Mariners Designate Luis Sardinas For Assignment
The Mariners have designated infielder Luis Sardinas for assignment, according to Bob Dutton of the Tacoma News Tribune (Twitter link).
Sardinas, whom the Mariners acquired from the Brewers for outfielder Ramon Flores in November, collected 77 plate appearances with Seattle prior to his designation and hit just .181/.203/.264. The 23-year-old added to his struggles by striking out in nearly a third of PAs (25) while walking only once. Notably, Sardinas has lined up at six different positions – including pitcher – this year. During his one-inning mound stint on July 29, Sardinas retired the vaunted Cubs in order on a mere eight pitches. Unfortunately, that has been the highlight in an otherwise disappointing season for Sardinas, who previously garnered a combined 230 trips to the plate with the Rangers and Brewers from 2014-15. In total, Sardinas has batted an ugly .218/.257/.268 with two homers in 307 big league PAs.
Blue Jays Place Jose Bautista On 15-Day DL
The Blue Jays have placed right fielder Jose Bautista on the 15-day disabled list with a left knee sprain and recalled outfielder Junior Lake from Triple-A Buffalo to take his roster spot, according to Brendan Kennedy of the Toronto Star (Twitter link). Bautista is the second full-time Jays outfielder to hit the DL this week, joining Kevin Pillar (thumb).
This is the second DL stint of the year for Bautista, who previously missed over a month on account of a sprained toe. Bautista just returned from that ailment July 25 before suffering his latest injury Tuesday. In the 80 appearances Bautista has made this year, he has hit a disappointing .222/.349/.444 in 355 plate appearances, though he has added 15 home runs while continuing to show mastery over the strike zone (16.3 percent walk rate versus a 17.7 percent strikeout rate). Still, combining the decline in Bautista’s 2016 numbers – which are well below the figures he has posted since breaking out in 2010 – with his age (36 in October) and two DL placements doesn’t seem to bode well for the impending free agent’s earning power during the upcoming winter.
From a team standpoint, losing Bautista is clearly a notable blow for playoff-contending Toronto, which carries a 64-50 record into Tuesday and is mere percentage points behind AL East-leading Baltimore. Without Bautista and Pillar, the Jays’ outfield alignment will consist of recent pickup Melvin Upton Jr. in center field, Michael Saunders in right and Darrell Ceciliani in left, as their depth chart shows.
Padres Request Release Waivers On Hector Olivera
The Padres have requested release waivers on infielder Hector Olivera, per a club announcement. He had been formally designated for assignment back on Aug. 2, and his release will become official in 48 hours once he clears said waivers.
San Diego acquired Olivera’s contract from the Braves in exchange for Matt Kemp prior to the Aug. 1 non-waiver trade deadline, but the acquisition was a formality. The Padres very clearly wanted nothing to do with Olivera, who was finishing up an 82-game suspension under Major League Baseball’s domestic violence policy at the time, and only agreed to take on his contract as a means of off-setting some of the money they were sending to Atlanta in the form of Kemp’s salary. Ultimately, the trade will save San Diego about $25.5MM, and Olivera will never suit up in a Padres uniform.
The 31-year-old Olivera’s future in Major League Baseball is questionable at best, from this point forth. Neither Atlanta nor San Diego even feigned interest in having Olivera join their active rosters following his suspension, and it stands to reason that others throughout the league will take a similar approach. Olivera was arrested at a Washington D.C.-area hotel back in April and charged with misdemeanor assault and battery of a woman who was reportedly hospitalized and had visible bruising.
While the 2016 season has seen both Aroldis Chapman and Jose Reyes land new jobs after serving suspensions under the same policy, neither wound up going to trial — Chapman was never even arrested — which very likely helped their cases. Furthermore, Olivera has never been a productive player at the minor league or Major League level. And while on-field success would in no way excuse the heinous actions for which he was arrested and charged, his chances of finding additional employment within a Major League organization would be greater had he in any way justified the ill-fated six-year, $62.5MM contract to which he was signed by the Dodgers.
If, for some reason, another club does decide to take a chance on Olivera with what would assuredly be a minor league contract, that club would be responsible only for the pro-rated portion of the league minimum for any time he spends in the Majors. (That sum would be subtracted from the remainder of what he is owed by San Diego.) However, it also seems possible that Olivera’s career in Major League Baseball has come to an abrupt end.
