Cafardo’s Latest: RPs, Bautista, Teheran, Shields, Ausmus
This summer’s trade market will favor relief pitchers, not starters, writes Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe. While the pool of starters who are expected to be available looks shallow and largely unappealing, the opposite is true in regards to bullpen options. Cafardo points to Aroldis Chapman, Andrew Miller, Arodys Vizcaino, Jeremy Jeffress, Jeanmar Gomez, Sean Doolittle and Will Smith, among many others, as relievers who could be on the move in the next couple months.
Here’s more from Cafardo:
- The 30-27 Blue Jays are in the thick of the playoff race, but if they fall out of it, right fielder Jose Bautista and first baseman/designated hitter Edwin Encarnacion (both pending free agents) are prime trade candidates. The Cardinals, Cubs and Hunter Pence-less Giants would all have interest in Bautista, according to Cafardo.
- The Red Sox and Braves would match up well in a potential trade involving right-hander Julio Teheran, per Cafardo, who notes that Boston’s package would have to be headlined by outfield prospect Andrew Benintendi, infield prospect Yoan Moncada, third baseman Travis Shaw or catcher/left fielder Blake Swihart. Of that group, the Red Sox would prefer to give up Swihart, though Cafardo doubts he alone would be enough of a return for Teheran.
- Before the Padres traded righty James Shields to the White Sox on Saturday, the Red Sox, Orioles, Tigers and Dodgers expressed interest in acquiring the 34-year-old. Shields’ final start with the Padres – in which he allowed 10 earned runs, eight hits and four walks in 2 2/3 innings on Tuesday – served as a deterrent to some clubs, though, reports Cafardo.
- The 27-28 Tigers aren’t considering replacing third-year manager Brad Ausmus as of now, relays Cafardo. However, given that he’s in a contract year, Ausmus could be managing for his job.
Red Sox Make Handful Of Roster Moves
The Red Sox have placed catcher Ryan Hanigan and catcher/left fielder Blake Swihart on the 15-day disabled list, brought up outfielder Rusney Castillo, right-hander Heath Hembree and backstop Sandy Leon from Triple-A Pawtucket, and optioned righty Noe Ramirez, the team announced.
Both Hanigan and Swihart left Boston’s win over Toronto on Saturday with injuries. Hanigan departed in the sixth inning with a neck strain, while Swihart exited in the seventh after crashing into the wall down the left field line on a catch and hurting his left ankle.
Hanigan hasn’t offered much at the plate this year, having hit an ugly .186/.250/.229 in 70 plate appearances, though he has thrown out six of 19 would-be base stealers (good for an above-average 32 percent rate). Swihart has provided a decent .258/.365/.355 line in 74 PAs while adjusting to an outfield role. The losses of him and Hanigan will obviously have a negative effect on the Red Sox’s catcher depth behind Christian Vazquez, which is why the club promoted Leon. In 129 PAs with Pawtucket this season, Leon has batted .237/.310/.333 with two home runs. He owns a .187/.258/.225 line in 235 major league trips to the plate.
With Swihart down, Castillo could now have a chance to reenter the picture for the Red Sox, though he’ll sit Sunday in favor of Chris Young. Since signing a $72MM deal with Boston in 2014, the Cuba native has garnered just 333 big league PAs, hitting an underwhelming .265/.304/.383. He has spent nearly all of this year in the minors, where he has continued to post less-than-stellar statistics (.241/.302/.317 with one homer in 159 PAs).
Hembree, on the other hand, has been successful for the Red Sox this season. The 27-year-old has compiled a 2.14 ERA, 7.71 K/9 and 2.14 BB/9 in 21 big league innings. Those numbers are relatively similar to his career totals (2.81, 7.17 and 2.95, respectively) over 64 frames. Hembree has also pitched to a solid 3.07 ERA, complemented by a superb 11.0 K/9, in 246 1/3 minor league innings.
Since debuting in the majors last season, Ramirez has racked up 24 innings of 5.25 ERA ball to accompany a 9.00 K/9 and 5.25 BB/9. Ramirez’s minor league career has been a different story, though, as he has a 2.86 ERA, 8.3 K/9 and 2.4 BB/9 in 283 innings at lower levels.
Shields Notes: Padres, White Sox, Tigers
The latest regarding right-hander James Shields, whom the Padres sent (along with cash) to the White Sox on Saturday for shortstop prospect Fernando Tatis Jr. and righty Erik Johnson:
- Before agreeing to take Tatis and Johnson, the Padres asked the White Sox for their two best prospects, shortstop Tim Anderson and righty Carson Fulmer, per ESPN’s Jim Bowden (Twitter link).
