NL Notes: Lane, D’Backs, Marlins, Phillies, Nationals
There was a great story today in San Diego, as former Astros outfielder Jason Lane re-emerged onto a big league diamond with the Padres after last appearing in 2007. Now, the 37-year-old is a pitcher, and his first-ever MLB relief outing was a good one: ten up, ten down. Tyler Kepner of the New York Times recently profiled Lane and his now-consummate attempt at a return to the bigs.
Here’s the latest out of the National League:
- The Diamondbacks placed middle infielder Cliff Pennington on the DL and recalled young shortstop Didi Gregorius to take his active roster spot, the club announced via press release. Arizona’s mix of middle infielders — including those two players, current MLB starters Aaron Hill and Chris Owings, and prospect Nick Ahmed — has often been discussed as a source of depth from which the team could trade. For Gregorius, who entered the year with 1.033 days of MLB service, staying on the active roster for most of the remaining 115 days of the season could position him for an eventual Super Two candidacy.
- Meanwhile, the D’backs learned that they would be without one of their top pitching prospects for the rest of the season, as Jose Martinez will need surgery for a stress fracture in his right elbow, reports Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic (via Twitter). Baseball America rated Martinez as the team’s sixth-best prospect heading into the year, saying that he throws a mid-90s heater and outstanding power curve. Given his last name, Dominican heritage, and slight build, BA notes that comparisons to Pedro Martinez and Carlos Martinez are inevitable.
- The Marlins‘ recent series of transactions are a sad reflection on owner Jeffrey Loria, opines Dave Cameron of Fangraphs. Even putting aside the question whether it made sense for Miami to target the relievers it did (Bryan Morris and Kevin Gregg), Cameron says that there is no reason the team couldn’t have found the money without giving up a significant future asset in the 39th overall choice in the upcoming draft.
- A fire sale is looming for the Phillies, writes Todd Zolecki of MLB.com, who says that the club has far too many holes to do anything but sell. Zolecki raises the point that GM Ruben Amaro Jr. has seemingly done rather poorly in generating returns when it has dealt veterans in the past. Having shipped out players like Cliff Lee, Hunter Pence, Shane Victorino, Jim Thome, Michael Young, and Joe Blanton in recent years, the return has been headlined by names such as Phillippe Aumont, Tommy Joseph, and Ethan Martin.
- Ryan Zimmerman had a strong game in an interesting return to the Nationals tonight, appearing comfortable in his first ever appearance in left field and hitting the ball hard several times. As Barry Svrluga of the Washington Post reports, Zimmerman willingly moved off of his customary hot corner without complaint. “Our window is now,” he said. “This team’s good enough to win a World Series, I think. But you just never know. Realistically, we’re only going to be together for this year and next year.” Those comment seemed related, in particular, to the contractual status of Ian Desmond and Jordan Zimmermann, each of whom is set to reach free agency after 2015. “Guys like Desi, guys like Jordan — I don’t doubt that they want to stay here,” he said, “but baseball’s a business. You never know.”
Anthopoulos On Starters, Rasmus, Cabrera
In an excellent interview with Sportsnet.ca’s Prime Time Sports (video link), Blue Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos addressed a number of topics. A full listen is highly recommended, but here are some of the highlights:
- Young righty Marcus Stroman will get a chance to hold down a rotation spot, Anthopoulos said. The GM hopes that Stroman will benefit from the fact that he has already worked through the nerves of receiving his first call-up.
- It was a tough decision, but the club will demote Liam Hendriks to clear away an excess starter from the active roster. Though he could have taken a bullpen role, the team decided it wanted to keep him stretched out in the minors, MLB.com’s Jamie Ross reports.
- After a few extra days off, Drew Hutchison tossed a nice game tonight upon returning to the rotation. Anthopoulos explained that the team is just looking to “be preemptive” with finding rest early in the season for the 23-year-old. While there are no hard inning limits, the GM said that the club wants to take advantage now of opportunities to keep the staff fresh.
- The Jays will face touch choices with two outfielders set to hit the free agent market in Colby Rasmus and Melky Cabrera. Anthopoulos said that he would not rule out the possibility of in-season extension talks with either of those two players, though he said that his preference is always to avoid the distraction that comes with talking during the year.
- More generally, Anthopoulos emphasized that the Blue Jays’ flexible and substantial payroll capacity gave the team an advantage in extension scenarios. Because it can afford to wait to decide whether to attempt a new deal without being quite as concerned with rising prices, he said, the team is better able to limit risk and avoid sunk costs on the roster.
