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Andrew Cashner

AL West Notes: S-Rod, Athletics, Gray, Astros, Cashner

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Here’s the latest from the AL West…

  • The Angels discussed signing Sean Rodriguez before the utilityman agreed to a deal with the Braves yesterday, Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register reports (Twitter link).  Fletcher isn’t sure whether the Halos had serious interest or were just considering all options.  Rodriguez could have stepped right in to fill the Angels’ hole at second base, or potentially taken over third base if Yunel Escobar had been switched to second.  Besides the Halos, the Dodgers, Pirates and Blue Jays were also known to have interest in the versatile Rodriguez.
  • Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports joins CSNBayArea.com’s Joe Stiglich on the A’s Insider podcast (audio link) to discuss several offseason topics, including the possibility of some Athletics trades.  Rosenthal figures other teams will have “some lively discussions” with the A’s about Stephen Vogt given the lack of catching around the game, and Oakland will get interest in Sonny Gray given the thin free agent pitching market.  That said, Rosenthal isn’t sure whether Gray will be dealt since his stock has been lowered by his rough 2016 season.  “I’m not so sure this is the right time to trade him because obviously if he puts together a good first half you’ve got the best guy at the deadline,” Rosenthal said.  “At the same time, there’s always the risk he gets hurt again. Maybe he doesn’t bounce back, maybe you lose value.”
  • The Astros and Rangers still look like the class of the AL West, in Rosenthal’s opinion, though both teams still have clear needs — Houston needs to add another starting pitcher, while Texas has holes to fill in its everyday roster due to several free agents.
  • The Astros’ need for pitching is what differentiates them from the Cubs, though as the New York Post’s Joel Sherman points out, Houston bears a lot of similarity to the World Series champs.  Like the Astros, Chicago also totally purged the roster in a rebuild effort and added several impressive young position players through the draft.  The Cubs then spent big to add veterans in free agency and trades to score the missing pieces, and the Astros seem to be on the same track by adding Brian McCann and Josh Reddick this winter.  The key for Houston, of course, is if Dallas Keuchel and Lance McCullers can provide the same top-of-the-rotation strength that Jon Lester and Jake Arrieta (not to mention Kyle Hendricks) gave the Cubs.
  • Andrew Cashner is an improvement over the departing Derek Holland in the Rangers’ rotation, Kevin Sherrington of SportsDayDFW.com opines.  Cashner, who the Rangers recently signed to a one-year/$10MM deal, has much better velocity, and the loss of zip on Holland’s fastball makes him vulnerable.  Also, as MLB.com’s T.R. Sullivan previously noted, Rangers pitching coach Doug Brocail believes he can “fix” Cashner.

Rangers Sign Andrew Cashner

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MONDAY: The deal is now official, per a club announcement.

FRIDAY: The Rangers are nearing a deal with free agent righty Andrew Cashner, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (via Twitter). It’s expected to be for a one-year term at $10MM, per MLB.com’s T.R. Sullivan (Twitter links), who says the deal appears to be done.

If a pact is completed, it would make Cashner the fourth rather significant starter to reach agreement already this winter. Charlie Morton, Bartolo Colon, and R.A. Dickey all previously agreed to short-term pacts.

Texas was one of the organizations that made the clearest sense for Cashner, as MLBTR’s Tim Dierkes noted in his breakdown of the top fifty free agents — which placed Cashner 28th in earning power but predicted he’d pursue a one-year deal with hopes of rebuilding his stock for next winter. While we ultimately guessed that he’d head instead to the Pirates with an $8MM guarantee, this result certainly lands within range of expectations.

Sep 23, 2016; Miami, FL, USA; Miami Marlins starting pitcher Andrew Cashner (48) delivers a pitch during the first inning against the Atlanta Braves at Marlins Park. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports

Cashner, 30, will look to get his career back on track in his native Texas. He delivers a big-time fastball and has long been seen as a premium talent. It’s important to remember, too, that he has been a quality big league starter before: over 2013-14, he worked to a 2.87 ERA in nearly 300 innings. But he hasn’t been able to sustain that, and the last two seasons have been rough.

