Twins Release Scott Atchison
The Twins have released veteran reliever Scott Atchison, according to the Southern League transactions page (h/t Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer Press). The 39-year-old had signed a minor league pact with Minnesota not long after being designated and released by the Indians.
Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN explains (Twitter links) that Atchison requested his release after he was not brought up to the big league pen. He is said to have reached a “verbal understanding” with the club that he’d have that ability as part of the arrangement.
Atchison had returned to Cleveland after signing a one-year extension last year. But he has been unable to repeat his strong 2014, working to a 6.86 ERA over 19 2/3 innings with 5.5 K/9 against 1.8 BB/9. Though his K:BB ratio is in line with prior years’ work, Atchison gave up much more solid contact (at a higher flyball rate), allowing 23 hits and six home runs in his 23 appearances.
Latest On Mariners Pursuit Of Catcher
1:51pm: Despite moving to release Triple-A backstop Erik Kratz, the Mariners are not “close” to a deal to add a new catcher, multiple sources tell Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times (Twitter link). He does add that Seattle has been looking for a new reserve behind the dish, though it has found the prices unreasonable.
12:23pm: While the Braves have had talks with Seattle regarding A.J. Pierzynski, he is not the backstop who is close to being acquired by the Mariners, Morosi tweets.
12:09pm: The Blue Jays are not involved, says Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.ca (on Twitter). Toronto backstop Dioner Navarro has long looked like a strong trade candidate, but it appears he isn’t the player being pursued by Seattle.
9:54am: The Mariners are close to striking a deal for a backstop, Jon Morosi of FOX Sports reports on Twitter. The report does not give any indication of the identities of the player or the other team involved in talks.
Seattle, of course, has already traded for a catcher this year, acquiring Welington Castillo from the Cubs. But Castillo has since been shipped to the Diamondbacks as part of the Mark Trumbo deal.
Mike Zunino, who is only 24, still looks like he could be a long-term piece for Seattle. But his struggles have become rather pronounced: his batting line sits at .160/.223/.292 after 277 plate appearances on the year. While Zunino is well regarded as a pitch framer, and Defensive Runs Saved is a fan (+7) of his work behind the dish. But Baseball Prospectus does not rate him highly in its measure of Fielding Runs Above Average.
The addition of Castillo seemed like an effort to supplement Zunino, and it appears that the Mariners are about to undertake another such attempt. Of course, it is entirely unclear at this point what kind of addition is under contemplation. MLBTR’s Steve Adams recently provided a complete breakdown of this year’s trade market at the position.
Phillies Claim Dalier Hinojosa From Red Sox
The Phillies have claimed righty Dalier Hinojosa off waivers from the Red Sox, Philadelphia announced. Boston had designated Hinojosa for assignment on Saturday.
Hinojosa came to the Red Sox as a free agent out of Cuba back in 2013, signing for a $4.25MM bonus. The 29-year-old ultimately made just one appearance from the Boston pen. He owns a 3.56 ERA with 9.0 K/9 against 4.3 BB/9 over 103 2/3 Triple-A innings.
Given that he racked up those innings over just 60 appearances, all from the pen, Hinojosa obviously offers the possibility of contributing multiple innings. Philadelphia will start him off at Triple-A, but he could provide some flexibility for its struggling pitching staff in the season’s second half.
Marlins Acquire Chris Reed From Dodgers
The Marlins have acquired lefty Chris Reed from the Dodgers in exchange for fellow southpaw Grant Dayton, Miami announced. Reed had recently been designated for assignment by Los Angeles.
In Reed, the Marlins have added a former first-round pick who entered the season rated the 10th overall prospect in the L.A. system by Baseball America. The former Stanford closer had worked as a starter for most of his professional career, but was shifted back to the pen this year. The results were not terribly promising, as Reed has walked more batters than he’s retired by strikeout and is carrying a 5.97 ERA.
Meanwhile, Dayton is a 27-year-old who has pitched almost exclusively from the pen. He owns a 2.83 ERA on the year in his second season at Triple-A, with 9.0 K/9 against just 1.3 BB/9. Unlike Reed, Dayton will not require a 40-man spot at present, allowing the Dodgers to stash him in the upper minors along with a dizzying array of other recently-acquired pen arms.
