Phillies Rumors

NL East Notes: Teheran, Albies, Wright, Alderson, Phillies

By Jeff Todd | July 1, 2016 at 11:34pm CDT

The Braves are giving teams the impression that it’ll take a huge haul to land Julio Teheran, Jayson Stark of ESPN.com reports (Twitter link). In fact, Atlanta is signaling that it wants a return that’s “better than the Shelby Miller deal,” per a rival executive. Despite their many young arms, and ongoing rumblings regarding Teheran, the Braves are actually looking at starting pitching, GM John Coppolella tells David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (on Twitter). Atlanta has had talks about controllable arms, per the report. Presumably, the organization is looking for value opportunities that fit its contention timeline.

Here’s more from the NL East:

The Braves have moved hyped prospect Ozhaino Albies down to Double-A, O’Brien tweets. It’s not a demotion, though Albies was struggling a bit at Triple-A. He’ll play second base there, pairing up with shortstop Dansby Swanson as the team’s hopeful future double-play combo gets comfortable together.
Injured Mets third baseman David Wright spoke to the media today and left the impression that he’s unlikely to return this year, as MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo was among those to report. (Twitter links.) When asked whether he thought he’d be back for 2016, Wright responded: “I don’t know. I really don’t know.” But the veteran did emphasize that he has every expectation of returning to the field at some point in the future.
Meanwhile, Mets GM Sandy Alderson suggested recently that he doesn’t believe a major new addition is necessary to boost the team. As Marc Carig of Newsday tweets, Alderson says: “We have the capacity in the 25-man roster at this point to improve over what we’ve done over the last couple of months.”
The Phillies don’t expect any major player movement this summer, MLB.com’s Todd Zolecki writes. Notably, Philadelphia isn’t even sure it’ll deal righty Jeremy Hellickson, who is only under contract for this season and is pitching well enough that he’ll draw interest (though probably not a terribly exciting return). The club is under even less pressure with its relief corps, which hasn’t been quite as electric in recent weeks but still has several interesting options.

NL East Notes: Teheran, Mets, Dietrich, Phillies

By Steve Adams | June 30, 2016 at 10:55am CDT

The Julio Teheran trade rumors have been swirling for more than a month, but Braves GM John Coppolella recently made strong suggestions that his ace would be staying put, and Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports now writes that he spoke to a Braves official who emphatically told him, “We are not trading Teheran.” A second Braves official offered similar sentiments, saying that the Braves are “99.9 percent” certain they’ll hang onto Teheran. While a staggering offer can always change an organization’s thinking, it’s sounding more and more like a Teheran trade is more wishful thinking for interested parties than anything else.

International Notes: July 2 Preview, Maitan, Braves, Padres

By Jeff Todd and Steve Adams | June 29, 2016 at 9:07pm CDT

Baseball America’s Ben Badler has compiled scouting reports on the Top 50 prospects on the upcoming July 2 international market, in addition to providing projected landing spots for each player on the list. The exhaustive report on the international scene requires a BA subscription, but it’s highly recommended for those who wish to dive headfirst into learning about the upcoming glut of talent that will be injected into most clubs’ minor league pipelines. Those looking to learn more about the process can also check out this primer from Eric Longenhagen of Fangraphs, who also provides a ranking of the class (with further explanation here).

Here are just a few highlights from Badler’s excellent work on the topic, which deserves a full read:

