Dodgers Considering Promoting Julio Urias
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts says the team is considering promoting one of baseball’s top prospects, lefty Julio Urias, to join its bullpen, J.P. Hoornstra of the Southern California News Group tweets. “We’re looking through options and (Julio) Urias is definitely at the top of the list,” Hoornstra says. The team could also promote Jharel Cotton or Jose De Leon instead, however, as Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles times notes (also on Twitter).
Urias has been dominant in the rotation at Triple-A Oklahoma City this season even though he’s still just 19. The lefty has pitched 24 innings so far, posting a 1.88 ERA while whiffing 29 and walking just three. Via MLB.com, Urias rates as the second-best prospect in baseball. Heading into the season, Baseball America rated Urias fourth, while ESPN’s Keith Law rated him fifth. MLB.com notes that Urias throws in the 91-94 MPH range, can throw as hard as 97 MPH, has good secondary pitches, and could eventually become an ace.
Urias joined the Dodgers organization in 2012 and has rocketed through the minors since then, making stunningly quick work of the lower levels and reaching Triple-A in his age-18 season. He has a career 2.81 ERA, 10.7 K/9 and 2.8 BB/9 and has spent almost his entire minor-league career as a starter, the role he figures to occupy in the big leagues over the long term.
Of course, the reason the Dodgers are considering promoting Urias right now is because they need help in their bullpen, as the team has struggled to find trustworthy relief help beyond closer Kenley Jansen. Promoting Urias to help in relief would allow him to limit his innings for the season and ease his transition to the big leagues. If they were to promote him and he were to stick, he would likely become eligible for arbitration after the 2018 season and for free agency after 2022.
AL East Notes: Anthopoulos, Benintendi, Yankees
The Dodgers are currently playing a series against the Blue Jays in Toronto, which means that former Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos (currently the Dodgers’ vice president of baseball operations) is back in town. Anthopoulos spoke to reporters, including MLB.com’s Gregor Chisholm, about his time with the Jays organization. Anthopoulos notes that one trade he wonders about not making was for Ben Zobrist, who the Jays evidently were close to acquiring from Oakland last season before he ultimately went to Kansas City. He also looks back on one trade he did make, sending Noah Syndergaard and Travis d’Arnaud to New York in his famous 2012 deal for R.A. Dickey. Syndergaard, of course, has emerged as a phenom, but Anthopoulos defends the deal from the Blue Jays’ perspective. The team had two sluggers in their primes, Jose Bautista and Edwin Encarnacion, and faced a tough decision about whether to build around them or consider trading them and resetting for the future. The Jays opted for the former. “The thought was three years in a row, and beyond, to be able to get the playoffs and win the World Series,” Anthopoulos says. “The thought was always that it could be what it is today in terms of attendance, TV ratings, fan interest. The belief was there. It was almost like a wick and you needed to light it.” Here’s more from the AL East.
- The Red Sox could soon consider promoting top outfield prospect Andrew Benintendi from Class A+ Salem to a higher level, Evan Drellich of the Boston Herald writes. The seventh overall pick in the 2015 draft has continued his torrid hitting from last season — he’s currently batting a ridiculous .381/.442/.648 for Salem and currently has a .337/.425/.587 line for his minor-league career. Red Sox president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski says he has no hard-and-fast criteria for the timings of minor-league promotions, instead treating them on a “case-by-case basis.” Of Benintendi, Dombowski says, “I don’t think it’s worth really speculating, but I could have to say it’s at least a situation that I’m sure will merit attention.”
- Yankees manager Joe Girardi says Alex Rodriguez‘s hamstring strain is a grade “one-plus,” MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch tweets. There had been optimism that Rodriguez could return from the DL on May 19, the first day he’s eligible, but that might be unlikely. Carlos Beltran has played DH in Rodriguez’s absence, with Aaron Hicks in right field.
- Meanwhile, Yankees starter C.C. Sabathia is optimistic he can return from the DL in the minimum amount of time, tweets Hoch. Sabathia was placed on the DL yesterday with a groin strain, but he doesn’t believe it’s severe. Ivan Nova is replacing Sabathia in the Yankees’ rotation.
Week In Review: 4/30/16 – 5/6/16
Here’s a look back at the past week at MLBTR.
Key Moves
- The White Sox designated veteran starter John Danks for assignment.
