Pirates Rumors

A.J. Burnett Expected To Miss Four Weeks With Flexor Strain

By Mark Polishuk | August 3, 2015 at 3:23pm CDT

3:23pm: The Pirates have now released a statement to announce that Burnett has been diagnosed with a flexor strain in his right elbow. Burnett received a platelet-rich plasma injection, and is estimated time of return is four weeks, per the announcement.

2:46pm: Stephen Nesbitt of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette tweets that Burnett says he’s yet to even receive a diagnosis following his MRI.

AUG. 3, 1:44pm: FOX’s Jon Morosi reports (Twitter links) that Burnett received better news than he had hoped. Burnett has a strain in his right flexor tendon, but his ulnar collateral ligament is intact. He’ll undergo treatment with the hope of returning this season, per Morosi.

AUG. 2: After being placed on the 15-day DL with elbow inflammation on Friday, A.J. Burnett admitted that the injury may sideline him for the rest of the 2015 season. In an interview with MLB.com’s Tom Singer, Burnett predicted that his Monday appointment with Pirates doctors will reveal that he’s suffered damage to either his UCL or flexor tendon, yet the veteran righty has no plans to undergo surgery for either issue.

“It is difficult. I’m prepared for both…if I just need some rest or something more. In my mind, surgery is not an option. I’d built up some pain tolerance. It comes and goes, part of doing this 16 years. You figure out what you can and can’t do,” Burnett said. “It was just really bad on everything the other night. I never got loose, never got comfortable. We’ll find out tomorrow, when they look at it. I don’t expect it to go away, don’t expect it to get better.”

Burnett said he’d been dealing with some degree of elbow discomfort for years, though “it hasn’t been anything to worry about” until his start last Thursday. Given Burnett’s rough performance since the All-Star break (10.13 ERA over 16 innings), it could be that his injury has been bothering him for longer than just his most recent outing, or it could be that Burnett was simply regressing a bit after an outstanding first half.

While Burnett has ruled out surgery, he isn’t willing to return to mound unless he’s able to pitch effectively through the pain. He won’t try to tough it out just for the sake of coming back “if I can’t throw, or if I’m throwing what I was throwing the other night. I can’t do it to these guys.”

If the elbow injury indeed ends Burnett’s season, it will also mark the end of his 17-year career, as the veteran has already announced that he’ll be retiring once the 2015 campaign is over. Burnett went out on a high note, making his first All-Star team after posting a 2.11 ERA and 100 strikeouts (against 33 walks) over his first 119 1/3 innings. Even if the right-hander is done for the season, he’s already more than delivered on the one-year, $8.5MM deal he signed last winter to return to Pittsburgh.

The Pirates’ postseason chances will suffer a blow with Burnett out, though they still have Gerrit Cole and Francisco Liriano headlining a rotation that includes Jeff Locke, Charlie Morton and the newly-acquired J.A. Happ.

NL Central Notes: Cards, Melvin, Pirates, Kang

By Mark Polishuk and Zachary Links | August 2, 2015 at 6:23pm CDT

The Cardinals were rumored to be looking for starting pitching depth at the deadline, but instead beefed up the relief corps in the form of Steve Cishek and Jonathan Broxton. As GM John Mozeliak and manager Mike Matheny told Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, adding quality relievers essentially becomes starting depth as it takes less pressure off the starters to go deep into games. The new arms also will help cut down on the workload of Kevin Siegrist, Randy Choate and Seth Maness, all of whom have pitched quite often this season. Some more from around the NL Central…

Brewers GM Doug Melvin told Jim Duquette and Jim Bowden of MLB Network Radio (Twitter links) that he feels “the Mets have taken some unfair criticism about asking for money back in the [Carlos] Gomez deal.” Melvin explained that teams often for money in one form or another in deals, as “it’s all part of the GM landscape these days.“
Brewers manager Craig Counsell isn’t sure how long his team’s rebuilding process will take, he told reporters (including Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel), as “we’re always going to be trying to win a baseball game….But evaluating it from a bigger picture is part of our jobs as well.” Haudricourt wonders if the Brewers and their fans would be able to stomach a multi-year rebuilding effort as the Cubs did for the last few years.
The Pirates stuck to their recent trend of making “modest upgrades while not giving away their top prospects,” writes Travis Sawchik of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. While getting an ace pitcher could’ve come at a big price for the Bucs and come with no guarantee of a playoff spot, Sawchik notes that the rotation is suddenly lacking depth with A.J. Burnett’s season now in doubt.
Also from Sawchik’s piece, he argues that Jung-ho Kang deserves a regular starting job even when Josh Harrison and Jordy Mercer return from the DL. It’s hard to argue Sawchik’s point given how Kang entered today with a .299/.372/.460 slash line over his first 312 Major League plate appearances, giving the Pirates some badly-needed help given their injury-riddled left side of the infield.

Minor MLB Transactions: 7/31/15

By Zachary Links | July 31, 2015 at 4:38pm CDT

Today’s minor MLB moves..

The Rays announced (on Twitter) that catcher Bobby Wilson was claimed off waivers by the Rangers.
The Pirates designated Deolis Guerra for assignment to clear roster a spot for Joakim Soria, Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review tweets. Guerra gave up two three-run homers to Brandon Phillips yesterday, which probably didn’t help his job security with the Bucs.
The A’s announced that they have acquired lefty Felix Doubront from the Blue Jays for cash. Doubront was designated for assignment just days ago to make room for the acquisition of Troy Tulowitzki.
Caleb Thielbar will be designated for assignment to make room for Kevin Jepsen on the Twins’ 40-man roster, according to MLB.com’s Rhett Bollinger (on Twitter).
To make room for Jonathan Broxton, the Cardinals have designated Marcus Hatley for assignment, Jenifer Langosch of MLB.com tweets.
The Brewers announced that they have claimed Preston Guilmet off waivers from the Dodgers. The well-traveled Guilmet didn’t spend much time with the Dodgers, who selected him off waivers from the Rays on July 10. Guilmet tossed three innings for the club’s Triple-A affiliate prior being designated for assignment. He’s been very good at Triple-A this season, tallying a 1.95 ERA with 8.9 K/9 and 2.8 BB/9 in 32 1/3 innings between Buffalo, Durham and Oklahoma City.
The Nationals announced (on Twitter) that they have assigned catcher Dan Butler outright to Triple-A.
The Indians announced (on Twitter) that they have acquired left-hander Jayson Aquino from the Pirates for cash considerations.
The Pirates have outrighted Gorkys Hernandez to Triple-A, Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review tweets.
The Cubs have designated Ben Rowen for assignment, Jesse Rogers of ESPNChicago.com tweets.

Pirates Acquire J.A. Happ

By Steve Adams | July 31, 2015 at 3:24pm CDT

The Pirates announced that they’ve acquired left-hander J.A. Happ from the Mariners in exchange for minor league righty Adrian Sampson.

In picking up Happ, the Pirates have struck a last-minute deal to add a back-of-the-rotation starter to their ranks. The 32-year-old pitched to solid results for much of his first and only season with the Mariners, but he’s run into trouble as of late, posting an unsightly 8.47 ERA over his past four starts — a span of just 17 innings. At his best, Happ is a serviceable back-of-the-rotation arm whose greatest problem is a susceptibility to home runs versus right-handed hitters. PNC Park’s dimensions will help to mitigate that concern, as it’s ranked as one of the toughest parks in terms of right-handed home run factor in each of the past three full seasons.

On the year, Happ has a 4.64 ERA with 6.8 K/9, 2.7 BB/9 and a 42.1 percent ground-ball rate in 108 2/3 innings. Those numbers are more or less in line with the totals he delivered from 2012-14, although they came in the hitter-friendly Rogers Centre as opposed to the pitchers’ paradise that is Safeco Field. (His ERA+ from ’12-’14 was 89, compared to just 80 this season.) Happ is earning $6.7MM this season and is a free agent this winter, so he’ll be a short-term pick up that the Pirates can use as rotation insurance down the stretch.

The 23-year-old Sampson ranked as the Pirates’ No. 28 prospect on MLB.com’s midseason update, where Jim Callis and Jonathan Mayo praise the righty’s sinking fastball and ability to get grounders. The MLB.com duo notes that Sampson has strong command and average stuff across the board, giving him a low ceiling but also placing him close to big league ready. Sampson has started 21 games at Triple-A Indianapolis this season and has a 3.98 ERA with 6.9 K/9 and 2.1 BB/9 in 124 1/3 innings in that time.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Pirates, Dodgers Swap Jose Tabata, Michael Morse

By Jeff Todd and charliewilmoth | July 31, 2015 at 3:18pm CDT

The Pirates have announced that they’ve acquired Michael Morse and cash from the Dodgers for outfielder Jose Tabata. Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com was the first to tweet that a deal had been struck.

The Dodgers recently acquired Morse in the 13-player Mat Latos / Hector Olivera deal, although Morse was seemingly included in the deal mostly so that the Marlins could shed his salary. He’s making $7MM this year and $8MM next, and is in the midst of a bad season, batting .213/.276/.313, a very poor line, particularly given that he provides little defensive value. Nonetheless, he’s right-handed and hit well in 2014, and the Pirates have struggled to find right-handed hitting depth, given injuries to Josh Harrison, Jordy Mercer and Corey Hart, along with Hart’s own poor performance. The Pirates also might hope that Morse can help the left-handed Pedro Alvarez at first base.

Tabata’s is surely headed the Dodgers’ way largely to offset Morse’s salary. The Pirates had already repeatedly outrighted the disappointing Tabata, who has about $6.75MM remaining on the long-term deal he signed with the Bucs in 2011. He’s spent most of the season with Triple-A Indianapolis, where he’s batted .291/.364/.345 in 165 plate appearances. Nonetheless, he’s young enough (with a listed age of 26) and has enough on-base ability that he might be able to help someone in a bench role. He will not need to be added to the Dodgers’ 40-man roster.

Pitching Market Notes: Ross, Gallardo, Iwakuma, Indians, Chapman, Pirates

By Steve Adams | July 30, 2015 at 9:27pm CDT

The Padres are “progressing” on multiple deals, tweets Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports, and Tyson Ross is a key piece among their trade chips. Rosenthal adds that trading him would be considered a concession on the 2015 season, and while that’s likely, it’s certainly possible that the Padres could acquire some MLB-ready talent to make it more even for 2015 purposes than if they went with an all-prospects package. The Padres could add some pieces as well, he notes.

Meanwhile Bob Nightengale of USA Today chimes in on Ross as well, tweeting that executives from other teams are “convinced” that Ross will be dealt. Nightengale says the Cubs continue to push for Ross. (Earlier today, ESPN’s Jayson Stark heard that Ross is Chicago’s top pitching target.)

Here’s more on the trade market for pitching help — starters and relievers alike:

The Cubs, Blue Jays and Dodgers are the most aggressive teams pursuing Yovani Gallardo of the Rangers at this time, writes Jon Heyman of CBS Sports. The Yankees and Giants also have some level of interest, he adds. Gallardo started tonight, and things went poorly; the Yankees knocked him around for five runs in six innings, and he struck out just one hitter.
Despite a record that is well below the .500 mark, the Mariners aren’t planning to make right-hander Hisashi Iwakuma available, tweets Yahoo’s Jeff Passan. While other teams have apparently inquired, they’ve been informed that Mariners ownership prefers to keep him. Iwakuma’s value is down after a shaky, injury-filled season, though given his reasonable $7MM salary and track record, I’d imagine he’d draw no shortage of interest if put on the block.
Teams are still in touch with the Indians regarding their crop of young pitching talent, tweets Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports. There’s nothing close at this time, but the Indians remain willing to engage in conversations. To this point, they’ve reportedly discussed Carlos Carrasco with other clubs, and one can imagine that Danny Salazar and Trevor Bauer are of interest to other teams as well. Cleveland did bolster its impressive stockpile of young pitching today — albeit with a future-oriented move — acquiring Class-A lefty and former first-round pick Rob Kaminsky from the Cardinals for Brandon Moss.
The D-Backs reportedly have an offer on the table to the Reds for Aroldis Chapman, but Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic spoke to a pair of executives (Twitter link) about the asking price on Chapman, with one calling it “high” and the other using the term “ridiculous.”
Following today’s acquisition of Joakim Soria to strengthen his bullpen, Pirates GM Neal Huntington told reporters, including Bill Brink of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, that he doesn’t plan to acquire an additional starting pitcher prior to tomorrow’s non-waiver trade deadline (Twitter link).

