Rays Release Desmond Jennings
AUG. 30: Jennings has now cleared release waivers and is officially a free agent, tweets Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times.
AUG. 27: Tampa Bay has officially released Jennings, according to Bill Chastain of MLB.com.
AUG. 26: The Rays will release veteran outfielder Desmond Jennings tomorrow, the club has announced. He had been on the 15-day DL with a knee injury.
This isn’t the first time that Jennings has succumbed to leg problems. The 29-year-old was shelved earlier this year with a hamstring strain and underwent surgery last year on his left knee.
Injuries have coincided with a rather notable decline in performance of late, and Jennings no longer profiles as the quality everyday player he once was. Between 2011 and 2014, he contributed nearly 2,000 plate appearances of .249/.327/.402 hitting while swatting 47 home runs and stealing 86 bases. In the two seasons since, Jennings owns a .222/.295/.347 batting line with eight long balls and seven swiped bags in only 333 turns at the plate.
Jennings was earning $3.3MM in his second season of arbitration eligibility. Even if he catches on with another organization and makes it back to the majors this year, Tampa Bay will remain on the hook for the remainder of that less a pro-rated portion of the league minimum salary. Jennings profiled as a likely non-tender candidate at year end, but will instead hit the open market a bit early.
While there’s obviously plenty of reason for pessimism with regards to Jennings’s future in the game, there are still some positives. Defensive Runs Saved rates him as a quality defender, though that assessment wasn’t shared by UZR. And Jennings is still relatively youthful, as he won’t turn 30 until October. Clubs looking for a bounceback candidate or fourth outfielder will surely consider him this winter, at least assuming he is able to show that he’s back to full health.
Pirates Designate Kyle Lobstein For Assignment
The Pirates announced that they have selected the contract of left-handed pitcher Kelvin Marte and, in order to clear a spot on the 40-man roster, designated fellow southpaw Kyle Lobstein for assignment. Additionally, the Bucs have recalled infielder Alen Hanson from Triple-A and optioned right-hander Jameson Taillon and lefty Steven Brault to their rookie-level affiliate in the Appalachian League. (That pair figures to be recalled in short order once rosters expand, of course.)
Lobstein, 27, was acquired by Pittsburgh in an offseason trade with the Tigers and wound up tossing 25 innings out of manager Clint Hurdle’s bullpen this season. The soft-tosser worked to a 3.96 ERA with a 15-to-12 K/BB ratio and a 50 percent ground-ball rate while holding opposing lefties to a comedic .083/.241/.083 slash line in an admittedly small sample of 29 plate appearances. Right-handed batters, consequently, tattooed Lobstein at a .324/.400/.507 clip in 81 PAs. In 128 career innings at the big league level, Lobstein has a 5.06 ERA with 5.2 K/9, 3.2 BB/9 and a 49.8 percent ground-ball rate.
As for Marte, the 28-year-old will be making his big league debut if he gets into a game with the Bucs. The longtime Giants farmhand has pitched to a 3.67 earned run average in 73 2/3 innings at the Triple-A level this season and owns a lifetime 3.39 ERA in 790 2/3 minor league innings.
Pirates, Yankees Complete Ivan Nova Trade
The Pirates and Yankes have completed the mid-summer swap that sent Ivan Nova to Pittsburgh, per an announcement. Outfielder Tito Polo and lefty Stephen Tarpley are headed to New York in the swap as the players to be named later.
As MLBTR’s Charlie Wilmoth recently examined, Nova has been every bit the buy-low, bounceback candidate that the Bucs hoped he would be. Over five starts since coming to Pittsburgh, the 29-year-old has posted a 2.87 ERA over 31 1/3 frames with 22 strikeouts against one solitary walk. Pittsburgh will only get to enjoy the fruits of the turnaround for the next month, as Nova is set to hit the open market after the season, but he has helped keep the club in contention.
In return for Nova, the Bucs will end up parting with a reasonably interesting pair of young players, both of whom cracked MLB.com’s most recent top thirty organizational prospect list. Polo, who just turned 22, cruised through the Class A level but has seen his power dissipate over 247 plate appearances at High-A (.276/.351/.346). The 23-year-old Tarpley — a 2013 third-rounder who came to the Pirates in the deal that sent Travis Snider to the Orioles — has spent the entire year at the High-A level, posting a 4.32 ERA with 8.1 K/9 and 3.3 BB/9 over 100 innings.
