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Diamondbacks Designate Jake Lamb

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The Diamondbacks have designated infielder Jake Lamb for assignment and selected infielder/outfielder Pavin Smith’s contract, per a team announcement.

Arizona has been Lamb’s only organization since he went in the sixth round of the 2012 draft, but it now looks as if his run with the club will end. Primarily a third baseman, Lamb looked like a legitimate building block for the Diamondbacks from 2016-17. He combined for above-average offense then and totaled 4.9 fWAR, adding 30 home runs in 2017 and earning his lone All-Star nod. However, thanks in part to shoulder problems, Lamb’s career took a negative turn the next season and hasn’t recovered since.

In 514 plate appearances going back to 2018, the 29-year-old Lamb has batted .199/.307/.330 with 12 home runs. He was amid a horrid season this year (.116/.240/.210 without a homer in 50 PA) before the Diamondbacks designated him. He was due to reach free agency in the offseason anyway, so the D-backs decided to cut the cord a few weeks early.

Smith, the No. 7 pick in the 2017 draft, signed a $5,016,300 bonus with the Diamondbacks on the heels of his selection. Despite his draft pedigree and the money he initially received, the former Virginia Cavalier is not regarded as a premium prospect anymore (Baseball America ranks him 18th in the D-backs’ system), though Smith did bat an impressive .291/.370/.466 in his first 506 Double-A plate appearances last year.

Quick Hits: Mikolas, K. Seager, Judge, D-backs

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Cardinals right-hander Miles Mikolas will begin the season on the injured list after receiving a platelet-rich plasma injection, per Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. As of now, it appears Mikolas will make his 2020 debut toward the end of April or in the beginning of May, according to Goold. It’s a blow to the Cardinals’ rotation, which got back-to-back quality seasons from Mikolas in 2018-19 and now has to fill a couple openings behind Jack Flaherty, Adam Wainwright and Dakota Hudson. Carlos Martinez and Kwang-hyun Kim were already known to be in the running before Mikolas went down, and now Daniel Ponce de Leon, Austin Gomber, Ryan Helsley, Alex Reyes, John Gant and Genesis Cabrera are also in the mix, Goold writes.

Here’s more from around the game…

  • Mariners third baseman Kyle Seager was the subject of trade rumors over the winter, when “a handful of teams” discussed him with the M’s, Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times writes. Seager has stayed put to this point, and he’s now the longest-tenured player on Seattle’s roster, though he realizes a deal could still come together. The 32-year-old admitted to Divish that a trade remains “a definite possibility.” Seager enjoyed a bounce-back season in 2019, but he’s still owed $37MM over the next two years. His contract also includes a 2022 $15MM club option that will turn into a player option if he’s dealt, which could help stand in the way of a trade.
  • Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge has been battling a right shoulder issue early in camp, but he’s progressing in his recovery, George A. King III of the New York Post relays. Judge told manager Aaron Bone he’s “game-ready,” but the Yankees are taking it slow with their prized slugger, whom injuries limited to a combined 214 of a possible 324 regular-season games from 2018-19. “Start reintroducing him to full swinging and stuff in the next couple of days I would think,’’ Boone said. “I am sure in the next day or two it will probably start to ramp him back up.’’
  • Thanks to a productive 2019 season at the Double-A level, Diamondbacks first base prospect Pavin Smith has a chance to make his major league debut sometime this year, Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic observes. Smith was the seventh overall pick of the Diamondbacks in 2017, and while he hit well in low-A ball that year, he provided little to no power (zero home runs, .097 ISO). He then didn’t produce at a particularly impressive clip at the high-A level the next season, but Smith turned it around last year. In his Double-A debut, he put up a .291/.370/.466 line with 12 homers and almost as many walks (59) and strikeouts (61).

Diamondbacks Sign First-Rounder Pavin Smith

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The Diamondbacks have agreed to an at-slot deal with first-round pick Pavin Smith, Jonathan Mayo of MLB.com reports on Twitter. The team has announced the signing. Smith, taken seventh overall, will receive a $5,016,300 bonus.

That payday falls just a bit shy of the $5.1MM bonus locked up earlier today by Smith’s former University of Virginia teammate, Adam Haseley, who was taken just one pick later in the draft. Both are seen as advanced hitters.

Smith is expected to remain at first base as a professional, which obviously puts more pressure on his bat. But he carries an extremely polished approach with him to Arizona. In 2017, Smith swatted 13 home runs while going down on strikes just a dozen times.

