AL Notes: Profar, Young, Jays’ Farm, Twins, Ausmus
In theory, Jurickson Profar could stay up for the Rangers even after Rougned Odor returns from his suspension, functioning in some kind of utility capacity. But as Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News explains, the likelihood remains that he’ll head back to Triple-A: while Profar could well represent an upgrade over Hanser Alberto, it would be tough to find sufficient action for a player who still needs reps after a long layoff. It is worth noting that Texas slotted Profar right into the leadoff spot tonight, and he could conceivably play his way into a bigger role.
More from the American League:
- Righty Chris Young will join the bullpen upon his return to the Royals, manager Ned Yost told reporters including Rustin Dodd of the Kansas City Star (via Twitter). Yost did add, though, that he foresees Young returning to the starting staff at some point this year.
- In addition to addressing other topics, Blue Jays GM Ross Atkins raised some concerns with the state of talent in the team’s farm system, he tells Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.ca. While he sees “some guys who could be everyday major league players,” Atkins says he’s concerned that the organization lacks “the depth of those guys that could turn into major league players, that larger number of what we call in the industry a Role 4 player, someone who is maybe not an everyday player but a solid contributing player, who could turn into a five.” That could tell when it comes to deadline additions, the new general manager suggests. “There’s no question that it impacts it,” he said. “We will have to keep our eyes on the future, but we recognize this window and opportunity. … I think fortunately we do have enough assets that if we wanted to make a move like that, we could. I think the question then becomes at what expense and at what level of sacrifice.”
- The Twins spoke with the reps for Yadiel Hernandez, but the team doesn’t seem inclined to pursue him, per Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN (Twitter links). It’s unclear whether Minnesota has interest in fellow Cuban free agents Jose Miguel Fernandez and Lazaro Armenteros, but Wolfson adds that the club did have eyes on them in their recent showcase.
- Tigers GM Al Avila tells MLB Network Radio on Sirius XM (audio link) that he stands behind embattled skipper Brad Ausmus. After tonight’s win, Detroit is on a 9-and-2 run since dropping to a season-worst 15-21 record recently. That leaves the club well within striking distance in the AL Central, which still looks to be a four-team dogfight.
Injury Notes: Jordan, Gray, Ross, Martin, Ottavino, Smith, Chirinos
Nationals right-hander Taylor Jordan underwent Tommy John surgery yesterday, the team announced. It’s his second time undergoing a UCL replacement for the 27-year-old. Jordan burst onto the scene for the Nats in 2013, but has failed to maintain that promise at the major league level. He did have a strong season in the results department last year at Triple-A, though, and allowed just three earned runs in 15 2/3 innings in his first three starts of the 2016 campaign. Now, it’ll be at least a year or so before Jordan can try to get back on track.
Here’s more on some injury situations around the game:
- Athletics staff ace Sonny Gray is readying to throw from a mound tomorrow, per Joe Stiglich of Comcast SportsNet California (via Twitter). It’s certainly good to hear that Gray feels good enough to begin working his way back from a trapezius issue, though his timeline remains completely unknown.
- Padres skipper Andy Green says that righty Tyson Ross may be ready to begin throwing within one week’s time, as Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune reports on Twitter. It’s been a slow process for Ross, as the Pads seek to ensure that his shoulder issues don’t worsen. While the trade deadline remains two months away, leaving some time to turn him back into a potentially valuable trade chip, it’s worth bearing in mind that Ross will need a full build-up and rehab stint before returning to the major league hill.
- The Mariners have placed outfielder Leonys Martin on the 15-day DL today with a hamstring strain, the club announced. The team had believed he might avoid such an outcome altogether, so it doesn’t seem as if there’s any reason for significant concern. Stefen Romero will take Martin’s roster spot for the meantime. Martin, an offseason trade acquisition, had been off to an eye-opening .262/.339/.483 start at the plate for Seattle.
- Rockies reliever Adam Ottavino is nearly ready to throw live batting practice, Nick Groke of the Denver Post reports on Twitter. He’s still working back from Tommy John surgery, but it’s encouraging to hear that his rehab could soon begin in earnest. Colorado, meanwhile, will no doubt be excited to look forward to receiving a return on the team’s investment in Ottavino over the winter.
- Southpaw Will Smith is expected to return to the Brewers by next week, MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy tweets. That’s great news for Milwaukee, which has been without the excellent 26-year-old reliever all year long. He’ll join Jeremy Jeffress at the back of the pen — and, perhaps, on the trade block.
