Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Hamels, Segura, Pirates
On this date in 2001, Randy Johnson set a major league record for strikeouts by a reliever, as Leo Panetta of NationalPastime.com writes. The “Big Unit” completed a suspended game with the Padres and led the Diamondbacks to a 3-0 victory as he struck out 16 batters. Here’s this week’s look around the baseball blogosphere..
- Section 215 looked at how the pitching market is affecting Cole Hamels‘ value.
- Reviewing The Brew says the Brewers are ready to move on from Jean Segura.
- The Point Of Pittsburgh says the Bucs’ farm system woes may affect them in trades.
- Rays Colored Glasses talked Trea Turner, Joe Ross, and the Rays.
- Camden Depot says the Orioles made the right move with Nick Markakis.
- BASTA gave some props to Josh Osich.
- Astros County evaluated Houston at the All-Star break.
- Baseball Essential says the Red Sox should not trade for Hamels.
- Monkey With A Halo says the Angels should stay pat.
- The First Out At Third predicted who stays and who goes in Milwaukee.
- A’s Farm spoke with A’s special assistant Grady Fuson about the team’s top prospects.
- Blue Jays Plus looked at some interesting aces heading into the deadline.
- Baseball Hot Corner wonders if Sonny Gray is a possibility for the Red Sox.
- Offspeed Podcast spoke with former big leaguer John Baker.
- Sodo Mojo handed out report cards for the Mariners.
- Grading On The Curve looked at five prospects who should be in the majors.
- Fantasy Pros looked at the rookies through the first half of the year.
- Know Hitter says the Tigers should target Tyler Clippard and Scott Kazmir.
Please send submissions to Zach at ZachBBWI@gmail.com.
NL Central Notes: Reds, Parra, Soriano, Alvarez
The Reds have opened the doors on a fire sale, writes John Fay of the Cincinnati Enquirer. Todd Frazier will stay put. Billy Hamilton probably isn’t going anywhere. Most others are probably on the table. Fay expects at least four players to be traded, presumably Johnny Cueto, Mike Leake, Aroldis Chapman, and Marlon Byrd as a starting point. Others like Brandon Phillips, Jay Bruce, and Skip Schumaker are also expected to be shopped. The Reds are seven games below .500 and 15.5 games back in the NL Central. It’s probably too late for a rebound.
Here’s more news out of the NL Central:
- Gerardo Parra‘s strong play has all but ensured that he’ll be traded by the Brewers, writes Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Parra is in the midst of a career season, hitting .311/.345/.502 with nine home runs and six stolen bases. Known for fantastic defense, he’s actually struggled this year per Ultimate Zone Rating (-9.8 UZR). Still, plenty of playoff teams have need of a high average, left-handed outfielder.
- Cubs manager Joe Maddon said reliever Rafael Soriano might be “up sooner than planned,” tweets Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune. Soriano was signed on June 12. He has a career 2.85 ERA and 207 saves in 630 innings. The Cubs have manufactured a pseudo-closer battle. They demoted Hector Rondon from the role earlier in the summer despite solid production. The club also recently called up Neil Ramirez – another candidate for saves.
- The Pirates would probably like to de-emphasize Pedro Alvarez, reports Travis Sawchik of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. The former third baseman has continued his defensive ineptitude at first base with 15 errors. He’s also offered a .233/.299/.424 slash which is well below average for a first baseman. Unfortunately, the Pirates will have to look outside of the organization to move beyond Alvarez. Adam Lind is probably the most notable first baseman on the trade market. If the Pirates get creative, they could also try a three-team swap for Jon Singleton. Typically, Pittsburgh will look for fringier options like Chris Parmelee. We heard earlier this evening that the Orioles may soon designate Parmelee for assignment.
NL West Notes: Diamondbacks, Gray, Padres, Giants
The Diamondbacks mismanaged their draft pool, tweets Jim Callis of MLB.com. The club took Dansby Swanson with the first overall pick and inked him at the last possible moment. In doing so, they spent $1.7MM less than their pool allowed. As MLBTR’s Steve Adams tweeted, the club could have spent up to $2.328MM more without losing a future draft pick. While a franchise shouldn’t spend that money just to spend it, they should have a few over-slot picks in the early rounds in order to make the most of limited resources.
- The Rockies originally planned to promote top prospect Jon Gray for Sunday’s start, but they’ve backed off that decision, writes Nick Groke of the Denver Post. His last outing at Triple-A was a three-inning stinker in which he allowed four runs and six hits. The club will wait for a future opportunity to call upon their top pitching prospect. Eddie Butler will take tomorrow’s start.
