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Blue Jays Select Ernie Clement

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The Blue Jays announced a batch of roster moves today, reinstating right-hander Adam Cimber from the injured list and selecting the contract of infielder Ernie Clement. In corresponding moves, right-hander Thomas Hatch and infielder Otto López were optioned to Triple-A. To open a spot on the 40-man for Clement, right-hander Mitch White was transferred to the 60-day injured list.

Clement, 27, was signed to a minor league deal during Spring Training. He’s been playing for Triple-A Buffalo so far this year, having hit an excellent .328/.408/.512 through 145 plate appearances. He has walked at an 11.7% clip and has a microscopic strikeout rate of 2.8%. He’s also stolen six bases and has bounced around the diamond, playing all four infield positions and some left field.

That strong showing will get him back to the big leagues, where he already has a bit of experience. He first made it to the show with Cleveland in 2021 and then went to the Athletics on a waiver claim last year. He was able to provide plenty of defensive versatility, bouncing to those four infield spots and left field, but didn’t do too much with the bat. In 312 trips to the plate in those two seasons, he hit just .204/.261/.264. The A’s released him in March of this year, allowing the Jays to scoop him up on that minor league deal.

The Jays recently placed utility infielder Santiago Espinal on the injured list and recalled López to take his place but will now give Clement that job instead. If he can bring up even a portion of that Triple-A offense and combine it with his ability to play multiple positions, he could be an attractive bench piece for the club. He still has an option year and between one and two years of service time, meaning he could potentially stay in a depth role for a while, provided he continues to justify his spot on the 40-man roster.

As for White, he began the year on the injured list due to elbow inflammation and has yet to return. He was recently on a rehab assignment but had it shut down due to shoulder soreness, per Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet. Since a return wasn’t imminent, it’s not a shock to see him transferred. He’ll now be ineligible to return until 60 days from his initial IL placement, meaning he can technically come back this weekend, though it doesn’t seem he’s healthy enough for that to be a real possibility.

Blue Jays Reinstate Steven Matz From COVID-IL, Designate Jeremy Beasley

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As expected, the Blue Jays reinstated left-hander Steven Matz from the COVID-related injured list today.  Matz is scheduled to start tonight’s game against the Mariners.  The Jays also officially added newly-acquired right-hander Adam Cimber to the active roster, with righties Joel Payamps and Anthony Castro optioned to Triple-A.  To create room on the 40-man roster, right-hander Jeremy Beasley was designated for assignment.

Matz tested positive for the coronavirus on June 15, and had to wait out a mandatory 10-day isolation period even though he was an asymptomatic COVID case.  It was an unwelcome interruption to a season that has seen Matz go through a few swings of inconsistency, though he has been generally solid in posting a 4.26 ERA/3.78 SIERA over 69 2/3 innings for the Blue Jays.  Matz’s seven percent walk rate and 24.8% strikeout rate are both better than average, as are his hard-contact numbers, as per Statcast.

Beasley was acquired from the Diamondbacks for cash considerations in April, and the righty posted a 7.71 ERA over 9 1/3 innings out of Toronto’s bullpen.  That brief stint saw Beasley allow nine walks and three home runs.  A 30th-round pick for the Angels in the 2017 draft, Beasley made his MLB debut in cup-of-coffee fashion with Arizona last season, tossing one-third of an inning in a single appearance.

Blue Jays Acquire Adam Cimber, Corey Dickerson

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In one of the first deals of the summer trade season, the Blue Jays announced they’ve right-handed reliever Adam Cimber and left-handed-hitting outfielder Corey Dickerson from the Marlins in exchange for infielder Joe Panik and minor league righty Andrew McInvale. The swap comes barely a week after Toronto GM Ross Atkins acknowledged a desire to add bullpen help (and after the team was reported to be seeking left-handed bats on the trade market).

