Chase Utley Could Be Dealt Today
TODAY, 2:02pm: A source “close to Utley” tells Jim Salisbury of CSNPhilly.com that the second baseman will likely either be dealt today or remain in Philadelphia. (Twitter link.)
1:12pm: In spite of yesterday’s comments, there is a possibility that Utley will be dealt today, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports tweets. The “situation” is “coming to a head,” sources tell FOX.
YESTERDAY, 3:27pm: Team president Pat Gillick echoed Amaro’s sentiments in a radio appearance with Jeff Blair and Kevin Barker on Sportsnet 590 The Fan in Toronto today. Philadelphia.com’s Matt Rappa has transcribed Gillick’s comments (which cover many other elements of the team in addition to Utley). Said Gillick:
“There’s been a lot of conversation about Chase leaving Philadelphia. At this point, he’s still a Phillie and it appears that he’s going to be a Phillie until the end of the season at least.”
9:28am: Veteran second baseman Chase Utley is “likely” to remain with the club for the remainder of the season, Phillies GM Ruben Amaro Jr. said this morning in an appearance on Philadelphia’s Sports Radio 94 WIP (via Howard Eskin, on Twitter).
Utley, 36, has drawn fairly wide interest from teams looking to fill out their rosters through the August trade market. He has cleared waivers, making him eligible to be dealt to any club, but retains full no-trade protection. Utley reportedly is interested in assurances of playing time and has a geographic preference for Southern California.
While Amaro’s comments certainly validate the possibility that Utley will remain in Philadelphia the rest of the way, as some recent reports have also suggested, there’s still plenty of time for something to come together. On the other hand, as MLB.com’s Todd Zolecki explains, while there is surprise in some quarters that a deal has yet to go down, Utley could well end up preferring to finish out what is likely his last season with the Phils.
Giants Looking For Outfielder, Don’t Expect To Land Utley
The Giants are looking to add an outfielder, especially in the wake of Hunter Pence‘s oblique injury, Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle reports. But San Francisco is only interested in an acquisition that would provide an offensive boost to the lineup.
While the Giants have been open about their interest in second baseman Chase Utley, meanwhile, the club reportedly does not expect to land the veteran. San Francisco believes he prefers to head to a Southern California club, and also expects to bring back starter Joe Panik for all of September.
As San Francisco’s attention turns to the outfield market, the club will obviously have limited options in the revocable waivers period. Among the players who have reportedly cleared waivers, only Dexter Fowler — who seems something of an unlikely trade candidate — plays in the outfield grass.
Schulman writes that Will Venable had been a possibility, albeit one that the team was not terribly excited about, but he was dealt to the Rangers yesterday. The Giants are not only dealing with the absence of Pence, but have yet to welcome starting center fielder Angel Pagan back from the DL.
Red Sox Release Justin Masterson
AUGUST 19: Boston has requested release waivers on Masterson, Alex Speier of the Boston Globe tweets. As Speier notes, that represents the first decision of Dave Dombrowski’s tenure with the club.
AUGUST 9: The Red Sox have designated Justin Masterson for assignment, Brian MacPherson of The Providence Journal tweets. Masterson was among several Red Sox players placed on revocable waivers last week, but there were no takers for the hurler.
Masterson is earning $9.5MM in 2015 after inking a one-year deal with Boston back in December. The 30-year-old fell off significantly last year after a three-year run in which he averaged 205 frames and a 3.86 ERA (that included outstanding campaigns in 2011 and 2013 sandwiched around a dud in 2012). In 2014, he scuffled to a 5.88 ERA in 128 2/3 innings last year, striking out 8.1 and walking 4.8 batters per nine while dealing with a variety of shoulder, knee, and back issues.
After injuries held him back, Masterson settled for a one-year deal rather than the long-term deal he probably envisioned for himself. Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to get back on track in 2015 to reassert his value. Back in June, he admitted that he was open to a trade if it meant starting elsewhere.
“I dont know if it’s in my nature to do that, to say, ‘Beat it guys, trade me or put me in [the rotation],’” he said. “No, I don’t think that’s the time right now. Especially the way I see this team going and the way I believe in this team too.”
In nine starts and eight relief appearances this season, Masterson owns a 5.55 ERA with 7.4 K/9 and 4.0 BB/9. To keep track of Masterson and everyone else in DFA limbo, check out MLBTR’s DFA Tracker.
Cubs To Sign Trevor Cahill
The Cubs have agreed to a minor league deal with righty Trevor Cahill, according to the MLB.com transactions page (with Chris Cotillo of SB Nation confirming the information on Twitter).
Cahill, 27, opted out of his deal with the Dodgers last week. Chicago now becomes his fourth organization of the year. He was dealt from the Diamondbacks to the Braves earlier in the year, with Atlanta releasing him before he signed with Los Angeles. (The D’Backs and Braves are on the hook for Cahill’s $12MM salary.)