AL Central Notes: Maybin, Twins, Royals
The Tigers announced yesterday that outfielder Cameron Maybin has been placed on the 15-day disabled list due to a Grade 2 sprain of his left thumb. Maybin will join third baseman Nick Castellanos and right-handers Jordan Zimmermann and Mike Pelfrey on the disabled list (as can be seen on their depth chart), adding to a growing contingent of injured Tigers as Detroit tries to chase down Cleveland for the American League Central Division lead. The loss is a tough one for Detroit, as Maybin’s on-base percentage this season checks in just under .400, and his overall .325/.394/.398 slash is highly impressive even if some regression is inevitable (.382 BABIP). Maybin’s 14.9 percent strikeout rate and 10 percent walk rate are both career-bests, however, so some of the gains are legitimate. The Tigers will announce a corresponding move later today.
More from the AL Central…
- Twins right-hander Phil Hughes hopes to begin throwing again in three to four weeks after undergoing surgery to alleviate thoracic outlet syndrome earlier this summer, he tells Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer Press. (Hughes is also recovered from a femur fracture he sustained when he was struck by a line drive.) The righty explains to Berardino that the issue has been building up over time and may have begun back in his disappointing 2015 season. “It’s something that can come on slowly,” said Hughes. “It was more something that probably came along a little bit last year and didn’t really come to a head until this year, when I was really having some problems with it.” Hughes had a breakout season in 2014, his first with the Twins, which prompted the club to tack three years and $42MM onto the remaining two years and $16MM he was owed at the time. If TOS has been the root of Hughes’ struggles since Opening Day 2015, there’s some hope for a rebound with a healthy 2017 season.
- A couple other items of note from Berardino’s column: Firstly, 2015 first-rounder and current top 50 prospect Tyler Jay was tested for TOS after experiencing some shoulder/neck problems following a promotion to Double-A, but results were negative. Secondly, Berardino writes that the Twins‘ GM search won’t pick up much steam until after the Major League Baseball owners meetings on Aug. 17-18.
- The emergence of Cheslor Cuthbert gives the Royals some interesting options when it comes to constructing their 2017 roster, writes Rustin Dodd of the Kansas City Star. Cuthbert has taken over the regular third base job following Mike Moustakas‘ torn ACL, and he’s responded with a .301/.339/.449 slash line and nine homers on the season. However, the Royals plan to have Moustakas back in 2017 — his final year before free agency — when he is already guaranteed an $8.7MM salary. Further adding to the muddled scene is former first-round pick Hunter Dozier, whom the team believes to be about Major League ready from an offensive standpoint. GM Dayton Moore spoke about the possibility of his younger players being versatile enough to handle multiple positions, which would indeed give manager Ned Yost additional options to work more than one of said bats into his lineup. Additionally, Dodd notes that Kendrys Morales is likely to hit the open market this winter, so the Royals can use a the DH slot and second base to work Cuthbert into the lineup more often.
Cardinals To Promote Luke Weaver
The Cardinals will promote top prospect Luke Weaver to take Michael Wacha‘s spot in the rotation on Saturday, as MLB.com’s Jenifer Langosch writes. Weaver will become the second highly touted Cardinals right-hander to make his big league debut this week, as St. Louis called up Alex Reyes and inserted him into the Major League bullpen. The Cardinals will need to make a 40-man roster move to accommodate Weaver prior to Saturday’s debut.
[Related: Updated St. Louis Cardinals Depth Chart]
Weaver, 23 later this month, was the Cardinals’ first-round pick in 2014 (27th overall) and has quickly risen through the team’s system, reaching Triple-A last week after missing a large portion of the season due to a fractured wrist in his non-throwing hand. Despite his missed time, Baseball America rated him as the game’s No. 75 prospect on its midseason Top 100, and MLB.com rated him 93rd on its same list of top prospects. The Florida State product’s results in 2016 are borderline absurd, as he’s pitched to a 1.30 ERA with a 92-to-12 K/BB ratio and a 40.4 percent ground-ball rate in 83 innings. Jim Callis and Jonathan Mayo at MLB.com praise Weaver’s fastball, which sits at 94 mph and can touch 96 mph, as well as a plus changeup with good movement. His slider and curve are both inconsistent, they note, but either could develop into an average offering.
