the importance of the final month for a player who has not been healthy enough to post full seasons of late, it’s too soon to offer any real predictions.

(Oh, and this is just my hunch, but I’m betting that all three find new homes this winter.)

Astros To Promote David Paulino

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The Astros have decided to call up right-handed pitching prospect David Paulino, according to Jake Kaplan of the Houston Chronicle (via Twitter). Because he already held a 40-man roster spot, no corresponding move will be required.

Paulino, a towering 22-year-old righty, drew top-100 prospect consideration entering the year from Baseball America. And he has largely continued that momentum, improving to 47th on BA’s midseason top 100 and rating as MLB.com’s 76th-best prospect in the game on their own midseason rankings.

The appeal here is obvious: Paulino has a huge frame and a mid-nineties heater to go with a quality curve. His third pitch, a change, is somewhat less developed but seems to hold the promise of being a useful major league offering. Paulino comes with a big ceiling, scouts say, but it remains to be seen how the entire package will translate at the major league level.

Paulino has impressed thus far in 2016, at least when he has been on the mound. He served a suspension for a violation of team rules in the middle of the year — the situation remains murky — meaning that he has only accumulated 90 total frames on the season. That still rates as a career-high for a hurler who had undergone Tommy John surgery before he was sent from the Tigers to the Astros as the player to be named later in the Jose Veras trade.

Despite that hiccup, Paulino obvious did enough to convince the Astros brass that he was worthy of a shot at the majors. He burned through Double-A, posting a 1.83 ERA with 10.1 K/9 and 1.5 BB/9 over 64 frames, earning a bump to the highest level of the minors. Though Paulino has allowed 16 hits and six earned runs over his 14 frames (spread over three starts) at Triple-A, he has managed to compile an appealing 20:6 K/BB ratio.

For the ’Stros, it’s hard not to wonder whether there’s at least some connection between the move and the recent loss of staff ace Dallas Keuchel. While Paulino’s precise role remains unclear, the injury to Keuchel may have made the organization more willing to roll the dice on an unproven arm — whether in the rotation or some kind of relief role. Even if it is somewhat sub-optimal to rely on Paulino at this stage, he certainly delivers some upside and didn’t require any roster maneuvering.

As for service-time considerations, the move will obviously get Paulino’s ticker started. If he opens the 2017 season in the majors, then the extra days of action will have no impact. If, however, the Astros decide they’d like to further delay his free agency, then time spent in the bigs this season will extend the number of days he’d need to stay down next year.

Latest On David Wright

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Mets third baseman David Wright is hoping that an upcoming visit to his back surgeon will result in the beginning of an uphill climb back to the majors, as Jon Heyman of Fan Rag reports. Wright says that it’s just a routine visit, but there seems to be at least some optimism that he’ll be cleared to start some light baseball activities or arrive at a timeline for taking that step.

While it was largely a foregone conclusion already, the news leaves no doubt whatsoever that Wright won’t return in 2016. When he underwent surgery for a herniated disc in mid-June, a three-month timetable had been suggested, which made a late-season activation at least theoretically possible.

Instead, Wright will be looking to build back for 2017. In some regards, there’s no rush, as he’ll have an entire offseason to prepare. But given that he has been limited to light exercise thus far, the hope will surely be that there is sufficient healing in Wright’s neck to allow him as much time as possible to get back in shape and tune up his baseball skills.

There could also be some implications for the Mets, who are no doubt watching warily to see how Wright bounces back. He was already dealing with a serious back issue, diagnosed as spinal stenosis, before the neck surgery became necessary. And at 33 years of age, Wright was already entering a decline phase. Creating a back-up plan, at least, seems an obvious necessity. Even though New York remains on the hook for $67MM through the 2020 campaign, it likely can’t fully count on Wright at this point — though he has made clear that he is committed to a return.

Finding a fill-in could simply be a matter of looking within, of course. Adam Rubin of ESPNNewYork.com suggested recently on Twitter that the organization views Jose Reyes as a “hedge” against Wright being unavailable. It seems fair to think that Wilmer Flores would be a viable possibility, and New York has several other, less-established options on its depth chart as well.

That being said, with other infield needs — the pending departure of second bagger Neil Walker and potentially also first baseman Lucas Duda (who is an uncertain tender candidate) — it’s also not unimaginable that the Mets will try for a winter strike to add another player capable of manning the hot corner. How great a priority that is may well depend upon what kind of progress Wright can show over the next month or two.

Matt Duffy Expected To Undergo Season-Ending Surgery

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TODAY: Duffy will likely remain active through the end of the week before having the surgery, Topkin tweets.

YESTERDAY: Newly-acquired Rays infielder Matt Duffy is expected to undergo season-ending surgery, according to Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. The procedure would “address the lingering soreness stemming from his earlier left Achilles injury,” per the report.