- In an effort to get a quality return for Shields, the Padres reached out to “every team in contention,” including the Tigers, reports Tony Paul of The Detroit News. Tigers executives listened to the Padres’ pitch, but they ultimately balked at their asking price, enabling division-rival Chicago to land the 34-year-old. Shields would have upgraded a Tigers rotation that has gotten particularly disastrous performances from Mike Pelfrey and the now-demoted Anibal Sanchez this year, though it’s unclear what they would have had to give up for him.
- Padres general manager A.J. Preller doesn’t regret signing Shields to a lucrative long-term contract in 2015 and losing a first-round pick in the process, he told reporters Saturday (via Kirk Kenney of the San Diego Union-Tribune). “We wanted to get some excitement and see if we could put a contending club on the field,” said Preller, whose Padres have gone 97-122 since signing Shields. “It was more of a situation where it was, ‘Hey, let’s see if we can take a shot and compete and contend and win,’ knowing that if that didn’t work out at a point down the road knowing we had the ability to pump the brakes and go in a different direction.”
- The White Sox will pay Shields $5MM this year and, if he doesn’t opt out of his contract at season’s end, $10MM in both 2017 and 2018. They’ll also be responsible for a $2MM buyout on his 2019 club option, according to Dan Hayes of CSN Chicago (Twitter link).
MLBTR Originals
Here’s a recap of the original analysis MLBTR offered over the past seven days:
- With the second month of the season in the books, Tim Dierkes updated his free agent power rankings in advance of the offseason. Tim’s list consists of the 10 players who appear poised to earn the most money if they hit the open market over the winter.
- Now that June is upon us, Jeff Todd looked back at the month’s notable trades from 2012-15.
- Jeff also ranked the top 10 trade candidates as the Aug. 1 deadline draws closer.
- Mark Polishuk looked at six mid- to low-tier pending free agents who improved their stock with strong May performances.
- With last year’s World Series finalists, the Royals and Mets, dealing with major injuries at third base, Jeff ran down 10 potential replacements the teams could turn to.
- Right-hander Julio Teheran will be one of the most appealing players on the summer trade market if the Braves make him available, so I tried to find a fit for the 25-year-old.
White Sox Acquire James Shields From Padres
A week after talks between the Padres and White Sox regarding James Shields began gaining “significant momentum,” the two sides have officially reached a deal. The veteran right-hander and cash (reportedly $31MM of the remaining $58MM on his contract) will head to Chicago in exchange for fellow righty Erik Johnson and shortstop prospect Fernando Tatis Jr., Padres general manager A.J. Preller announced.
Since beginning the season with a red-hot 19-8 mark, the White Sox have fallen to 29-26 and have dropped to third place in the AL Central, though they’re only 1 1/2 games behind the first-place Royals. While their starters entered Saturday with the majors’ eighth-lowest ERA (3.61) and seventh-best fWAR (5.7), their pre-Shields rotation was a top-heavy group. Aside from superstar Chris Sale and the underrated Jose Quintana, who has posted ace-like numbers this year, the White Sox haven’t gotten overly impressive production from any of their other starters.
With Shields aboard, the expectation is that either Mat Latos or Miguel Gonzalez will lose his spot in the rotation. Regardless of whether the White Sox demote Latos or Gonzalez, their top four will likely consist of Sale, Quintana, Shields and Carlos Rodon as long as all four are healthy. Whether Shields will stay in that top four beyond 2016 is up in the air, though, as he could opt out of the final two years of his contract at season’s end. That would mean leaving $42MM on the table, however.
Shields, 34, isn’t the pitcher he was during his best years with the Rays and Royals, but he remains a competent innings eater who’s on pace to exceed the 200-inning plateau and surpass the 30-start barrier for the 11th straight season. That aside, Shields does come with red flags. After a dreadful final start with the Padres, Shields’ ERA (4.28) is at its highest since 2010. Further, his strikeout rate – which spiked to a personal-best 9.61 per nine innings last year – has regressed to 7.62 (closer to his 7.84 career average) and the control that he displayed in his earlier days has declined. Shields’ walk rate is at 3.61 per nine innings, which is in line with last year’s 3.6, and his velocity has dipped. To Shields’ credit, he has long been a capable ground-ball generator – at 48 percent this year, there’s no sign he’s slowing down in that area. That should help his cause as he shifts to the hitter-friendly confines of U.S. Cellular Field, but he does have the third-highest home run rate among qualified starters since last season (16.9 percent).