Rockies To Promote Eddie Butler
The Rockies will promote one of their two top pitching prospects, righty Eddie Butler, reports MLB.com’s Thomas Harding (via Twitter). Butler will take the ball against the Dodgers on Friday.
Butler is a 23-year-old who was taken 46th overall in the 2012 draft out of Radford. Though he is perhaps less widely known (and much smaller physically) than fellow high-end righty Jonathan Gray, Butler is every bit the prospect. Keith Law of ESPN.com is most bullish (Insider links), ranking Butler among the game’s twenty best prospects entering the season and keeping him there in a recent update. A big sinker and hard slider were his calling cards entering the draft, says Law, but an excellent, more recently developed change has advanced his value significantly.
As Law noted, Butler has not generated the strikeout numbers that might have been expected this season. Indeed, he is only striking out 5.2 batters per nine (against 2.5 BB/9) to support his 2.49 ERA in 68 2/3 Triple-A innings on the year, though Law notes that Butler’s stuff is likely to produce strong groundball results. Baseball America listed him as the game’s 24th-best pre-MLB talent, echoing Law’s assessment. MLB.com, meanwhile, places Butler at the 33rd overall slot, noting that Butler had answered some concerns with his lack of size and command.
If Butler’s service clock starts on Friday and he remains in the bigs for the rest of the season, he would stand to tally 115 days on his clock this year. That would not be enough to set him up for Super Two qualification in most years; the cutoff has hovered between 2.122 and 2.146 days of service in recent years.
It appears that Butler will take the rotation spot of the struggling Franklin Morales, who had initially stepped in for the injured Brett Anderson. With the Rockies standing at an even .500, Butler’s performance could have an important role in determining the club’s fate — and, relatedly, shaping how the team views its chances this year and in the future.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
AL West Notes: Astros Draft, Appel, Harrison, Angels
While GM Jeff Luhnow and scouting director Mike Elias recognize how much three straight No. 1 overall picks have helped the Astros organization, the duo said in a press conference yesterday (video link) that they’re hopeful they won’t be in that spot again in 2015. Elias discussed the club’s approach to picking first overall: “We enter the year with a pool of players who we deem to be candidates for the pick. It’s usually about seven players long, the list. And we try to hang with those players as long as we can, reasonably, into the spring. We want to get as much info on these guys as possible so that we’re not blindsided if one of them storms up the list at the end, or if one of them might fall off the list for whatever reason.” Luhnow adds that while the first-round picks add huge value, “you really make your money on the draft in the later rounds.”
Here’s more out of the AL West …
- While it is far too soon to judge last year’s draft results, Baseball America’s J.J. Cooper explains why the Astros‘ Mark Appel‘s early-career struggles could actually be cause for concern about his true ceiling. Appel, a college hurler taken first overall last year by Houston, has been knocked around in the low minors — putting him in the company of high-end busts. College arms that have gone on to dominate at the big league level, says Cooper, have tended to overpower lower-level competition easily with their combination of stuff and polish. What is most troubling, Cooper says, is that those stats have coincided with scouting reports that paint Appel as more of a mid-rotation arm.
- Rangers pitcher Matt Harrison underwent disc fusion surgery today, reports Anthony Andro of FOX Sports Southwest (via Twitter). That means, of course, that he will not attempt to rehab and pitch through his back issues. While Harrison sounds determined to have a go at a comeback, so long as it is a viable possibility, success seems far from given at this point.
- Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register writes that while the Angels have delayed a tough decision by optioning Jarrett Grube to make room for the returning Josh Hamilton, something has to give soon. By this weekend, the team will need another pitcher, and either C.J. Cron or Grant Green — both of whom have hit very well — is likely to be optioned. Fletcher calls Raul Ibanez the elephant in the room, noting that the veteran DH’s numbers haven’t improved since he’s been platooned. Ibanez’s roster spot was said to be secure as recently as May 19, though he’s batted just .143/.226/.286 since that time and is hitting .147/.259/.272 overall.
Jeff Todd contributed to this post.
Dodgers, Ramirez Not Currently Discussing Extension
JUNE 3: There are currently no ongoing extension discussions between Ramirez’s representatives and the Dodgers, Ramirez tells Jon Morosi of FOX Sports (Twitter link).
MAY 15: The Dodgers have been in discussions with shortstop Hanley Ramirez about a new deal for the last several weeks, but a significant gap remains, reports Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com. Ramirez, 30, is reportedly asking for over $130MM to give up a chance at testing the open market. Heyman says that the sides are far enough apart that finding a compromise — if it proves possible — is expected to take some time.