- Former Padres GM Josh Byrnes steadily built the farm system during his tenure with the club, writes Jeff Sanders of the San Diego Union-Tribune. Now current GM A.J. Preller is being second guessed for his bold decision to dismantle the farm for win-now talent. The club could be one year closer to a more organic revitalization, but now the farm system is shallow. Massive offseason overhauls have a bad track record – ask the Marlins and Blue Jays (and the White Sox). It’s also worth noting that Preller may have wanted to reshape the farm system to his preferences.
- The Giants have built one of the best infields in the sport, notes Jonah Keri of Grantland. The home grown crew includes several surprising contributors. Brandon Belt was a well-regarded prospect – especially among sabermetric circles. However, Brandon Crawford‘s offensive emergence was unexpected. Joe Panik is deceptively well-rounded. Matt Duffy was supposed to back up Casey McGehee. Instead, he’s arguably the best rookie in the National League, a class that includes Kris Bryant and Maikel Franco among others.
East Notes: Buchholz, Kelly, Sandberg, Yankees
Red Sox ace Clay Buchholz will see Dr. James Andrews for a second opinion on his strained flexor tendon, writes Rob Bradford of WEEI.com. Buchholz doesn’t believe the injury is more serious than originally thought. However, he trusts Andrews’ opinion as an impartial observer, and they have consulted over previous injuries. Interestingly, Buchholz mentioned his contract status as a reason to seek an opinion outside of the organization. The Red Sox own team options for 2016 and 2017.
Here’s more from the East divisions:
- Marlins utility man Don Kelly had season-ending Tommy John surgery, tweets Joe Frisaro of MLB.com. Kelly got into just two games for the Marlins in early April. He also spent a short stint at High-A. In 1,190 plate appearances, mostly with the Tigers, he’s a .232/.296/.335 hitter.
- A roster move is in the Orioles immediate future and Chris Parmelee may wind up with the short straw, writes Roch Kubatko of MASN. The club plans to recall Kevin Gausman for a start on Wednesday. The O’s are currently carrying just 11 pitchers, so a position player will have to go. In addition to Parmelee, I could see Ryan Flaherty, David Lough, and Nolan Reimold as players who could be designated. Jonathan Schoop could be temporarily optioned if Baltimore didn’t want to risk losing anybody. Also per Kubatko, the Orioles are monitoring prospect Dariel Alvarez. They could promote him soon despite concerns about his defense and plate discipline.
- When Ryne Sandberg resigned as Phillies manager, it caught colleague and friend Larry Bowa by surprise, writes Jim Salisbury of Philly.com. In an interesting interview, Bowa offered some opinions as to why Sandberg walked away. In addition to expected changes related to the hiring of Andy MacPhail, Bowa posits that Sandberg was fed up with a lack of work ethic in modern players. Bowa offers quite a bit more nuance so I recommend Phillies fans read the article.
- According to assistant GM Billy Eppler, the Yankees are engaged in several trade discussions, reports Brendan Kuty of NJ.com. Eppler played coy to the specifics, but he did note that it would be hard for the club to outdo the reinforcements they received off the disabled list – namely Jacoby Ellsbury and Andrew Miller.
Minor MLB Transactions: 7/18/15
Here are the latest minor moves:
- Shane Loux has retired from professional baseball according to the Independent Sugar Land Skeeters. Loux is best remembered for his role with the 2012 World Champion Giants in which he posted a 4.97 ERA. He tossed just 144 career major league innings, but he compiled a long career in the minors. Over 1,744 minor league innings, he posted a 4.38 ERA, 5.1 K/9, and 2.7 BB/9. He pitched well for the Skeeters with a 2.92 ERA in 77 innings.
- Also per the Skeeters, the Braves have signed reliever Hunter Cervenka and assigned him to Triple-A. The lefty boasts a robust strikeout rate and suspect control. He began the 2015 season with the Cubs before latching on with the Skeeters. Chicago originally acquired him in 2012 as the PTBNL in the Marlon Byrd trade.
- The Pirates have signed former second round pick Jake Thompson, tweets Matt Eddy of Baseball America. The Rays released Thompson last week. The right-handed reliever has not pitched this season, although the reason why has not been reported. Thompson, 24, pitched ably for the Triple-A Durham Bulls last season – 3.15 ERA, 7.86 K/9, and 2.88 BB/9.