It’s unclear at this time if Weaver will continue to start beyond Saturday or if his promotion will amount to a one-time cameo prior to the expansion of rosters in September. General manager John Mozeliak spoke highly of Weaver’s control and his confidence in the rookie heading into this weekend’s outing, but he didn’t commit to anything beyond that date. “I feel like when you look at the ability to throw strikes, get deeper into games, I think that’s important,” said Mozeliak (via Langosch). “Candidly, [Weaver] only had one start in Triple-A, but I think he’ll still give us a good opportunity to win that game.”
Weaver will step into the St. Louis rotation alongside Adam Wainwright, Carlos Martinez, Jaime Garcia and Mike Leake, and in an odd way, the wrist injury actually helps the Cardinals. Weaver tossed 124 2/3 innings in 2015 between Double-A and the Arizona Fall League and surely would’ve been at or beyond that point right now had he opened the season healthy. However, he’s now still 40 innings behind his 2015 total, thereby reducing potential reluctance to drive up his innings total. If Weaver proves effective early on, he could give the Cardinals a consistent option in the rotation down the stretch, or at least as long as Wacha remains sidelined with shoulder problems. The Cardinals will control Weaver through at least the 2022 season, and the earliest he can be eligible for arbitration would be upon completion of the 2019 campaign.
2017-18 MLB Free Agents
The following MLB players will be eligible for free agency following the 2017 World Series. Numbers in parentheses are the age at which the player will play the 2018 season.
If you see any notable errors or omissions, please contact us. To see who represents these players, check out MLBTR’s Agency Database.
Updated 6-27-18
Catchers
Carlos Ruiz (39)
Geovany Soto (35)
First Basemen
Adam Lind (34)
Tyler Moore (31)
Brandon Moss (34)
Second Basemen
Shortstops
J.J. Hardy (35)
Third Basemen
Yunel Escobar (35)
Conor Gillaspie (30)
Jhonny Peralta (36)
Left Fielders
Andre Ethier (36)
Franklin Gutierrez (35)
Center Fielders
—
Right Fielders
Seth Smith (35)
Designated Hitters
Matt Holliday (38)
Brandon Moss (34)
Starting Pitchers
R.A. Dickey (43)
Scott Feldman (35)
Matt Garza (34)
Ubaldo Jimenez (34)
John Lackey (39)
Jeff Locke (30)
Jake Peavy (37)
Chris Smith (37)
Right-Handed Relievers
Joe Blanton (37)
Josh Collmenter (32)
Jason Grilli (41)
Chad Qualls (39)
Trevor Rosenthal (28)
Drew Storen (30)
Huston Street (34)
Left-Handed Relievers
Antonio Bastardo (32)
Eric O’Flaherty (33)
Cot’s Contracts was used in the creation of this post.
Phillies Notes: Herrera, Eflin, Rotation
Phillies manager Pete Mackanin told reporters after last night’s game that Aaron Altherr will eventually move into center field this year, prompting CSNPhilly.com’s Jim Salisbury to explore the possibility of an offseason trade of Odubel Herrera. While Herrera was one of the Phillies’ best players in the season’s first half, he’s hitting just .235/.289/.394 since July 1, and his glovework has taken a step back this season (hence the decision to look at Altherr in center field). Moreover, Salisbury writes that Mackanin has been frustrated recently by some decline in Herrera’s early-season plate discipline and a lack of focus. Philadelphia has outfield alternatives, Salisbury notes, listing both Roman Quinn and Nick Williams, and the team did show it was willing to trade controllable assets last winter by moving Ken Giles.
More on the Phillies…
- Philadelphia placed rookie right-hander Zach Eflin on the disabled list yesterday due to patellar tendinopathy in both of his knees, per a club announcement. The Phillies aren’t sure if Eflin will pitch again in 2016, as MLB.com’s Todd Zolecki writes. Eflin said he’s had issues with his knees throughout his entire career but this season has been the worst in terms of discomfort. Eflin, who will meet with specialists in Philadelphia before the team determines his next course of action, said the condition has always been “tolerable” and “maintainable.” The 22-year-old tossed a complete game shutout against the Pirates back on July 22 to lower his ERA to 3.40, but he’s been torched for 20 runs in 13 innings since that time.