It’s a bit of a surprise move on a number of levels. Dickerson is presently on the 10-day IL with a foot injury, and it’s unclear when he’ll return to the field (although he’s eligible at any time having already spent more than 10 days on the shelf). Sportsnet’s Ben Nicholson-Smith tweets that Dickerson is still in a walking boot but feeling good as he progresses through rehab. Meanwhile, it’s a bit unexpected to see the Fish taking back a struggling veteran infielder such as Panik, but Miami does have a pair of infielders (Brian Anderson, Jose Devers) on the injured list at the moment.

Corey Dickerson

What’s not surprising, from a broader perspective, is that the Marlins would be seeking a trade partner for Dickerson. The 32-year-old has been a roughly league-average bat since signing a two-year, $17.5MM deal with Miami in the 2019-20 offseason and is hitting .263/.324/.380 through 225 trips to the plate in 2021. But the Marlins have multiple young outfielders they’d like the chance to evaluate for the remainder of the 2021 season, including Jesus Sanchez, who now figures to get the bulk of the time in left field. The 23-year-old decimated Triple-A pitching, slashing .349/.400/.643 with nine homers, five doubles and three triples through 140 plate appearances prior to his promotion. He now has a clearer path to everyday at-bats in Miami than he would’ve with a healthy Dickerson eventually returning from the injured list.

For the Blue Jays, Dickerson figures to slide into a part-time outfield role. Toronto currently has Lourdes Gurriel Jr., George Springer, Teoscar Hernandez and Randal Grichuk in the mix for outfield and DH at-bats, but all four bat right-handed. Dickerson’s left-handed bat makes for a nice fit, particularly given his longstanding platoon splits. He’s held his own against lefties in his career, hitting .268/.305/.408, but has thrived against right-handers with a .287/.333/.514 output.

While Dickerson is the more recognizable name of the two going back to the Jays in this deal, Cimber is perhaps the key piece of this trade for the Blue Jays. The 30-year-old sidearmer has pitched in 34 1/3 innings so far with the Marlins and notched a 2.88 ERA — albeit primarily in low-leverage situations.

Adam Cimber

Cimber doesn’t miss many bats, but that’s often the case with sidearm and submarine pitchers. He’s posted just a 15.9 percent strikeout rate so far in 2021 — about nine percent lower than league-average — but also sports better-than-average walk and ground-ball percentages (7.9 and 49.5, respectively). He rarely gives up premium contact, sitting in the 81st percentile of MLB pitchers in terms of opponents’ average exit velocity and the 96th percentile in terms of opponents’ barrel rate, per Statcast.

For his career, Cimber has been far more effective against righties than lefties, but he’s been an absolute nightmare for left-handed opponents so far in 2021. It’s a sample of just 55 plate appearances, so the small-sample caveat certainly applies, but left-handed opponents have posted just a .196/.327/.283 slash against him. Right-handers, meanwhile, are slashing .269/.329/.333 against him.

Dickerson is a free agent at season’s end, so he’s a pure rental for the Blue Jays whenever he’s able to return to the field. Cimber, on the other hand, is controllable via arbitration through the 2024 season. He’s playing the current year on a $925K salary after avoiding arbitration as a Super Two player over the winter and will have three more trips through the arb process before he qualifies as a free agent. His inclusion in the deal gives the Jays a reliever with a career 3.69 ERA and 4.01 SIERA both for the remainder of the 2021 season and perhaps for multiple years to come.

Looking at the Marlins’ end of the swap, Panik will give them an experienced bench option and help provide some cover for those injuries and any others that may arise. (Both Miguel Rojas and Jazz Chisholm have already spent time on the IL in 2021.) He could also see increased time at third base, freeing versatile Jon Berti up to bounce around the diamond as he has in seasons past. Panik was productive in the first couple years of his career with the Giants, but he’s settled in as something of a journeyman utility player. Dating back to 2018, the former first-round pick is batting .246/.313/.332 — including a .246/.293/.351 hitter in 123 plate appearances so far in 2021.

Panik’s inclusion in the deal also serves as something of a financial counterweight to the Blue Jays’ additions of Dickerson and Cimber. The Marlins are also sending the Jays about $2.65MM as part of the trade. Overall, the Jays are adding about $4.4MM of Dickerson’s remaining salary and $482K of Cimber’s remaining salary, but shedding the remaining $982K on Panik’s deal and getting this $2.65MM in cash considerations. That leaves about a $1.3MM sum remaining to be added to the Toronto payroll.