Since the start of 2015, Cashner has compiled 316 2/3 innings with an ugly 4.72 ERA. His strikeouts did tick up to 7.9 per nine, but he has also walked 3.6 batters and surrendered more than a home run per regulation game. Things only got worse after a mid-season trade to the Marlins last year.

That being said, there are signs of hope. Cashner still induces grounders on nearly half of the balls put in play against him, and has been a victim of both high BABIPs (.330 and .315 in 2016 and 2017, respectively) and low strand rates (65.6% and 69.1%). Of course, this past year in particular, the quality of contact against him may have been more of a driving factor than poor fortune or bad defense. He generated just 12.5% soft contact in 2016 — worst in all of baseball among pitchers who logged at least 100 frames.

[RELATED: Updated Rangers Depth Chart]

It’s a calculated risk for the Rangers, who evidently felt that Cashner offered more promise than did Derek Holland. The club declined its option over the lefty, choosing to reallocate those funds to Cashner. Texas will surely hope that he’ll make good on the trust, as the organization still has a rather uncertain outlook in its rotation after top two hurlers Cole Hamels and Yu Darvish. At a minimum, the team needs Cashner to soak up some of the innings departing with Colby Lewis.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Photos.

Marlins Rumors: Rodney, Cashner, Ichiro

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The Marlins were in the thick of the National League wild-card race when they made separate summer deals to acquire reliever Fernando Rodney and starter Andrew Cashner from the Padres. Those two have since scuffled in Miami, which has gone backward during the season’s second half and will finish with a sub-.500 record for the seventh straight year. As a result of their disappointing performances with the Marlins, the club is likely to move on from Rodney and Cashner, according to Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald.

The Fish have a 2017 club option in the $3.5MM to $4MM range for Rodney, who went from nearly invincible as a Padre to borderline unusable with the Marlins. After Rodney logged a pristine .31 ERA, 10.4 K/9, 3.8 BB/9 and 59 percent ground-ball rate in 28 2/3 innings in San Diego this year, the club traded him to Miami on June 30 for right-handed pitching prospect Chris Paddack, who has since undergone Tommy John surgery. Rodney has converted only 8-of-11 save opportunities with the Marlins after going 17-of-17 in San Diego. Worse, the 39-year-old has seen both his ERA (5.89) and BB/9 (6.21) skyrocket across 36 2/3 innings in South Florida. If the Padres move on from Rodney after the season, the journeyman could look for his eighth major league employer during the winter.

Cashner, meanwhile, seems primed to search for his fourth major league team on the heels of a subpar contract year. Since joining the Marlins on July 29, the hard-throwing right-hander has been even more woeful than Rodney at preventing runs, having registered a 5.98 ERA in 52 2/3 innings. That’s over a run worse than the 4.76 ERA Cashner posted in 79 1/3 frames with the Padres this year and not what the Marlins had in mind when they surrendered a handful of players, including well-regarded first base prospect Josh Naylor, for the impending free agent. While Cashner slightly improved his K/9 from 7.65 to 7.74 after switching uniforms, he mimicked Rodney with an unpalatable BB/9 (5.13, far worse than the 3.42 he put up in San Diego).

Unlike Rodney and Cashner, the Marlins are set to bring back outfielder Ichiro Suzuki, per Jackson, as the 3,000-hit club member carries a low cost ($2MM club option) and has performed respectably this season. Ichiro, who will turn 43 on Oct. 22, has batted .288/.352/.374 in 365 plate appearances while spelling Christian Yelich, Giancarlo Stanton and Marcell Ozuna at each outfield position.

NL Notes: Cashner, Pollock, Casilla, Olivera, Solis

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Facial hair policy may not typically be at the top of the list of considerations for free agents, but Marlins righty Andrew Cashner says it’s a matter of concern to him, as Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald reports. The recently-acquired starter says that he “still hate[s]” Miami’s policy forbidding beards and intends to weigh that when he reaches the open market after the season. “That is a big deal to me in free agency,” he said. The 29-year-old seems unlikely to be more than a rental for the Fish anyway — his 4.78 ERA with the team is a near match for the 4.76 mark he put up before he was dealt — but if he sticks to his guns, it would seem that he also will be unlikely to sign with the beardless Yankees this winter.