- Rangers backstop Robinson Chirinos will begin a rehab stint tomorrow with hopes of returning to the majors on June 9, as MLB.com’s T.R. Sullivan was among those to tweet. Texas has been blessed with surprisingly productive starts from the catching position, but Chirinos had been expected to handle most of the duties before suffering a forearm fracture.
Minor MLB Transactions: 5/27/16
Here are the day’s minor moves:
- Backstop Michael McKenry has signed on with the Cardinals on a minor league pact, per SB Nation’s Chris Cotillo (via Twitter). The 31-year-old had put up a .220/.389/.341 slash at the Triple-A level with the Rangers thus far on the year. He’s seen six seasons of action in the majors previously, with just-below-average offensive results but a reputation for less-than-stellar defensive work behind the plate.
- The Angels announced that southpaw Lucas Luetge has been outrighted to Triple-A after clearing waivers. He had recently been designated for assignment. The 29-year-old Luetge is among a dizzying array of Halos pitchers involved in various roster moves of late. He’ll return to Salt Lake, where he’s already thrown 19 1/3 innings, posting a 2.33 ERA and 7.9 K/9 versus 4.7 BB/9.
- Catcher Ryan Lavarnway has signed with the Blue Jays, per Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.ca (via Twitter). He’ll head to the organization’s Double-A affiliate. The 28-year-old had been playing at Triple-A with the Braves before he was released, putting up a .276/.336/.357 slash in his first 107 plate appearances on the season. In 407 trips to the plate at the major league level over the last five years, the one-time top Red Sox prospect has compiled a .198/.258/.316 batting line.
Latest On Mets’ First Base Search
Mets GM Sandy Alderson said today that the club is “not ruling anything out externally” as it deals with a significant injury to first baseman Lucas Duda, as ESPNNewYork.com’s Adam Rubin reports. Assistant GM John Ricco suggested recently that the club wasn’t content with what it has in house.
While the Mets are obviously interested to see what’s out there, Alderson suggested that there isn’t much urgency. “We’ll continue to monitor what’s available,” he said. “We haven’t at this point decided that we’re just going to go with what we have.”
One possibility that many have mentioned is to make a play for James Loney. He’s an established veteran with a high-on-base approach who’s playing well at Triple-A in the Padres organization, and New York has been said to have at least some “curiosity” in him.
New York has been scouting Loney, per Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (via Twitter), but it certainly doesn’t appear that the team has rushed out to get him. Loney is not the only player that the club is looking at, according to that report. I recently ran down the different ways the team could go about filling the void, with Loney featuring as one of the most obvious options but far from the only one.
While it’s early to be dealing, Alderson called a trade “doable.” Nevertheless, he warned that it wouldn’t be easy to find and acquire the right piece. “The circumstances have to be right,” said the veteran executive. “Whether it’s doable or not is one thing. Actually pursuing it and trying to identify something is something else.”
Red Sox To Activate Eduardo Rodriguez, Move Clay Buchholz To Pen
The Red Sox have some important pitching changes in the works, as Tim Britton of the Providence Journal reports on Twitter. Manager John Farrell says that the club will activate lefty Eduardo Rodriguez to start on Tuesday, with veteran right-hander Clay Buchholz bumped to the pen.
It’s been a long wait for Rodriguez, who has missed the first two months of the season while working back from a knee issue. He showed immense promise last year, and was expected to hold down a rotation spot for the foreseeable future.
Of course, expectations never were that he’d be taking the ball from Buchholz. That move may not last the rest of the season, but it’s a major step for a pitcher whose last major league relief appearance came in his sophomore season of 2008.
Shifting to a relief role also speaks volumes about where things stand with regard to Buchholz’s 2017 club option, which is valued at $13.5MM and comes with a $500K buyout. It seemed reasonably likely to be picked up heading into the year, but Buchholz has managed only a 6.35 ERA with 5.9 K/9 and 3.8 BB/9 over his first ten starts.
That’s a steep drop-off from Buchholz’s work last year and most of the rest of his ten-year MLB career. If he can’t turn things around during the 2016 season, he could end up looking for a make-good free agent opportunity come next fall.
Braves To Designate Reid Brignac
The Braves have designated infielder Reid Brignac for assignment, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reports on Twitter. A corresponding move has yet to be reported.
Brignac, 30, has seen action in every major league season dating back to 2008, though he’s still yet to accumulate over 1,000 total plate appearances and has only cracked 100 in a single season twice. He’s a lifetime .219/.264/.309 hitter and has fallen below even that line in his 13 games this year with Atlanta. Of course, the utilityman is valued more as a depth option with a reliable glove.