As for the 24-year-old McInvale, he’ll add another arm to the upper levels of the Miami system. Although he was one of the Blue Jays’ final picks in 2019 (37th round and No. 1107 overall), McInvale has risen to Double-A and fared quite well this season. He’s pitched 20 2/3 innings out of the bullpen an impressive 31.8 percent strikeout rate and a massive 63.6 percent ground-ball rate. Command has been an issue, however, as McInvale has walked 13 batters (14.8 BB%), hit another pair and tossed three wild pitches.

McInvale didn’t rank among the Jays’ best prospects, as one would expect for a recent 37th-rounder who didn’t pitch in 2020. However, the Marlins are parting with an outfielder they’ve deemed superfluous and a right-hander they acquired from the Indians this past winter in exchange for cash ($100K, to be exact). Saving some of Dickerson’s salary and adding a pitcher who’s performed well at the Double-A level seems like a solid outcome to the whole gambit for them. As for the Jays, they’re effectively purchasing an experienced righty and rolling the dice on a veteran hitter with a strong track record against right-handed pitching. It’s not the flashiest of trades we’ll see this summer, but it’s one that ultimately feels fairly sensible for both clubs — even if it looks a little odd at first glance.

Craig Mish of the Miami Herald first reported that Dickerson was being traded to the Blue Jays and that the Marlins were sending some cash (all Twitter links). MLB Network’s Jon Heyman then added that Cimber, Panik and a Jays minor league pitcher were in the swap. The Athletic’s Kaitlyn McGrath first reported McInvale’s inclusion. Shi Davidi of Sportsnet reported (via Twitter) the Marlins’ inclusion of salary.

Marlins Acquire Adam Cimber, Designate Jose Urena

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The Marlins have acquired right-hander Adam Cimber from the Indians for cash considerations, per an announcement from Cleveland. The Indians will receive $100K, according to Tom Withers of the Associated Press. Miami designated righty Jose Urena for assignment in a corresponding move, Bob Nightengale of USA Today reports.

Also a former Padre, the 30-year-old Cimber will now join his third team since he debuted in the majors in 2018. Although he only averages around 86 mph on his fastball, Cimber has generated decent results in the bigs, including during a 2020 campaign in which he logged a 3.97 ERA/3.99 FIP with a 52.4 percent groundball rate and a 1.59 BB/9. Cimber averaged a paltry 3.97 strikeouts per nine during his 11 1/3 innings of work (down from 6.51 the previous year), though, and the Indians then deemed him expendable when they designated him last week.

Cimber will go down as the first trade acquisition for new Marlins general manager Kim Ng, and he’ll try to help a bullpen that ranked fifth from the bottom in ERA and second to last in FIP in 2020. He’ll be an inexpensive part of their relief corps next year, as he’s projected to earn between $800K and $1MM in arbitration. Cimber isn’t due to reach free agency until after 2024, so he could be a multiyear piece for Miami.

Urena is the Marlins’ longest-tenured player, Craig Mish of Sports Grid notes, but it appears the two sides are going to part ways. The 2020 season, which could go down as Urena’s last as a Marlin, ended in ugly fashion when he suffered a right forearm fracture at the end of September. He concluded his season with 23 1/3 innings of 5.40 ERA/6.06 FIP ball and 5.79 K/9 against 5.01 BB/9. It was the second straight rough season for the 29-year-old Urena, who enjoyed a solid run as a viable innings-eater from 2017-18. But considering his performance since 2019 and his $3.8MM to $4.2MM arbitration projection for next year, Urena entered this offseason as an obvious non-tender candidate.

Indians Designate Adam Cimber For Assignment, Claim Jordan Humphreys

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The Indians have claimed right-hander Jordan Humphreys off waivers from the Giants and, in a corresponding move, designated righty Adam Cimber for assignment, according to a club announcement. San Francisco had designated Humphreys for assignment back on Friday.