Here are some more notes from the National League:

  • Diamondbacks center fielder A.J. Pollock left tonight’s action with what the team announced as a groin strain. The severity of the injury is not known at present, but it represents another turn of bad luck for a player who missed the vast majority of the year with a broken bone in his elbow. The 28-year-old hasn’t quite been himself at the plate since returning, though returning to health is the primary consideration and he has only had a chance to accumulate 45 plate appearances thus far in a star-crossed season.
  • The Giants have elected to remove Santiago Casilla from the closer’s role, skipper Bruce Bochy told reporters including Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle. San Francisco intends to play the matchups for the time being, but Bochy suggested both that Casilla could still see save opportunities and that rookie Derek Law may get some chances once he’s back from the DL. Law, 25, has posted a 1.94 ERA over his first 51 MLB frames, with 8.3 K/9 and 1.6 BB/9, and could set himself up as the team’s closer of the future. As for the 36-year-old Casilla, the move mostly represents an acknowledgment that he’s more a sturdy reliever than a lights-out presence at the back of the pen. He still carries a solid 3.52 ERA with 10.2 K/9 against 3.0 BB/9 in his walk season.
  • By releasing Hector Olivera, the Padres forewent any chance of avoiding salary obligations that his jail time would otherwise have freed them from paying, Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune reports (Twitter links). It’s important to note, though, that he is only slated to spend ten days in prison after his domestic violence conviction, and the team would only have been able to recoup salary if the time ended up being served during the season.
  • Nationals lefty Sammy Solis has encountered a “roadblock” in his efforts to work through a shoulder injury, manager Dusty Baker told reporters including Dan Kolko of MASNsports.com (via Twitter). Washington still hopes that the 28-year-old will make it back by the end of the year, which could represent a nice boost as the club enters a highly likely postseason berth. Solis has had quite a nice season when healthy, posting a 2.35 ERA in 38 1/3 frames while compiling 10.3 K/9 and 4.7 BB/9.

Marlins Acquire Andrew Cashner, Colin Rea In Seven-Player Deal

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2:19pm: The Padres will cover around $2.275MM of the $2.5MM remaining on Cashner’s contract this year, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports tweets.

12:33pm: The deal is official, with both clubs announcing it. There’s money heading from San Diego to Miami in the swap, per the announcement, though details remain unreported.

9:58am: After more than a month of searching for a starting pitcher to fill out the back of their rotation, the Marlins have succeeded in landing a pair of starters, reportedly agreeing to a trade that will net them right-handed starters Andrew Cashner and Colin Rea as well as righty reliever Tayron Guerrero from the Padres. In exchange, Miami is sending right-hander Jarred Cosart, top first base prospect Josh Naylor, minor league righty Luis Castillo and injured reliever Carter Capps, who underwent Tommy John earlier this year, to San Diego.

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Miami has been said to be frantically searching for an upgrade to the back of its rotation, and Cashner will provide the steady innings they’ve been seeking — with the upside for more — so long as he stays healthy. That’s not a given for Cashner, it should be noted; he’s missed time in 2016 with a hamstring strain and a neck strain, and the 2014 season saw him endure separate stints on the disabled list for soreness in his right shoulder and inflammation in his right elbow.

Injuries have, to some extent, played a role in Cashner’s weaker-than-expected results across the past two seasons. After pitching to a 2.87 ERA in 289 1/3 innings from 2013-14, Cashner posted a 4.34 ERA in 184 2/3 innings last season and is at 4.76 in 79 1/3 innings in 2016. However, he’s pitched quite well over his past three outings and still comes with some degree of upside. He is, after all, less than two years removed from a season that saw him deliver a strong 2.55 ERA in 123 1/3 innings, and he still averages just under 94 mph on his heater to go along with an above-average ground-ball rate. That last point is key for a Marlins infield that has plus defenders in Martin Prado at third base, the recently reinstated Dee Gordon at second base and defensive wizard Adeiny Hechavarria at shortstop.