At that price, it seems that Ramirez would at least be looking to crack the $25MM level in average annual value over a six-year term. As Heyman notes, that seems to be a fairly reasonable starting point in light of the seven-year deals handed out to players like Jacoby Ellsbury ($153MM) and Shin-Soo Choo ($130MM) during the latest round of free agency.
Indeed, injuries aside, Ramirez’s career numbers look rather similar to those of Robinson Cano, who landed $240MM over ten seasons. Both established themselves in 2006 and have compiled just over 37 fWAR since. While Cano was more consistently excellent over recent years, and was surely a safer investment for such a lengthy deal, Ramirez arguably delivers more upside, especially since he plays short. And Ramirez will be a bit younger when he reaches the open market.
While a deal approaching Cano proportions seems out of reach barring an unbelievable rest of the year, Ramirez figures to be able to drive up quite a bidding war, especially if he can bump up his current 116 OPS+ a few ticks. That is especially so because, unlike the situation in last year’s market, Ramirez faces no real competition as the only truly premium position player set to reach free agency. As MLBTR’s first iteration of this year’s free agent power rankings reflect, players like Chase Headley, Colby Rasmus, Pablo Sandoval, and fellow shortstop J.J. Hardy are next in line among non-pitchers. Capable of playing both short and third, Ramirez could be courted by large-market clubs like the Dodgers, Yankees, Mets, and Angels.
Of course, Ramirez’s injury history limits his contractual upside. And while some players seem to increase their demands as free agency approaches — Cano and Max Scherzer appearing to be notable recent examples — signing a mid-season extension cuts off any remaining risk of injury or performance decline.
Los Angeles is not currently willing to meet Ramirez’s current asking price, says Heyman, with his track record of injuries potentially limiting the number of years that the Dodgers wish to guarantee. Of course, Ellsbury managed to land his monster deal in spite of his own potentially concerning list of maladies, and Ramirez could be a better candidate to maintain value as he ages since his game is less dependent upon speed and he could always shift over to third. Regardless of what price the Dodgers might ultimately be willing to pay, Heyman makes clear that there is still plenty of ground for the sides to cover before a mid-point can be found.
Minor Moves: Horst, Tomko, McClendon
Here are the day’s notable minor moves …
- Phillies lefty Jeremy Horst has cleared outright waivers and accepted his assignment at Triple-A, the club announced today. Horst, 28, was designated two days ago to clear 40-man roster space. He has pitched to a 4.35 ERA (8.3 K/9 vs. 7.0 BB/9) across 20 2/3 innings at Triple-A this year.
- 41-year-old righty Brett Tomko has been released by the Royals, according to the PCL transactions page. Tomko, a 14-year MLB veteran, had worked to a 3.80 ERA in 47 1/3 Triple-A innings (including eight starts) since hooking on with Kansas City.
- The Rockies signed righty Mike McClendon, according to the MLB transactions page. McClendon, 29, tossed 48 2/3 MLB innings over 2010-12 with the Brewers, working to a 3.88 ERA with 6.5 K/9 against 2.8 BB/9 overall. He had been playing with the independent league York Revolution this year after spending 2013 with Colorado’s Triple-A affiliate.
- With Horst no longer on the list, MLBTR’s DFA Tracker now features Vin Mazzaro of the Pirates, Justin Marks of the Royals, and Jose Veras of the Cubs as players in DFA limbo.
Wil Myers To Miss At Least 2 Months With Wrist Fracture
The already-stumbling Rays received bad news on the injury front today, as young outfielder Wil Myers will not even begin rehabbing a stress fracture in his right wrist for five or six weeks, Roger Mooney of the Tampa Tribune reports (via Twitter). That sets Myers up to miss at least two months of action, tweets Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times, which means he would likely not return until after the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline.
Tampa opened the day today carrying its highest-ever payroll and an American League-worst 23-35 record. Needless to say, the loss of Myers — in spite of his struggles to date in 2014 — will not help the team’s efforts to spark a turnaround. Myers, 23, took home A.L. Rookie of the Year honors last year after posting an outstanding .293/.354/.478 line with 13 home runs in just 373 plate appearances. But through 224 trips to the dish this time around, his triple-slash stood at just .227/.313/.354 and he had hit only five long balls.
A recent report indicated that, if the Rays decide to sell, they could move multiple veterans, possibly including ace David Price, star utilityman Ben Zobrist, and Matt Joyce.