Cimber, 30, came to Cleveland alongside recently waived All-Star Brad Hand in the trade that sent catching prospect Francisco Mejia to the Padres. It proved to be a worthwhile swap for Cleveland, as Mejia hasn’t contributed much of anything to the Padres yet, but the hope at the time of the deal was surely that Hand and Cimber would hold down key bullpen roles into at least the 2021 season. This past season’s lost revenues prompted the Indians to decline Hand’s option, however, and Cimber was likely deemed expendable due to a looming arbitration raise and the fact that he never pitched as well in Cleveland as he did for the Padres.

Cimber was a 27-year-old rookie with San Diego in ’17 but carved out an important role in their bullpen by pitching to a 3.17 ERA with a 51-to-10 K/BB ratio in 48 1/3 innings prior to the trade. That performance and Cimber’s five-and-a-half remaining years of club control surely piqued the interest of the perennially low-budget Indians, but he’s looked more like a serviceable middle reliever than a potential high-leverage option in Cleveland. Over parts of three seasons with the Indians, Cimber has a 4.30 ERA with just 5.4 K/9 against 2.9 BB/9. He’d he been arbitration-eligible as a Super Two player this winter.

Humphreys, 24, has yet to make his big league debut but had a big 2017 season across two Class-A levels in the Mets organization before requiring Tommy John surgery. He allowed just two runs in 13 innings of Rookie ball in 2019 as he rehabbed from that surgery and likely would’ve been ticketed for a Double-A assignment in 2020 had their been a minor league season. The Giants acquired him in the trade that sent Billy Hamilton to Queens and likely hoped to sneak him through waivers, but he’ll instead give Cleveland an interesting depth piece. In 169 2/3 professional innings, Humphreys has a 2.60 ERA and a 177-to-30 K/BB ratio.

Indians Select Kyle Nelson’s Contract, Option Adam Cimber

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2:36PM: Jefry Rodriguez has been placed on the 45-day injured list with a right shoulder strain, which opens a 40-man spot for Nelson.  Rodriguez was on Cleveland’s 60-man player pool but his season will end without any big league action.  The 27-year-old Rodriguez posted a 5.20 ERA over 98 2/3 innings for the Nationals and Indians in 2018-19.

2:10PM: The Indians have selected the contract of left-hander Kyle Nelson from their alternate training site, the club announced.  Right-hander Adam Cimber was optioned to the alternate training site in a corresponding move, and another move will need to be made to create space for Nelson on the 40-man roster.

A 15th-round pick for Cleveland in the 2017 draft, the 24-year-old Nelson is on track to make his MLB debut after posting some very impressive numbers in the Tribe’s farm system.  Nelson has a 2.07 ERA, 5.68 K/BB rate, and 13.0 K/9 over 122 career minor league innings, working as a reliever for 95 of his 96 games.  Known for his outstanding slider, Nelson will add some left-handed depth to a Cleveland bullpen that has only two southpaws in its ranks — closer Brad Hand and veteran Oliver Perez.

Cimber pitched on both Monday and Tuesday, allowing three runs over a combined two-thirds of an inning of work.  His demotion could simply to be to give him a bit of a breather and to allow the Tribe to get a fresher arm into the mix, as Cimber had been pitching quite well prior to those last two outings.  The righty had a 1.80 ERA over his first 10 innings of the 2020 season, albeit with only five strikeouts, which represents a concerning lack of missed bats even though Cimber is a grounder specialist.

Indians Acquire Brad Hand, Adam Cimber For Francisco Mejia

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In a sudden and abrupt development, the Indians and Padres announced a blockbuster trade Thursday that will send one of baseball’s best relievers, Brad Hand, and emerging setup man Adam Cimber from San Diego to Cleveland in exchange for catcher/outfielder Francisco Mejia — one of the top-regarded prospects in all of baseball.

Brad Hand | Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports

The Indians’ desire to augment what has surprisingly been one of the worst bullpens in all of baseball has been no secret, and Hand, in particular, was reported by ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick to be a target of theirs earlier this week. That said, there’d been little to no suggestion that Cleveland’s interest was anything more than preliminary in nature to this point.