Rea, 26, is an entirely different type of asset for the Marlins. He’s in just his second season at the big league level and is controllable through the 2021 season, giving Miami a potential long-term piece in the rotation, though his early results have admittedly been mixed. The former 12th-round pick has a 4.81 ERA in 131 career innings at the Major League level, averaging 7.0 K/9 and 3.8 BB/9 to go along with a 45.5 percent ground-ball rate. Rea, though, entered the 2015 season as the Padres’ No. 4 prospect at MLB.com and No. 7 prospect at Baseball America. Jim Callis and Jonathan Mayo of MLB.com noted at the time that the new Padres regime considered Rea to be a pleasant surprise, as he’d added velocity to his fastball, more power to his curveball and also improved his command. The changes gave Rea the upside of settling in as a third or fourth starter in the Majors, per the report, and while Rea isn’t there just yet, there certainly seems to be some untapped potential with which VP of pitching development Jim Benedict (who came over from the Pirates this winter) can work.

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Cashner and Rea will slot into a Marlins rotation that is fronted by ace Jose Fernandez and impressive sophomore Adam Conley. Miami, however, just lost its top offseason signing, left-hander Wei-Yin Chen, to the disabled list with an elbow sprain, further magnifying an already pressing  need to add to the rotation. Right-hander Tom Koehler can provide a steady stream of mostly reliable innings at the back of the rotation, and Rea seems likely to step into the starting mix ahead of the inexperienced Jose Urena in the fifth spot.

Guerrero, meanwhile, gives Miami a buy-low arm on a pitcher that rated among San Diego’s top 30 prospects entering the season but has had a dreadful start to his 2016 campaign. Guerrero, 25, posted a very strong 3.05 ERA and punched out 61 hitters in 56 innings between Double-A and Triple-A last year, but control problems have always been an issue for him, and he’s become more hittable in 2016. This year, he’s sporting a 5.30 ERA in 35 2/3 innings between those same levels. While his strikeout and walk rates are similar to those of his 2015 campaign, he’s allowed considerably more hits and been more homer-prone this year. Guerrero offers a blistering fastball and the potential for an above-average slider but is something of a project for the Fish. He did make his big league debut earlier this year, though, and if Miami can get him back on track he could conceivably add a very live arm to their bullpen later this season.

The loss of both Cashner and Rea leaves the rebuilding Padres rather thin in the rotation, especially with Tyson Ross still on the DL due to his season-long shoulder woes, Robbie Erlin out for the year due to Tommy John surgery and Erik Johnson (who came over in the trade that removed James Shields from the San Diego rotation) also on the disabled list due to a right flexor sprain. Incredibly, the Padres have traded away nearly their entire Opening Day rotation, as Ross is the only remaining member (and likely only remains due to his injury status). The Friars, for now, are left with Edwin Jackson, Christian Friedrich and Rule 5 righty Luis Perdomo in their rotation, and they will presumably be joined by Cosart.

The 26-year-old Cosart, who had made just one start for the Marlins since returning from Triple-A, will go through yet another change of scenery in hopes of finally capitalizing on the potential that made him a consensus top 100 prospect from 2011-13. Originally drafted by the Phillies, he went to Houston in the original Hunter Pence trade and then to Miami alongside Enrique Hernandez in exchange for Jake Marisnick, Colin Moran and a competitive balance draft pick. Cosart has shown glimpses of his potential in the Majors and even posted a 3.69 ERA in 180 1/3 big league innings back in 2014, but he’s never been able to string much success together. He’ll bring plenty of grounders to the table (career 55.3 percent ground-ball rate), but he’s never missed many bats despite averaging 94 mph on his fastball (5.6 K/9) and hasn’t shown great control either (4.3 BB/9).

San Diego, though, will have some time to try to get Cosart on track. He entered the season with two years and 20 days of service time, and he’ll fall shy of the 152 days of big league service he’d have needed to reach three years of Major League service. As such, Cosart will be controlled through the 2020 season.