Trade Market Notes: Pitchers, Shields, Hamels, Papelbon, Reds
The much vaunted sellers market could soon favor buyers – at least for starting pitchers, observes Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. Rosenthal figures GMs with players like Cole Hamels or Johnny Cueto should be motivated to act quickly. As he notes (tweet), Hamels and Cueto are already joined by Scott Kazmir, Mike Leake, Dan Haren, Mat Latos, and four Padres hurlers. Closer to the deadline, we could see Jeff Samardzija, Yovani Gallardo, and David Price join the trade block among others. If there is any point in the sellers’ favor, it’s that every club feels like it needs more pitching.
- Agents prefer for their star players to be traded, tweets Evan Drellich of the Houston Chronicle. Players with expiring contracts become ineligible for a qualifying offer. As we’ve seen in recent seasons, clubs can be very deliberate about signing a top free agent with a qualifying offer attached. The bonus pool rules instituted in the last collective bargaining agreement ensure that some teams will carefully guard their access to young talent rather than ink an expensive veteran.
- A “rival evaluator” tells Buster Olney of ESPN (Insider only) that he expects the Padres to trade Shields. The source put the odds anywhere between 75 and 90 percent. Of course, that’s just the opinion of one anonymous source. Shields’ market is liable to be complicated, and I could see it extending into August.
- In other Shields-related news, Jeff Sanders of the San Diego Union-Tribune thinks it could be a mistake to trade the veteran righty. While the Padres may desire to get out from under his back-loaded deal, it would send a confusing signal to the next class of free agents. For what it’s worth, I think this could be overthinking it. The Padres don’t have the same stigma as the Marlins. The Friars could easily market such a trade as comparable to the Red Sox dump of Adrian Gonzalez and Carl Crawford.
- Per Olney, multiple teams have engaged the Phillies regarding Hamels. Sources have also indicated that Jonathan Papelbon could be dealt very soon. Philadelphia has long been expected to dump pricey veterans at the deadline, but recent rumors have suggested the club could also stand pat until the offseason.
Rosenthal’s Latest: Hamels, Cueto, Kazmir, Gomez
The Dodgers, Cubs, Rangers, and Red Sox are among the clubs still interested in Cole Hamels, reports Ken Rosenthal in his latest video for FOX Sports. Boston is expected to scout Hamels’ start tomorrow, and we can assume other clubs will have a heavy presence as well. Talks with the Rangers aren’t dead, but Texas does expect other teams to make a better offer.
Interestingly, we’ve recently seen speculation that the Phillies could opt to keep Hamels past the July deadline. Other clubs wonder if uncertainty in the front office has hampered their ability to finalize a deal. As Rosenthal notes, Jonathan Papelbon should have been traded by now. Here’s more from Rosenthal:
- Health will affect the markets of Johnny Cueto and Scott Kazmir. Both hurlers have missed time with various ailments and will be free agents at the end of the season. It can be difficult to justify trading a talented prospect for 12 starts, especially when the player involved is at an increased risk to not make those starts.
- Short of an impressive streak in the second half, Pat Murphy is unlikely to manage the Padres next season. Rosenthal suggests that the culture change from Bud Black was too great. Murphy could join Craig Counsell‘s staff in Milwaukee if he is relieved of his duties.
- As we now know, the Astros are open to adding a bat at the trade deadline. One star they’ve scouted is Brewers outfielder Carlos Gomez. Houston prefers a right-handed hitter, but may target lefty swinging Gerardo Parra due to a lower acquisition price. The Astros are open to trade Jon Singleton.
Texas Notes: Cashner, Ross, Corporan, Luhnow, Andrus
The Astros and Padres have discussed starting pitching, reports Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune. It’s believed that Andrew Cashner and Tyson Ross were the subjects of the talks. Lin characterizes the conversations as “preliminary.” He believes the Astros are performing due diligence in case their pursuit of Johnny Cueto goes awry. The Rangers are also known to have interest in both pitchers. Cashner is a free agent after the 2016 season while Ross is club-controlled through 2017.
- The Rangers have placed catcher Carlos Corporan on the disabled list and recalled Tomas Telis, reports T.R. Sullivan of MLB.com. Corporan is sidelined with a sprained left thumb. The news comes just a couple days after we learned the Rangers were open to trading Corporan to clear space for Telis. The 24-year-old prospect saw 71 plate appearances last season and has hit relatively well in the minors. This year, he’s managed a .291/.327/.404 line at Triple-A.