Cleveland’s acquisition of Hand harkens back to the team’s 2016 pickup of fellow southpaw Andrew Miller. While Hand isn’t quite the ultra-dominant weapon that Miller was at the time, he’s nonetheless established himself as one of the top relievers in all of baseball over the past three seasons and, like Miller in 2016, is controllable for years beyond the current campaign. Hand signed a surprising three-year, $19.75MM extension with San Diego this offseason despite already being well into his arbitration years and being within striking distance of free agency.

Hand recently voiced a desire to remain with the Padres as the team pushes back toward contention but candidly acknowledged his cognizance of the fact that the extension also markedly upped his trade value. Today’s agreement underscores the veracity of those comments, as he’ll now head to Cleveland through at least the 2020 season. Hand is earning $3.5MM in 2018 and will be paid $6.5MM in 2019 and $7.5MM in 2020. The Indians will also have a $10MM club option on Hand for the 2021 season, which comes with a $1MM buyout.

Originally a waiver claim from the Marlins organization, Hand landed in San Diego with little fanfare. However, over the course of the past three seasons, he’s gone from long reliever to setup man to elite closer, as evidenced by his 2.66 ERA, 11.8 K/9, 3.0 BB/9, 0.9 HR/9, 46.5 percent ground-ball rate in 213 innings dating back to Opening Day 2016. For an Indians club that has seen its collective bullpen struggle to a ghastly 5.28 ERA (second-worst in the Majors), Hand alone would represent a massive and much-needed upgrade.

Of course, Hand isn’t the only upgrade Cleveland is acquiring in this case — far from it. The 27-year-old Cimber represents an entirely different type of success story for the Padres. A former ninth-round pick, the sidearming Cimber wasn’t even in consideration to break camp with the Padres heading into Spring Training this season, but a dominant performance earned him a spot on the Opening Day roster. Though he was late to arrive on the Major League scene, Cimber quickly emerged as a reliever who looks like he may never have to return to the minors.

Adam Cimber | Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports

In 48 1/3 innings out of the Padres’ bullpen this season, Cimber has turned in a 3.17 earned run average, though secondary numbers paint an even more optimistic picture. Cimber has averaged 9.5 K/9 against just 1.9 BB/9 with a 52.3 percent ground-ball rate. ERA alternatives such as FIP (2.32), xFIP (2.79) and SIERA (2.68) all feel he’s outperformed an already strong ERA mark.

Cimber has allowed only two home runs on the season thus far and has rendered opposing right-handed hitters utterly useless; righties are slashing a comically bad .207/.221/.261 against Cimber through 123 plate appearances. He does come with some platoon concerns, as lefties have clobbered him for a .288/.391/.569 slash through 69 PAs, but he comes to the Indians organization with five and a half years of club control and won’t even be eligible for arbitration until the completion of the 2020 season.

It’s not clear exactly how the Indians will utilize their new pair of relievers. While Hand could surely be viewed as an upgrade over struggling incumbent closer Cody Allen, the Indians may also relish the idea of having both Hand and Miller available as high-leverage, multi-inning weapons to use during any game situation (once Miller is healthy, of course). Manager Terry Francona could also simply choose to utilize a variety of ninth-inning options depending on matchups, rather than deploying one true closer.

While the Padres surely found it difficult to part with a pair of quality relievers who could have affordably helped to anchor their bullpen for the next several seasons, they’re also assuredly thrilled to add yet another elite prospect to what was already regarded as one of the game’s top farm systems. Baseball America ranked Mejia as the game’s No. 24 overall prospect on yesterday’s updated Top 100 list, while ESPN’s Keith Law just this morning ranked Mejia as baseball’s No. 5 overall prospect.