Trades
- Indians – acquired C Chris Gimenez from Rangers for cash considerations
- Rangers – acquired C Bobby Wilson from Tigers for P Chad Bell
Suspensions
- IF Erisbel Arruebarrena – suspended by Dodgers for rest of season
- P Josh Ravin – received 80-game PED suspension
Claims
- Brewers – P Michael Kirkman (from Padres)
Designated For Assignment
- Giants – P Vin Mazzaro (link)
- Twins – P J.R. Graham, P Ryan O’Rourke (link)
- Indians – C Adam Moore (link)
- Brewers – P Sam Freeman (link)
- Braves – OF Drew Stubbs (link)
- Diamondbacks – P Keith Hessler (link)
Outrighted
- Indians – P Ross Detwiler (link)
- Diamondbacks – P Matt Buschmann (link)
- Mariners – P Joe Wieland (link)
Placed On Waivers
- Twins – P Tommy Milone, P Casey Fien (link)
- Giants – P Ian Gardeck (link)
Opt-Outs
- Dodgers – P Dale Thayer (link)
Key Minor League Signings
- Braves – P Sean Burnett (link)
AL West Notes: Gattis, Trout, Calhoun, Hill, Felix
The Astros have optioned Evan Gattis to Double-A, where he’ll get comfortable behind the plate, Jake Kaplan of the Houston Chronicle reports (links to Twitter). Houston has yet to utilize the 29-year-old as a catcher, but he broke into the league in that position. With the organization one of several struggling with receiving depth, it seems he’ll have a chance to don the tools of ignorance once again. Gattis, who’s off to a rough start at the plate (.213/.269/.328), says that he’s excited at the development. Kaplan suggests that Gattis is unlikely to spend more than the requisite ten days on optional assignment.
Here’s more from the AL West:
- Angels GM Billy Eppler made clear that the organization is not going to begin entertaining the idea of trading superstar Mike Trout after the awful pitching news received today, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reports. The Halos are looking hard at options for the rotation, he says, and still believes in its chances. “This team was up against a lot of adversity last year and fought to the end,” says Eppler. “We’ve got a lot of character, a lot of the same guys on the club. They will not back down from a fight.” Some aren’t so sure that’s the right approach for the Angels. Dave Cameron of Fangraphs argues that the team’s near-term outlook, depleted farm, and continued payroll constraints provide cause to at least consider taking offers on Trout, who’d surely draw unprecedented trade interest. ESPN.com’s David Schoenfield, meanwhile, draws on that piece and looks at a few organizations that could plausibly make a run at a player whose immense productivity and appealing contract make him the single most valuable asset in the sport.
- The Angels have another quality young outfielder in Kole Calhoun, and Pedro Moura of the Los Angeles Times profiles his unlikely path to the majors. Long overlooked despite his performances as an amateur, Calhoun has turned into an eighth-round hidden gem for the Halos. “I don’t know what all of professional baseball was thinking,” said former scouting director Eddie Bane. “We were just dumb.”
- Former Angels prospect Hunter Green is sticking with his plans to retire, Mike DiGiovanna writes for Baseball America. The wiry lefty dealt with significant injury issues, and ultimately decided to hang ’em up after failing to get back on track. While the organization tried to convince him to stick with it, the former second-rounder has apparently decided to move on from the sport.
- Having seemingly come from out of nowhere to where he is now — a quality starter for the Athletics — Rich Hill‘s back story remains of interest. According to Orioles catcher Matt Wieters, Hill showed plenty of signs back when he caught the southpaw in the upper minors, as Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com reports. “The stuff for a left-hander, I always thought was something you don’t see much with the type of pitches he could throw,” said Wieters.
- Felix Hernandez has provided the Mariners with typically productive innings, but there’s some cause for real concern, Jeff Sullivan of Fangraphs writes. The veteran righty has seen his velocity steadily decline in years past, but now he’s experienced a sudden drop-off that’s left him sitting below 90 mph with his average fastball. Meanwhile, he’s also struggling to hit the zone. While Hernandez has thus far managed to generate plenty of soft contact, the 30-year-old certainly doesn’t look like the same pitcher he has been in years past. Whether he can continue to put up ace-like results remains to be seen.
Notes On Tim Lincecum Showcase
Did you miss Tim Lincecum‘s showcase today? Despair not — Alex Pavlovic of CSN Bay Area has uploaded the full video right here. He also has the story on Lincecum’s day. The two-time Cy Young winner says that he’s “simplified” things on the mound. “It just feels more consistent,” he said. “… I’m not searching for that extra gear to try and throw harder anymore.” Check here and here for teams that were reportedly set to attend.
