AL Central Notes: White Sox, Hagadone, Twins
The White Sox haven’t made any determinations on which direction they’ll take as the trade deadline nears, GM Rick Hahn told reporters, including the Chicago Tribune’s Colleen Kane. As Kane notes, the South Siders closed out the first half on a 9-3 run, giving the club a bit more optimism about its chances. “Certainly if I did it from an emotional or fan standpoint, we want to be aggressive we want to add,” said Hahn prior to yesterday’s double-header versus the Royals (the two sides came away from the twin bill with an even split). “However, it’s part of the responsibility of this position to be objective and look at the long-term benefit of the club and do what makes the most sense objectively given the situation that we’ve played ourselves in.” Jeff Samardzija‘s name, at present, is the most commonly mentioned as a possible trade chip for Chicago.
Here’s more from the AL Central…
- Indians left-hander Nick Hagadone suffered what appears to be a serious elbow injury when pitching in a rehab assignment for Class-A Mahoning Valley this week, writes Cleveland.com’s Zack Meisel. Hagadone, who was rehabbing from a minor back injury that landed him on the DL, had Tommy John surgery in 2008. “It looks like he did it again,” Cleveland skipper Terry Francona told Meisel. “…This isn’t something that’s [just] a week with no throwing.” Hagadone will seek a second opinion on his elbow before any determination is made, though the present outlook certainly appears to be grim.
- Twins general manager Terry Ryan expressed disappointment that the team wasn’t able to reach an agreement with second-round pick Kyle Cody, who will return to Kentucky for his senior season, writes MLB.com’s Rhett Bollinger. There’s been some speculation that health concerns impacted the negotiation, but Ryan said otherwise: “That wasn’t the most important thing. We just couldn’t come to a conclusion, is all. He’s healthy. It’s not a factor.”
- Also from Bollinger, Twins right-hander Ricky Nolasco underwent his ankle surgery as planned on Monday during the All-Star break. Nolasco has a bone fragment removed from his right ankle and will be fitted with a walking boot. The team won’t know until the boot is removed whether or not Nolasco will be able to pitch again in 2015, and Bollinger characterized that evaluation as “weeks away.” Whether he pitches again this season or not, 2015 will mark a second straight disappointing season for Nolasco, who signed a four-year, $49MM contract with Minnesota prior to the 2014 season.
Rays’ Second-Round Pick Betts Requires Tommy John
JULY 18: Betts will require Tommy John surgery, reports MLB.com’s Bill Chastain (via Twitter). As Law notes (also on Twitter), there were some rumors circulating prior to the draft that Betts had an issue in his throwing elbow, which would explain the reason that he slipped to the mid-second round despite being regarded as one of the best catching prospects in this year’s draft.
Betts becomes the second top pick in the past 24 hours to require Tommy John surgery, as Dodgers first-rounder Walker Buehler, who signed yesterday shortly before the deadline, also reportedly needs the operation. Of course, the two will have different paths to recovery; Betts is a catcher while Buehler is a pitcher.
JULY 16: The Rays have agreed to terms with second-round selection Chris Betts, reports Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times (via Twitter). ESPN’s Keith Law reports (on Twitter) that Betts will receive a $1.485MM signing bonus, which comes in above his No. 52 slot’s value of $1,160,500. Betts, a high school catcher out of California, is being advised by MVP Sports Group.
Yesterday, MLB.com’s Jim Callis wrote that Betts had first-round aspirations entering the draft and, as such, may have had a higher price tag than his slot, which now looks to indeed be the case. Even by going over slot for Betts, however, the Rays will avoid forfeiting a future first-round pick as well as incurring any luxury taxes on the deal. As Callis noted, the team had saved $448K on other picks, so Betts’ additional $324,500 will keep the Rays in the confines of their allotted pool.
Heading into the draft, Betts rated 16th on the respective rankings of ESPN’s Keith Law and Fangraphs’ Kiley McDaniel. Callis and MLB.com colleague Jonathan Mayo ranked Betts 25th, and the staff at Baseball America ranked him 28th on their Top 500.