In Mejia, the Padres are adding a 22-year-old switch-hitting catcher who also comes with experience at both third base and in the outfield corners. But Mejia’s future with the Padres is likely behind the plate, and he could even see significant time there this season. Mejia got off to a slow start but went on an otherworldly hot streak to open the month of June and hasn’t looked back since. The author of a historically excellent 50-game hitting streak in the minor leagues last season, Mejia hit .297/.346/.490 in Double-A in 2017 and is hitting .279/.328/.426 so far in Triple-A despite facing older competition. Since the start of June, he’s notched an obscene .391/.421/.594 slash with four homers and 15 doubles through 141 plate appearances.

Francisco Mejia

The acquisition of Mejia clouds the future of once-vaunted catching prospect Austin Hedges in San Diego. While Hedges’ defense behind the plate has been every bit as strong as advertised, the questions about his hitting ability have proved valid. Though he’s hit for plenty of power in the Major Leagues (.250 ISO), Hedges’ overall batting line through 730 trips to the plate sits at .205/.253/.355. He’s a superior defensive option to Mejia, but his bat looks decidedly unlikely to ever stack up to that of today’s newly acquired backstop.

As such, Mejia and Hedges could form a strong catching tandem behind the plate. Mejia will bring a more offensive-minded focus, but the Padres will feel comfortable in knowing they have a plus defender to utilize behind the dish on days when Mejia isn’t there — either for a full day off or perhaps in an outfield corner or at third base. Mejia’s versatility would at least allow the Friars to consider rostering three catching options at a time, though most clubs prefer not to do so (the division-rival D-backs being one notable exception).

For the Indians, today’s trade isn’t so much about winning the American League Central as it is about strengthening a relief corps that was already widely expected to be pitching in October baseball. Cleveland, after all, holds a 7.5 game lead over the Twins in the division. The move is also one of long-term import, however, as bullpen anchors Allen and Miller are both slated to hit free agency at season’s end. With the possibility of both departing, the Indians have now added some long-term insurance while also creating a potentially dominant relief corps for the 2018 postseason, assuming Miller can fully heal and Allen can return to form.

As for the Padres, the addition of Mejia could well be one of the final pieces in an ongoing rebuild that has seen GM A.J. Preller and his staff compile one of the most impressive farms in recent memory. Mejia’s path to the Majors will largely coincide with that of top prospects Fernando Tatis Jr., Luis Urias and others, giving the Padres a young core of position players on which they can dream — in addition to a deep reservoir of pitchers that has already begun to emerge at the big league level.

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Ken Rosenthal and Robert Murray of The Athletic were the first to report all of the notable components of this trade (all links to Twitter).

Padres’ Relievers Drawing Trade Interest

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The Padres, unsurprisingly, have already been receiving trade inquirieson their relievers, reports Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic in his latest notes column (subscription required). Not only is Brad Hand garnering a strong bit of interest, but setup men Kirby Yates and Craig Stammen are each drawing inquiries from rival clubs, as are some of the team’s younger relievers.

Most notably, Rosenthal suggests that the interest in Hand is different than in recent years, owing both to his newly signed contract extension and the fact that he has now more emphatically cemented himself as a proven, elite lefty reliever.

Each of the listed relievers has an ERA south of 2.50 on the season, and each boasts strong K/BB numbers in addition to a ground-ball rate of 50 percent or better. More appealing than any of that, however, could be the simple fact that each of the three is both affordable and under control for multiple seasons.

Hand, who turned 28 in March, is the most notable of the bunch. Despite his relative proximity to free agency, he signed surprising three-year, $19.75MM contract extension in the offseason — a deal that also gives the Padres affordable a $10MM club option over the 2021 season. A waiver claim by the Padres out of the Marlins organization, Hand has improved each year in San Diego. He’s currently sitting on a 1.78 ERA with 13.3 K/9, 3.6 BB/9, 0.76 HR/9 and a 50 percent ground-ball rate in 35 1/3 innings.

Overall, since joining the Friars, he’s pitched to a superlative 2.43 ERA and averaged nearly 12 strikeouts per nine innings. With an average annual value just barely north of $6.5MM, his contract would fit into the majority of teams’ budgets — even those close to the luxury tax threshold (with, perhaps, the notable exception of the Giants, though a San Diego/San Francisco swap of this magnitude seems unlikely anyhow).

