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Pirates GM Downplays Possibility Of Felipe Vazquez Trade

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Rumors of trading their star players are commonplace for the payroll-conscious Pirates, whose front office has been forced into tough decisions for budgetary reasons on numerous occasions in the past. This year, there have already been rumors of teams with interest in standout closer Felipe Vazquez — understandably so, given his excellence — but general manager Neal Huntington strongly downplayed the possibility of moving Vazquez in a radio appearance with Greg Brown on 93.7 FM The Fan this weekend.

“We will continue to look for ways to improve this organization,” said Huntington. “Felipe Vazquez is, in our minds, one of the best, if not the best young left-handed reliever in the game. He has the potential to contribute to us for this and four more years. Our expectation and anticipation is that Felipe will be closing out playoff games, be it this year or in the future with us.”

That’s the second time in the past month that Huntington has expressed a focus on adding to the club rather than trading contributors for longer-term assets. Huntington also points out within the interview that the Bucs are facing a critical stretch wherein they’ll play 20 of 23 games against divisional foes. The other three in that span are against the Phillies, whom Pittsburgh is chasing in the NL Wild Card race. Certainly, one can imagine that in the event of a nosedive in those 23 games, the Pirates could adopt a longer-term approach to this year’s trade deadline. That said, Huntington’s comments regarding Vazquez seem to indicate that even if the team were to sell off some pieces this summer, the lefty wouldn’t be among them.

Vazquez, 28 on Friday, signed an extremely club-friendly contract extension in January 2018, agreeing to a four-year deal worth a guaranteed $22MM plus a pair of $10MM club options for a fifth and potentially sixth season. He’s earning just $4MM in 2019 (with about $1.98MM of that still to be paid out) and will earn guaranteed salaries of $5.25MM and $7.25MM in 2020-21. There’s no looming free agency or imminent hike in salary that would serve as motivation for the Pirates to deal the lefty even if they fall further back than their current five-game deficit in the NL Central.

Vazquez himself is the product of a trade that was made under more conventional conditions. Back in 2016, with Mark Melancon just months from free agency, the Pirates shipped him to the Nationals in exchange for Vazquez and Taylor Hearn (later traded to the Rangers in the Keone Kela deal). Since being acquired by Pittsburgh, Vazquez has pitched to a 2.25 ERA with 80 saves and 11.7 K/9 against 3.1 BB/9 in 207 2/3 innings of work. He’s saved 19 games so far in 2019 while recording a minuscule 1.80 ERA and notching a career-best 14.1 K/9.

Pitcher Notes: Scherzer, Tigers, Archer, Angels, D-backs

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Washington is visiting Detroit, where current Nationals ace Max Scherzer will start against his former team Sunday. Scherzer blossomed into a star as a member of the Tigers, with whom he won his first Cy Young Award in 2013. At the conclusion of the next season, though, Scherzer signed a seven-year, $210MM contract with the Nationals after rejecting a $144MM extension from the Tigers. Scherzer, now a three-time Cy Young winner and a potential Hall of Famer, reflected on his Detroit departure Saturday, saying (via Chris McCosky of the Detroit News): “That’s just the business side. I didn’t feel slighted. That stuff just all takes care of itself. I don’t hold any grudges or anything like. When I look back on my time in Detroit, I have great memories here and great friends.” Scherzer also noted he and fellow righty Anibal Sanchez, teammates in Detroit and again in D.C., still lament they were never able to win a World Series with the Tigers. The club clinched playoff spots from 2011-14, each of the four seasons Scherzer and Sanchez were part of its rotation. Those teams earned one World Series berth, falling to the Giants in a 2012 sweep.

More on a few other pitchers…

  • Pirates righty Chris Archer left his start against the Brewers on Friday after just four innings with left hip discomfort. However, it’s still unclear whether he’ll require a stint on the injured list. The club will reevaluate Archer when it returns to Pittsburgh on Monday, according to Adam Berry of MLB.com. Archer was already on the IL earlier this season with a thumb injury, and has come up well short of expectations when healthy. The 30-year-old has managed a discouraging 5.50 ERA/5.77 FIP in 73 2/3 innings.
  • Angels righty JC Ramirez is at least one more rehab start from making his 2019 MLB debut, Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register tweets. Ramirez, who’s working back from April 2018 Tommy John surgery, made his fifth rehab start Saturday and threw five innings of two-run ball for Triple-A Salt Lake. His average fastball was sitting in the 88 to 91 mph range, according to Salt Lake broadcaster Steve Klauke. That’s down significantly from the 95.5 mean Ramirez posted in 2017, the last time he logged extensive major league action.
  • Injured Diamondbacks righty Jon Duplantier’s most recent MRI on his shoulder yielded positive news, manager Torey Lovullo announced Saturday (via Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic). Still, the Diamondbacks aren’t any closer to determining how much more time Duplantier will miss. The 24-year-old has already sat out almost three weeks, having gone on the IL on June 12. With Luke Weaver and Taijuan Walker also injured, the Diamondbacks have cycled through Taylor Clarke, Zack Godley and Alex Young at the back of their rotation during Duplantier’s absence. Clarke and Godley have struggled mightily, though the former did turn in a solid five innings in a win over the Dodgers on Wednesday. Young just made his MLB debut Thursday and tossed five innings of one-run ball in a victory over San Francisco.

Minor MLB Transactions: 6/29/19

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The latest in minor moves from around the game…

  • Twins lefty Gabriel Moya has cleared waivers and been outrighted to AAA-Rochester, tweets Do-Hyoung Park of mlb.com. Moya, 24, had struggled with command at Rochester this season before his designation last week, the first time in eight professional seasons he’d exhibited such an issue. FanGraphs lauds the lefty’s 60-grade changeup, which won’t effectively be put to use if the wildness continues.
  • Angels infielder Wilfredo Tovar has cleared waivers and been outrighted to AAA-Salt Lake, per the team. Tovar had a 16-game stint with Los Angeles earlier this season, during which he slashed a meager .195/.283/.293 in 46 plate appearances. The 27-year-old’s been mostly punchless in 12 professional season thus far, though he continues to flash his sticky leather all around the infield.
  • The Pirates have signed former farmhand Gift Ngoepe, per the team’s Altoona Curve affiliate. Ngoepe, 29, will report to Altoona after a less-than-stellar showing with AAA Lehigh Valley in the Phillies system this year. Like Tovar, Ngoepe hasn’t hit much in the minors over his career, though his defense has his earned him call-ups with both Pittsburgh and Toronto over the last two seasons.

Pitcher Notes: Vazquez, Brewers, Luzardo, White Sox, Padres

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The Brewers expressed interest in Pirates closer Felipe Vazquez last summer, though talks didn’t go anywhere, Robert Murray of The Athletic reports. The left-handed Vazquez would have teamed with Brewers southpaw Josh Hader and righty Jeremy Jeffress to form a nigh-unhittable relief trio on paper, perhaps one that could have pushed the club over the top in the National League. He remains a Pirate, though, and the Vazquez-less Brewers fell to the Dodgers in a seven-game NLCS last year.  Milwaukee may call its division rival again this year about Vazquez (if the Brewers haven’t already), but it’ll continue to be incredibly difficult for anyone to pry him out of Pittsburgh.

  • Rehabbing Athletics lefty Jesus Luzardo threw five innings and 66 pitches at the Triple-A level Thursday. He’ll extend to six innings and 90 pitches Tuesday, according to Martin Gallegos of MLB.com. The highly touted 21-year-old prospect hasn’t gotten to debut in the majors yet because of a shoulder strain he suffered late in the spring, but the hope is he’ll burst on the scene next month to bolster the playoff-contending A’s rotation. The club needs Luzardo’s assistance, having lost ace Frankie Montas to an 80-game performance-enhancing drug suspension a week ago.
  • At 6 1/2 games back of a wild-card spot, the White Sox may be closer to playoff position than expected this season. However, general manager Rick Hahn unsurprisingly isn’t going to mortgage the future for short-term pitching help prior to the deadline, Bruce Levine of 670 The Score writes. Asked Friday about adding an established starter in the next month, Hahn said: “”I wouldn’t say you can count on additions at the deadline that will be short-term fixes. Our focus going to remain long term.” Hahn admitted Chicago “would like to add controllable starting pitching,” but he quickly noted that’s a goal for every team in the game. Below-average starting pitching has prevented the White Sox from making a more serious playoff push this year. While Lucas Giolito has been tremendous, the team hasn’t gotten respectable production from any of its other starters.
  • Injured Padres reliever Aaron Loup will return in “late August, early September if things go well,” manager Andy Green said Friday (via AJ Cassavell of MLB.com). It’s clear this will go down as a mostly lost season for Loup, whom the Padres signed to a one-year, $1.2MM contract entering the campaign. The 31-year-old lefty has been on the injured list since April 9 because of a forearm strain. Loup was effective in a small sample of work before then, throwing 3 1/3 scoreless innings of two-hit ball with five strikeouts against one walk.

Pirates Release Nick Franklin

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The Pirates have released utilityman Nick Franklin, according to John Dreker of PiratesProspects.com. Franklin had been with the organization since signing a minor league deal in February.

The 28-year-old Franklin endured an injury-limited stint as a member of the Pirates, with whom he opened the season on the minor league IL because of hamstring tightness. When healthy, Franklin totaled 152 plate appearances in the minors with the Pirates this year. He managed a mere .193/.289/.316 line in 136 attempts with Triple-A Indianapolis before the organization cut him.

The 27th overall pick of the Mariners in 2009 and once a high-end prospect, Franklin will now have to look for another employer once again. The switch hitter hasn’t seen much major league action since 2017, and has only combined to hit .214/.285/359 (78 wRC+) in 923 PA with the Mariners, Rays, Angels and Brewers. Franklin has slashed a much better .261/.347/.419 in 1,559 tries in Triple-A ball.

Dodgers Reportedly Interested In Felipe Vazquez

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The Dodgers, looking to bolster a bullpen that has had its share of slipups this season, are interested in acquiring Pirates closer Felipe Vazquez, Jon Morosi of MLB.com reports. There is no indication the Pirates would be amenable to trading Vazquez, however.

Factoring in the 27-year-old Vazquez’s age, track record and contract, he’s one of the most valuable relievers in the sport. The hard-throwing left-hander debuted with the Nationals in 2015 but truly burst on the scene in 2017, a year after the Pirates acquired him from the Nats in a deal for fellow reliever Mark Melancon.

Vazquez has been a dominant late-game workhorse since his first full season in Pittsburgh, having posted a 2.12 ERA/2.43 FIP with 11.51 K/9, 2.67 BB/9 and a 46.2 percent groundball rate in 178 1/3 innings. He has also saved 77 of 85 opportunities over the past two-plus seasons, including 19 of 20 in 2019. This may go down as the best season yet for Vazquez, who has pitched to a 1.91 ERA/2.36 FIP with 13.91 K/9 and 2.45 BB/9 across 33 frames.

Vazquez wouldn’t be the closer with the Dodgers; he’d instead team with game-ending righty Kenley Jansen to form a duo that would be one of the envies of the league. Owners of the majors’ best record (55-26), the Dodgers aren’t hard up for help. However, their bullpen has been more middle of the pack than excellent this season. Jansen and Pedro Baez have performed well (though the former has fallen off a bit since his halcyon days), but there’s room for improvement otherwise.

There is little question convincing the Pirates to part with Vazquez would mean offering an impossible-to-reject package of young talent. While the 36-41 Pirates probably aren’t on their way to the playoffs this season, the low-budget club has Vazquez potentially under wraps through 2023 on a sweetheart contract, so it’s not in any rush to move him. He’s on a $4MM salary this year, a $5.25MM salary in 2020 and a $7.25MM figure in 2021. After that, Vazquez has affordable club options worth $10MM apiece from 2022-23.

Orioles Acquire Patrick Dorrian To Complete Yefry Ramirez Trade

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The Orioles have acquired infielder Patrick Dorrian from the Pirates, the teams announced. This completes the May 27 trade that sent right-hander Yefry Ramirez to the Pirates.

Baltimore’s the third organization for the 23-year-old Dorrian, whose pro career began in strange fashion. The Braves spent a 12th-round pick on Dorrian in 2014, but after he signed and reported to their Gulf Coast team, he decided to go to college instead, as Sal Interdonato of the Times Herald-Record explained last summer.

Dorian played at Herkimer County Community College in upstate New York and Division II Lynn University in Florida before signing with the Pirates as an undrafted free agent last year. He has since logged impressive production at the lower levels of the minors, including a .256/.346/.443 with six home runs in 255 plate appearances this year in Single-A ball. Dorrian will report to the High-A level with the Orioles.

Nick Burdi Undergoes Season-Ending Surgery

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Pirates right-handed reliever Nick Burdi has undergone surgery to relieve symptoms of neurogenic thoracic outlet syndrome, Rob Biertempfel of The Athletic reports. Burdi will miss the rest of 2019, though the hope is that he’ll be ready to resume baseball activities by next spring.

The 26-year-old Burdi hasn’t pitched since April 22, when he exited an outing against the Diamondbacks with what looked like a catastrophic injury. Burdi was then diagnosed with a nerve issue, thus avoiding a second Tommy John surgery. Burdi, a second-round pick of the Twins in 2014, underwent TJS in 2017 and has also dealt with other arm injuries that have kept him from realizing his potential in the majors.

While Burdi avoided another Tommy John procedure, TOS surgery is ominous in its own right. Regardless of how much time Burdi ends up missing because of this surgery, it’s the latest significant step back in a career that hasn’t gotten off the ground because of injuries. A Pirate since they acquired him during the 2017 Rule 5 Draft, Burdi has thrown just 10 major league innings so far.

NL Notes: Cubs, Happ, Story, Newcomb, Cervelli

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It’s been a while since the last update on the Cubs’ Ian Happ, who has yet to appear in a Major League game this season after he was optioned to Triple-A out of spring training. The Athletic’s Sahadev Sharma, though, offers some insight into Happ’s mindset and process as he works towards rejoining the Cubs. Happ, 24, was a productive big-leaguer in his first two seasons with the Cubs, but was plagued by strikeouts and inconsistency, neither of which is an uncommon issue for a young player. During his time in Triple-A, Happ has focused on refining his approach and retooling his swing with an eye on contributing to a contending Cubs team in the second half. After striking out in 33.8% of his first 875 plate appearances, Happ has that number down to 27.3% in the minors this year, while increasing his ground ball rate as a result of a flattened swing designed to better cover elevated pitches. With Daniel Descalso and Addison Russell getting the majority of the second base reps and Albert Almora Jr. in center field, there looks to be an avenue for Happ to help to the Cubs in the near future, but it appears that the Cubs are content with a patient approach to Happ’s situation.

Here’s the latest on a handful of National League clubs…

  • Good news for Rockies shortstop Trevor Story, who recently landed on the IL with a thumb injury that was said to keep Story out for “multiple weeks.” Per the Denver Post’s Patrick Saunders, however, Story is progressing faster than anticipated and could indeed return to the Rockies after the allotted 10 days on the injured list. That would put Story on track to rejoin his team on June 29, which is certainly a welcome turn of events in Colorado. Surely, that’s no guarantee and the Rockies won’t rush their star back, but it’s sure to inspire more optimism than the original timeline.
  • The Braves’ bullpen will get a boost this week, with left-hander Sean Newcomb expected to return from the injured list ahead of Tuesday’s game against the Cubs, according to Gabe Burns of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He showed promising signs in his most recent rehab outing and should be ready to pitch for the first time since taking a J.T. Realmuto liner to the neck last weekend. Though Mike Foltynewicz was demoted, thus leaving a void in the Braves’ starting rotation, that won’t be filled by Newcomb, who will remain in a relief role for the foreseeable future.
  • Pirates catcher Francisco Cervelli could rejoin the team as early as next weekend, tweets Adam Berry of MLB.com. The 33-year-old catcher, who has been on the injured list since May 25 after suffering a concussion, could start a rehab assignment in the next few days and return to action for the Bucs shortly thereafter. Certainly, the Pirates have kept their heads above water with a catching tandem of Elias Diaz and Jacob Stallings, both of whom have thus far outperformed Cervelli, who struggled in the season’s opening months.

Pirates Place Gregory Polanco On 10-Day IL

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The Pirates have placed outfielder Gregory Polanco on the 10-Day IL with left shoulder inflammation, the team announced. Outfielder Jason Martin has been recalled in his place. It’s the same shoulder on which Polanco underwent major surgery in the offseason, resulting in a month-long absence at the season’s outset. The move is retroactive to Wednesday, however, so it may just be a minor setback for the 29-year-old.

The lefty has struggled in his first 42 games for the team this season, slashing just .242/.301/.425 (89 wRC+) with an easily-career-high 29.3% strikeout rate. Polanco’s (left) throwing arm has graded out as subpar for the first time in his six-year big-league career thus far, so it’s certainly possible the shoulder is still giving him issue.

Martin, 23, was acquired from Houston as part of the Gerrit Cole deal, but has not been good after a midseason promotion to Triple-A in 2018. He boasts identical 65 wRC+ marks at Indianapolis both this season and last, and a 17-game cameo with Pittsburgh earlier in ’19 did not go well, as the rare lefty hitter/righty thrower slashed just .229/.289/.286 in limited action.

Rookie Bryan Reynolds has been a godsend for a beleaguered Pirate outfield thus far, but the team’ll need plenty of help elsewhere if it’s to overcome the six-under-.500 hole in which it currently sits.

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