Badler takes a particularly close look at top prospect Kevin Maitan, who he says may be a better prospect than Miguel Sano was as a teenager. The link comes with a lengthy and detailed scouting report, including discussion of the question whether Maitain will be able to stay at shortstop for the long run. Scouts are divided on the likelihood, but all seem to agree it’s at least a plausible outcome.
Maitan has long been said to be heading for the Braves, and we’ve yet to hear anything to change that expectation. Atlanta has lined up a big batch of spending, but Badler provides a bit of context for just how large: he says it “should look comparable to what the Yankees did in 2014-15.” (You can refresh yourself on New York’s shock and awe campaign here.)
The Padres appear headed in that direction, too, as Badler says that a $30MM to $35MM spend might be their floor. In addition to big activity on the Cuban market, San Diego is in line to add eight of the top fifty available players. As for the Nationals, who are also believed to be pacing the market in spending, it might not be quite that dramatic. But Washington could still come away with three of the fifteen best prospecs on the market.
The Astros, too, seem ready to drop some big cash — including a $3.5MM bonus for Cuban shortstop Anibal Sierra. Houston is eyeing five of the top fifty names on Badler’s list, he notes. One player that could be ticketed for the ’Stros is fifth overall prospect Freudis Nova.
Nova had been connected to the Marlins before failing a PED test. Now, Badler explains, Miami has a big chunk of pool availability and little in the way of commitments. The club could deal that away or see if it can find a nice price on the Cuban market.
It also remains to be seen what the Reds will do, but Badler explains that things could go in either of two directions. Cinci could trade for some added bonus pool space to add Cuban shortstop Alfredo Rodriguez and a few smaller signings without hitting the penalty. Or, the team could enter the broader Cuban market and blow past its limits.
The White Sox are expected to land slugging prospect Josue Guerrero — who, yes, is a part of the famous family. Despite being quiet in recent years, the Athletics are in position to add some talent, including George Bell, whose father (same name) was a quality big leaguer.
The Brewers aren’t believed to have any seven-figure bonuses lined up, but could still add a high number of interesting players with the fifth-highest spending availability in the game. Likewise, the Phillies are expected to spread their cash.
Of course, not every team will have the opportunity to spend lavishly this period; the Dodgers, Yankees, Cubs, D-backs, Angels, Rays, Red Sox, Giants, Royals and Blue Jays are each prohibited from spending more than $300K on international amateurs after incurring maximum penalties, though that doesn’t mean those organizations don’t have a chance to find some talent.

Mark Appel Out For Season Following Elbow Surgery

By Steve Adams | June 29, 2016 at 1:42pm CDT

Phillies right-hander Mark Appel underwent surgery to remove a bone spur from his right elbow and will miss the remainder of the 2016 season, according to Matt Gelb of the Philadelphia Inquirer. Appel had already been on the minor league disabled list due to a strain in his right shoulder, but Gelb writes that he incurred the elbow injury that necessitated today’s operation when he began throwing to work his way back from that shoulder issue. The injury comes with a recovery timeline of four to six months.

The Phillies picked up Appel as part of a five-player package from the Astros that sent Ken Giles and Jonathan Arauz to Houston. Appel joined the Phillies alongside Vincent Velasquez, Brett Oberholtzer, Thomas Eshelman and Harold Arauz in that seven-player swap. The former No. 1 overall pick began the season quite well, pitching to a 1.64 ERA through the month of April and posting a solid 19-to-7 K/BB ratio through those 22 innings. However, Appel’s production took declined rapidly beginning in May, and he hasn’t pitched since he surrendered four runs in just two-thirds of an inning on the 22nd of that month. Overall, he’ll finish the season with a 4.46 ERA, 8.0 K/9 and 4.7 BB/9 through the 38 1/3 innings he was able to throw before falling to injury.

Appel hasn’t lived up to the expectations that come with a No. 1 overall pick, but he’s still just 24 years of age (25 next month) and has a fair amount of experience at the Triple-A level under his belt. While Philadelphia will probably monitor his innings in 2017 due to this season’s injury-driven light workload, it’s plausible that he could factor into the Phillies’ plans as soon as next season. Appel, along with Velasquez, Eshelman, Jerad Eickhoff, Zach Eflin, Jake Thompson, Ben Lively, and Nick Pivetta represent a large staple of rotation options that the Phillies have acquired in trades over the past two years (in addition, of course, to right-hander Aaron Nola, who was selected seventh overall in the 2014 draft) as the team stocks up for a hopefully sustainable run of success. Appel currently ranks fourth among Phillies prospects, per MLB.com’s Jim Callis and Jonathan Mayo. He entered the season rated third among Phillies prospects on the rankings of ESPN’s Keith Law and seventh among Philadelphia farmhands in the eyes of Baseball America.