Hand, though, is hardly the only waiver claim who has reinvented himself in San Diego. The 31-year-old Yates pitched well for the Padres after being claimed from the Angels last season, but he’s taken his game to a new level in 2018, tossing 27 innings with a flat 1.00 ERA, a 32-to-8 K/BB ratio and a 52.3 percent grounder rate.

San Diego encouraged Yates to ditch his slider in favor of a splitter (as he recently discussed with MLB.com’s AJ Cassavell), and the righty has transformed himself completely. That ground-ball rate is nearly 20 points higher than his career mark, and the formerly homer-prone Yates has now surrendered only one home run in 2018 with his new ground-focused attack. Yates, who has a 2.83 ERA in 82 2/3 innings and an average of 13 strikeouts per nine innings pitched since joining the Padres, is earning just $1.0625MM in 2018 and is arbitration-eligible through the 2020 season.

Stammen, meanwhile, parlayed a minor league deal with the Padres prior to the 2017 season into a two-year, $4.5MM deal spanning the 2018-19 seasons. And after posting a 3.14 ERA with 8.3 K/9, 3.1 BB/9, 1.34 HR/9 and a 51.6 percent ground-ball rate in 80 1/3 innings of relief last year, Stammen has further elevated his status in 2018.

So far, the 34-year-old has logged a 2.30 ERA with a career-best 9.5 K/9 against 1.4 BB/9 and 0.29 HR/9 with a 50 percent ground-ball rate through 31 1/3 frames. Stammen’s velocity remains in the low 90s (91.2 mph average fastball), but his 12.2 percent swinging-strike rate and 35.6 percent chase rate resemble his peak form with the Nationals from a few years back. Beyond that, he’s pounding the zone more than ever, evidenced not only by his walk rate but his superb 69.1 percent first-pitch strike rate. At $2.25MM both this year and next (plus up to $1MM worth of incentives each season), he’s a bargain that any team could afford.

Rosenthal notes, too, that some of the Padres’ younger relievers have also attracted interest. While specific names aren’t listed, it stands to reason that clubs may have checked in on rookie Adam Cimber, who went from an afterthought to a potential All-Star seemingly overnight. Former starter Robbie Erlin has displayed the best control of his career while working as a multi-inning lefty, while right-hander Phil Maton has impressed since joining the club as well.

[Related: San Diego Padres depth chart]

Of course, it’s hardly certain what route the Padres will take this summer. Preller has surprised onlookers in the past by holding onto Hand at multiple trade deadlines, and he opted not to trade Tyson Ross in 2016 and Jhoulys Chacin last season. With an emerging young core, perhaps Preller and his staff would prefer to hang onto their impressive collection of controllable bullpen arms with an eye toward contending in the future.

It’s also not out of the question that the Padres end up viewing themselves as at least fringe contenders during the current season. While such a notion will elicit plenty of eye-rolling, the Friars are 11-4 over their past 15 games and now sit 5.5 games back in the NL West. They’re still four games under .500, so a serious run seems far-fetched, though they’re also on the verge of getting Joey Lucchesi, Wil Myers and Franchy Cordero back from the disabled list, as well.

NL Notes: Padres, Brewers, Verdugo

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The Padres are in the process of finalizing their pitching plans for the start of the coming campaign. Righty reliever Adam Cimber has forced his way onto the Opening Day roster after turning in an unexpectedly excellent spring, as Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union Tribune reports on Twitter. The 27-year-old built off of a quality 2017 effort in the upper minors — over which he threw 80 2/3 innings of 2.90 ERA ball with 7.3 K/9 and just 1.1 BB/9 — by posting nine scoreless frames in the Cactus League. Meanwhile, veteran righty Chris Young will not break camp in the majors, Acee also tweets. It’s not known at this point whether he’ll exercise his opt-out clause, but that’s at least an option for the towering 38-year-old, whose spring (15 strikeouts but also four home runs in 14 1/3 innings) largely imitated his past two seasons’ output (116 strikeouts but also 35 home runs in 118 2/3 innings).