It’s been some time since Cahill has been an effective big leaguer. He has carried a 5.98 ERA in the majors over 137 innings since the start of the 2014 campaign. Cahill never cracked the bigs with the Dodgers, working instead to a 5.24 ERA over 34 1/3 Triple-A frames.
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NL Central Notes: Reds, Hart, McKinney
The Reds have had “zero conversations” on theoretical August trade candidates Marlon Byrd, Skip Schumaker, Brayan Pena and Manny Parra, general manager Walt Jocketty tells John Fay of the Cincinnati Enquirer. That said, the Cincinnati GM didn’t shut the door on activity over the next dozen days. “We just haven’t done much yet,” he explained.
Here’s more from the NL Central:
- Pirates slugger Corey Hart is going to try one more time to make it back to the big leagues this season, Paul Zeise of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports. The oft-injured Hart originally hit the DL with a shoulder issue but now also has a banged-up knee. He’ll begin a rehab assignment this week and look to return when rosters expand in September.
- Cubs outfield prospect Billy McKinney is out for the rest of the season after suffering a hairline fracture when he fouled a ball off his right knee, as MLB.com’s Alex Smith writes. The 20-year-old has enjoyed another solid campaign, as he’s held his own (.285/.346/.420) since earning an early-season promotion to Double-A. Assuming there are no complications in his recovery, McKinney should have plenty of time to make it back to full strength and prepare for a full season of development in 2016.
Reactions To Red Sox’ Hiring Of Dave Dombrowski
The Red Sox dropped a stunner on the baseball world yesterday when they announced the hiring of veteran executive Dave Dombrowski as the team’s president of baseball operations. Ben Cherington is said to have declined the chance to stay on in the GM role, preferring instead to look for a new opportunity elsewhere.
Here are some of the many reactions to the move:
- The deal with the Red Sox will give Dombrowski a raise over the $3MM annual salary he was earning in Detroit, Bob Nightengale of USA Today reports on Twitter. The Nationals also had interest in Dombrowski, though they never made him an offer, Nightengale adds. Meanwhile, the Blue Jays had more serious conversations, and their involvement pushed the Red Sox to giving Dombrowski full decisionmaking authority, Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports tweets. The Mariners were “next in line,” though, had Boston not pulled off a deal, Nightengale further tweets.
- Parting with Cherington is just one of the surprising angles of this move. As Nightengale reports, Dombrowski explained that he offered Cherington the chance to stay but understood why he did not. “We offered Ben the opportunity to stay as GM,” said Dombrowski. “I had a lengthy conversation. He could have stayed. We like Ben. He’s a good person. I don’t know him very well, but I have the utmost respect for him and as a person. But I could understand it. It hit him very quickly. He was surprised. As president of baseball operations, you have control over making deals, and the final say in hiring. I understand it would be a transition with him.”
- It may be a bit too soon to evaluate Cherington’s own legacy as the Red Sox GM, but as Scott Lauber of the Boston Herald writes, it’s already clear that it is a somewhat complicated one. While he won a World Series and leaves the club with a well-stocked farm, Cherington was not able to develop a stream of pitching and whiffed on several significant decisions.
- Bringing in Dombrowski represents a significant philosophical shift for the Red Sox, Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com writes. While it’s hard to see the organization suddenly shelving its analytics work, Heyman notes that they’ll get a hands-on executive in Dombrowski with a penchant for swinging quality trades and keeping a winner on the field.
- Indeed, the scope of the shift is somewhat hard to overstate. Red Sox “vaporized the way they’ve done business for the last 13 years” overnight, writes John Tomase of WEEI.com. And as Sean McAdam of CSSNE.com explains, it completes a month of change at many key levels of the organization.
- Dombrowski has a history of dealing away top prospects to bolster his clubs at the major league level, Ben Badler of Baseball America notes on Twitter. Now, he’s in charge of a Boston organization flush with young talent, and Badler rightly notes that it’ll be a fascinating offseason to watch.
Hunter Pence Headed To DL With Oblique Strain
Giants right fielder Hunter Pence is DL-bound after an MRI revealed an oblique strain, reports Alex Pavlovic of CSN Bay Area (Twitter links). The team’s hope is that Pence will only be sidelined for a couple of weeks (though that’d make a very quick recovery from an oblique injury). For Wednesday’s game, they’ll play a man short, with Nori Aoki slated to return from the seven-day DL on Thursday.
The loss of Pence is the latest addition to a long list of injuries incurred by the Giants in 2015 as they strive to keep pace with the Dodgers, who currently lead the NL West by two and a half games. The Giants have been without Aoki since last week after he was diagnosed with a concussion — marking the second DL stint of the season for Aoki, who missed more than a month with a fractured fibula. Joe Panik is also on the shelf and isn’t expected back until September, which has prompted some interest in Philadelphia’s Chase Utley (though it looks like Utley will be staying put).