Here are some more notes on the 31-year-old’s outing:
- In terms of results, Eric Longenhagen of ESPN.com writes that Lincecum showed reasonably well, but didn’t exactly do anything to suggest that he’s the ace of old. He was visibly fit, sat in the upper-80s to low-90s with his fastball (topping out at 92), and presented three useful offspeed pitches, but it doesn’t seem that any of his offerings look ready to dominate major league hitters. For Longenhagen, Lincecum looks more like a reliever and spot starter than a regular rotation piece.
- As for next steps, Lincecum may well have a deal sooner than later. Jon Heyman of MLB Network hears organizations are “lining up” (Twitter link). And Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports tweets that the righty’s camp thinks a contract could come together by the end of the weekend. Meanwhile, Jon Morosi of MLB Network suggests on Twitter that Lincecum’s timeline could allow him to reach a major league rotation before the end of the month, but from my perspective that looks to be a rather optimistic scenario for a pitcher who’s coming off of hip surgery (if he’s even able to secure a firm offer of a rotation opportunity).
- Lincecum himself said he’s prepared to field interest from all quarters, as Pavlovic reported in the above-linked piece. “I think I know there are other teams [besides the Giants] out there that are looking for starters right now and I wouldn’t have to go to Triple-A and have to work my way behind somebody,” Lincecum said. “To be honest with you I’d rather start, but I know I need to get timing with others hitters in the box and work my way through it that way.” While suggesting that he has some preferences in mind, Lincecum did say that he hasn’t decided what’s the most important to me right now.”
- The veteran righty also chatted with John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle (Twitter links), saying that he didn’t feel that staying on the west coast was strictly necessary. He added that he’s only interested in one-year arrangements, though frankly it would be surprising if organizations had much inclination to go beyond that anyway.
- Whether or not Lincecum has any slight preferences to stay out west, we already know that the Giants have at least some interest in considering him as a swingman. Shea adds that the Angels have “legitimate interest,” too, and that the Dodgers are also “in the mix.” Of course, it seems likely that Lincecum and his representatives will be looking to land with an organization that will commit to giving him a chance to start, and that will be based in large part on individual teams’ scouting assessments — making it difficult to handicap things at present.
- Steve Adams and I chatted about Lincecum on today’s MLBTR podcast, which obviously occurred before he took the mound. But I’d say that our thoughts remain relevant after his showing today, which did more to suggest he’s recovered well from the hip procedure than to indicate any hope that he’ll reverse the fall-off that came well before it.
Twins Sign Nick Greenwood
Here are the day’s minor transactions:
- The Twins have agreed to a minor league deal with lefty Nick Greenwood, as reflected on the MLB.com transactions page and as MLBTR has confirmed. Greenwood, 28, has 36 major league frames on his ledger, with a 5.25 ERA and 4.3 K/9 versus 1.3 BB/9, while working almost exclusively as a reliever. But he’s pitched mostly as a starter in the minors, and has turned in three quality outings for the indy league New Britain Bees thus far in 2016. Greenwood has spun 19 scoreless innings on the year, with 17 strikeouts against only four walks and 13 hits. He’ll certainly enter a situation with plenty of opportunity in Minnesota, where there’s been a good deal of recent turnover in the pitching staff.
Yankees Place CC Sabathia On DL, Select Contract Of Phil Coke
The Yankees announced today that they have placed left-hander CC Sabathia on the 15-day disabled list with a strained groin and selected the contract of left-handed reliever (and, of course, former Yankee) Phil Coke to take his spot on the roster. The Yankees had an open spot on the 40-man roster, so no corresponding move is needed to clear a space for Coke.
Sabathia, 35, has given the Yankees three solid starts in five turns this season, most recently highlighted by an outing in which he tossed seven scoreless innings with six hits, two walks and six strikeouts against a tough Orioles lineup in Baltimore. He’s currently sporting a 3.81 ERA with 6.7 K/9, 4.1 BB/9 and a 47.7 percent ground-ball rate through 28 1/3 innings.
The hope is that Sabathia will only miss about three weeks, MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch tweets, but his placement on the disabled list further thins out what was already a fairly sparse rotation. The Yankees currently have Masahiro Tanaka, Nathan Eovaldi, Luis Severino and Michael Pineda in the rotation, though there’s been talk of Severino needing additional time at Triple-A, and Pineda and Eovaldi have each struggled quite a bit as well. For the time being, right-hander Ivan Nova will transition from his long-relief role into the rotation. Nova has already made multiple four-inning appearances this season, and he has a lengthy background as a starter with the Yankees as well.