The addition of Capps to the deal is a high-upside wild card for the Padres. Capps broke out as one of baseball’s most dominant relievers last season, posting a 1.16 ERA with a 58-to-7 K/BB ratio and a 40.8 percent ground-ball rate in 31 innings of work. With a fastball that averaged 98.1 mph and appeared even faster due to delivery that was as controversial as it was unorthodox — the legality of Capps’ delivery came into question on multiple occasions in 2015 — Capps had all of the makings of an elite bullpen arm before his UCL gave out in Spring Training. If he rehabs and comes back looking anything like the 2015 version of himself, the Friars will be a legitimate relief ace on their hands.

The top-ranked prospect in this deal is Naylor — the No. 12 overall pick in the 2015 draft and the No. 100 prospect in Major League Baseball according to Baseball America’s midseason Top 100 list. MLB.com rated Naylor second among Marlins farmhands on its midseason update to Miami’s prospect rankings, placing him only behind 2016 first-rounder Braxton Garrett. The 19-year-old Naylor has held his own despite being well below the average age of competitors in the Class-A South Atlantic League this season, batting .269/.317/.430 with nine homers, 24 doubles, two triples and 10 stolen bases. His 5.9 percent walk rate isn’t wowing anyone just yet, but he’s shown a knack for making contact, striking out at a respectable 16.7 percent clip against older competition. The 10 steals are somewhat of a surprise for a 6’0″, 225-pounder that is said to lack speed, though he could see that stolen base total come down as he continues to progress throughout the minors (especially considering he’s still just 19 and could add further weight/size). Based on his bat alone, Naylor would probably be a more highly regarded prospect; MLB.com’s report on him states that his bat could be “special,” praising his plus-plus raw power and strong contact skills. However, Naylor is seen as a first baseman only, and a below-average one at that, with very little speed, meaning that scouts feel he’ll be a bat-first type of player that needs to hit to provide everyday value.

Castillo was sixth among Marlins farmhands on Baseball America’s midseason update of their top prospects and eighth on MLB.com’s midseason Marlins rankings. The 23-year-old moved from the bullpen to the rotation for the first time last season at Class-A and has pitched very well in Class-A Advanced, working to a 2.25 ERA with 7.6 K/9, 1.4 BB/9 and a 51.9 percent ground-ball rate this season. BA notes that Castillo’s fastball has touched 101 mph and sits in the 96-97 mph range, adding that he shows feel for a changeup and a slider with some depth. MLB.com suggests that he’s no sure thing to stick in a rotation but adds that he has the stuff to be a power arm near the back of a bullpen if a move back to relief work ultimately proves necessary.

ESPN’s Buster Olney first reported that the Marlins had a deal to acquire Cashner (via Twitter). Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald reported that Rea was going to the Marlins as well (also via Twitter) . FOX’s Ken Rosenthal tweeted that Naylor was part of the return. Clark Spencer of the Miami Herald tweeted that a member of the big league roster was headed to San Diego prior to reports of Cosart’s inclusion. Yahoo’s Jeff Passan reported Castillo’s inclusion (Twitter link), and ESPN’s Jayson Stark reported that Cosart was in the deal as well (on Twitter). The inclusion of Capps and Guerrero were the final pieces of the puzzle, both reported by Rosenthal (Twitter link).

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Marlins Pushing To Land Andrew Cashner; Rangers Out?

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FRIDAY, 12:37am: Texas isn’t landing Cashner, sources tell MLB.com’s T.R. Sullivan (via Twitter). That would seem to leave the Marlins in position to finalize an agreement, and SB Nation’s Chris Cotillo tweets the Fish are indeed getting closer to striking a deal.

THURSDAY, 11:29pm: The Marlins and Rangers are the two “current leaders” to acquire righty Andrew Cashner from the Padres, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (via Twitter). Miami is “pushing hard to finalize” a swap that would send multiple prospects to San Diego for the much-needed starter, per MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro (via Twitter), though it seems as if there’s still competition for his services.

We’ve long heard of interest from a wide variety of clubs in the pending free agent, who seems among the likeliest trade pieces in all of baseball. The Orioles were said to be making a push to strike a deal on Cashner just yesterday, but now seem to be behind in the sweepstakes. Other contenders who have been linked include the Blue Jays and Giants.