NL East Notes: Phillies, Giolito, Turner, Norris

By Jeff Todd and Steve Adams | June 28, 2016 at 9:35pm CDT

Phillies prospect Matt Imhof suffered a serious eye injury while working with a stretching band, ESPN.com’s Jerry Crasnick reports. The 22-year-old righty, who was a second-round pick in 2014, is said to have been struck in the eye due to a malfunction in the piece of equipment he was using. He has already undergone one procedure and is expected to require more, per the report. MLBTR wishes Matt the best of luck for a speedy recovery.

Here’s more from the NL East:

A rain delay has slowed the Nationals’ first look at top prospect Lucas Giolito tonight, as their contest against the division-rival Mets is currently on hold after four innings. Earlier today, GM Mike Rizzo told reporters, including MLB.com’s Jamal Collier (via Twitter), that the much-hyped hurler will have a chance to earn a permanent spot at the big league level. Rizzo, though, was not willing to commit to anything beyond that. Arguably the best prospect in baseball, Giolito has worked four scoreless innings and allowed just one hit and a pair of walks. He’ll cede the remainder of the game to Yusmeiro Petit, but the Nationals have to be rather pleased with Giolito’s truncated debut.
Another top Nationals prospect, Trea Turner, is getting a look in center field in an effort to accelerate his path to the Majors, as MLB.com’s Alex Putterman writes. Turner got his first pro start in center field last night and started there once again tonight. “We feel that offensively he’s Major League ready,” said Rizzo of Turner. However, Danny Espinosa’s June surge and Daniel Murphy’s excellent season leave the Nats without a spot for Turner at the big league level. “We figured to get him in the big leagues sooner rather than later, we need to make him more versatile,” Rizzo added.
Bud Norris’ most recent start has continued to bolster trade interest in the Braves’ right-hander, tweets USA Today’s Bob Nightengale. Norris fired seven shutout innings and held the Mets to four hits and no walks with eight strikeouts over the weekend, and he’s now sporting a pristine 2.08 ERA with 8.1 K/9, 3.2 BB/9 and a 53.7 percent ground-ball rate dating back to the beginning of May, when he initially lost his rotation spot. Norris has been stellar since being plugged back into the starting five, and the Marlins are reportedly among the teams with interest in the 31-year-old.
Fangraphs’ Jeff Sullivan examines Norris’ remarkable turnaround since rejoining the Braves’ rotation and attributes the success to the fact that Norris has abandoned his previously ineffective changeup in favor of a cutter that has generated tremendous results. Left-handers were never especially troubled by Norris’ change, but they’ve been absolutely stymied by his new cut fastball, which has also caused a significant spike in his ground-ball percentage. There’s probably some degree of regression in store — Norris has a .269 BABIP and hasn’t allowed a single homer since returning to the rotation — but the new pitch has had a profound impact on Norris and could be the start of a sustainable run of success.

NL Notes: Nationals, Cardinals, Phillies, Marlins

By Steve Adams | June 27, 2016 at 11:35am CDT

With Stephen Strasburg’s recent placement on the disabled list, the Nationals need a starter for Tuesday, and Pete Kerzel of MASNsports.com writes that it looks like Triple-A right-hander Austin Voth and Double-A righty Lucas Giolito (the game’s top prospect according to MLB.com and ESPN) are the likeliest candidates. Neither pitcher is on the 40-man, though Kerzel points out that the Nationals can create room simply by transferring Taylor Jordan, who is recovering from Tommy John surgery, to the 60-day disabled list. Kerzel notes that Giolito could potentially force his way into the rotation in place of the struggling Gio Gonzalez even when Strasburg returns, but he also notes that Giolito is on an innings limit and figures to be capped just shy of 140 innings. He’s already tossed 71 frames this season, so turning to him for three full months of starts may not be an option. Kerzel runs down the cases for and against a Giolito promotion, and the analysis is well worth a look for Nats fans or prospect chasers in fantasy leagues.