Pirates Acquire Joakim Soria

By Steve Adams | July 30, 2015 at 5:57pm CDT

The Pirates announced on Thursday that they have acquired Tigers closer Joakim Soria in exchange for shortstop JaCoby Jones.

The Pirates have been known to be interested in bullpen help since last week and swung a minor deal to add Joe Blanton to the mix last night, but Soria would represent a much higher-profile addition to the Pittsburgh ’pen. A free agent at season’s end, the 31-year-old Soria is earning $7MM this season. He began the year as the Tigers’ primary setup option, but Joe Nathan blew out his arm in the early stages of the season, and Soria has seamlessly returned to a ninth-inning role with which he is quite familiar.

Soria has worked to a strong 2.85 ERA in 41 innings this season, although he’s also been uncharacteristically homer-prone, yielding what is already a career-high eight long balls on the season (1.76 HR/9). Home run rate can have quite a bit of randomness to it, so perhaps the Pirates are unconcerned (they’ve done well with other previously homer-prone arms such as A.J. Burnett and Mark Melancon). Both Soria’s walk rate (2.4 BB/9) and strikeout rate (7.9 K/9) are also down from an excellent 2014 season, but his bottom-line results remain strong.

It seems unlikely that Soria would supplant Melancon as the team’s closer, so the more likely scenario is that Soria will share setup duties with left-hander Tony Watson, who is enjoying a strong season in his own right. The Pirates have received strong production from their relief corps as a whole, although it’s been somewhat of a top-heavy unit, and a rental of Soria would deepen the group and help take some pressure off the rotation in the season’s final months.

Jones, a third-round pick from the 2013 draft, ranked as Pittsburgh’s No. 12 prospect on MLB.com’s midseason Top 30. Baseball America placed Jones 10th on their midseason Top 10 list for the Pirates.

Both Baseball America and MLB.com praise Jones’ combination of power and speed but note that he’s raw and a bit inexperienced at shortstop after playing mostly second base and center field at LSU. BA notes that he has a propensity to swing and miss, while MLB.com praises his aggressive style on the basepaths and pure athleticism.

Jones recently reached Double-A but has just three games at that level. He’s batting a combined .260/.319/.398 across two levels in the minors this season and is a .277/.336/.445 career hitter overall in his pro career.

Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review first connected the two sides (via Twitter), and MLive.com’s James Schmehl said a deal was getting close (also via Twitter). Jon Heyman of CBS Sports reported that the deal was done (Twitter link), and Biertempfel tweeted that Jones was headed to Detroit.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Pirates Pursuing Joakim Soria Trade

By Steve Adams | July 30, 2015 at 8:48am CDT

The Pirates and Tigers are nearing a trade that would send Joakim Soria to Pittsburgh, reports MLive.com’s James Schmehl (via Twitter). Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review had recently reported (also via Twitter) that the Bucs had interest in acquiring Soria.

It seems unlikely that Soria would supplant Melancon as the team’s closer, so the more likely scenario, if a trade is indeed completed, would be for Soria to share setup duties with left-hander Tony Watson, who is enjoying a strong season in his own right. The Pirates have received strong production from their relief corps as a whole, although it’s been somewhat of a top-heavy unit, and a rental of Soria would deepen the group and help take some pressure off the rotation in the season’s final months.