- With Eflin joining Aaron Nola and veteran Charlie Morton on the disabled list and the Phils watching the workloads of young arms like Jake Thompson and Vince Velasquez, the club could turn to left-hander Adam Morgan and right-hander David Buchanan for starts down the stretch. Matt Gelb of the Philly Inquirer writes that prospect Ben Lively could get a look as well despite not being on the 40-man roster, as he’ll need to be added this winter anyhow to protect him from the Rule 5 Draft. Salisbury tweets a reminder that suspended right-hander Alec Asher can be reinstated on Sept. 15 and could provide the Phillies with a much-needed fresh arm in the final weeks of the season. Former Rangers right-hander Phil Klein, who was claimed off waivers earlier this season, represents another 40-man option for the Phillies to make some spot starts through the end of the year, as can be seen on the club’s depth chart.
Blake Swihart To Undergo Ankle Surgery
Red Sox catcher/outfielder Blake Swihart will undergo ankle surgery in the coming days, manager John Farrell told reporters following tonight’s game against the Yankees (Twitter link via Evan Drellich of the Boston Herald).
The operation figures to end Swihart’s sophomore season with just 19 games and 74 plate appearances in the books at the big league level this year. Early on, the 24-year-old former top prospect had a chance to cement himself behind the plate for the Sox but eventually found himself optioned back to Triple-A to work on his defense. Upon his return to the Majors he played exclusively in left field prior to suffering a severe high ankle sprain that ultimately led to the upcoming operation.
Swihart’s season will conclude with a .258/.365/.355 batting line. He collected three extra-base hits — bizarrely, all triples — and will head into the offseason with a cumulative .271/.321/.386 slash in 383 Major League plate appearances across 103 big league games. While Swihart was near-universally considered one of the game’s top 20 prospects prior to the 2015 season, he’s yet to tap into the potential that made him such a coveted component of the Boston farm system. With both Swihart and Christian Vazquez failing to definitively seize the catching job in Boston — Sandy Leon and Bryan Holaday are currently splitting catching duties for the Sox, with Ryan Hanigan on the disabled list — the long-term outlook behind the plate in Boston remains somewhat muddled.
Swihart has spent the bulk of the 2016 season either in the Majors or on the Major League disabled list and as such will accrue more than enough service time to take him past one full year of service. He’ll still have a minor league option remaining next season, so the Sox could give him further time to work on his game in the minors if he doesn’t grab hold of a roster spot in Spring Training. Boston controls Swihart through at least the 2021 season, and depending on how his time is divided between the Majors and minors next season, he could end up in Super Two territory, making him arbitration eligible four times.
Tommy La Stella Placed On Temporarily Inactive List
9:59pm: La Stella went on the record with ESPN Chicago’s Jesse Rogers and explained his perspective in a lengthy interview that I’d highly encourage all readers to check out in its entirety. La Stella harbors no ill feelings toward the Cubs for optioning him, stating that he told the team he “completely understand[s]” that it had to make a business decision. Rogers spoke to numerous Cubs players, including Jason Heyward, who offered La Stella nothing but support.
La Stella explains to Rogers that he contemplated retirement this offseason but came back for the 2016 season because of the close bond he shares with his Cubs teammates. He emphasized to Rogers that his decision to head home wasn’t a reaction to being sent down, but rather was made because he has no desire to play anywhere other than with the Cubs. “There wasn’t much more that went into it than ‘this is where I want to be,'” said La Stella. “It was as simple as that. It didn’t feel right to me to go be somewhere else just to continue playing. That’s not what my thoughts center around, being a ballplayer and making it happen anyway possible. We all have a right to dictate what we do to some extent.”
Further demonstrating that his decision isn’t a product of trying to leverage his way back into the Major Leagues, La Stella said he’d rather “step away” from baseball entirely than be traded to another club, even if it meant being on a big league roster. He added that conversations with president of baseball operations Theo Epstein have been positive, and Epstein understands where he’s coming from. La Stella still hopes to return to the Cubs.
La Stella’s comments, like recent ones made by Jonathan Lucroy when explaining his decision to veto a trade, serve as a reminder that despite the large salaries and extraordinarily public nature of their employment, there are human elements behind all of the transactions that we, as observers, often take for granted. La Stella cites a history of injuries and other factors that he deems personal in nature as contributing elements to his view of the game and his current situation. Again, MLBTR readers are strongly encouraged to go read all of La Stella’s comments in Rogers’ story linked above in order to add further context to the matter at hand.