In his writeup, Law noted that fellow prep catcher Tyler Stephenson had more impressive all-around tools, but Betts is presently a more advanced hitter/receiver. Both Law and McDaniel note similarities between Betts and Brian McCann — a bat-first catcher — though clearly there’s a long way to go before Betts realizes that type of ceiling. Callis and Mayo note that he makes consistently hard contact with a left-handed swing that can eventually produce above-average power, and he’s slimmed down this year. BA writes that his receiving improved this offseason after working out with Twins catcher Kurt Suzuki (coincidentally, a teammate of Aaron Hicks — another first-rounder to come out of Betts’ Woodrow Wilson High School).
Now that Betts has come to terms with the Rays, seven players selected in the top two rounds remain unsigned. Most notable of course, is No. 1 overall selection Dansby Swanson, although there’s been little to indicate that the D-Backs are in serious jeopardy of not signing the Vanderbilt shortstop. Others that have yet to sign include Dodgers’ top picks Walker Buehler (No. 24) and Kyle Funkhouser (No. 35); Brewers Competitive Balance (A) pick Nathan Kirby (No. 40); Blue Jays second-rounder Brady Singer (No. 56); Orioles second-rounder Jonathan Hughes (No. 68); and Twins Competitive Balance (B) pick Kyle Cody (No. 73).
Adding Offense A “Growing Point Of Focus” For Astros
Much has been made of the Astros’ pursuit of a rotation upgrade — specifically of the top-of-the-rotation variety — but general manager Jeff Luhnow said today that adding another bat to his lineup is a growing point of focus, tweets MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart.
Recently, when previewing Houston’s trade deadline approach, Evan Drellich of the Houston Chronicle noted that an upgrade at first base was something the Astros were considering, but pitching, at the time, was said to be a priority. Luhnow’s comments, it should be noted, came even before Chris Carter exited tonight’s game with a sprained right ankle (as McTaggart wrote tonight). Carter was able to walk off the field under his own power, and said after the game (also via McTaggart) that while he’s swollen and sore, he hopes to avoid the disabled list. Houston also has Jon Singleton as an option to step in at first base.
Neither Carter nor Singleton has been particularly productive this season, though. Astros first basemen, in fact, collectively batted just .189/.296/.372 in the season’s first half. Both corner infield spots were problematic, as Houston third baseman slashed .208/.289/.418. Luis Valbuena, though, for all of his batting average woes, is showing the best power of his career. And, the Astros also have Jed Lowrie on the mend, who one would think could take some at-bats at the hot corner now that Carlos Correa has cemented himself as the club’s shortstop.
Both center field (.224/.284/.364) and designated hitter (.240/.279/.436) have collectively resulted in below-average production for their positions as well.
It would seem that the Astros are positioning themselves to be one of the most active clubs on this year’s trade market. Luhnow himself has now stated a growing desire to add a bat, a desire to add a front-of-the-rotation starter and an openness to adding bullpen pieces (specifically, a pitcher with well above-average velocity). Luhnow and the Astros are in a new position as buyers on the summer trade market, so this will be the first opportunity we have to see how aggressive an approach the Houston front office will take when it comes to adding big league talent.
Minor MLB Transactions: 7/17/15
Here are today’s minor transactions from around the league…
- The Red Sox have signed third baseman/outfielder Dustin Lawley to a minor league contract, MLBTR has learned. The 26-year-old Lawley was released by the Mets earlier in the week. Formerly a 19th-round pick by New York (2011), Lawley has a career .252/.308/.457 batting line in the minor leagues. Lawley briefly reached Triple-A in 2013 but spent all of 2014 and the first half of 2015 at the Double-A level.
- Catcher Luke Carlin has agreed to a minor league pact with the Cubs, reports Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle (via Twitter). The 34-year-old Carlin has had a few brief stints of big league action, totaling 156 plate appearances with the Padres, Diamondbacks and Indians from 2008-12. Carlin is a career .241/.358/.352 hitter in parts of 10 Triple-A seasons but struggled with Oakland’s Triple-A affiliate this year. Slusser notes, however, that he was very popular with the pitching staff.