Latest On Neil Walker, Steven Matz Injuries
The Mets revealed a double dose of negative injury news today, with manager Terry Collins updating the health of second baseman Neil Walker and lefty Steven Matz.
Walker, it seems, has a fairly significant back issue that will need to be carefully managed for the rest of the season, Collins told reporters including Marc Carig of Newsday (via Twitter). The skipper declined to specify the precise issue, but suggested both that Walker will need regular time off and that it’s a matter of at least some long-term concern (via Mike Puma of the New York Post, on Twitter).
That’s pretty awful news both for the club and for Walker, who is a free agent after the season. The 30-year-old has been excellent in New York, slashing .282/.347/.476 over 458 plate appearances, and seemed primed to receive and decline a qualifying offer en route to a nice free agent payday. Instead, there’s now serious (albeit still largely-unknown) concern about his condition.
It’s a similar story with regard to Matz, who has suffered a setback in his effort to work back from shoulder issues. The problem isn’t believed to be a structural issue or major long-term issue, but Collins acknowledges that he’s concerned the young southpaw won’t be able to return in 2016, as MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo tweets.
The 25-year-old Matz has been excellent when healthy, pitching to a 3.16 ERA over 168 frames since reaching the majors last year. But he has battled through lat, elbow, and shoulder issues already in his brief MLB career.
MLBTR Live Chat: 8/30/16
Click here to read a transcript of today’s MLBTR live chat with host Jeff Todd.
Notes On Tim Tebow In Advance Of Today’s Showcase
Better known for his college football prowess and brief but intrigue-filled NFL career, former quarterback Tim Tebow is stepping onto the diamond today in an effort to show that he is worth developing as a corner outfielder. It’s questionable whether he can make the transition at the age of 29, which is about the time that many top major leaguers are reaching free agency. You can read more background and details of today’s showcase right here.
Here are the latest notes before scouts get their first look:
- Tebow’s undertaking to pursue a late-breaking baseball career grew from a side consideration into a full-blown effort, ESPN.com’s Jerry Crasnick writes. While Tebow has begun to make believers out of some of those who have worked with him — including former MLB backstop Chad Moeller and long-time big league pitcher David Aardsma — he still has some work to do in convincing scouts and front offices. But Crasnick explains that there are some in the baseball ops world who are genuinely intrigued by a player who did turn some heads back in his high school days — if mostly for his pure athletic ability and evident leadership skills. Those inclined to learn more about Tebow’s unique quest would do well to read all of Crasnick’s detailed, rather interesting piece.
- Even before he hits the field today, Tebow has drawn an offer from a respected Venezuelan winter league team, the Aguilas del Zulia, according to Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports. The team’s general manager, Luis Amaro — brother of former Phillies executive and current Red Sox coach Ruben Amaro Jr. — says that Tebow is “a great talent.” While it remains to be seen whether his athletic ability can fully translate, Amaro says it’s worth finding out: “I know baseball is a hard game,” he said, “but he’ll either adjust and show he’s ready to play pro ball or not. I think it’s low risk, high reward for Zulia.”
- Certainly, a Venezuelan winter ball assignment wouldn’t be the equivalent of leaping to the majors, but it represents a stiff test for any player. Many current and hopeful big leaguers hone their skills there and in other winter ball settings. Notably, too, Aardsma says that he believes Tebow is capable of reaching the Double-A level as soon as the 2017 season, the veteran reliever told Anthony McCarron of the New York Daily News.
Submit Your MLBTR Mailbag Questions
With August nearing an end, it’s last call for teams to add players from outside their organizations who’ll be eligible to play in the postseason. It’s also time we put in a call for another mailbag. Submit your questions via email to mlbtrmailbag@gmail.com.
Wondering about final roster tweaks? Questions about arbitration decisions that are right around the corner? Have thoughts on how the free agent market might be shaping up? Send ’em our way!