East Notes: Sox, Buchholz, Braves, Teheran, Phillies

By Connor Byrne | June 26, 2016 at 6:17pm CDT

In his latest rough outing, Red Sox right-hander Clay Buchholz allowed five runs (four earned) on seven hits and five walks Sunday in a 6-2 loss to the Rangers. Afterward, manager John Farrell was noncommittal about Buchholz making his next start, per Scott Lauber of ESPN.com, though he conceded that the team might not have a better option. As their depth chart shows, Triple-A possibilities include Roenis Elias, Henry Owens and Joe Kelly, though each has fared terribly in the majors this year. Buchholz, who has spent some time in the bullpen this season, has logged a 5.90 ERA, 6.13 K/9, 4.24 BB/9 and 41.2 percent ground-ball rate through 76 1/3 innings. Those numbers are all markedly worse than the 31-year-old’s career totals and especially the terrific production he put up in 2015.

More from Boston and a couple NL East cities:

The Red Sox are scanning the trade market for help, but there are only five teams that have declared themselves sellers thus far as the Aug. 1 deadline nears, president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski said Sunday. “It’s still a little early,” stated Dombrowski, who added that the Red Sox are “scuffling for positional players at this point.” (Twitter links via Evan Drellich of the Boston Herald). Injuries have sapped the Sox of depth in left field, where Brock Holt, Blake Swihart and Chris Young are all on the disabled list.
Red-hot Braves starter Julio Teheran has drawn interest from starter-needy Boston, but Atlanta might be better off retaining the 25-year-old than trading him, David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution argues. O’Brien points to Teheran’s age, ultra-palatable contract and the lack of quality starters set to hit free agency during the upcoming offseason as reasons for the rebuilding Braves to go forth with the right-hander, who has thrown 23 straight innings without allowing a run and has lowered his ERA to a stingy 2.46 through 106 frames. Teheran has also recorded career-best strikeout and walk rates per nine innings (8.41 and 2.04, respectively) to this point. ERA estimators like FIP (3.68), xFIP (4.00) and SIERA (3.72) aren’t quite buying his results, but Teheran has consistently outperformed those figures throughout his career.
Phillies manager Pete Mackanin admitted Saturday that he’s in a bind with his team’s catchers, Carlos Ruiz and Cameron Rupp. “That’s the hard part of about this job. You have to give up something to get something, and right now we need offense. At least right now, Cam offers more offense,” Mackanin told Matt Gelb of the Philadelphia Inquirer. “However, is it more important to guide the young pitcher and bring him along with some veteran experience?” With his .270/.306/.483 batting line and seven home runs in 183 plate appearances, the 27-year-old Rupp has been a bright spot in a toothless Phillies offense, though his 48:6 K:BB ratio doesn’t bode well going forward. However, while Mackanin’s worried about Rupp’s ability (or lack thereof) to aid his pitching staff, the backstop has graded well in the pitch-framing department this year. That’s not true of the 37-year-old Ruiz, who has also contributed to Philly’s offensive woes with a .219/.311/.333 line in 119 trips to the plate. Nevertheless, Mackanin is bullish on Ruiz’s game-calling abilities, notes Gelb.
Mackanin had center fielder Odubel Herrera shag fly balls in right field prior to the Phillies’ game Saturday, but that doesn’t mean a position change is coming. “If he reads something into it, good,” said Mackanin (via Todd Zolecki of MLB.com). “Maybe he’ll think that he needs to do better. There’s nothing imminent. There’s no plans for me to move him out of there.” Notably, Herrera ranks last among qualified center fielders this year in Defensive Runs Saved (minus-7) and also grades poorly in Ultimate Zone Rating, but he has combated his fielding woes with a stellar .299/.392/.427 offensive showing and eight home runs through 319 PAs, also adding 41 walks against 58 strikeouts.