- The Mets have signed former Twins top prospect Joe Benson to a minor league deal, tweets Baseball America’s Matt Eddy. Benson, a former second-rounder, was long one of Minnesota’s most highly touted prospects and cracked Baseball America’s Top 100 list in 2011 and 2012. However, the center fielder struggled after reaching the Triple-A level, where he’s hit just .202 in 116 games and struck out in 26 percent of his plate appearances. The 27-year-old Benson will report to Double-A Binghamton, according to Eddy.
- Also from Eddy (Twitter link), the Phillies have signed former Nationals prospect Destin Hood. The 25-year-old Hood is a former second-rounder as well, and he played quite well for Washington’s Triple-A affiliate in 2014, slashing .294/.344/.482 in 334 plate appearances. Hood, however, did not repeat that success with Cleveland this season, as he slashed .169/.222/.271 in 17 games with their top affiliate in Columbus before being released.
Trade Notes: Hamels, Pitching, Mets, Johnson, Beede
Two weeks from this writing, the non-waiver trade deadline will be firmly in the rear-view mirror. Rumors pertaining to trades and actual trade activity should pick up substantially here over the coming 14 days, and Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports previews the deadline for all 30 clubs, examining each buyer’s biggest need, each seller’s greatest asset and what will determine the course of the teams that have yet to plot a course of action. Similarly, ESPN’s Buster Olney took a look at the biggest questions surrounding each of the 30 teams heading into the second half — many of which have revolve around trade deadline strategies (ESPN Insider subscription required).
General overviews aside, here’s the latest trade chatter from around the league…
- Joel Sherman of the New York Post is surprised by the number of executives he’s spoken to that feel the Phillies will not trade Cole Hamels this summer, barring a no-brainer offer (Twitter links). Sherman says that many within the industry feel that new Phillies president Andy MacPhail may wait until the Winter Meetings to shop Hamels, as he’ll by then be more comfortable with the scouts that are giving him advice and have input from a more functional analytics department.
- Newsday’s Marc Carig writes that while names like Justin Upton, Carlos Gomez and Jay Bruce would all have appeal to the Mets, each would also come with a steep prospect price. Such transactions aren’t commonplace for the Mets, Carig notes, but the addition of a versatile outfielder such as Will Venable or Gerardo Parra could help improve the club’s production at a lower cost. And, as ESPN’s Buster Olney notes (on Twitter), the Mets should be highly motivated to add pieces, as 17 of the team’s final 39 games come against a pair of selling clubs: the Phillies and Braves.
- Sherman also hears that the Dodgers, Astros, Royals and Blue Jays are the four teams that are most aggressively trying to add pitching at this juncture (Twitter link). The Royals and Blue Jays scouted the Reds, who are said to be ready to move both Johnny Cueto and Mike Leake, heavily before the break.
- Part of the reasoning behind the Braves‘ signings of right-hander Jason Frasor and left-hander Ross Detwiler is that the team wanted to add some veteran leadership to a bullpen that will likely soon be without Jim Johnson, tweets MLB.com’s Mark Bowman. Johnson, in Bowman’s estimation, is very likely to be traded in the near future.
- Giants prospect Tyler Beede‘s name is in high demand in trade talks, manager Bruce Bochy tells Peter Gammons (Twitter link). Per Bochy, Beede’s name is the first one mentioned by opposing clubs in the majority of the Giants’ trade talks. San Francisco selected Beede with the No. 14 pick in the 2014 draft, and he has a 2.91 ERA with 6.0 K/9 and 2.4 BB/9 in 89 2/3 innings between High-A and Double-A in his first full pro season.
Jesse Hahn Shut Down For More Than A Month
JULY 17: Hahn told reporters, including MLB.com’s Jane Lee, that upon receiving a second opinion, it’s been confirmed that there’s no ligament damage in his elbow (Twitter link). Hahn is still, however dealing with inflammation — specifically in his forearm, per the San Francisco Chronicle’s Susan Slusser (on Twitter). He’ll be shut down from throwing for more than a month.