This post was originally published on July 30, 2015 at 4:48pm CT.

Pitching Notes: Leake, Astros, Pirates, Angels, Johnson, Royals

By Jeff Todd | July 29, 2015 at 3:29pm CDT

The sudden availability of David Price will shake up the starting pitching market, of course, but there are plenty of less significant, but still notable developments to cover. Let’s take a look in at a few notes on the pitching market.

Reds starter Mike Leake is among the many pitchers still being considered by the Blue Jays, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports tweets. Per Rosenthal, the club is looking at a variety of arms at a similar level of ability, with the hope of getting the best value out of a deal.
The Astros are “monitoring” the market for bullpen pieces, ESPN.com’s Jerry Crasnick tweets. They have given at least some thought to quality arms like Craig Kimbrel, Joaquin Benoit, and Francisco Rodriguez. Houston is also still involved on Cole Hamels, though it still doesn’t seem that they are terribly likely to get him, Evan Drellich of the Houston Chronicle tweets.
The Pirates, meanwhile, seem to be looking more at middle relief options, per MLB.com’s Tom Singer. And the Angels are also looking to add another arm to their pen, MLB.com’s Alden Gonzalez reports on Twitter. Los Angeles is looking for something on the order of last year’s addition of Jason Grilli says Gonzalez. Presumably, the same holds for Pittsburgh, which sent Grilli out west last summer in exchange for Ernesto Frieri.
With many teams (including those just noted) looking to add arms, the Braves are “getting lots of play” on righty Jim Johnson, Jerry Crasnick of ESPN.com tweets. Johnson isn’t too expensive, has been solid this year, and has obviously spent a lot of time in high-leverage situations, so it stands to reason that he’ll be moved to a contender looking to build out their stable of relief arms.
The Royals asked the Tigers about Price before acquiring Johnny Cueto, but moved on to the righty when they learned that Price was not yet being marketed, Andy McCullough of the Kansas City Star tweets.
Wondering who the teams listed above could target? MLBTR recently listed the starters and relievers most likely to be available at this year’s trade deadline.

Minor MLB Transactions: 7/29/15

By Jeff Todd | July 29, 2015 at 8:12am CDT

We’ve got some catching up to do on the minor moves front after a busy couple of days:

Reds outfielder/first baseman Chris Dominguez has cleared outright waivers and been assigned to Triple-A, John Fay of the Cincinnati Enquirer tweets. Dominguez has seen short big league stints in each of the past two seasons, but the 28-year-old has played mostly in the upper minors. He owns a .216/.264/.368 slash over 221 plate appearances on the year at Louisville.
The Pirates outrighted infielder Steve Lombardozzi to Triple-A after recently designating him for assignment, according to Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review (via Twitter). Following two seasons as a significant utility piece for the Nationals, Lombardozzi has received only 85 big league plate appearances over the 2014-15 campaigns. He owns a .303/.362/.352 slash in his 291 turns at bat for Triple-A Indianapolis.
After he, too, cleared waivers, Pirates third baseman Brent Morel elected free agency, per Bill Brink of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (Twitter link). The 28-year-old has spent at least some time in the big leagues in every season since 2010, putting up a .601 OPS in 712 plate appearances. In 326 times coming to bat at Triple-A this year, he owns a .266/.322/.441 batting line.
As expected, Astros outfielder Alex Presley has accepted an outright assignment with the organization, Evan Drellich of the Houston Chronicle reports on Twitter. He previously agreed to an outright assignment in order to preserve his $1MM arbitration salary, and chose to do the same once again.
The Mariners acquired righty J.C. Ramirez from the Diamondbacks, Seattle announced. Ramirez, 26, made it up to the big leagues for the second time this year, throwing 15 1/3 innings of 4.11 ERA ball from the Arizona pen. He’ll return to his first professional team, which shipped him to the Phillies in the 2009 Cliff Lee trade.

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