Billy Beane Suggests A’s Injuries Won’t Lead To Early Sell-Off
The Athletics are dealing with a run of injuries that VP of baseball operations Billy Beane calls “the worst one since I’ve been here,” as Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle writes. The pitching staff, in particular, has been dogged by health issues.
“Where it’s really hit us has been our starting pitching — and that’s an area we tried to create a lot of depth,” explained Beane. “We’ve already wiped out that depth in the first six weeks.”
That doesn’t mean, however, that Oakland is ready to sell. In Beane’s view, “There’s no rational reason to move anyone when you don’t have enough bodies.”
It’s fair to note, too, that several of the team’s hypothetical trade pieces — especially outfielder Josh Reddick, but also infielder Jed Lowrie and even staff ace Sonny Gray — are or recently have been unavailable due to injury, meaning that they aren’t really near-term trade candidates regardless. That also helps to explain some of Oakland’s struggles.
On the other hand, the A’s now sit nine back in the division, in a dead heat with an Astros club that also hopes to climb out of the cellar. And the team has numerous other players that could hold significant appeal to the rest of the league.
No player has done more to increase their stock early in 2016 than southpaw Rich Hill, who Beane says is “doing exactly what you want a number one starter to do.” MLBTR’s Connor Byrne took a look at Hill’s trade deadline profile just yesterday, explaining that he could conceivably be the best starter made available this summer. While his modest $6MM salary making him affordable for any contender, he could be in high demand.
Hill isn’t alone, of course. Oakland could market third baseman Danny Valencia, who is stinging the ball while earning a reasonable $3.15MM salary with one more year of arb control still to come, and is also capable of playing the outfield. Veteran outfielder Coco Crisp owns a useful .250/.305/.429 slash in the final guaranteed year of his contract, though as MLBTR’s Steve Adams noted recently his vesting option could come into play. The 36-year-old is also playing on a relatively expensive $11MM annual salary, and defensive metrics have soured considerably on his glove.
Struggling DH Billy Butler wouldn’t seem to hold much appeal to other organizations, but pen arms such as Ryan Madson, Sean Doolittle, and John Axford might. All three of those relievers come with future seasons of control, though only the southpaw Doolittle is controlled at below-market rates.
As Slusser explains, the A’s do not typically prefer to abandon hopes of contention, and probably won’t have much interest in a full-blown teardown. But the club is in a tough spot. While it seems that the front office will at least give things a few weeks, it may prove hard to resist an opportunity to cash in a few expiring assets later this summer, with Hill and Reddick still looking like the most plausible and valuable chips.
Royals, Steve Tolleson Agree To Minor League Deal
The Royals have signed infielder Steve Tolleson to a minor league contract, tweets Jeffrey Flanagan of MLB.com. The 32-year-old will report to Triple-A Omaha, he adds.
Tolleson, released by the Orioles earlier this week, is a veteran of four big league seasons and 12 minor league seasons. He most recently logged 234 Major League plate appearances with the Blue Jays between the 2014 and 2015 campaigns, hitting a combined .256/.313/.384 with three homers and five steals while seeing time at second base, third base, shortstop and in the outfield corners. Tolleson is a career .245/.299/.372 hitter in 363 PAs at the MLB level and owns a lifetime .281/.365/.401 batting line in an even 2100 plate appearances at the Triple-A level. He’ll give Kansas City some infield depth in the wake of yesterday’s devastating news that Mike Moustakas will miss the remainder of the season with a torn ACL in his right knee.
NL East Notes: Howard, Harvey, Mets, Prospects
Ryan Howard‘s spot on the Phillies‘ roster has been a consistent source of speculation for the past three to four seasons, but despite the fact that he’s having a career-worst year in the final season of his contract, GM Matt Klentak implied in an appearance on MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM (Twitter link) that Howard isn’t in danger of losing that spot. “He’s a threat to change the game with a home run every time he steps in the box,” said Klentak to hosts Jody McDonald and Cliff Floyd. “As long as that’s the case, he’ll be in there.” Howard is batting just .160/.226/.359 in 146 plate appearances, though he does have eight homers on the year.