JULY 16: Athletics right-hander Jesse Hahn will be sidelined indefinitely and spend a “somewhat extended stay” on the disabled list with a flexor tendon injury, GM Billy Beane told John Hickey of the Bay Area News Group.
“We’re going to be conservative with Jesse,” said Beane. “And the tough thing with is starters is once they’re shut down, it take a while to build back up. So it’ll be longer rather than shorter.”
In the meantime, Hickey notes, right-hander Chris Bassitt is likely to be recalled from Triple-A to step into the club’s rotation (once a fifth starter is needed on July 25). Both Hahn and Bassitt were acquired in offseason trades, with Hahn coming from San Diego by way of the Derek Norris deal and Bassitt coming over from the White Sox as part of Oakland’s compensation for Jeff Samardzija.
Hahn has been largely excellent while working out of the Athletics’ rotation — 3.35 ERA, 6.0 K/9, 2.3 BB/9, 52.6 percent ground-ball rate — making the loss a reasonably large one for Oakland. Bassitt has handled himself well in a trio of spot starts and a handful of relief appearances, compiling a 2.93 ERA, but he’s an extreme fly-ball pitcher that has been fortunate in terms of home runs allowed, leading sabermetric stats to forecast a far gloomier picture (4.05 FIP, 5.44 xFIP, 4.96 SIERA).
The Athletics currently sit in last place in the AL West, eight and a half games back from the division-leading Angels and eight games behind the current Wild Card leaders — the Twins and Astros. Hahn’s injury comes at a critical time for an Oakland team that is widely expected to become a selling club but still hopes to claw its way back into the division race prior to the non-waiver trade deadline on July 31.
Phillies Sign Erik Kratz To Minor League Deal
The Phillies announced that they have signed catcher Erik Kratz to a minor league contract. Earlier today, Kratz’s agents at Jackson Management Group tweeted that their client had agreed to terms with a new team — they declined to specify which club — meaning he’s now been in four organizations in one month’s time.
Signing with the Phillies marks a homecoming for the veteran Kratz in more ways than one. For starters, the 35-year-old is a native of Telford, Penn. and attended high school in nearby Lansdale — both of which are roughly an hour outside of Philadelphia. The Phillies are also the team that gave Kratz his first significant taste of Major League action. Though he actually debuted with Pennsylvania’s other big league squad, Kratz totaled just 36 plate appearances in his 2010 debut with Pittsburgh.
Kratz has 537 plate appearances at the Major League level — 381 of which have come as a member of the Phillies. From 2011-13, Kratz batted .230/.291/.436 for the Phillies and showed impressive power with a .206 ISO and 18 homers while serving primarily as a backup to Carlos Ruiz.
Kratz began the year with the Royals but has since been designated for assignment and claimed by the Red Sox. Boston again designated Kratz shortly after, and he then signed with the Mariners. However, Kratz opted out of that deal when it became apparent that he wouldn’t get a look on the big league roster. Over the course of his career, Kratz is a .217/.270/.400 hitter that has caught 31 percent of attempted base-stealers and graded out well in terms of pitch-framing metrics.
D-Backs, Brandon League Do Not Have Agreement
6:02pm: Eddy now tweets that he’s been informed by the D-Backs’ baseball operations department that they are not in agreement with League on a contract (Twitter link). League, then, remains a free agent.
5:36pm: The Diamondbacks have agreed to a minor league pact with right-hander Brandon League, reports Baseball America’s Matt Eddy (Twitter link). League was designated for assignment by the Dodgers about two weeks ago and released by the team last week. He’s represented by ACES.
Now 32 years old, League’s three-year, $22.5MM contract with the Dodgers (signed under the previous front office’s watch) was widely panned from day one. That’s not to say League had necessarily been a poor pitcher, but perhaps not one deserving of such a hefty commitment. The Dodgers picked up League in a trade with the Mariners midway through the 2012 season, and he rode a stretch of 27 1/3 solid innings (2.30 ERA, 8.9 K/9, 4.2 BB/9) to that contract.
League’s first full year with the Dodgers was a notable disappointment, as he worked to a 5.30 ERA and saw his strikeout rate plummet to 4.6 K/9. League did log 54 1/3 innings that season, but he quickly lost the closer’s role to Kenley Jansen and spent much of his time late in the year working in mop-up duty. League does deserve credit for the second year of that contract, however, as he quietly enjoyed an excellent rebound campaign. Last year, League tossed 63 innings of 2.57 ERA ball, averaging 5.4 K/9 and 3.9 BB/9 with an outstanding 67.3 percent ground-ball rate.
A shoulder impingement prevented League from logging a single Major League inning this season, but he had very good results in a minor league rehab stint, yielding just one earned run on 10 hits and two walks with eight strikeouts in 10 2/3 innings. League will give the D-Backs an experienced depth piece that could factor into their bullpen in the second half. His addition could become more significant if Arizona parts with some pieces from its current bullpen in trade over the next two weeks; fill-in closer Brad Ziegler has been speculatively mentioned as a trade candidate, and Addison Reed is said to be available as well.
Dodgers’ First-Round Signing Buehler Requires Tommy John
4:58pm: Buehler will require Tommy John surgery, tweets Jon Heyman of CBS Sports. While it’s impossible to guess exactly how much the injury cost Buehler, the slot value for the No. 24 pick was $2,094,400. He signed for $314,400 under-slot.
4:24pm: Buehler will receive a $1.78MM bonus, tweets Jim Callis of MLB.com. As previously noted, his physical revealed some concerns about his arm health which affected his bonus.
3:03pm: Buehler is said to have an issue in his elbow, according to Heyman (Twitter link), which may explain both the delay in his signing and the under-slot bonus.
2:29pm: The Dodgers and first-round pick Walker Buehler have agreed to terms on a contract that is below the Vanderbilt right-hander’s No. 24 slot value of $2,094,400, according to Jon Heyman of CBS Sports (via Twitter). Buehler was advised by Excel Sports Management.
The Dodgers learned earlier today that No. 35 overall pick Kyle Funkhouser will return to Louisville for his senior season, making it all the more important for the club to secure Buehler’s services. Buehler was mentioned as a potential Top 10 pick in various mock drafts leading up to the actual draft but slipped to the Dodgers at 24th overall due to concerns surrounding his durability, according to Baseball America’s Teddy Cahill.
Buehler entered the draft ranked 11th, 12th, 17th and 22nd on the respective lists of MLB.com (Jonathan Mayo/Jim Callis), the Baseball America staff, ESPN (Keith Law) and Fangraphs (Kiley McDaniel). Callis and Mayo praise his 90-96 mph heater but note that he has some inconsistencies in terms of his curve, slider and changeup, though all three can be above-average at times. Buehler’s 6’2″, 170-pound frame has some question his ability to remain a starter, but the MLB.com duo likes his chances. So, too, does Baseball America, who cite his athleticism, clean delivery and deep arsenal as reasons that he can remain in the rotation. Law likes the manner in which he attacks hitters, while McDaniel puts future grades of 60, 55+ and 50 (on the 20-80 scale) on Buehler’s fastball, curveball and changeup, respectively.
Braves Reliever David Carpenter Designated For Assignment
The Braves have designated reliever David Carpenter for assignment, tweets David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal Constitution. Carpenter, 27, was recalled in early July and made four appearances for the Braves. The soft-tossing righty posted a 7.36 ERA in three and two-thirds innings with 12.27 K/9, no walks, and two home runs allowed. In 37 innings at Triple-A, he managed a 0.73 ERA with 8.76 K/9 and 3.65 BB/9. Over a 46 inning major league career, Carpenter has a 5.40 ERA with 6.56 K/9 and 3.66 BB/9.
Those who don’t closely follow the Braves can be excused for some confusion as to which David Carpenter has been designated. Over the offseason, Atlanta traded a harder throwing Carpenter to the Yankees who have since dealt him to the Nationals. That Carpenter was placed on the disabled list today, tweets Andrew Marchand of ESPN New York. The Carpenter designated today was signed to a minor league deal in January. He originally debuted with the Angels.