Coke, 33, signed a minor league deal with the Yankees a couple of weeks ago after a brief stop on the independent circuit last month. Pitching for the Atlantic League’s Lancaster BarnStormers, Coke tallied four innings and yielded a pair of earned runs on six hits and a walk with three strikeouts. He’s yet to allow an earned run in seven innings for the Yankees’ Triple-A affiliate, where he’s surrendered just three hits and two walks with eight strikeouts. Coke has a 4.20 ERA with 7.0 K/9 against 3.3 BB/9 in 411 Major League innings, and opposing lefties have batted .245/.298/.356 against him in 816 plate appearances.
Giants Designate Vin Mazzaro
The Giants have designated right-handed Vin Mazzaro for assignment, as Alex Pavlovic of CSN Bay Area tweets. He’ll be replaced on the roster by fellow righty Albert Suarez, whose contract was purchased from Triple-A.
Mazarro, 29, only made two appearances for San Francisco, but the second was something to remember — for all the wrong reasons. He surrendered six hits, a walk, and seven runs while retiring just one batter.
Of course, there have been better days in the past. In his best year, Mazzaro put up 73 2/3 frames of 2.81 ERA ball for the Pirates back in 2013. That was the only season in which he’s walked less than three batters per nine and carried a groundball rate over 50%.
MLBTR Podcast: Lincecum, Rotations, Fantex
On this week’s show, Steve Adams joins host Jeff Todd to discuss whether the Tim Lincecum hype makes sense and what alternatives there might be for teams looking for rotation help. After touching upon what the Phillies’ impressive pitching could mean for that organization’s near future, Steve and Jeff delve into the increasing array of financial mechanisms (in particular, the Fantex model) that players may be able to use to lock in guaranteed cash while retaining future earning upside.
Click here to subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, and please leave a review! The podcast is also available via Stitcher at this link.
Twins Designate J.R. Graham, Ryan O’Rourke For Assignment
1:29pm: The Twins announced that they have designated Graham and left-handed reliever Ryan O’Rourke for assignment. The club also announced that it has indeed selected the contracts of Mastroianni and Centeno, optioned Murphy to Triple-A Rochester and activated right-hander Ervin Santana off the disabled list.
O’Rourke, 28, made his MLB debut with the Twins last season and worked to a 6.14 ERA in 22 innings. He received another 7 1/3 innings this season and allowed four earned runs in that time. O’Rourke has picked up 29 strikeouts in his 29 1/3 big league innings, but he’s also issued 18 unintentional walks (20 total), hit a batter and thrown four wild pitches, demonstrating that his control leaves something to be desired. To his credit, lefties have mustered an abysmal .149/.286/.234 line against him in his brief time in the Majors, so perhaps a club in need of a left-handed specialist could harbor some interest.
12:59pm: The Twins will designate right-handed reliever J.R. Graham for assignment and select the contracts of outfielder Darin Mastroianni and catcher Juan Centeno, reports La Velle E. Neal III of the Minneapolis Star Tribune (links to Twitter). The disappointing Twins appear poised for a significant slate of roster moves today, though the club has yet to formally announce the full litany of moves. Last night, Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer Press reported that Tommy Milone and Casey Fien were to be placed on outright waivers.
The 26-year-old Graham was Minnesota’s selection in the 2014 Rule 5 Draft, and the Twins carried him on the roster for the entirety of the 2015 season in order to retain the rights to the former Braves top prospect in spite of a 4.95 ERA in 63 2/3 innings. Graham, though, has been shelled at the Triple-A level this season, surrendering 10 runs on 11 hits and seven walks with seven strikeouts in just 8 1/3 innings. He matched that 10.80 ERA in his brief promotion to the Majors, yielding a pair of runs on three hits and a walk with two strikeouts in 1 2/3 innings.
The addition of Mastroianni and Centeno comes with some noteworthiness as well. The pair will presumably fill two of the 40-man roster spots that were vacated by the placement of Milone and Fien on waivers. Perhaps more notable than the duo’s addition to the roster itself is the likely implications carried by their promotion; Centeno’s addition means that offseason trade acquisition John Ryan Murphy, who has begun the season in a dreadful 3-for-40 slide, will be optioned to the minors, writes Neal’s colleague Phil Miller.