Yankees Claim Wade LeBlanc From Angels
The Yankees have claimed lefty Wade LeBlanc off waivers, the Angels announced. New York has moved Michael Pineda to the 60-day DL to create space on the 40-man roster, the club announced via press release.
The Halos had indicated they were hoping to pass LeBlanc through waivers so that he could stretch out and provide rotation depth. LeBlanc, 29, had thrown 6 1/3 big league innings this year in just one relief appearance, allowing four earned and striking out four while walking two. In nine starts at the Triple-A level this year, LeBlanc had logged 53 2/3 frames of 3.69 ERA ball, with 7.2 K/9 against 2.3 BB/9.
LeBlanc had primarily been a starter prior to 2012, but he has split his time between starting and relieving since. Across 423 1/3 career big league innings, LeBlanc has posted a 4.53 ERA with 6.1 K/9 against 3.3 BB/9.
Rosenthal’s Latest: Gonzalez, Chacin, Singleton, Cards, Span
In his latest Notes column, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports opines that the Rockies shouldn’t be buyers at this summer’s trade deadline. While the club could make a Wild Card run, he writes that the team isn’t a serious World Series contender. Rosenthal feels that the club should look to move Jhoulys Chacin — who could be a non-tender candidate this offseason — to clear room for one of its top pitching prospects (likely either Jon Gray or Eddie Butler). The bigger, and certainly bolder move posited by Rosenthal is to deal Carlos Gonzalez in order to clear room for everyday at-bats for Corey Dickerson and Charlie Blackmon. With Kyle Parker and a number of other outfield prospects on the horizon, plus Brandon Barnes and Drew Stubbs as reserve options, the team has plenty of outfield depth. Gonzalez is also owed $53MM following this season. Rosenthal notes that ownership has never shown an inclination to move Gonzalez, however, so the Rockies likely don’t share his point of view on the future of their star outfielder.
More from his latest piece…
- Most agents with whom Rosenthal has spoken feel that Jon Singleton sold himself short by agreeing to a five-year, $10MM contract extension that could reach $30MM with three club options and $35MM if he hits enough performance bonuses. First base prospects are among the safest variety of prospects, and while some bust, Singleton will earn scarcely more than the current MLB average salary, over the life of his deal on an annual basis (assuming all options are exercised).
- Rosenthal feels that the Cardinals should look to add a big-name starting pitcher such as James Shields or David Price at the deadline (should either become available, which is no guarantee, of course). While pitching certainly isn’t a need for the Redbirds, it’s not exactly clear where they’d place another bat upon acquiring one. And, given the team’s wealth of prospects at multiple positions, they could move valuable assets that are essentially spare parts to their own organization.
- Ryan Zimmerman projects to play first base for the Nationals next season, but Rosenthal asks what might happen if Washington instead decides to keep Adam LaRoche. Doing so could push Zimmerman to left field full-time, with Bryce Harper manning center field, Jayson Werth in right field and Denard Span becoming a trade chip. Span has a $9MM club option and a “limited”future with the club given the presence of Michael Taylor (not to be confused with the former A’s prospect of the same name) at Double-A, writes Rosenthal.
Draft Prospect Q&A: Michael Chavis
MLBTR is re-launching its Draft Prospect Q&A series this season in order to give our readers a look at some of the top names on the board in this year’s draft. MLBTR will be chatting with some of the draft’s most well-regarded prospects over the next couple of weeks as they prepare for the 2014 draft on June 5-7.
Scouts see Georgia high school prospect Michael Chavis as someone who can do it all thanks to his well-rounded skill set as well as his versatility. Chavis spent most of his career at Sprayberry High School at the shortstop position but he also boasts arm strength that can allow him to play anywhere in the infield. He’s got the speed to play second base or stick at shortstop, and while he has a bit of experience behind the plate and in the outfield, most say his big league future is at third base. The Clemson commit is ranked No. 21 by MLB.com, No. 26 by Baseball America, and No. 27 by ESPN.com’s Keith Law.
The first-round prospect left high school on a high note, slashing .557/.580/.663 with 13 homers in his senior season. At the plate, Chavis flashed his plus bat speed as well as his plus raw power, which helped him to win the Perfect Game Home Run Derby over other notable prospects such as Alex Jackson, Braxton Davidson, and Michael Gettys.
The charismatic and confident young man spoke with MLBTradeRumors recently about what position he wants to ultimately play, the prospect of going to Clemson, and more: