Phillies Acquire Joey Curletta To Complete Carlos Ruiz Trade
The Phillies announced today that they’ve acquired outfield prospect Joey Curletta from the Dodgers to complete last month’s Carlos Ruiz trade. The trade, then, will officially go in the books as Ruiz to the Dodgers in exchange for A.J. Ellis, Curletta and right-hander Tommy Bergjans.
Curletta, 22, was a sixth-round pick by the Dodgers out of Mountain Point High School in Phoenix, Ariz. back in 2012. He’s split the season between Class-A Advanced and Double-A for the second straight year, though his numbers in 2016 are superior to the ones he logged as a 21-year-old at those same levels in 2015. Curletta has batted .251/.323/.463 with 17 homers, 17 doubles and five triples in 409 plate appearances this season, though his 30 percent strikeout rate is indicative of the fact that there’s still plenty of room for growth in the right-handed hitter’s approach at the plate.
Curletta didn’t rank among the Dodgers’ top 30 prospects, though Baseball America has previously written that his two best tools are his raw power and his throwing arm. The 6’4″, 245-pounder has been described by BA as a “physical monster” in the past and has been limited to the corner outfield (primarily right field), where his strong arm profiles rather well.
J.P. Hoornstra of the Southern California News Group was the first to report that Curletta was headed to the Phils to complete the trade (Twitter link).
NL East Notes: Backman, Phillies, Pierzynski, Folty
Mets GM Sandy Alderson told reporters yesterday that Triple-A manager Wally Backman resigned from his post to pursue Major League coaching opportunities, but Newsday’s Marc Carig cites anonymous sources in reporting that Backman was actually fired from his position. Carig writes that there was a “pattern of defiance by Backman,” who made many player development choices that Alderson and the front office didn’t support. Namely, Backman continually sat Michael Conforto against left-handed pitching and didn’t bat Gavin Cecchini or Kevin Plawecki high enough in his batting order to afford them as many opportunities for at-bats as the Mets would’ve liked.
Here’s more from the National League East…
- Phillies manager Pete Mackanin is strongly in favor of his front office pursuing a pair of impact bats for the middle of the order and re-signing Jeremy Hellickson this winter, he tells Ryan Lawrence of PhillyVoice.com. While the notion that a Major League manager hopes to have an improved Major League roster in the upcoming season isn’t exactly a stunning development, Mackanin did seem to imply that there’s a preference on his part to focus on the lineup more than the pitching staff. Mackanin praised Aaron Nola, Jerad Eickhoff, Zach Eflin and Jake Thompson by name, and the Phillies of course also have an exciting young righty in the form of Vince Velasquez as well. Hellickson, in theory, could displace Eflin or Thompson — the two least-experienced arms of the bunch — if he were to be re-signed. As for the lineup, Mackanin stated: “No question about it, I’d like to get two professional hitters. As many as I can. I think it takes pressure off the young guys. When you have [Tommy] Joseph, [Cameron] Rupp and even [Maikel] Franco in the middle of your lineup to produce runs, that’s tough to do. Your first year in the big leagues is tough. To be called upon to be the run producer is tough.”
- While A.J. Pierzynski‘s career has been polarizing, to put it mildly, his presence on the Braves drew positive reviews from members of the coaching staff and teammates, writes David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “I loved every moment that he was here, and I love A.J.,” said first base coach Eddie Perez. “You probably won’t hear that from many people, but I did. And you know why? Because he goes between the two lines and gives you everything to win games.” Right-hander Matt Wisler acknowledged that Pierzynski was hard on the young pitching staff at times, but feels that it was to their benefit. “I don’t mind it, I think if somebody gets on me like that sometimes I kind of need it,” Wisler explained. “Especially for me, because I kind of over-think, and when he gets on you I kind of forget about it and just go back to making pitches. He helped me in that regard.”
- Mike Foltynewicz escaped an injury scare relatively unscathed last night, as MLB.com’s Pat James writes. The young Braves righty was struck in the leg by a line drive off the bat of Marcell Ozuna (which Statcast measured at 110 mph), but has only a contusion and some swelling to show following the ill-placed line drive. Foltynewicz walked off the field under his own power but was eventually forced to utilize crutches to move around the clubhouse as the swelling in his leg intensified. He’s day to day for the time being.
Minor MLB Transactions: 9/12/16
Here are the day’s minor moves from around the league…
- The Phillies announced that infielder Taylor Featherston, who was designated for assignment over the weekend, has cleared waivers and been outrighted off the 40-man roster. The former Rule 5 pick (Angels, 2014) came to Philadelphia this past winter in exchange for cash considerations — a minor trade executed by first-year Phillies GM Matt Klentak, who presumably had a role in the Angels’ decision to select Featherston in the Rule 5 Draft whilst serving as an assistant GM in Anaheim. Featherston appeared in 19 games for the Phils but tallied just 28 plate appearances and collected three hits. He’s been a glove-first player at the big league level, though he enjoyed his best offensive season to date with Triple-A Lehigh Valley when he batted .254/.311/.428 with 13 homers in 99 games this season.
- The Athletics announced that they’ve selected the contract of first baseman/outfielder Matt Olson from Triple-A Nashville. Olson entered the season ranked as MLB.com’s No. 100 prospect and struggled mightily through the end of June before hitting .260/.349/.462 over the final couple of months of the Triple-A season. With Billy Butler already having been released and the possibility of Danny Valencia meeting the same fate, the A’s could find increased at-bats for Olson and other young corner options like Renato Nunez (also recalled today) and Ryon Healy, though the latter of that pairing has been playing on an everyday basis since his promotion earlier this summer.
NL Notes: Pirates, Rockies, Phillies, Reds
Since the Pirates acquired Ivan Nova from the Yankees prior to the Aug. 1 non-waiver trade deadline, the right-hander has unexpectedly performed like a top-of-the-rotation starter. In seven starts and 46 1/3 innings with the Bucs, Nova has recorded a 2.54 ERA while tossing two complete games and amassing 32 strikeouts against a paltry two walks. Part of the reason for Nova’s success is the Pirates’ stadium, PNC Park, he told Travis Sawchik of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. “It’s not like pitching in Baltimore or Boston, Toronto, where the ball flies, or New York. A fly ball, (and) it’s a homer,” said Nova, whose new venue has the largest left field in the majors, per Sawchik. Yankee Stadium, on the other hand, has the league’s shallowest right field and is among its most home run-friendly venues. The change in parks has been timely for Nova, a free agent-to-be who is likely pitching his way to an appreciable raise over his current salary of $4.1MM.
More from the National League:
- Rockies general manager Jeff Bridich will face several important decisions during the offseason, observes Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post. In addition to the fate of manager Walt Weiss, whose contract expires at season’s end, Bridich will have to address a few areas on the diamond – including the bullpen and outfield. While the Rockies have a glut of capable outfielders, which might open the door for a trade, they could use more quality relievers to complement the likes of Adam Ottavino and perhaps Boone Logan, who’s an impending free agent. Saunders wonders whether the Rockies will pursue Nationals closer Mark Melancon, a free agent-to-be who’s a Colorado native, but he concedes that the team is unlikely to spend big money on anyone. That should rule out Melancon as a possibility.
- The Phillies called up two of their top prospects, catcher Jorge Alfaro and outfielder Roman Quinn, before Sunday’s game against the Nationals. Alfaro, whom Baseball America rates as the game’s 67th-best prospect, earned his first promotion in late August, but the Phillies quickly returned him to Double-A Reading before he could debut on the field. The 23-year-old is in his first full season with the Phillies organization after the Rangers traded him in the Cole Hamels deal last summer. He hit .285/.325/.458 with 15 home runs in 435 plate appearances with Reading this year. Also 23, Quinn was in the lineup Sunday. He ranks as the Phillies’ eighth-best prospect, per MLBPipeline.com, and also hadn’t gotten past the Double-A level previously. Quinn batted .287/.361/.441 with six homers and 31 stolen bases in 322 PAs with Reading this season.
- Reds righty Alfredo Simon will undergo arthroscopic shoulder surgery Tuesday, tweets Mark Sheldon of MLB.com. That ends a miserable campaign for Simon, who posted a 9.36 ERA, 5.98 K/9 and 4.76 BB/9 in 58 2/3 innings. Simon was a highly productive member of the Reds’ pitching staff from 2012-14, when he combined for a 3.16 ERA, 6.16 K/9 and 2.71 BB/9 in 345 frames and even earned an All-Star appearance, but he began falling off last year with the Tigers. The Reds, who acquired infielder Eugenio Suarez from Detroit for Simon in December 2014, brought the 35-year-old back in March on a $2MM salary. He’ll once again hit free agency during the upcoming offseason.
Phillies Designate Taylor Featherston For Assignment
The Phillies have announced that they’ve designated infielder Taylor Featherston for assignment. They also selected the contract of lefty Joely Rodriguez and recalled outfielder Cody Asche and righties Luis Garcia and Phil Klein. The moves come in the wake of the end of Triple-A Lehigh Valley’s season last night.
The Phillies acquired Featherston in a minor trade with the Angels in February, and the 26-year-old played sparingly in the big leagues in 2016, collecting just 28 plate appearances. He spent the bulk of the season at Lehigh Valley, where he hit .254/.311/.428 with 13 homers in 439 plate appearances while playing third base, second base and shortstop. Featherston, who made his Major League debut in 2015 after the Angels selected him from the Rockies organization in the Rule 5 Draft, has a career .156/.207/.233 line in 120 big-league games, many of which he entered as a defensive replacement.
Phillies Expected To Pursue Veteran Position Players In Free Agency
The Phillies are angling to make one or even two reasonably significant free agent position player additions, according to Jon Heyman of Fan Rag. Martin Prado of the Marlins and Ian Desmond of the Rangers are among the possible targets, per the report.
There’s an understandable balancing act at play for Philadelphia, which doesn’t necessarily appear to be readying for a push at the postseason in 2017 but wants to bolster its everyday lineup. Heyman says that the organization is mostly interested in finding quality hitters who deliver a good clubhouse presence and are perhaps young enough to represent a bridge to a new era of contention.
In that regard, there’s some logic to both Prado and Desmond. While the former is older (he’ll be 33 next year) than the latter (31), he’ll command a shorter deal for the same reason. Both offer positional versatility as well as reputations as leaders and grinders. Signing up a player who is capable of playing multiple positions (infield and outfield) would make for a more flexible investment as the Phils wait to see how their roster shakes out over the years to come.
Neither player figures to be cheap — they are both posting strong all-around seasons — but they also aren’t top-of-the-class earners. And salary (at least if it’s front-loaded) shouldn’t pose much of a limitation for an organization that has virtually nothing on the books despite its huge spending power. Both are qualifying offer candidates, though, with Desmond especially appearing to be a likely recipient. While the Phillies’ top pick will be protected, the club will surely be hesitant to part with any draft power.
Then, there’s the matter of convincing such players to sign in Philadelphia. Some veterans will surely prefer to go to an organization with greater near-term hopes of contending. But it is hardly unprecedented for a significant free agent to join a club that isn’t pushing the pedal to the floor for the season to come, with Jayson Werth‘s pre-2011 signing with the Nationals representing one notable example.
It figures to be a similar sales job for Phillies GM Matt Klentak, who will be able to present any free agent targets with a vision that includes star treatment in a major media market and a rising, high-ceiling payroll to accommodate more additions down the line. Needless to say, it’ll be interesting to see how things proceed.