For the Padres, this is undoubtedly a disappointing ending to a short-lived experiment. Shields joined the Friars on a lucrative long-term deal as a free agent in 2015, at which point the club gave up the 13th overall pick in that June’s draft to sign him. With Shields in the fold, the Padres had designs on competing for a playoff spot. They instead finished a disappointing 74-88, though, and have begun this season 22-34. San Diego is now rebuilding, so keeping Shields around wouldn’t have made sense.
The 26-year-old Johnson, who’s the more established player the Padres got for Shields, could figure into their rotation at some point. Johnson has posted a 4.50 ERA, 7.1 K/9 and 4.5 BB/9 across 98 major league innings. In a 523 2/3-frame minor league sample size, Johnson’s strikeout rate (7.8) hasn’t looked much different, though he has walked fewer batters (3.1) while working to a terrific 3.23 ERA.
Tatis, meanwhile, signed with the White Sox for $700K as a 16-year-old last summer. The Dominican native is the son of former big leaguer Fernando Tatis, and Ben Badler of Baseball America wrote at the time of his signing that the 6-foot-1, 175-pounder pairs power potential on offense with a good arm on defense. Tatis, therefore, could potentially serve as a third baseman or outfielder in the majors.
Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune reported May 28 that the two teams were discussing a Shields trade, and he confirmed the return for the Padres today. Bob Nightengale of USA Today noted earlier today that a deal was close. FanRag Sports Jon Heyman then reported that the framework of a deal was agreed upon. Dan Hayes of CSN Chicago had Johnson going to San Diego. Chris Cotillo of SB Nation reported that the trade was done. Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reported the amount of money the White Sox will receive in the trade.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
NL Notes: Padres, D-backs, Dodgers, Nats
Padres general manager A.J. Preller told reporters – including AJ Cassavell of MLB.com – that four to five clubs called him with interest in right-hander James Shields, whom San Diego ended up trading to the White Sox on Saturday. With the Shields trade out of the way, Preller doesn’t expect to do much else until things heat up around the trade deadline, he added.
More from San Diego and a few other NL cities:
- There’s a “pretty good possibility” righty Erik Johnson, one of the two players the Padres received for Shields, will slot into their rotation as Shields’ long-term replacement, manager Andy Green said (Twitter link via Cassavell). For now, the Padres have optioned Johnson to Triple-A El Paso, according to Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune (on Twitter).
- Diamondbacks chief baseball officer Tony La Russa told Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports that the club has “no regrets” about the widely panned offseason trade that sent Dansby Swanson, Ender Inciarte and Aaron Blair to Atlanta for righty Shelby Miller. Nevertheless, La Russa believes that Swanson – the top pick in last year’s draft – “will be a star” in the majors.
- Injured Dodgers starters Hyun-jin Ryu and Brandon McCarthy are unlikely to make it back before the All-Star break, per Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register (Twitter links here). Ryu, who had a setback last week with his surgically repaired left shoulder, will need to make at least four rehab starts before he can return to the majors. He has to resume throwing first, however. McCarthy also isn’t ready to begin a rehab assignment. In the meantime, the 2015 Tommy John recipient will throw a three-inning, 60-pitch sim game at some point in the coming days.
- Right-hander Bronson Arroyo is recovering well from partial tears in his rotator cuff tendons and hopes to pitch for the Nationals this season, Bill Ladson of MLB.com relays. Arroyo, whose injury forced him to use a sidearm delivery in early May, is now healthy enough to throw from a three-quarter arm slot, Ladson writes. “I guess my shoulder has turned the corner,” Arroyo told Ladson. “Now, the shoulder feels pretty good. It’s little less pressure throwing sidearm, but it has been OK throwing over the top. “ The 39-year-old, who hasn’t appeared in the majors since 2014, has been pitching intrasquad games at the Nationals’ spring training complex in Florida. He’s likely to make five more starts there before the team reevaluates him July 1. If all goes well, Arroyo could then begin a rehab assignment and perhaps join the Nationals down the stretch. Arroyo has started in the vast majority of his major league appearances (369 of 405), but he told Ladson he’d be willing to work out of the Nats’ bullpen.
Giants Have Discussed Pursuing Andrew Miller
With the Aug. 1 trade deadline drawing closer, the first-place Giants could make a major acquisition over the next couple months as they seek their fourth World Series title since 2010. One potential trade target they’ve discussed internally is Yankees left-handed reliever Andrew Miller, FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal reports (Twitter link). Rosenthal wonders if San Francisco would be willing to part with its best pitching prospect, 23-year-old right-hander Tyler Beede, in order to land Miller.