Draft Signings: 6/25/16

By charliewilmoth | June 25, 2016 at 8:59pm CDT

Here’s a roundup of key draft signings not yet covered here at MLBTR.

The Phillies have signed fifth-round lefty Cole Irvin to an above-slot deal worth $800K, well over the $417,500 value of the 137th pick, reports Jonathan Mayo of MLB.com (Twitter link). Mayo and colleague Jim Callis ranked Irvin as the 138th-best prospect entering the draft, noting that the Oregon standout possesses a 93 to 94 mph fastball and two occasionally above-average secondary offerings – a slider and changeup. Irvin has a solid chance to crack the majors as a back-end starter, according to the MLB.com duo.
The Tigers have signed fourth-rounder Kyle Funkhouser for $750K, significantly above the pick value of $526,200, as Callis tweets. The Louisville righty was a first-round pick by the Dodgers last season, but he opted not to sign after sliding down draft boards. The righty suffered diminished velocity this year, resulting in his stock dropping still further — MLB.com’s scouting report notes that he threw 88-92 MPH with secondary stuff that was weaker than it had been previously. Callis notes, though, that Funkhouser’s stuff improved as the draft approached.
The Orioles have agreed to terms with their second-rounder, No. 69 overall pick Matthias Dietz, Callis notes (on Twitter). Dietz will receive $1.3MM significantly above his pick value of $934,400. The Illinois community college righty stands 6’6 and throws 91-94 MPH, touching 98, with a hard slider. He is committed to TCU.
The Giants have signed Vanderbilt outfielder and second-rounder Bryan Reynolds, as Hank Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle tweets. The selection, at No. 59 overall, was the Giants’ top pick, since they forfeited their first-rounder with the Jeff Samardzija signing. Via a tweet from Callis, Reynolds will receive $1.35MM, above the pick value of $1.09MM. Callis notes that Reynolds rated as a first-round talent, but he ultimately slid in the draft. Via MLB.com, the switch-hitter has solid tools across the board, but none rank as outstanding, and some scouts fret about his strikeout proclivities.
The Dodgers have signed 11th-round pick A.J. Alexy for $600K, almost $500K above his pick value, Callis tweets. As Baseball America noted in its pre-draft scouting report (subscription only), the Pennsylvania high school righty currently throws 88-92 MPH, although he’s 6’4 and projectable, with the talent to throw three pitches in the big leagues. He was committed to Radford. The Dodgers should have space to sign him in part because they picked college seniors in the ninth and tenth rounds, and because second-rounder Mitchell White signed for significantly below his pick value.

East Notes: Phillies, BoSox, Yanks, Mets

By Connor Byrne | June 25, 2016 at 6:08pm CDT

Phillies right-hander Vincent Velasquez and his agent, Scott Boras, have talked about an innings limit for this season, the 24-year-old told Todd Zolecki of MLB.com. “The agents and I discussed it a little bit, but I don’t know the definite answer, an exact amount of innings. I don’t know, I’d want to say roughly like maybe 150 or something, maybe 160 tops,” said Velasquez, who has been on the disabled list since June 9 with a strained right biceps. “I would say, philosophically, we’re probably in the same ballpark,” stated team president Andy MacPhail. Velasquez has never racked up more than 124 2/3 innings in a season, as Zolecki notes, and was up to 61 2/3 frames this year before landing on the DL. The hard-throwing Velasquez recorded a 3.65 ERA, 10.65 K/9 and 3.21 BB/9 over that 12-start span, further establishing himself as one of baseball’s most exciting young starters, so it’s no surprise that both Boras and the rebuilding Phillies want to protect the ex-Astro.