Marlins Outright Jordany Valdespin
We’ll track the day’s minor moves here:
- The Marlins have announced that utilityman Jordany Valdespin was outrighted to Triple-A. Valdespin, 27, made a brief stop in Miami before being designated, but has spent most of the season working to a .287/.342/.378 slash at the Triple-A level. He does have a fair amount of big league experience to his credit, with a career .217/.273/.371 slash over 464 total plate appearances. Having previously been outrighted, Valdespin has the option to refuse the assignment.
First Deals After The All-Star Game: 2010-14
With little in the way of transactional news coming out of last night’s All-Star Game festivities, it’s a quiet morning here at MLBTR. While the rumor mill will likely hit high gear in short order, it’s fair to wonder how long we’ll actually have to wait for a trade to go down.
In recent history, we’ve seen a mix of outcomes. (No surprise there.) The deal-making has begun (or, in some cases, re-ignited) not long after the mid-season break, but often takes a bit longer to get going. Without making any claims of predictive value whatsoever, I thought I’d take a look back at the first significant deals — i.e., those involving at least a regular big league contributor — that were struck in each of the past five summers:
2014
With Jeff Samardzija already off the board before the break, the Royals added Jason Frasor on July 16th, the day after last year’s All-Star Game. And on the 18th, the Angels picked up an even more significant pen piece in closer Huston Street. Last year’s market not only had that quality early action, of course, but finished with an incredible flurry of activity.
2013
It took some time to get going out of the break two seasons back. The first impactful deal after the July 16th ballgame was the swap that sent Matt Garza to the Rangers. That trade didn’t occur until July 22nd. All we’d had to chew on before that was the Orioles’ acquisition of Scott Feldman (though that one has become more interesting over time).
2012
After enjoying the All-Star tilt on the tenth of July, a notably early date, it took until July 20th for the Astros and Blue Jays to reach a ten-player deal. Even that trade lacked much in the way of big names, and it wasn’t until the 23rd that Anibal Sanchez and Omar Infante were shipped to the Tigers.
2011
The Mets sent Francisco Rodriguez and a lot of cash to the Brewers the day after the July 12th mid-summer classic. Thereafter, hot stove fans had to wait a week for a blockbuster — featuring Jeff Keppinger. (Side note: the Astros used the roster space to promote Jose Altuve!) Then, it was mostly crickets … until the 27th, when Edwin Jackson and Colby Rasmus were dealt. The Carlos Beltran-for-Zach Wheeler deal happened the next day. Good things come to those who wait.
2010
If you were complaining in 2011, then you obviously were spoiled from the year prior, when Cliff Lee had already been traded when the All-Star game took place on July 13th. The action started again right after the game, as the Blue Jays picked up Yunel Escobar on the 14th, but it then took another eight days for Alberto Callaspo to be dealt to the Angels.
Rockies Notes: Trades, Hundley, CarGo, Tulowitzki
Entering the All-Star break, just three teams — the Phillies, Brewers and Marlins — have fewer wins than the Rockies, who find themselves 11 games out of contention in the National League West. With Colorado looking more and more like a deadline seller, here’s the latest out of Denver…
- In a mailbag piece, Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post writes that he can envision Carlos Gonzalez, Charlie Blackmon, Wilin Rosario and John Axford being traded in the next two weeks. Though Nick Hundley appears to be a classic trade candidate — he’s hitting well in the first season of an affordable two-year deal — Saunders writes that he’s emerged as a strong presence in the clubhouse, which upper management may not want to lose. Blackmon would make an intriguing trade candidate, though his struggles against lefties and significant home/road splits throughout his career would seem like potential hindrances to his trade value, in my mind.
- Gonzalez, who has battled injuries frequently throughout his Rockies tenure, tells the Post’s Nick Groke that he’s healthy for the first time in a season and feels that his surgically repaired knee finally has the strength to allow him to wait on his back leg to adjust to breaking pitches. CarGo hit .464/.483/.929 with four doubles and three homers over the final week of the first half.
