Greg Holland To Undergo Tommy John Surgery On Friday
Royals right-hander Greg Holland will undergo Tommy John surgery to repair what was said last week to be a “significant” tear in his right ulnar collateral ligament, reports MLB.com’s Jeffrey Flanagan (Twitter link).
The surgery may very well bring Holland’s Royals career to an end. The former closer eligible for arbitration for the final time this offseason and would be due a raise on this year’s $8.25MM salary. As he won’t pitch for most, if not all of the 2016 season, the Royals will most likely non-tender him, making him a free agent. Holland, of course, could sign some form of backloaded, two-year extension in the interim or return to the club on a restructured deal following his non-tender, but if it reaches that point, Kansas City will have to compete with the other 29 clubs to see which is willing to present him and newly hired agent Scott Boras with the best opportunity.
Manager Ned Yost said at the time his injury became public knowledge last week that he believes the damage in Holland’s elbow to date all the way back to last August. The Royals are said to have asked Holland to get the elbow checked out on multiple occasions this season, but Holland’s preference was always to pitch through the discomfort. Ultimately, though, his September struggles became too significant, and with his fastball sitting in the high 80s (as opposed to its typical residence in the mid 90s), Holland underwent an MRI, bringing him to this outcome.
If the timeline of the injury is accurate, then Holland’s postseason efforts and first half of the 2015 season are nothing short of incredible. He pitched 11 innings of one-run ball in last year’s postseason, notching a 15-to-5 K/BB ratio in that time. In the first half of the 2015 season, Holland recorded a 2.70 ERA with 31 strikeouts (against an uncharacteristic and, in hindsight, ominous 15 walks) in 26 2/3 innings.
To this point in his career, the 29-year-old has a 2.42 ERA with 12.1 K/9, 3.5 BB/9 and 145 saves in 319 2/3 innings. All of those innings came as a member of the Royals, who selected Holland in the 10th round of the 2007 draft.
NL West Notes: Padres, Aoki, Casilla, Tomas
The Padres have been fined by Major League Baseball for an infraction of the international signing rules, reports Scott Miller of Bleacher Report. According to Miller, the Padres flew prospects from Venezuela to Aruba for private workouts shortly before the onset of this year’s international signing period. That maneuver violated a league rule which states that teams are not allowed to host workouts for prospects that are not yet old enough to sign anywhere other than their native countries. The amount of the fine is not clear, per Miller, and the violation hasn’t done anything to jeopardize the job status of GM A.J. Preller, who is still in the first season of a five-year contract.
Elsewhere in the division…
- It was reported over the weekend that the Giants hope to bring back Marlon Byrd in 2016, and as Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News now writes, manager Bruce Bochy has also expressed a desire to retain Nori Aoki. A platoon of the two in left field could make some sense, Baggarly notes, though paying that platoon a combined $13.5MM (the sum of Byrd’s $8MM option and Aoki’s $5.5MM option) may be too much. Baggarly points out that the top priority this winter will be to rebuild the rotation, and an expensive outfield platoon could detract from that goal. Byrd’s option will vest with another 18 plate appearances.
- Also within the piece, Baggarly points out that closer Santiago Casilla‘s option will vest if he finishes two more games this season. That would lock in his 2016 salary at $6.5MM, but Baggarly writes that the Giants will probably pick up the option anyway, even if Casilla doesn’t reach the necessary milestone.
- The Diamondbacks‘ outfield situation is crowded, writes Yahoo’s Tim Brown, meaning the team might end up moving one of its corner options this winter. David Peralta, Ender Inciarte and Yasmany Tomas have all seen time in the corners this season, but despite Tomas’ shrinking role and disappointing second half, he’s likely to remain with the club. As Brown points out, Tomas reported to Spring Training out of shape this season, and the club will push him to arrive in much better physical condition next year. Manager Chip Hale told Brown to expect “a huge jump” in Tomas’ performance next season, adding, “No. 1, he’s going to come back in a lot better shape.”
MLBTR Chat: Mariners, QOs, Price, Cards, Alonso, Davis, O’s
Below is a transcript of this week’s live chat with MLBTR’s Steve Adams (Trade Rumors app users can check out the transcript here).
Stephen Piscotty Leaves Game After Collision
TUESDAY: Piscotty has been released from the hospital, Cardinals manager Mike Matheny told Casey Stern and Jim Bowden on MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM (audio link). The outfielder “had a couple of bruises but overall everything checked out very clean. He had a couple more tests today and things came back as positive as we could hope for, so that was very fortunate,” Matheny said.
MONDAY, 10:03pm: All tests Piscotty has undergone have been negative, the Cardinals have announced. He will stay at the hospital overnight.