Here’s more from MLB’s two East divisions:

With Red Sox catcher Ryan Hanigan nearing a return from a neck strain and the out-of-options Sandy Leon swinging a red-hot bat, 25-year-old backstop Christian Vazquez’s playing time and-or roster spot could soon be in jeopardy, per Scott Lauber of ESPN.com. Vazquez has graded well as a pitch framer this year and has caught a solid 7 of 18 would-be base stealers, but he has offset his terrific defense with an anemic .215/.255/.302 batting line and one home run in 157 plate appearances. That adds up to a 41 wRC+, the third-worst mark among catchers with at least 150 PAs.
Yankees right-hander Michael Pineda has rebounded from a nightmarish two-month start to put up sterling numbers in June, with a 3.00 ERA, 37 strikeouts and five walks in 30 innings, and could be pitching his way into the team’s long-term plans, opines Brendan Kuty of NJ.com. That’s not a decision the Yankees will have to make immediately, though, as Pineda isn’t scheduled to become a free agent until the end of the 2017 season. Since recovering from a torn labrum and debuting with the Yankees in 2014, the former Mariner has amassed 320 1/3 innings of 4.08 ERA ball to accompany an excellent 6.45 K/BB ratio and a respectable 45 percent ground-ball rate. Similar production going forward should lead to an appreciable raise for the 27-year-old, who’s making $4.3MM this season.
“Mental confusion” is what caused the Mets to demote left fielder Michael Conforto to Triple-A Las Vegas on Saturday, manager Terry Collins told reporters, including Adam Rubin of ESPN.com (video link). “I just want him to go get some confidence and get back here,” continued Collins. After hitting a videogamelike .365/.442/.676 in 86 April PAs, Conforto, 23, has since collected just 21 hits (six fewer than his April total) in 157 trips to the plate.

East Notes: Red Sox, Teheran, Hamels, Rays, Crawford

By charliewilmoth | June 25, 2016 at 11:21am CDT

Cole Hamels, whose contract permits him to block deals to 20 teams, would not have prevented the Phillies from sending him to the Red Sox, writes WEEI.com’s Rob Bradford. “It was a team I would have played for,” says Hamels, who adds that he believes the two sides were never close to trade. The Red Sox pursued Hamels before the Phillies traded him to Texas, but the lefty could block a trade to Boston, and at least some members of the organization believed that was an obstacle. The Hamels deal has, of course, worked out well for the Rangers so far — Hamels was solid down the stretch last year and has a 2.79 ERA, 8.8 K/9 and 3.4 BB/9 this season. There’s still plenty of time for the trade to turn out well for the Phillies, however, with Jerad Eickhoff already performing well in the big leagues and Nick Williams, Jake Thompson, Jorge Alfaro and Alec Asher all looking like potential future contributors. Here’s more from the East divisions.

The Red Sox have the strong farm system necessary to acquire Julio Teheran and Arodys Vizcaino from the Braves, Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe writes. Braves GM John Coppolella, of course, recently said he wasn’t going to trade Teheran, but Cafardo dismisses that claim as “GM speak” and points out that Red Sox senior vice president of baseball operations Frank Wren was GM of the Braves when Teheran and Vizcaino were coming through their system. (Vizcaino played minor league ball in the Yankees and Cubs organizations as well.) Cafardo points to the Red Sox’ 2005 trade of Hanley Ramirez and Anibal Sanchez to the Marlins for Josh Beckett, Mike Lowell and Guillermo Mota. The Red Sox paid heavily, as they would likely have to do to acquire Teheran and Vizcaino, but they won the 2007 World Series partially because of the deal.
It’s less likely that the Rays will pursue a reunion with free agent Carl Crawford now that they’ve acquired fellow outfielders Oswaldo Arcia and Eury Perez on a pair of minor deals, FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal tweets. Arcia, in particular, is out of options, which would somewhat limit the Rays’ flexibility in adding another outfielder, such as Crawford, to their roster. The Rays’ outfield has been decimated by injuries, with Kevin Kiermeier, Steven Souza, Brandon Guyer, Mikie Mahtook and Steve Pearce (who the Rays have used as an infielder and DH but who has ample outfield experience) all on the DL. The Rays currently have Arcia, Desmond Jennings, Taylor Motter and Jaff Decker to man the outfield positions. Crawford, formerly a standout with the Rays, batted .185/.230/.235 in 87 plate appearances with the Dodgers before being released earlier this month.

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