A couple more from the NL East…
- Mets assistant GM John Ricco was also a guest on MLB Network Radio recently (audio link), where he discussed Matt Harvey‘s status in the rotation. “We have a team that’s built to go to the World Series, and we have to think about what’s best for the team,” said Ricco. “But right now, we believe the best thing for the team is getting Matt back on track, and the best way to do that is to keep him in the big leagues working with [pitching coach] Dan Warthen. We saw some positive signs the other night, in terms of the metrics we look at.” Asked specifically which metrics that statement referenced, Ricco explained that in addition to the traditional eye test from the coaching staff, technology provides quantifiable data on Harvey’s arm angle, arm extension, release point and other mechanically inclined metrics, which give the Mets confidence that he’s making some strides.
- Newsday’s Marc Carig writes that with the struggles of Kevin Plawecki and injury to Travis d’Arnaud, the Mets could eventually be forced into looking for catching help on the summer trade market. Ricco spoke to Carig and defended both backstops, asserting that both have proven to be above-average offensive players in the past. Plawecki, however, has batted just .210/.282/.288 in 356 big league plate appearances — a far cry from his .262/.318/.392 batting line in 260 Triple-A plate appearances. And d’Arnaud, of course, has consistently struggled to stay off the disabled list throughout his big league tenure. Carig speculates that Jonathan Lucroy would be a strong fit for the Mets, and it’s hard to argue with the logic. Lucroy could even help out at first base in the absence of Lucas Duda, as he has appeared in 43 games there across the past four seasons.
- Phillies right-hander Mark Appel has been placed on the minor league disabled list with a strained right shoulder, tweets Matt Breen of the Philadelphia Inquirer. Appel, the former No. 1 overall pick acquired by the Phillies in this offseason’s Ken Giles blockbuster, has been experiencing diminished velocity of late, Breen notes. The extent of the injury is unclear, but it appears possible that the shoulder has been bother Appel for a few starts; he’s allowed 15 earned runs in his past 16 1/3 innings after getting off to a nice start with the Phillies’ Triple-A affiliate.
- ESPN’s Keith Law has published an updated list of the game’s Top 25 prospects (Insider subscription required and recommended), and it’s headlined by a pair of NL East prospects: Nationals right-hander Lucas Giolito (No. 1) and Phillies shortstop J.P. Crawford (No. 2). Law provides some insight into each of the 25 names on his ranking and also lists five honorable mentions that narrowly missed the cut.
Hector Olivera Receives 82-Game Suspension
Braves outfielder Hector Olivera has accepted an 82-game suspension, without pay, under Major League Baseball’s domestic violence policy, the league announced earlier this afternoon. Olivera’s suspension is retroactive to April 30 and will run through Aug. 1. The time he’s served on paid leave from April 30 until now will be retroactively credited toward the suspension, and any pay he has received in that time will be revoked. All told, the suspension will cost him roughly $2.03MM of this season’s $4MM salary. Olivera has accept the punishment and will not file an appeal.
Olivera, 31, was arrested on April 13 and charged with one count of misdemeanor assault and battery. The victim reportedly called 911 the morning of the arrest and told police that she had been assaulted, and she was taken to the hospital with visible bruising. Olivera’s punishment is the strictest yet under Major League Baseball’s newly implemented policy. Aroldis Chapman received a 30-game suspension in his case due to the fact that he was not arrested and criminal charges were never filed. Jose Reyes, meanwhile, received a 51-game ban after criminal charges were reportedly dropped shortly before he faced a criminal hearing. Charges against Olivera, however, have seemingly not been dropped, which is presumably the impetus for commissioner Rob Manfred’s most aggressive suspension to date.
A year ago, Olivera was a highly touted Cuban free agent and agreed to a six-year, $62.5MM contract with the Dodgers that included a gaudy $28MM signing bonus. However, Olivera’s stay in the Dodgers organization didn’t last long, as he was traded to the Braves as part of a three-team, 13-player blockbuster that sent Mat Latos, Alex Wood and Jose Peraza to the Dodgers, with Olivera, Paco Rodriguez and Zachary Bird going to Atlanta. The Braves reportedly held quite a bit of interest in Olivera while he was a free agent, but he quickly fell out of favor in the organization due to defensive questions about his work at third base. Atlanta moved Olivera to the outfield, but he’s yet to deliver much in the way of offense since being acquired. He’s batted .245/.296/.378 in the Majors.
That, of course, is secondary to his off-field troubles. The Braves are troubled enough by his transgressions that they’ve reportedly attempted to trade him. Unsurprisingly, they’ve had little success. How much he’ll factor into Atlanta’s plans moving forward, or whether he will at all, remains to be seen.