8:45pm: Cardinals outfielder Stephen Piscotty has left this evening’s game against the Pirates after appearing to get hit in the head in a nasty collision. Piscotty and Peter Bourjos were both chasing a fly ball hit to left center field when Piscotty dove and appeared to strike his head hard against Bourjos’ knee. Piscotty was on the ground for several minutes afterwards and was then removed on a stretcher. He gave a small wave to fans at PNC Park as he was carted off. Jon Jay replaced him in left field.
The details of Piscotty’s injury aren’t yet known — the Cardinals announced he was diagnosed with a “head contusion,” but that he would undergo further tests. It would be very surprising if he didn’t miss significant time. Piscotty was pressed into duty due this season to a series of injuries to other Cardinals’ outfielders, and he’s had a terrific rookie year, batting .313/.365/.507 in 249 plate appearances.
AL West Notes: Zito, Smith, Singleton, Gray
Barry Zito will start for the Athletics on Wednesday in what the veteran southpaw hinted would be his last Major League game, John Hickey of the Bay Area News Group reports. “So maybe I could pitch next year. But I have a son now, and the travel with a family is pretty nuts. I think about it, but I also know that I was pretty at peace with being done during those nine days,” Zito said, referring to the nine days between the end of the Triple-A season and his callup to Oakland. “There have been so many last starts for me. I would think this would be the last. Anything could happen still. I haven’t come out and said, ‘This is it.’ But that’s something I’ll have to mull over when I’m home-home (that’s Nashville for the next few months) in a week or so.”
Here’s more from around the AL West…
- Joe Smith is “confident” he’ll be able to pitch again before the end of the season, the reliever told reporters, including MLB.com’s Alden Gonzalez. Smith suffered a sprained ankle on September 19 but has taken part in fielding drills and a bullpen session over the last two days, and he’ll throw another bullpen today. Smith’s return would be a boost to the Angels relief corps, which has already lost closer Huston Street for at least the rest of the regular season.
- Jon Singleton signed a five-year, $10MM extension with the Astros before ever playing a Major League game, a deal that at the time was criticized by some current and retired players (including Bud Norris and Mark Mulder) for being far too team-friendly. Two years into the contract, however, Evan Drellich of the Houston Chronicle notes that the deal is looking more like a mistake on the Astros’ end as Singleton has both struggled and not even collected all that much service time. Drellich reports from one source that the Astros wouldn’t have made the deal in hindsight if they’d known how Singleton’s 2015 would unfold.
- The Astros‘ strategy of offering multi-year deals to players early (or even before) their MLB careers have begun may have backfired in Singleton’s case, though Drellich notes that Houston avoided more commitments when Robbie Grossman and Matt Dominguez both rejected similar extensions. The Astros may have already ultimately gotten a good return on this strategy since Jose Altuve‘s deal is looking like a bargain, which makes up for other mistakes.
- The decision to accept or reject such an early-career extension is a fascinating one for any player, as they’re facing possible peer (and union) pressure to “bet on themselves” in hopes of making more in the future, or to accept what’s already a life-changing sum of money and cash in on pure potential. Drellich speaks to former A’s outfielder Bobby Crosby, who signed a five-year, $12.75MM extension after his Rookie Of The Year season and doesn’t regret signing the deal since his career was hampered by injuries.
- During an appearance on the MLB Network (video link included), Peter Gammons said he doubts the Athletics will trade Sonny Gray this winter. This isn’t to say that a deal won’t eventually happen, however, perhaps as soon as the 2016-17 offseason when Gray becomes arbitration-eligible for the first time. Until then, Gray is one of the game’s biggest bargains, posting top-of-the-rotation numbers at just over a minimum salary.
NL Central Links: Lopez, Price, Ricketts, Bryant
Right-hander Jorge Lopez will make his Major League debut tonight when he starts for the Brewers, and MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy has the story on how Lopez has already dealt with serious adversity on his path to the Show. Lopez’s two-year-old son, Mikael, has spent much of his life in hospitals since being born prematurely, and doctors still don’t have a clear diagnosis for young Mikael’s health issues. There has been some recent progress, however, and the family’s medical bills will be partly alleviated by the $40K Lopez will earn for his two-week stint in the bigs. Lopez was Milwaukee’s second-round draft pick in 2011 and the 22-year-old posted a 2.26 ERA, 2.63 K/BB rate and 8.6 K/9 over 143 1/3 innings at Double-A Biloxi this season.
Here’s some more news from the NL Central…
- The Reds are considering keeping Bryan Price as manager for 2016, FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal reports. Price has long been on the hot seat given the Reds’ rough season and a profanity-laden tirade to reporters back in April, though he may keep his job since the Reds were hampered by injuries and trade deadline deals that saw Johnny Cueto, Marlon Byrd and Mike Leake leave town. Changes could be made to the coaching staff, however, with pitching coach Jeff Pico in particular a candidate to be replaced. Rosenthal wonders if Price’s future employment could hinge in part on how he reacts if asked to replace some coaches. No decision will be made on any managerial or coaching changes until after Cincinnati’s season is over.
- The Cubs‘ on-field success and added revenues from attendance and TV ratings doesn’t necessarily mean the team’s payroll will greatly rise, chairman Tom Ricketts told reporters (including CSN Chicago’s Patrick Mooney) yesterday. “Theo [Epstein] will have some resources this offseason,” Ricketts said. “But I don’t know how (much). And I’m not sure he’ll find something he wants to do with ‘em. It’s up to him….Obviously, winning helps the payroll analysis, (but) it’s not about payroll anymore. The fact is, the correlation between the dollars you spend and the wins you get on the field is going down every single year. So in order to have sustainable success, you can’t count on money. You have to count on young talent. You’ve seen what we’ve done. We’ve gone out and built the best facilities in baseball. We’ve scouted well. We’ve drafted well. I think we’re developing well.“
- In another piece from Mooney, he notes that Kris Bryant‘s versatility could be a great help to the Cubs in their offseason plans. The rookie played at four positions (first, third, center field and right field) on Monday night and he’s also played six games in left field this season. Bryant has an above-average UZR/150 at every position he’s played, though obviously the sample sizes are too limited (except for his 1177 1/3 innings at third base) to declare that he can adequately handle any of these spots around the field. Still, Mooney opines that Bryant could potentially handle a position like center field on a short-term basis for a year if the Cubs need a bridge between Dexter Fowler and a prospect like Albert Almora.
NL East Notes: Nats, Harper, Marlins
Though both the Braves and Nationals collapsed over the last few months of the season, Jeff Schultz of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution still feels Washington is in the better position going forward. The Nats will lose some big pieces in free agency this winter but they “can fix a lot with a manager who can take charge of the clubhouse and a few leaders on the roster. They have more proven major-league talent than the Braves,” Schultz writes. Here’s some more from around the division…
- Bryce Harper wasn’t in the Nationals‘ lineup on Monday, an absence GM Mike Rizzo confirmed was due to the outfielder’s part in the dugout fracas with Jonathan Papelbon during Sunday’s game. Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post has quotes from both Rizzo and Harper about the situation, and she also expresses some incredulity that Harper was punished for essentially acting in self-defense.
- The Papelbon incident doesn’t exactly help the Nationals‘ chances of keeping Harper on a long-term contract, Thomas Boswell of the Washington Post writes. Boswell’s piece examines the many changes that will come to the Nats this winter due to free agent departures and other moves, leaving remaining veterans like Ryan Zimmerman dismayed that the likes of Ian Desmond or Jordan Zimmermann could depart, though Zimmerman is still optimistic. “Sometimes, shaking things up is what’s necessary. If every single person from this team came back, would I like our chances if we did it all again next year? Yes. But that’s not going to happen….But some really, really good things are coming to this team. ‘Mix up’ could be positive,” Zimmerman said.
- The Marlins have played well in September, a performance MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro attributes to the clubhouse putting the season’s discord and drama behind them. “Basically, the players united together. They were tired of losing. Tired of the internal bickering….So they responded by staying loose, having fun, and the wins followed,” Frisaro writes. The leadership of Martin Prado and Jeff Mathis played a big part in this attitude shift, and Mathis’ teammates would love to see the veteran catcher brought back in free agency this winter. Frisaro thinks the Marlins need to build on this, rather than create even more distrust by having another roster shakeup.
- In other NL East news on MLBTR, check out this collection of Phillies Notes from earlier today.
Mutual Interest Between Orioles, Gerardo Parra
The Orioles have interest in bringing free agent Gerardo Parra back in 2016, Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun reports. Executive VP of baseball operations Dan Duquette said that the team was looking to keep the outfielder on a long-term when the O’s first acquired him at the trade deadline, and sources tells Connolly that the Orioles’ stance hasn’t changed.
Parra, for his part, said he will focus on his future once the season is over but is “for sure” open to a return. “I like the fans. I like the team. I like the players. I like everything about here. It’s a great team and all the people are good to me,” Parra said.
Reports in mid-September also suggested that the O’s still had interest in retaining Parra, though Connolly’s update indicates that Parra’s continued struggles haven’t scared the Orioles away. Since coming to Baltimore, Parra has hit only .215/.244/.340 with five homers over 212 plate appearances. Parra admitted that he has had some trouble adjusting in his first stint in the AL due to facing several unfamiliar pitchers for the first time.
Prior to this season, Parra was known more for his excellent defense than his bat, as he had a middling .274/.326/.395 career slash line from 2009-14. In the first four months of the 2015 season, however, Parra hit .328/.369/.517 over 351 PA with the Brewers, though that performance was aided by a .372 BABIP.
MLBTR’s Jeff Todd examined Parra’s free agent case last month and opined that Parra could find a four-year deal this winter, as his outfield versatility, left-handed hitting potential and age (he turns 29 in May 2016) make him an appealing target within the second tier of free agent outfielders. Given Parra’s poor September, a four-year deal may no longer be realistic given that some front offices could write off his first four months as a BABIP-fueled anomaly.
Peter Schmuck of the Baltimore Sun recently suggested that the O’s could look to extend Parra before he hits the open market, five days after the conclusion of the World Series. It was just last October that the Orioles moved quickly to lock up impending free agent J.J. Hardy, extending the shortstop while the club was still in the postseason. Parra’s struggles may, in a sense, help the Orioles hammer out a new deal since his price tag is now lower than it was even a few weeks ago. Signing Parra quickly would also get one piece of offseason business out of the way in what looks to be a very busy winter for Duquette and company, as Baltimore has seven other free agents and 11 arbitration-eligible players on the roster.
Phillies Notes: Chernoff, GMs, Herrera
Here’s the latest from the City of Brotherly Love…
- The Phillies were one of multiple teams who asked the Indians for permission to interview assistant GM Mike Chernoff, FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal and Jon Morosi report (Twitter links). Chernoff is staying in Cleveland, however, and sources tell Rosenthal/Morosi that he could become the Tribe’s next GM. Current general manager Chris Antonetti would be promoted to a president of baseball operations role.
- It’s likely the next Phillies GM will have some sort of sabermetric background, so Ryan Lawrence of the Philadelphia Daily News looks at some of the names who have thus far been rumored in connection to the job. Lawrence also includes the name of Kim Ng, who has yet to be mentioned as a possible candidate, though Andy MacPhail recently used a “he or she” modifier when referring to the new GM. As Lawrence notes, it could’ve been simple political correctness on MacPhail’s part.
- Odubel Herrera‘s breakout season is profiled by Jake Kaplan of the Philadelphia Inquirer, chronicling the outfielder’s rise from fairly obscure Rule 5 Draft pick to the Phillies’ best player (as judged by both fWAR and bWAR) in 2015. Herrera has a .287/.333/.407 slash line through 516 PA and has also provided excellent center field defense. Jorge Velandia, the former MLB infielder and now a member of the Phillies’ player personnel department, is credited with pushing the club to draft Herrera after managing him in the Venezuelan Winter League.
AL East Notes: Hanley, Ellsbury, Orioles, Moore
Here’s the latest from around the AL East…
- The Red Sox have given Hanley Ramirez permission to begin his offseason rehab process at his home in Fort Lauderdale, which ESPN Boston’s Gordon Edes feels is a curious and perhaps telling move from the team. While Ramirez has been shut down for 2015 due to a shoulder injury, Edes notes that the likes of Dustin Pedroia, David Ortiz, Koji Uehara and Junichi Tazawa all remained with the club despite being shut down with past and current injuries in order to keep supporting their teammates. It could just be a case of bad optics, or it could be a hint that the Red Sox don’t have Ramirez in their future plans and will try to trade him this winter.
- The Red Sox aren’t missing Jacoby Ellsbury given the wealth of young outfield talent on the roster, Michael Silverman of the Boston Herald writes. “Ellsbury was not viewed by the Red Sox as a must-sign,” Silverman said, as the outfielder went on to sign a seven-year, $153MM free agent deal with the Yankees. Given how Ellsbury has struggled this year, it’s no surprise the Sox would prefer to look to the future with Mookie Betts, Jackie Bradley Jr. and Rusney Castillo.
- Some teams are already inquiring if Orioles pitching coach Dave Wallace will be available this winter, MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubatko reports. Wallace and the rest of the O’s coaching staff are still without contracts for 2016, though executive VP of baseball operations Dan Duquette recently told Kubatko that the club was in “the process” of getting those deals worked out. The highly-regarded Wallace has been Baltimore’s pitching coach for two seasons and Kubatko speculates that if he were to leave, bullpen coach Dom Chiti could leave as well since the two are good friends.
- Matt Moore tells Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times that he feels he’s turned a bit of a corner in his recovery from Tommy John surgery and should be fully back to normal by Spring Training. Moore badly struggled in his first six starts back and was demoted to the minors, though since returning to the Rays he has pitched better, posting a 3.86 ERA and a 22-to-5 K/BB rate over his last 23 1/3 innings.
- The Yankees will replace Dave Miley as the manager of their Triple-A affiliate, George A. King III of the New York Post reports. Miley, who managed the Reds from 2003-05, just completed his 10th season managing the Yankees’ Triple-A team.