The major question, perhaps, is just how much power can be expected. Smith is not viewed as possessing significant raw power, though it seems he may be able to maximize his strength with his outstanding contact abilities. He is expected to be a quality defender at first.

Taking in the total package, MLB.com ranked Smith eighth on its draft board, though other pundits weren’t quite as impressed. On other prominent lists, he placed 12th (ESPN.com’s Keith Law), 15th (Baseball America), and 20th (Fangraphs’ Eric Longenhagen).

Quick Hits: Arrieta, Cespedes, Twins, Draft, Tribe, Astros

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As he’s wont to do, agent Scott Boras lobbied on behalf of one of his clients Saturday, the Cubs’ Jake Arrieta, brushing off concerns about the right-hander’s early season velocity drop. As Jesse Rogers of ESPN.com notes, the 31-year-old Arrieta has lost 2.5 mph on his fastball since 2015 – his NL Cy Young-winning campaign (he averaged 94.6 mph then) – but Boras doesn’t see it as a big deal. “The question becomes what’s (Clayton) Kershaw averaging? He’s throwing 92.5 mph,” said Boras. “(Zack) Greinke is throwing 91.8 mph. (Max) Scherzer, when he was a free agent, was throwing 92 mph.” Perhaps thanks to his decline in velocity, Arrieta has struggled to prevent runs in his contract year (4.92 ERA in 56 2/3 innings), but Boras still regards him as an “elite pitcher” who has proven it time and again in the regular season and playoffs.

More from around the game:

  • In yet another unfortunate break for the injury-laden Mets, left fielder Yoenis Cespedes felt soreness in his right quad Friday and won’t take live at-bats until at least Tuesday, Marc Carig of Newsday was among those to report (Twitter links). Cespedes’ setback occurred while running the bases in a Class-A rehab game, and the club scratched him Saturday as a result. There had been hope that Cespedes would return during the Mets-Brewers series between Monday and Wednesday of the upcoming week, but that no longer looks like a possibility. The Mets have been without Cespedes since late April, when he landed on the disabled list with a hamstring strain after getting off to a blistering start (.270/.373/.619 with six home runs in 75 plate appearances). Notably, a right quad injury hampered him at times last season.
  • As they prepare to pick first overall in next month’s draft, the Twins are doing their due diligence on six players, but Vanderbilt righty Kyle Wright has emerged as the front-runner, writes Jim Callis of MLB.com in his latest mock draft. Like Wright, Louisville first baseman/left-hander Brendan McKay is garnering strong consideration, notes Callis, with California high school righty Hunter Greene, North Carolina high school lefty MacKenzie Gore, California prep outfielder Royce Lewis and Virginia first baseman Pavin Smith also in the mix. Between Wright and McKay, the former has the higher ceiling, per Callis.
  • The Indians’ rotation could be in for a bit of a shakeup: Ace Corey Kluber, on the DL since May 3 with a strained lower back, will rejoin the team Thursday, relays the Associated Press. To make room for Kluber, righty Danny Salazar might head to the bullpen, reports Paul Hoynes of cleveland.com. While all 95 of Salazar’s career appearances have come as a starter, the flamethrower hasn’t helped the Tribe in that capacity this season. Salazar has failed to complete six innings in five straight starts, including a 5 1/3-frame loss to the Royals on Saturday, and has pitched to a 5.50 ERA in 52 1/3 innings. While the 27-year-old has missed bats at a superstar-caliber level (12.55 K/9, 15.8 percent swinging-strike rate), he has offset that with a lofty walk rate (4.82 per nine) and a sky-high home run-to-fly ball ratio (22.9 percent).
  • The Astros, meanwhile, are also making an adjustment to their rotation. Mike Fiers had been scheduled to start Monday in Minnesota, but he’ll go to the bullpen in favor of Brad Peacock, tweets Jake Kaplan of the Houston Chronicle. The role reversal will stick if Peacock pitches well, manager A.J. Hinch indicated. Fiers has been a rare weak link for the formidable Astros this year, having recorded a 5.21 ERA (with a ghastly 7.56 FIP) in nine starts and 46 2/3 innings. Peacock, on the other hand, has logged a microscopic ERA (.87) in 13 appearances and 20 2/3 frames. He picked up his first start of the year in a win over Detroit this past Monday, tossing 4 1/3 scoreless, one-hit innings and tallying eight strikeouts. Peacock has been racking up strikeouts throughout the year (13.06 K/9), but control has been an issue (5.23 BB/9).
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