Duffy, acquired as the headliner in the swap that sent Matt Moore to the Giants, has continued to struggle at the plate since heading to Tampa Bay. All told, he owns only a .260/.312/.360 batting line over 364 plate appearances on the year. He has hit five long balls and swiped eight bases, though he has also been caught five times after going 12-for-12 on stolen base attempts a year ago.

The Rays are obviously banking on a return to form at the plate. Duffy benefited from a .336 BABIP in 2015, but nevertheless impressed with a solid .295/.334/.428 batting line. Even with some regression, a slightly above-average bat would conceivably make Duffy a highly valuable asset, as he rated as an outstanding defender at third with strong baserunning contributions last year. There are some questions there, too, however: Duffy hasn’t compiled stellar metrics since converting to short, though it’s a very small sample and he had primarily played at the hot corner of late, and his baserunning numbers took a huge dive in 2016 (-3.0 BsR, per Fangraphs).

Certainly, the nagging injury could go a ways toward explaining Duffy’s assorted struggles. He told Topkin that the soreness has lingered, with particular problems when playing on the turf infield at Tropicana Field. A surgical option has been on the table since June, the infielder noted, but the timeline for making a decision had shortened. “The only thing would be the recovery time,” said Duffy. “We want to be 100 percent sure that we’re ready to go by next season. I guess that’s one of the concerns.”

Tampa Bay still has plenty of time to make good on its end of the bargain, and certainly won’t be overly concerned with keeping Duffy on the field late this year with the postseason out of reach. The club controls him for four more seasons, and will be obligated only for the league minimum in 2017.

The need to replace Duffy for the rest of the season presents the Rays with many options, which Topkin details. Tim Beckham and Taylor Motter do not appear ticketed for the majors, he says, which could open the door for a move back to short for Brad Miller and/or some time there for Nick Franklin. Another player who could get a chance is prospect Daniel Robertson, though Topkin suggests the club may actually be “more likely” to go outside the organization and add a short-term veteran such as Alexei Ramirez.

Central Notes: Leake, Rosenthal, Jimenez, Hamilton

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The Cardinals announced yesterday that righty Mike Leake will be activated from the 15-day DL to start on Wednesday, as MLB.com’s Jenifer Langosch tweets. His return from a bout of shingles is welcome news as the team battles for a Wild Card berth. Leake had struggled rather notably of late — he carries a 5.71 ERA and has allowed a .824 OPS over his last seven starts — but he’ll look to get back on track and contribute some solid innings down the stretch. If he can’t get it going, the Cards will be able to turn back to sensational 22-year-old Alex Reyes, who will be bumped from the rotation for the time being but figures to be available for high-leverage innings or lengthier outings from the bullpen.

Here’s more from the central divisions:

  • Meanwhile, injured Cardinals reliever Trevor Rosenthal may have a shot at joining Leake in returning to the club this year, ESPN.com’s Mark Saxon reports. He just returned to the mound for the first time since he was shut down with a forearm strain, Saxon notes. While he’ll obviously need a chance to ramp back up before there’s any chance of a major league return, it would seem wise for the organization to do everything possible to get Rosenthal in action before season’s end. After all, the 26-year-old could yet be an important contributor if he can overcome his sudden command problems, and the Cards need to gather all the information they can before deciding whether to tender him a contract for 2017.
  • Despite the Tigers’ need for bullpen help, the club has decided not to promote intriguing righty Joe Jimenez, as Evan Woodberry of MLive.com reports. It seems the club isn’t sure that the 21-year-old yet possesses the secondary offerings needed to succeed in the majors, as he certainly has the numbers to support a promotion. After opening the 2016 season at the High-A level, the Puerto Rican hurler pushed his way to Triple-A. He didn’t maintain his gaudy 14+ K/9 strikeout rate there, but the overall results were quite promising for a pitching of his age. In his 15 2/3 frames at the highest level of the minors, Jimenez allowed four earned runs on just nine hits and four walks while retiring 16 opposing hitters via the K.
  • Billy Hamilton will likely make it back this year for the Reds after suffering a strained left oblique, C. Trent Rosecrans of the Cincinnati Enquirer tweets. Still, though, he won’t resume any baseball activities for five to seven days, and seems likely to be out at least some time beyond that as the out-of-contention Reds play things safe with their speedy center fielder. The silver lining here may be that Cinci will find it easier to plug versatile prospect Jose Peraza into the lineup. He has been on a tear since his most recent big league promotion, and seems in need of regular time as the organization assesses its offseason plans.

Dallas Keuchel Sidelined With Shoulder Inflammation

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Astros lefty Dallas Keuchel will miss at least two starts due to shoulder inflammation, Houston GM Jeff Luhnow and manager A.J. Hinch both said today. Mark Berman of FOX 26 reported Luhnow’s comments (Twitter links), while MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart spoke with Hinch.

At present, it seems, the team doesn’t yet know the cause or full extent of the problem. As such, it’s not yet clear whether Keuchel will be able to return to help drive a push for the postseason, or appear if the team qualifies. Houston is all but buried in the AL West, but entered play today two games off of the Wild Card pace.