5:45pm: La Stella has been placed on the temporarily inactive list in the minors, GM Jed Hoyer told reporters (Twitter link via Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune). Beyond that, he adds that La Stella is not presently ill and concedes that his situation has created a need for the organization to seek a left-handed bat.
5:03pm: Infielder Tommy La Stella has yet to report to Triple-A Iowa after being optioned to the minors by the Cubs back on July 29, and manager Joe Maddon appeared on the Spiegel and Goff Show on 670 The Score today to address the issue (transcript with audio link available).
“I’ve texted and talked to him, and we’ve had other folks talk to him also,” said Maddon. “Right now, I don’t have any kind of conclusion for you honestly. He’s working out back near his home in New Jersey. He’s hitting, he’s running, those kinds of things. So we’re just waiting for him to decide exactly what he wants to do. … Pretty much, the ball is literally in Tommy’s court right now. We love having him here. He’s a great teammate. He’s a very good player. Do we want to have him back? Absolutely, but pretty much, it’s his decision that he has to make for himself.”
La Stella was optioned in order to make room for outfielder Chris Coghlan to be activated from the DL and reportedly did not take the news well. The 27-year-old’s frustration with the move is understandable, as he’s been quite productive in 2016, hitting .295/.388/.457 with a pair of homers in 122 plate appearances while playing both second and third base. La Stella, though, had minor league options remaining, whereas Coghlan did not. As such, the Cubs optioned the far more productive hitter — Coghlan owns a woeful .158/.253/.276 slash in 229 plate appearances — due to the fact that Coghlan could not be sent down without first being exposed to waivers.
Players typically have 72 hours to report to the minors after being optioned out, though Tommy Birch of the Des Moines Register reported last week that the Cubs gave La Stella some extra time for what a team spokesperson called personal reasons. Based on Maddon’s comments, it’s unclear when or if La Stella will ultimately report, and the skipper acknowledged on the radio that the unusual circumstances have potentially strained the relationship between team and player: “…just doing what he’s doing right now is probably going to create a little bit more strain in the sense of regarding him coming back.”
Regardless of whether or not he plays another game in the Majors this year, La Stella will finish the season with more than two years of big league service time, making him controllable through the 2020 season and arbitration-eligible following the 2017 season (assuming he accrues the necessary service next year). He’s a career .263/.341/.358 hitter in 577 plate appearances.
Michael Brantley Suffers Setback In Shoulder Rehab; Surgery A Possibility
Indians outfielder Michael Brantley looked to be moving toward a return to the field, but the Indians announced tonight that Brantley has suffered “a recurrence of right shoulder symptoms while progressing through hitting activities late last week.” Dr. Stephen O’Brien of the Hospital of Special Surgery in New York City examined Brantley yesterday and determined that his symptoms are consistent with chronic biceps tendinitis, per the team. Cleveland is gathering additional information and weighing its options, and president of baseball operations Chris Antonetti said today that surgery is a possibility (Twitter link via MLB.com’s Jordan Bastian).
The 2016 campaign is looking more and more like a lost year for Brantley, who emerged as one of the game’s best all-around players with a breakout 2014 campaign and delivered a similarly excellent season in 2015. Late last season, however, he injured his shoulder while making a diving attempt at a ball hit to the left-center gap in Minnesota, and he ultimately required offseason surgery to repair a tear in his labrum. Brantley came back a bit ahead of schedule, debuting in late April, but he appeared in just 11 games before landing back on the disabled list due to shoulder fatigue. Bastian tweets a timeline of the various setbacks and treatments Brantley has encountered in his quest to get back on the field, but another setback significantly reduces the likelihood that he’ll make a contribution to the club’s playoff push. Certainly, surgery would figure to take him out of the picture for the remainder of the 2016 season.
That Brantley has only played in 11 contests this season makes Cleveland’s current three-game lead on the AL Central all the more impressive. The Indians entered the season with one of the murkiest outfield mixtures in all of baseball but has received a tremendous breakout from former first-rounder Tyler Naquin as well as one of the finest seasons of Rajai Davis‘ big league career, thus helping to soften the blow of losing Brantley — arguably the team’s best player. A healthy Brantley would only make Cleveland all the more imposing as the playoffs approach, but the perhaps surprising production they’ve gotten from their current outfield alignment lessens the need for Antonetti and his staff to seek outfield upgrades from outside the organization, even if Brantley doesn’t suit up again until 2017.