Even if the Giants do pursue Miller, there’s obviously no guarantee the Yankees will deal the 31-year-old. Miller, after all, is still under their control at a reasonable $9MM per year through 2018, so they could keep him if they plan to contend in the near term. Contention could be out of the question this season, though, given that the Yankees haven’t consistently shown signs of life during their 25-29 start. They’re already seven games behind American League East-leading Boston and six games out of a Wild Card spot, and they lost first baseman Mark Teixeira on Friday to what could be a season-ending knee injury.
If the Yankees sell Miller, there’s a chance they’ll lose both him and fellow lights-out lefty Aroldis Chapman by the end of the year. Chapman, also a summer trade candidate, is slated to hit free agency after the season. That would bring a quick end to the Yankees’ much-ballyhooed Chapman-Miller-Dellin Betances trio and leave them with just one of the three going forward.
For the 35-22 Giants, who hold the second-best record in baseball, adding Miller would further strengthen a bullpen that already has a handful of impressive late-game options – even without the injured Sergio Romo. Giants relievers entered Saturday with a below-average 4.01 ERA and a replacement-level fWAR (0.0), good for the fourth-worst mark in the league, but closer Santiago Casilla (a pending free agent), Hunter Strickland, Cory Gearrin and Derek Law have performed well. Miller is vastly superior to each of them, though, and would offer variety as a southpaw.
Handedness aside, Miller has racked up videogamelike strikeout totals (16.62 per nine innings) while showing excellent control (1.25 BB/9), generating grounders 50 percent of the time and pitching to a 1.25 ERA over 21 2/3 innings this year. Dating back to 2012, his breakout season in relief with the Red Sox, Miller has put up a 2.28 ERA, 14.21 K/9, 3.20 BB/9 and 48.1 percent grounder rate in 216 2/3 frames. The 6-foot-7, 210-pounder has added to his value by showing the ability to dominate as either a closer or setup man.
There are likely to be many suitors for Miller if the Yankees make him available, so the Bombers’ asking price for him should be high. Whether the Giants are willing to move Beede for Miller is unknown – as is whether Beede would even appeal to New York – but it’s fair to say the reliever will command a quality return if the Yanks shop him.
AL Notes: ChiSox, Rays, Rangers, A’s
Having lost 19 of 29, the struggling White Sox won’t rest on their laurels after acquiring right-hander James Shields on Saturday. General manager Rick Hahn said today that the Shields trade won’t be the team’s last move, noting that the Sox have the money and prospects to make more deals (Twitter link via Bruce Levine of 670 The Score). They could seek a left-handed bat and-or a setup man, according to Levine (Twitter link).
More from around the AL:
- The last-place Rays aren’t ready to sell yet, but they could be “very active” in shopping players prior to the deadline if they don’t begin climbing up the standings, FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal reports. The Rays are deep in both pitching and outfielders, two areas that will be in demand, and infielder Steve Pearce could also draw plenty of interest. After a disappointing showing last season, Pearce has returned to his 2014 form in slashing .302/.389/.527 with eight home runs and nearly as many walks (18) as strikeouts (22) in 149 plate appearances. The 33-year-old, who’s on a palatable $4.75MM salary, is scheduled to become a free agent at season’s end.
- The Rangers are likelier to use their assets to upgrade their pitching – both the rotation and bullpen – than make a deal for Brewers catcher Jonathan Lucroy, says Rosenthal. While no buyer has been connected to Lucroy more than the Rangers in recent months, their backstops have exceeded expectations this season and the injured Robinson Chirinos is nearing a return.
- In other Rangers news, the team will make a concerted effort to get infielder Jurickson Profar more playing time if he continues performing well, writes Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News. “It’s important he plays,” president and general manager Jon Daniels said. “That doesn’t necessarily mean every day, but we want to keep him in the flow and keep him going.” The former elite prospect has collected 12 hits, including two home runs, in his first 33 plate appearances this year. If Profar continues holding his own, Prince Fielder, Mitch Moreland and Elvis Andrus will all be at risk of losing playing time.
- Athletics right-hander Sonny Gray will start for the club Sunday after he made a quick recovery from the trapezius strain that forced him to the disabled list two weeks ago (via John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle). Gray performed like an ace over his first two-plus seasons in the majors from 2013-15, but he got off to an uncharacteristically awful start this year before landing on the DL. Manager Bob Melvin attributes that, at least in part, to the injury. “A lot of the command issues stemmed from what was going on in his trap,” he said. “He wasn’t able to extend like he wanted to and had a little trouble commanding the baseball. So those issues are resolved.” Gray will now try to improve on the 6.19 ERA and 4.50 BB/9 he posted over his first nine starts (48 innings) of 2016.