- Troy Tulowitzki‘s name has been in trade rumors for years, and he addressed the constant speculation at yesterday’s All-Star festivities when meeting with the media. Via the L.A. Times’ Bill Shaikin, Tulo told reporters, “Right now, I’m still a Rockie. I’ve dealt with [trade rumors] for a couple years now. I’m still in a Rockies uniform. It is what it is.” Tulo went on to say that he feels the Rockies can eventually put a winner on the field, citing promising young teammates such as Nolan Arenado and DJ LeMahieu. Tulowitzki also went on to say that he takes “a lot of pride in staying in one organization.” Tulo called Derek Jeter his favorite player (the reason behind his No. 2 in Colorado) and discussed the possibility of staying Colorado forever. “Not too many guys get to do it in this day and age. It would be cool, when I am done playing, to say that I did that,” said Tulowitzki.
Tim Stauffer Signs With Sugar Land Skeeters
The Sugar Land Skeeters of the independent Atlantic League announced that they’ve signed former Twins/Padres right-hander Tim Stauffer as well as former Rays first baseman Allan Dykstra.
The 33-year-old Stauffer enjoyed a long but injury-marred tenure with the Padres after being selected with the fourth overall pick in the 2003 draft. He became a free agent for the first time this season on the heels of a solid 3.50 ERA in 64 1/3 innings of relief for the 2014 Padres. Minnesota signed him to a one-year, $2.2MM contract, but he struggled in Minnesota from day one. Stauffer missed a chunk of time with an intercostal strain and ultimately saw his Twins career end with a release following a 6.60 ERA with six strikeouts against seven walks in 15 innings.
As for Dykstra, he was cut loose by the Rays earlier this season. He made his big league debut in 2015 but struggled to a .129/.289/.226 line in 38 plate appearances with the Rays. Interestingly, Dykstra was also a first-round pick of the Padres, who selected him 23rd overall in 2008. He’s enjoyed a good amount of success at the Triple-A level, however, hitting .261/.411/.457 in 606 plate appearances.
Mariners, Red Sox Interested In Jason Frasor
8:05pm: The Red Sox, too, are interested in Frasor, a source tells WEEI.com’s John Tomase. The Sox are currently sorting through options to improve a bullpen that has lacked reliable options behind Koji Uehara and Junichi Tazawa, Tomase notes, and Frasor is among the considerations.
5:08pm: The Mariners are “taking a hard look” at right-hander Jason Frasor, according to Bob Dutton of the Tacoma News Tribune. Frasor became a free agent earlier this week after he was designated for assignment by the Royals and opted for free agency.
As Dutton writes, manager Lloyd McClendon recently expressed displeasure with the performance of his team’s right-handed relievers. McClendon noted that much attention is paid to the club’s anemic offense, but the team had offensive struggles in 2014 as well. A lack of quality right-handed relief options, in McClendon’s estimation, has been a significant detriment to the team’s success. “In my opinion, the biggest disappointment to date has been the right-handers we’ve had to shift in and out of our bullpen to try to bridge the gap,” said McClendon.
Seattle has indeed seen its shares of struggles in the bullpen. Danny Farquhar, Tom Wilhelmsen, Yoervis Medina and Dominic Leone were standout performers in 2014, but neither has performed well in 2015. The 28-year-old Farquhar’s velocity and strikeout rates have plummeted, while his walk and home run rates have both soared. The result has been a 6.23 ERA — more than three full runs higher than his 2.66 mark from 2015. Wilhelmsen’s ERA has more than doubled, though it’s at least worth noting that his strikeout and walk rates have improved; he, however, has been plagued by a BABIP north of .400 and a fluky strand rate. Medina and Leone have both been traded this season after their own struggles. None of the four is presently in the Major Leagues.
Also of note regarding the Mariners’ bullpen struggles is the collapse of 2014 closer Fernando Rodney. The veteran has long had control issues, but in his best years they’ve been masked somewhat by a hefty strikeout rate. That hasn’t been the case for Rodney this season, as he’s posted a dreadful 5.50 ERA with just 7.0 K/9 against 4.3 BB/9. The 38-year-old has also been more homer-prone than usual.