- Astros GM Jeff Luhnow is remaining open-minded heading into the trade deadline, he tells Brian McTaggart of MLB.com in an interview. Specifically, he’s looking for a piece that can help the team reach the postseason and succeed in October. Beyond that, he mentioned the rotation, lineup, and bullpen as areas that can be improved. Luhnow also suggested that some talks could drag into August. The interview does make one thing clear – the Astros would like to buy, but they’ll keep an eye on the long term implications as they do it.
- A change of scenery could be in order for Elvis Andrus, opines Frank Cesare of GammonsDaily.com. The 26-year-old has declined to replacement level production since signing an eight-year, $120MM contract that expires after the 2022 season. Andrus was once known for above average defense, speed, contact ability, and plate discipline. He’s hitting a career worst .245/.303/.328 even though his peripherals are comparable to his career rates. His defense has dropped below average over the last season and a half. Undoubtedly, the Rangers would be happy to escape his contract, but there is a dearth of obvious suitors? A change of scenery may be ideal, but unless Texas ate a large portion of his contract, a trade is exceedingly unlikely.
- With the Rangers seven games back in the AL West and five games below .500, the club needs Martin Perez to perform immediately, writes Gerry Fraley of the Dallas Morning News. Perez returned from Tommy John surgery this past Friday with a five inning outing. Aside from Yovani Gallardo, the club has received little value from their starters. The team’s starters have combined for a 4.14 ERA – 12th worst in the league. Martin has a career 4.16 ERA and 4.07 FIP.
Podcast: National League Overview
MLBTR’s Steve Adams helps Jeff survey the entire National League, looking at pieces for every team that could be moving at the trade deadline. How aggressive should the Mets be? Should A.J. Preller and the Padres hit the reset button? Is it time for the Cubs to make a significant trade acquisition, or are they better off waiting until 2016? These topics and more on this week’s episode.
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The MLB Trade Rumors Podcast runs weekly on Thursday afternoons.
Mariners Unlikely To Add Big-Name Player In Trade
While the Mariners remain in the market for a backup catcher and perhaps a right-handed reliever, GM Jack Zduriencik makes a move for a significant name between now and the non-waiver trade deadline seem unlikely. Via Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times, Zduriencik said the team’s acquisition of Mark Trumbo may be its most notable move:
“We did the Mark Trumbo thing. We tried to jump the market and make a deal at the time that we thought could bring in, what we considered, a pretty good power bat for our lineup, to help augment what we already have. I think anything else will probably be moves within the organization. There’s always the possibility something could happen, but you’re not really counting on it.”
The Mariners have aggressively attempted to remedy what has a perennially disappointing offense through both free agency and trades over the past two seasons, but to little avail. Both Robinson Cano and Nelson Cruz were signed to significant free agent contracts, while on the trade market, Zduriencik has acquired Trumbo, Austin Jackson, Seth Smith and the since-designated-for-assignment Justin Ruggiano. While Cano was excellent in his first season with Seattle and Cruz is hitting quite well in 2015, the moves, as a whole, have done little to help the Mariners overcome their run-suppressing home environment. And as Divish notes, the decision to part with Welington Castillo in the Trumbo trade is presently haunting the Mariners. Castillo’s bat looks revitalized with Arizona — .289/.366/.533 in 101 PAs — while the Mariners continue to receive little offensive production behind the plate. (Of course, Arizona’s hitter-friendly environment must be considered as well.)
Divish goes on to write that a hot start to the second half could lead Zduriencik to seek ownership approval to make further additions, though current asking prices are beyond what the Mariners have to offer in prospect collateral. Furthermore, continued struggles could lead to the sale of impending free agents such as Hisashi Iwakuma, J.A. Happ and Jackson. Such a fade could also bring into question Zduriencik’s future with the club, Divish notes, as expectations entering the season were high.
One encouraging note for the Mariners and their fans should be the relative ease of their second-half schedule. As ESPN’s Buster Olney noted earlier today in ranking the strength of clubs’ remaining schedules, the Mariners are currently slated to play just 22 of their final 73 games against clubs that carried a record of .500 or better into the All-Star break. The bad news for Seattle, though, is that many of those games will come in the next two weeks. The Mariners took a tough 4-3 loss at Yankee Stadium last night, and after two more games there, they’ll head to Detroit for four games before hosting the Blue Jays for three. The only games they’ll play against a sub-.500 team prior to the trade deadline will be when they host the D-Backs from July 27-29. From there, they head to Minnesota for a four-game set.