East Notes: Red Sox, Marlins, Albies, Snitker, McCann, Verrett
Recent struggles in the Red Sox bullpen look ominously familiar to president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski, writes ESPN Boston’s Scott Lauber. As Lauber notes, a faulty bullpen was a frequent Achilles heel for Dombrowski’s Tigers teams that made the postseason (or came close to doing so), and the relief corps is the weak link for Boston right now. The July acquisitions of Brad Ziegler and Fernando Abad haven’t been enough to solidify the staff (Abad has struggled quite a bit), leaving manager John Farrell with a great deal of uncertainty in the late innings. A return for Koji Uehara (more on that here), a successful transition to the bullpen for Clay Buchholz or Joe Kelly, and a last-minute add from outside the organization are three possible saving graces, Lauber writes, noting that Kelly in particular has excelled out of the bullpen at Triple-A Pawtucket.
More from the AL East…
- The Marlins are finally making good, to some extent, on the hopes and expectations that they carried into the 2015 season, and Patrick Dubuque of Baseball Prospectus breaks down the roster moves that set the stage for an interesting 2016 campaign. While most pundits were down on the organization’s dealings, many haven’t turned out as badly as feared. In the meantime, the club has received highly unexpected results from many players — some negative, but many quite positive (albeit questionably sustainable). Dubuque remains bearish on the Miami organization; you’ll want to give his piece a full read to gather the details.
- MLB.com’s Mark Bowman fielded some relevant questions from Braves fans. Among other items, he notes that the club now seems somewhat unlikely to promote infielder Ozzie Albies to join prospective double-play mate Dansby Swanson in the majors this year — even though he still has a chance at playing a major role in 2017. Speaking of next year, Bowman says it wouldn’t be surprising at this point if interim skipper Brian Snitker is retained, though the team has several other internal and external candidates it may wish to consider.
- The Braves‘ interest in bringing back Brian McCann will likely be revived in the offseason, Bowman further writes. He no longer looks like a terribly plausible trade candidate right now, and Atlanta may wish to explore the free agent market first. Improving the situation behind the plate and bolstering the rotation remain the club’s two major offseason goals, he adds. The team may also look at a third baseman, he suggests.
- The Mets are likely to bring righty Logan Verrett back to the majors today, ESPNNewYork.com’s Adam Rubin reports. While fellow right-hander Rafael Montero delivered some useful frames yesterday, he’ll need regular rest and isn’t expected to command a rotation spot anyway, so the club will use the opportunity to add a fresh arm to the mix. Verrett, 26, has turned in 25 2/3 quality frames as a reliever, but has struggled to a 6.45 ERA over a dozen starts on the year.
6 Impending Free Agents Who Have Hurt Their Stock
While the free agent market for the upcoming offseason didn’t look overly appealing entering the current campaign, it appears even weaker now that several prominent contract-year players haven’t lived up to their previous standards in 2016. As seen on this list, plenty of impending free agents have endured rough seasons, but the six we’ll highlight have arguably hurt themselves the most.
Jose Bautista, OF, Blue Jays: Multiple reports during spring training indicated that Bautista, 36 in October, was seeking a long-term pact worth upward of $150MM. If that type of deal seemed like a pipe dream for Bautista back then, it should now be an impossibility. (In a poll conducted yesterday, just 13 percent of MLBTR readers pegged Bautista as the recipient of a free agent deal spanning four or more seasons.) From his out-of-nowhere 2010 breakout through last season, Bautista amassed 3,604 plate appearances and combined to hit a superb .268/.390/.555. Along the way, he accounted for 32.5 fWAR – the majors’ fifth-highest total among position players – walked almost as much as he struck out (15.9 percent to 16.0 percent), and hit 28 more home runs (227) than his nearest competitor, Miguel Cabrera.
The version of Bautista who laid waste to opposing pitchers for six straight years hasn’t been present this season. While he’s still controlling the strike zone with aplomb (60 unintentional walks against 65 punchouts), his .229/.350/.454 line through 380 PAs looks closer to average than to spectacular. Bautista has also gone on the disabled list twice this summer, which would be less alarming if not for his age. Although he vowed in March to defy traditional aging curves, the bottom line is that Bautista has since failed to approach his previous production and dealt with multiple injuries. Those realities don’t bode well for Bautista’s earning power, but he should still reel in a sizable contract from Toronto or someone else. Closing the season on a tear for the World Series-contending Blue Jays would certainly help his cause.