Here are a few more notes from the National League:

  • It seems increasingly unlikely that the Brewers will make a move to alleviate their evident logjam of bats. As Bob Nightengale of USA Today reports, that has left some eyebrows raised among the team’s players, some of whom still aren’t sure exactly how much playing time they’ll get once the season gets underway. It’s not exactly a new subject, of course, as the Milwaukee roster has been under a microscope all winter long. But it’s interesting to consider it from the player’s perspective, as Nightengale does. As third baseman Travis Shaw puts it: “Depth is a nice problem to have, but I’m sure it sucks individually for a couple of guys.” Meanwhile, skipper Craig Counsell says “there’ll be a lot of shuffling going on” early in the season, as MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy reports, but also notes that he anticipates some clarity to emerge as the season goes along.
  • Pedro Moura of The Athletic takes a long look (subscription link) at talented Dodgers prospect Alex Verdugo, who drew much better reviews in camp this year than he did in his brief MLB call-up in 2017. The change wasn’t to his swing mechanics, though. Instead, Verdugo impressed the organization by making strides with his work ethic and attitude. As Moura documents, those improvements were the result of intentional offseason effort, though Verdugo’s overall level of professionalism also surely remains a work in progress.

NL West Notes: D-backs, Salas, Cimber, Padres, Giants, Cabrera

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Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic breaks down the race for some open spots in the Diamondbacks’ bullpen, noting that minor league signee Fernando Salas has outperformed the rest of the competition in terms of pure results. The eight-year veteran has tossed 6 2/3 shutout frames with a 6-to-1 K/BB ratio this spring, though competitors Neftali Feliz, Michael Blazek and Rule 5 pickup Albert Suarez (from the Giants) have all pitched well. Piecoro notes that there appear to be two or three spots up for grabs due to the fact that right-hander Randall Delgado is likely ticketed for the disabled list to open the year because of a left oblique injury. Piecoro also checks in on injured righty Shelby Miller, who had positive reports following a bullpen session and could return from Tommy John surgery in June or July.

One more item of note from Piecoro is that because Suarez has been previously outrighted off a 40-man roster in his career, the D-backs wouldn’t have to offer him back to the Giants if he clears waivers; he could instead elect free agency.

A bit more out of the NL West…

  • Padres skipper Andy Green tells the San Diego Union-Tribune’s Kevin Acee that right-hander Adam Cimber has pitched his way into consideration for a spot in the team’s Opening Day bullpen. Cimber, 27, spent Spring Training 2017 in minor league camp and by Green’s own admission wasn’t near the top of the team’s list headed into big league camp this year. A sidearming righty, Cimber has hurled six shutout innings with two hits, no walks and five strikeouts. Recently, he’s been facing high-profile hitters such as Edwin Encarnacion, Kris Bryant, Anthony Rizzo and Willson Contreras and still finding success, Acee notes. The opportunity before him isn’t lost on the former ninth-rounder, who signed for a $5K bonus in 2013. Cimber discusses the opportunity to finally earn a big league salary playing the game he loves, as well as some of the ups and downs that come with being a minor league relief prospect.
  • Andrew Baggarly of The Athletic reports that Giants outfield prospect Gustavo Cabrera has elected to retire (Twitter links). As Baggarly chronicled in a harrowing story for the San Jose Mercury News in March 2016, Cabrera could have lost his right hand at 17. Then a vaunted prospect who had received a $1.3MM signing bonus a year prior, Cabrera was simply bracing his hand on a glass table as he bent to pick up a spilled glass of water, but he slipped on the wet floor and sent his arm crashing through the table, severing nerves and causing catastrophic damage. Baggarly details the frantic process of saving Cabrera’s limb and his ultimate return to the baseball field in a must-read story. As for Cabrera’s decision to retire, Baggarly notes that the physical challenges simply became too much for his reconstructed wrist/hand. He adds that while the Giants do have a recourse to claim a portion of that $1.3MM bonus due to Cabrera’s early retirement, the organization has no plans to do so. Best wishes to Cabrera in his post-playing days.

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