Overall, the Mariners have received a collective 3.81 ERA from their bullpen, which ranks just 22nd in the Majors. Sabermetrics don’t paint any rosier of a picture, as FIP (3.81), xFIP (3.85) and SIERA (3.54) all feel that the production has been mediocre, at best, relative to the rest of the bullpens in the league. Rookie Carson Smith, journeyman Mark Lowe and lefties Joe Beimel and Charlie Furbush, however, have delivered strong to excellent bottom-line results.
Of course, Frasor would hardly represent a guaranteed cure for the Mariners’ bullpen troubles. Although the 37-year-old worked to an excellent 1.54 ERA in 23 1/3 innings with the Royals, he also issued 15 walks (13 unintentional) in that time and posted the lowest K/9 rate (6.9) of his career. Additionally, given his track record, one would imagine that there will be a number of clubs to show interest in the veteran right-hander, whose brush with midseason free agency seems unlikely to be lengthy in nature.
AL East Notes: Bogaerts, Porcello, Stroman, Hoffman, O’s
As Alex Speier of the Boston Globe writes, agent Scott Boras recently addressed the progress of client Xander Bogaerts, who struggled in his first full big league season but enters the 2015 All-Star break hitting .304/.338/.411. As Speier notes, Bogaerts is currently on pace to hit free agency entering his age-27 season — a rare occurrence for any player. Boras noted that rarity, making sure to point out that fellow client Bryce Harper will have an early taste of free agency, but denied that he discourages his clients from signing long-term deals before free agency. Boras maintains that he’s “absolutely” open to long-term deals for clients. Said Boras: “With our clients, we give them a lot of information. I always tell teams, I don’t know of any players we have that haven’t signed a deal that they felt was a value deal for them.” For his part, Bogaerts said that he loves playing in Boston and hopes to remain there, although clearly he’s quite a ways from having to face the possibility of playing elsewhere.
More from the AL East…
- Rick Porcello spoke with WEEI.com’s John Tomase about his disastrous first half and the importance of trying to take away some positives from the season’s first few months. Porcello, who will spend the All-Star break decompressing at his family’s home in southern Vermont, maintained that he was not feeling the pressures that can come along with signing a large contract. “They brought me over here because of what I’ve done and who I am,” said Porcello. “That’s the most important thing. There’s no added pressure on myself. I am who I am. I can’t try and be somebody else or do something I’m not capable of doing. So that hasn’t factored into it at all.”
- The Blue Jays are “regularly being asked for Marcus Stroman” as a return in trades for pitching, reports Shi Davidi of Sportsnet. Despite the fact that Stroman won’t contribute to the team in 2015 after tearing his ACL this spring, the Blue Jays won’t be trading him, Davidi writes. Looking at the trade history of GM Alex Anthopoulos, Davidi notes that it’s probably more likely to see the Blue Jays acquire someone with some team control remaining. He lists the Padres as a speculative trade partner, noting that both Andrew Cashner and Tyson Ross would fit that mold. Acquiring a starter or two would allow the Blue Jays to transfer Aaron Sanchez to the bullpen to help fix the team’s relief woes, though trade possibilities exist there, too. Jonathan Papelbon said at yesterday’s All-Star festivities that he considered the Jays a “good fit” and would waive his no-trade clause to go there.
- As Alykhan K. Ravjiani of Postmedia first tweeted, the Blue Jays have promoted top prospect Jeff Hoffman to Double-A. Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet notes that the promotion comes at a time when the Jays are on the hunt for pitching, and Hoffman is likely to be asked about frequently, perhaps along with prospects Daniel Norris and Matt Boyd. Hoffman was a candidate to be selected first overall in the 2014 draft but fell to the Blue Jays with the ninth pick after undergoing Tommy John surgery. Now healthy, Hoffman has a 3.21 ERA through his first 11 starts with Class-A Advanced, where he’s averaged 6.1 walks against 2.4 walks per nine innings.
- Though man Orioles fans believe the team’s diminished run production to be a reason for the club’s struggles, MASNsports.com’s Steve Melewski opines that questionable starting pitching is the greater culprit. While the decisions to let Nelson Cruz and Nick Markakis leave via free agency has had a negative impact on the offense, poor performances from Chris Tillman, Bud Norris and more recently, Miguel Gonzalez, have left Baltimore with a 4.20 ERA from its rotation.