Phillies Outright Darnell Sweeney
The Phillies have outrighted infielder/outfielder Darnell Sweeney, as Matt Breen of Philly.com tweets. While it isn’t yet clear how the 40-man spot will be used, Breen’s colleague Matt Gelb previously reported that righty Alec Asher could get the call.
Sweeney, 25, struggled in brief MLB action last year and had spent the entire 2016 season at Triple-A. Over his 443 plate appearances, he slashed just .232/.299/.346. Sweeney, who came over in the Chase Utley trade, had been looked upon as a possible utility piece, given his wide positional flexibility.
The 24-year-old Asher, meanwhile, is in an interesting situation. He is now eligible to return from a PED suspension, but cannot participate in the minor league playoffs because of that ban. Instead, he may become the latest piece of the Cole Hamels deal to join the current Philadelphia roster.
Like Sweeney, Asher scuffled in his major league debut in 2015. But he has been strong in his limited action on the farm this year, posting a 2.37 ERA over 64 2/3 innings — most of them at Double-A or Triple-A — with 6.4 K/9 against just 1.4 BB/9. Per Gelb, the Phils are interested in getting a look at the right-hander while also helping to fill innings down the stretch.
Phillies To Shut Down Vince Velasquez
Right-hander Vince Velasquez‘s Saturday start was his final outing of 2016, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer’s Matt Breen, who tweets that the Phillies will shut him down for the rest of the season. Velasquez made his last showing of the year count, going seven innings and allowing two earned runs with eight strikeouts and no walks in a 6-4 loss to the Braves.
The fact that the Phillies are putting an early end to the prized 24-year-old’s campaign comes as no surprise after manager Pete Mackanin revealed last week that it would happen in the near future. It turns out the time is now for Velasquez, who amassed a personal-high 131 innings of 4.12 ERA ball in his first full major league season. Velasquez also struck out 10.44 batters per nine innings, putting him in a seventh-place tie among starters who have tossed at least 120 innings, against a respectable walk rate of 3.09. Moreover, he induced infield fly balls at a 13.0 percent rate, good for a top 15 mark among starters.
Velasquez’s 2016 wasn’t without storm clouds, as he went on the disabled list in June with a right biceps strain and then, after his return, dealt with trade rumors in July. No deal came to fruition, but switching organizations wouldn’t have been anything new for Velasquez, whom the Phillies acquired from the Astros last offseason. Velasquez headlined the package Houston sent to Philadelphia for shutdown reliever Ken Giles, and it’s fair to say the rebuilding Phillies made out well in Velasquez’s first year with the club.
East Notes: Gamboa, Red Sox, Howard
Rays righty Eddie Gamboa made his big-league debut Friday at the age of 31, as Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times notes. Gamboa spent his entire career in the Orioles organization before signing a minor league deal with the Rays last offseason. He had a strong season for Triple-A Durham (2.68 ERA, 8.5 K/9 and 3.7 BB/9 in 94 innings), finally earning his shot in the Majors as the oldest Rays player to debut in the bigs since “The Rookie” Jim Morris in 1999. Gamboa throws about 80% knuckleballs, so he joins R.A. Dickey and Steven Wright as one of the very few knuckleballers currently in the big leagues. Here’s more from the East divisions.
- Yoan Moncada‘s debut is exciting news, but the Red Sox need relief pitching, not more offense, writes Michael Silverman of the Boston Herald. The Sox have already added Brad Ziegler and Fernando Abad this season, although Abad has struggled. Koji Uehara is close to returning from a right pectoral injury, and could potentially provide the bullpen with a boost. Red Sox relievers have posted a 4.68 ERA with 9.7 K/9 but also with 4.3 BB/9 over the past 30 days.
- Phillies first baseman Ryan Howard met with manager Pete Mackanin earlier this week to discuss Howard’s playing time, MLB.com’s Todd Zolecki writes. Mackanin has said he wants to get Tommy Joseph more looks at first base as the season comes to a close. “I’ve got one more month here and I just want to play and finish out playing,” Howard told Bob Ford of the Philadelphia Inquirer earlier this week. “So, it’s like I’m just trying to do my time, finish out this last month, and try to keep playing somewhere else.” The Phillies will pay Howard a $10MM buyout rather than exercising his 2017 option. He’s batted .199 this season, although he’s hit 20 home runs in just 305 plate appearances.
Players That Have Cleared Revocable Waivers
The first three two and a half weeks of August yielded only a few minor trades, featuring pickups by the Mariners (Arquimedes Caminero and Pat Venditte), a swap of veteran infielders (Erick Aybar and Mike Aviles) and the Marlins adding some left-handed depth to their ‘pen (Hunter Cervenka). Since that time, several names have changed hands, though, including Carlos Ruiz, A.J. Ellis, Dioner Navarro, Jeff Francoeur, Daniel Nava, Marc Rzepczynski and Erick Aybar. A trade sending veteran outfielder Coco Crisp to the Indians should be announced on Wednesday as well.
Before diving into the names, a few items bear repeating. The majority of Major League players will be placed on trade waivers this month, with most instances going unreported. There are undoubtedly players (quite a few of them, most likely) who have already cleared waivers but have not been reported to have done so. Players can be traded into September, as well, but only those traded on or before Aug. 31 will be eligible for the postseason with their new teams, so there’s some urgency for contending clubs to complete deals by month’s end. And, of course, for those who aren’t familiar with the inner-workings of waiver trades, MLBTR published a full explanation of how August trades work earlier this month. Onto the known names…
- Ryan Braun (link): Although Braun has slashed an excellent .315/.377/.551 with 24 homers and 14 steals through 454 plate appearances this season, his pricey contract enabled him to slip through waivers. Braun, 32, is owed $76MM through 2021, and any team acquiring him would likely need Milwaukee to pick up a sizable chunk of his contract, according to FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal. That doesn’t seem to bode well for the possibility of a trade this month.
- Ervin Santana (link): Santana, 33, is due $13.5MM per year through 2018, which makes him a fairly expensive investment, but he’s in the midst of another fine season. The righty has been among the few bright spots for the last-place Twins, having recorded a 3.54 ERA, 6.9 K/9 and 2.38 BB/9 in 147 1/3 innings. Given that he cleared waivers, the Twins might have to eat some of Santana’s contract if they wish to move him for a decent return. However, Minnesota reportedly needed to be “overwhelmed” to deal Santana in July, and it’s doubtful their bullish opinion of him has changed since then.
- Ryan Howard (link): It seems as if any possibility of a Howard trade has gone out the window with his time with the Phillies drawing to an increasingly pleasant end. But he does still deliver more pure power than most hitters — albeit almost exclusively against righties — with 19 long balls in less than half a season worth of plate appearances.
- Matt Wieters (link): Not only is Wieters expensive ($15.8MM salary this year), but he’s also underperforming both offensively and defensively. Thus, with fellow backstops Kurt Suzuki and Brian McCann having already cleared waivers, it’s no surprise that Wieters did, too. Regardless of his struggles, Wieters is the starting catcher for a playoff contender with no better in-house option in place, making a trade involving the impending free agent all the more unlikely.
- Scott Kazmir (link): Kazmir is owed $16MM in each of the next two seasons, but he has the ability to opt out of his deal after this year. Kazmir’s run prevention (4.41 ERA) has been a letdown in 132 2/3 innings this season, although he has recorded an outstanding K/9 (9.02) to go with a 3.32 BB/9 and a superb 15.2 percent infield fly rate. The positives weren’t enough for anyone to claim Kazmir, though, and it’s doubtful the injury-riddled Dodgers will move out a healthy starter in the middle of a playoff race.
- James Shields (link): The right-hander was previously a high-end option that every team would’ve loved to slot into its rotation. At 34, he’s now pitching like a DFA candidate. The White Sox, who acquired Shields from the Padres earlier this year, owe him $10MM per season through 2018. Thanks largely to a plummeting strikeout rate and a propensity for allowing HRs, Shields has run up a 7.62 ERA in 69 2/3 innings with Chicago. Overall, he has a 5.98 ERA in 137 frames this year. While Shields is on track for a 10th straight 30-start season, there’s no point in trading for someone who isn’t at least keeping his team in games every fifth day.
- Nick Markakis (link): The negatives seem to outweigh the positives with Markakis, who’s on a $10.5MM salary through 2018 and doesn’t bring the offensive value to the table that he used to. Since leaving Baltimore for Atlanta last year, the right fielder has hit .285/.360/.384 with a mere 12 HRs in 1,200-plus plate trips. The average and on-base percentage are clearly pluses. Fact is, though, a corner outfielder who has little power, doesn’t grade well defensively and isn’t all that cheap isn’t too appealing.
- Mitch Moreland (link): Moreland is amid his third straight 20-homer season and isn’t overly expensive ($5.7MM salary) in the last year of his contract, so it wouldn’t have been shocking had someone claimed him. Instead, the lifetime .251/.316/.481 hitter got through waivers and looks likely to remain with World Series-contending Texas for the rest of the season.
- Matt Kemp (link): Once an MVP-level player, the 31-year-old Kemp has fallen off thanks to defensive issues and a decline at the plate. As a roughly league-average hitter on a $21.5MM salary through 2019, he was fully expected to go unclaimed had the Braves placed him on waivers. They did, and that’s exactly what happened. Atlanta’s on the hook for $18MM per year of Kemp’s money for the duration of his contract. The Padres, his previous team, make up the difference. For any deal to happen, the Braves would likely have to eat a hefty portion of that cash.
- Joakim Soria (link): The 32-year-old Soria has become increasingly homer prone and displaying some concerning control issues in 2016, so it’s not surprising that no team risked claiming the remaining $19.72MM that he is owed through the completion of the 2018 season. Soria’s 92.8 mph average fastball is actually a career-high, and his strikeouts and ground-ball rate both remain sound, so perhaps he could be moved if Kansas City were to eat some of the remainder on that deal.
- Eric O’Flaherty (link): Once a powerhouse out of the Braves’ bullpen, O’Flaherty’s second stint with Atlanta hasn’t gone nearly as well. He’s never fully regained his form after undergoing Tommy John surgery in 2013, and his ERA in 2016 rested just shy of 7.00 when word of his clearing waivers broke. His $1.75MM salary wouldn’t be prohibitive were he pitching well, but even opposing lefties have roughed up O’Flaherty this season, and he’s been positively obliterated by right-handed opponents.
- Kurt Suzuki (link): The Twins’ catcher was reported to have cleared waivers just yesterday. Unlike a number of players that clear waivers in the month of August, Suzuki is relatively affordable, making it something of a surprise that no teams placed a claim on him. While he’s not regarded as a highly skilled defensive backstop, he’s hitting .281/.321/.431, which is quite a step up from the league-average catcher (.242/.311/.380). He doesn’t walk much, but he’s also very tough to strike out (12.9%), and he was owed just $1.54MM through season’s end when he reportedly cleared on Aug. 16.
- Brian McCann (link): It’s no surprise that McCann cleared waivers, as he’s owed a hefty $34MM beyond the 2016 campaign. McCann’s offensive production has wilted a bit in recent weeks, and while his .232/.333/.404 batting line and 15 homers are still solid marks for a catcher, it’s tough to imagine the Yankees moving him without absorbing a fair amount of the money that remains on his contract. Also standing in the way of a potential deal is the fact that teams looking for catching help beyond this year have a fair number of choices on the upcoming free agent market.
One final note: outfielder Jeff Francoeur (link) and catcher Carlos Ruiz (link) were both reported to have cleared waivers as well, but each has already been traded to a new team, with Francoeur going to the Marlins and Ruiz going to the Dodgers.