For Pence, this marks the third DL stint of an otherwise productive season. He’s slashing .275/.327/.478 with nine homers in 223 plate appearances this season, but the absence of his bat has sapped the Giants’ lineup of some notable punch. San Francisco has been tied to outfield bats on and off over the past month or so, and given the thin state of the club’s outfield depth — Angel Pagan is also presently on the disabled list — some form of move to fortify that area of the roster wouldn’t be all that surprising.
Dombrowski Likely To Hire New GM For Red Sox; Frank Wren A Candidate
The Red Sox’ stunning announcement that Dave Dombrowski will take over as president of baseball operations is still sinking in for many, but further changes figure to be on the way in Boston. Anthony Fenech of the Detroit Press spoke to Dombrowski and tweets that the new Boston president believes he will hire a GM to work underneath him (Twitter link). Bob Nightengale of USA Today Sports tweets that former Braves GM Frank Wren, who worked with Dombrowski in the Marlins and Expos front offices in the 1980s and 1990s, is a leading candidate for the position.
Wren’s more traditional background of scouting would seemingly align well with Dombrowski’s strengths, as opposed to a more analytical GM like Ben Cherington, who passed on the opportunity to remain on board as the Red Sox’ GM following the addition of Dombrowski. There’s been speculation about Jerry Dipoto, who is working with the Sox on a temporary basis at the moment, but he, too, has a more analytical slant and wasn’t hired by Dombrowski.
Wren was fired by the Braves last September, with John Hart taking over as president of baseball operations. (Notably, the Braves serve as an example of a team that elected to deploy a president but no GM, as they currently do not have one in place.) The 57-year-old Wren’s front office experience dates back to the mid-1980s, and he’s worked with the Orioles in addition to the previously mentioned Expos, Marlins and Braves.
Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe tweets that he finds it difficult to imagine any team owned by John Henry would completely abandon analytics, noting that there will have to be a balance in place. One can imagine that even in the event of a more traditional hire in the GM department, Dombrowski may bring in some new analysts or, at the very least, make an effort to retain some of Cherington’s more analytically inclined lieutenants. Of course, many that previously worked underneath Cherington may elect to seek employment elsewhere as well.
Injury Notes: Pressly, Perkins, Pence, Phelps, Greene, Hultzen
There’s been quite a bit of news on the injury front today, with Maikel Franco landing on the disabled list due to a fractured left wrist, and Michael Saunders being shut down for the season by the Blue Jays. That’s only the tip of the iceberg today, though, as a number of players have either been shut down or are heading for MRIs today. Here’s a look around the league…
- Twins right-hander Ryan Pressly has been shut down for the season after suffering a setback in his recovery from a lat strain, GM Terry Ryan told reporters, including MLB.com’s Rhett Bollinger (Twitter link). The 26-year-old Pressly, a former Rule 5 pick by the Twins, was a bright spot in the ‘pen for Minnesota this season when healthy. In 27 2/3 innings, he notched a 2.93 ERA with 7.2 K/9, 3.9 BB/9 and a 47 percent ground-ball rate to go along with a career-best 94.2 mph average fastball. He’ll accrue enough service time to clear two years of service but will fall shy of Super Two status.
- That’s not the only potential blow facing the Twins‘ bullpen, as the team announced after tonight’s loss that Glen Perkins will return to the Twin Cities to undergo an MRI on his ailing neck. As Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer Press writes, Perkins’ symptoms are similar to the ones he experienced late in 2014 when a nerve injury ended his season prematurely. La Velle E. Neal III of the Minneapolis Star Tribune tweets that Perkins will receive a cortisone shot as well. The Twins, who have one of the worst bullpens in all of baseball, can scarcely afford to lose their best reliever for an extended period of time. Perkins has followed up a 1.21 first-half ERA with an 8.10 mark since the All-Star break.
- Hunter Pence underwent an MRI on his left oblique, per Alex Pavlovic of CSN Bay Area (all Twitter links). Pence will miss a least a few games, and the Giants hope to have his results in the near future. As Pavlovic points out, Pence appeared to suffer an injury in his final swing of last night’s game, as he clutched his side following the plate appearance.
- The Marlins announced that right-hander David Phelps is out for the season with a stress fracture in the radius of his right forearm. Injuries have caused the Fish to lean on Phelps perhaps more than they’d expected, but in 23 appearances (19 starts) he’s posted a 4.50 ERA with 6.2 K/9 and 2.7 BB/9 across 112 innings — just one shy of his career-high.
- Shane Greene has hit the minor league disabled list with the Tigers, per John Wagner of the Toledo Blade (Twitter link). Greene is getting checked out by team doctors after reportedly experiencing numbness in his fingers — a potential indicator of nerve damage, among other injuries.
- There’s continued bad news on the injury front for former Mariners top prospect Danny Hultzen, who will be shut down until Spring Training, tweets Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times. As Bob Dutton of the Tacoma News Tribune points out (via Twitter), Hultzen will be out of minor league options next season, meaning the former No. 2 overall pick will need to either make the club or be exposed to waivers. Injuries have completely derailed Hultzen’s career thus far, as the Virginia product has thrown just 43 2/3 innings over the past three seasons combined.