Carlos Gomez, OF, Rangers: Arguably no major leaguer has declined more over the past year than Gomez, who could have lined himself up for a $150MM payday with another excellent season, as MLBTR’s Tim Dierkes wrote in March. Gomez, whom Houston acquired from Milwaukee for a significant haul last summer, began the season with a .210/.272/.322 line through his first 323 PAs. The Astros then pulled the plug on the Gomez experiment in August, releasing him just over a year after they traded for the erstwhile star.
Gomez caught on with the Rangers shortly after the Astros parted with him, but a change of Texas scenery hasn’t led to anything resembling a turnaround. In his brief stint in Arlington, the 30-year-old has gone 1 for 19 at the dish with 10 strikeouts and no walks. Gomez has never been great at avoiding strikeouts, but the 32.2 percent rate he has put up this year is easily the highest of his career, and it’s 11 percent worse than his clip from 2015. He has shown minimal power in the process, thereby rendering his swing-and-miss spike all the more damning. A plus defender in previous years, Gomez has also experienced a drop-off in the field this season. While he has done well stealing bases (13 of 15), that alone isn’t enough to make the free-falling Gomez a valuable player these days. It also won’t be enough for him to garner much money in the offseason.
AL Notes: Holland, Uehara, Bedrosian, Maybin
Rangers lefty Derek Holland has a lot at stake in his final month of the season — and, likely, the postseason to follow — as Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News explains. Holland, 29, is not only battling for a spot in the club’s playoff rotation, but also will be auditioning as the team considers whether to pick up his $11MM option for 2017. He has exceeded his limited inning tallies of the prior two campaigns, but still owns only a 4.68 ERA across 84 2/3 frames on the year. But his two outings since returning from his latest DL stint have been quite good — Holland has allowed just two earned runs over 12 innings on eight total hits and one walk, against ten strikeouts — and a continuation of that could make the option desirable once again. As Grant notes, Texas will need to weigh the lack of likely alternatives in free agency. Plus, parting ways with the southpaw would mean paying a $1.5MM buyout for 2017 while also passing on the rights to a $11.5MM option for the 2018 season (while coughing up another $1MM buyout).
Here’s more from the American League:
- The Red Sox could welcome Koji Uehara back to their bullpen as soon as next Monday, as Tim Britton of the Providence Journal reports. At one point, it seemed that the veteran righty could miss the rest of the season with a pectoral strain, but he’ll instead look to provide a boost to the Sox relief corps down the stretch. While there’s now optimism, Uehara says he won’t push too hard. “It makes no sense to rush at this point in time so I’ll try to be ready when I’m ready,” he said. “The biggest hurdle is getting over the injury mentally. I think I feel pretty good with where I am physically.” It hasn’t quite been a typical campaign for the 41-year-old, who sports an uncharacteristic 4.50 ERA, but he’s still carrying 12.8 K/9 against just 2.3 BB/9 and will be an interesting factor in the free agent market — particularly if he can show that he’s healthy in the final month of the season.
- Angels righty Cam Bedrosian is still assessing whether to undergo surgery to address a blood clot in his pitching arm, as Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times writes. The procedure would end his season, but the alternative — rest and medication — likely will as well at this point. Either way, it doesn’t appear to be a significant long-term concern, and doesn’t take much away from a breakout season from the 24-year-old. After posting ugly earned run totals in his first two efforts to conquer the big leagues, Bedrosian has tallied 40 1/3 frames of 1.12 ERA ball in 2016 with a strong 11.4 K/9 against 3.1 BB/9 and a 49.5% groundball rate.
- The Tigers are holding their breath yet again with regard to outfielder Cameron Maybin, who left tonight’s action with another thumb injury. As Evan Woodberry of MLive.com tweets, X-rays on his left thumb were negative, but an MRI has been scheduled for a closer look tomorrow. The 29-year-old has been a key cog for Detroit, slashing .328/.398/.415 with 14 steals over 286 plate appearances, but has already spent two stints on the DL — including one for an injury to the same digit that is causing the new trouble. Regardless of the prognosis, it seems fairly likely that the Tigers will end up seeing value in exercising a $9MM option to retain Maybin for 2017 rather than paying him a $1MM buyout.