The 28-year-old Keuchel hasn’t been at his best thus far in 2016, as he carries a 4.55 ERA over 168 frames — well off of the sub-3.00 rate he maintained over the last two campaigns. Still, he has rated as a solid performer in the eyes of ERA estimators while maintaining quite useful peripherals (7.7 K/9, 2.6 BB/9, 56.7% groundball rate). With his average fastball lagging by over a mile per hour as against recent campaigns, though, Keuchel has been hurt by the long ball (16.4% HR/FB rate) — the same issue that plagued him before his 2014 breakout.

Despite the struggles, Keuchel remains a largely irreplaceable piece for the ’Stros, with the absence of Lance McCullers Jr. further amplifying the problem. At this stage of the season, especially, the club needs every quality inning it can get.

Both Luhnow and Hinch acknowledged that the timing of the injury raises the possibility that Keuchel won’t return in 2016. “I don’t know the answer to that,” the GM said when asked if the southpaw would make it back. “I don’t think anybody really knows the answer to that.” As the skipper put it, “where we’re at on the calendar, it’s going to bring the obvious questions, but we just don’t know right now.”

Efforts to address the inflammation have not yet proven successful, Hinch explained. Keuchel first had pain in his last start, on August 27, and experienced discomfort when he tried to throw on Sunday. And attempts “to give him some gaps in time in giving him some rest periods … hasn’t solved it,” said Hinch. Ultimately, the manager noted, Keuchel will not be allowed to resume throwing “until he’s pain-free.”

The biggest question, perhaps, is whether a deeper structural problem is at play. That’s completely unknown at this point, though more information may become available once Keuchel undergoes a full examination by medical professionals.

Even if he can dodge a broader issue, the injury is likely to cost Keuchel some arbitration earnings. He won’t reach 200 innings for the third-straight season, only has nine wins on his record, and will be weighed down by the sub-par earned run average. Of course, he is working from a monster first-year arb award of $7.25MM, which obliterated prior high-points for first-year arb-eligible starters, so Keuchel will remain a major arbitration earner in his second season of eligibility.

Phillies Outright Darnell Sweeney

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The Phillies have outrighted infielder/outfielder Darnell Sweeney, as Matt Breen of Philly.com tweets. While it isn’t yet clear how the 40-man spot will be used, Breen’s colleague Matt Gelb previously reported that righty Alec Asher could get the call.

Sweeney, 25, struggled in brief MLB action last year and had spent the entire 2016 season at Triple-A. Over his 443 plate appearances, he slashed just .232/.299/.346. Sweeney, who came over in the Chase Utley trade, had been looked upon as a possible utility piece, given his wide positional flexibility.

The 24-year-old Asher, meanwhile, is in an interesting situation. He is now eligible to return from a PED suspension, but cannot participate in the minor league playoffs because of that ban. Instead, he may become the latest piece of the Cole Hamels deal to join the current Philadelphia roster.

Like Sweeney, Asher scuffled in his major league debut in 2015. But he has been strong in his limited action on the farm this year, posting a 2.37 ERA over 64 2/3 innings — most of them at Double-A or Triple-A — with 6.4 K/9 against just 1.4 BB/9. Per Gelb, the Phils are interested in getting a look at the right-hander while also helping to fill innings down the stretch.

Jay Bruce Clarifies Report On His Trade Deadline Preferences

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Slugging outfielder Jay Bruce was finally traded this summer after over a year of speculation, ultimately going from the Reds to the Mets. Hal McCoy of the Dayton Daily News suggested recently that Bruce had asked not to be shipped to New York before the deadline. But the veteran clarified today that he had never made such a request, as Anthony McCarron of the New York Daily reports.

In fact, says Bruce, Cincinnati asked him “very early in the process” if he had a preference on a trade destination. He explains that he provided his long-time organization a list of three teams — the Giants, Rangers, and Dodgers — that he would have preferred due to “personal ties” to those locales.

While he might have liked to land elsewhere, Bruce says that he was more than happy to join the Mets. “I got a chance to come play in a playoff race and I’m so happy to be here,” he said. “Things get misconstrued. Yes, New York was not on my list initially, that’s really all there is to it. Definitely wasn’t as comfortable with New York as I was the other places, but I’m happy to be here and we’re doing exactly what I hoped to do when I got here.”

It’s worth remembering that Bruce did have limited no-trade protection. He obviously wasn’t all that troubled by the idea of going to the Mets, as they were not among the eight teams to which he could block a trade. (For what it’s worth, the Yankees were on that list.) It’s important to bear in mind that players often have multi-faceted reasons for preferring certain organizations — whether in settling on a no-trade list, communicating with their current organization, or navigating free agency — potentially including personal preferences, family constraints, and considerations of contract leverage.

In Bruce’s case, it certainly seems as if he was most interested in playing for a winning organization, as his comments suggest. After all, earlier this summer, he made clear he would be willing to waive his no-trade clause to facilitate a move to a contending team.

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