Minor MLB Transactions: 6/4/16
Here are today’s minor moves from around the game.
- The Dodgers have outrighted James Ramsey to Triple-A Oklahoma after he cleared waivers, per a club announcement. Los Angeles designated the outfielder for assignment a week ago. The 26-year-old has slashed just .222/.285/.429 with five home runs in 138 minor league plate appearances this season.
- Mets right-hander Jeff Walters cleared waivers and has been outrighted to Triple-A Las Vegas, the team announced. New York designated Walters for assignment earlier this week to make room for James Loney. Walters, 28, has a 9.27 ERA in 22 1/3 innings with Las Vegas this season.
- Right-hander Nick Tepesch has requested and been granted his release from his minor league contract with the Rangers, according to the team’s executive vice president of communications, John Blake (Twitter link). Tepesch appeared in 42 games — 39 of them starts — for the Rangers from 2013-14, logging a 4.56 ERA with 5.4 K/9 against 2.9 BB/9 in 219 innings. The 27-year-old missed the 2015 season and underwent thoracic outlet syndrome surgery in August.
- The White Sox have signed free agent catcher Janigson Villalobos to a minor league contract, the team announced. Villalobos, 19, is a native of Venezuela.
Earlier updates:
- The Angels have announced that they’ve selected the contract of righty Deolis Guerra and placed fellow righty Nick Tropeano on the 15-day DL with right shoulder tightness. Guerra has been a fixture on the transactions lists recently — the Angels designated him for assignment and then outrighted him just this week. He’s allowed four runs in 5 1/3 innings in the big leagues this season. As for Tropeano, the Angels scratched him yesterday from his start today. Jhoulys Chacin will start in his place.
- The Dodgers have released lefty reliever Joe Thatcher, SB Nation’s Chris Cotillo tweets. Thatcher had previously exercised an opt-out clause in his minor-league deal, opening a brief window in which the Dodgers could add him to their active roster or let him go, and it appears they’ve chosen the latter option. The 34-year-old pitched reasonably well with the Astros last season and had a 3.60 ERA, 12.6 K/9 and 3.0 BB/9 in 15 innings with Triple-A Oklahoma City this year.
- The White Sox have announced that they’ve selected the contract of outfielder Jason Coats from Triple-A Charlotte. He’ll take the 25-man roster spot of righty Tommy Kahnle, who was optioned last night; Kahnle himself had briefly taken the spot of corner outfielder Melky Cabrera, who was placed on the family emergency leave list yesterday. The 26-year-old Coats looked like a fringe prospect heading into the 2016 season, but he’s had a breakout year at Charlotte, batting .335/.399/.567 with 22 extra-base hits. He’s starting in left field and batting seventh for the Sox today against the Tigers.
- The Pirates announced a variety of moves related to their bullpen — they’ve selected the contract of righty Curtis Partch, recalled lefty Cory Luebke from Triple-A Indianapolis, optioned righties Wilfredo Boscan and Rob Scahill to Indianapolis, and moved righty Ryan Vogelsong (facial fractures) to the 60-day DL. The moves provide the Bucs with fresh relief options after Boscan and Scahill each pitched multiple innings last night. The hard-throwing Partch last pitched in the big leagues in 2014 with the Reds. He’s gotten great results so far this season for Indianapolis, with a 1.30 ERA, 10.4 K/9 and 2.9 BB/9 in 27 2/3 innings.
- Utilityman Emmanuel Burriss has accepted an outright assignment to Triple-A Lehigh Valley, the Phillies have announced. The Phillies designated Burriss for assignment on Wednesday after he struggled in brief duty in the big leagues this season.
Mariners Release Joel Peralta
SATURDAY: Seattle has released Peralta, according to a club announcement.
THURSDAY: The Mariners have designated righty Joel Peralta for assignment, the team announced. Fellow right-hander Cody Martin will take over his spot in the Seattle pen.
Peralta, 40, joined the M’s on a minor league deal over the winter. He is owed $1.25MM, but presumably hasn’t earned much (if any) of the $2.5MM incentive package.
Seattle hasn’t received the reliable production it hoped for out of the veteran. Peralta’s velocity, contact, and zone numbers all look similar to prior seasons. But he’s always allowed a lot of flyballs, and this year more than ever (20.0%) have turned into home runs.
The result is that Peralta owns an ugly 5.40 ERA over 23 1/3 innings, and that mark has been on the rise of late. On the other hand, he’s running out an impressive 10.8 K/9 against 2.7 BB/9, so it won’t be surprising to see him earn another opportunity at some point this season — though that may come with another organization.