Recent reports have suggested that the Pads were nearing a deal for Cashner at various points in time, but he remains in San Diego at present. That probably worked out to the benefit of his current team, as the up-and-down righty has put together his best work of the season over his last three outings, permitting five runs and running up 23 strikeouts against just three walks over 17 2/3 frames.

Still, on the year he’s carrying only a 4.76 ERA with 7.6 K/9 against 3.4 BB/9 over 79 1/3 frames. Some home run troubles (16.0% HR/flyball rate) haven’t helped, and Cashner has also posted a career-worst 7.3% swinging striker rate with a slightly declining (but still-strong) average four-seam velocity of 94 mph.

Despite his rocky results, Cashner currently holds the fifth spot on MLBTR’s top trade candidate ranking. That’s due not only to his oft-noted talent, but also to San Diego’s aggressive selling posture, which has already resulted in deals for James Shields, Fernando Rodney, and Melvin Upton. There’s an argument to be made that Cashner is the most appealing rental starter currently available; Rich Hill has unquestionably been better, but also hasn’t pitched much of late, while Jeremy Hellickson arguably doesn’t have quite the ceiling of the other two.

Cashner is earning a relatively modest $7.15MM salary this year, so he’s just as affordable in terms of salary as Hill and Hellickson. In theory, the Pads could hold onto him and hope that he pitches well enough down the stretch to warrant a qualifying offer, but it seems that ship has sailed at this point — particularly with the starting pitching market seemingly primed for sellers to receive strong returns.

Heyman’s Latest: Sale, Cashner, Royals, Brewers, Giants, Mariners, Nats

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Even though the Yankees made a forward-looking move by trading Aroldis Chapman for Adam Warren and three young prospects (highlighted by high-ceiling shortstop Gleyber Torres), they’ve at least placed a call to the White Sox to inquire on Chris Sale, writes Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports in his latest Inside Baseball column. GM Brian Cashman wouldn’t comment on Sale when asked, telling Heyman only that the Yankees call on virtually every player that’s available as a matter of due diligence. Heyman writes that there’s speculation among other clubs that the Yanks could make a legitimate run at Sale, possibly including Torres in the package, but there’s no indication yet to support that talk.

A few more highlights from the lengthy column…

  • The Astros called the Padres to inquire on Andrew Cashner but told San Diego about 48 hours later that they were no longer interested. Whether it’s because of the asking price or another reason isn’t entirely clear. Heyman adds that, unsurprisingly, Colby Rasmus won’t be getting another qualifying offer from the Astros this year after he accepted the QO last November and has underperformed in 2016.
  • The Royals will wait until the very last minute to decide if they’re going to sell off veteran pieces. Edinson Volquez, Kendrys Morales and Luke Hochevar — each of whom has a mutual option on his contract but is likely to hit the open market following the season — are among the team’s candidates to be traded if the Royals do sell. Interestingly, he also notes that there’s a belief that Kansas City will let Alcides Escobar go and replace him with Raul Mondesi Jr. I’d personally wonder if, even though he hasn’t performed well at the plate whatsoever, the Royals could generate some trade interest (either now or after the season) due to the $6.5MM club option ($500K buyout) on Escobar’s contract.
  • Angels GM Billy Eppler will at least listen to offers on both Hector Santiago and Matt Shoemaker, though each is controllable beyond this season (Shoemaker for another four years, Santiago through 2017), so there’s no definitive urge to move either. Yunel Escobar and Joe Smith are both trade candidates for the Halos as well, as has been noted frequently over the past couple of weeks.
  • The Brewers weren’t impressed at all by the Mets’ offer for Jonathan Lucroy, which centered around Travis d’Arnaud. Heyman cites Brewers sources as saying they’ve been offered better catchers than d’Arnaud and still passed on moving Lucroy just yet. Right-hander Junior Guerra, who is having a surprisingly strong season as a 31-year-old rookie, has generated some trade interest, but Heyman says there’s been little chatter on Chris Carter. It also seems that Ryan Braun isn’t being talked about much at this stage.
  • The Giants are interested in Minnesota’s Eduardo Nunez, who has also recently been connected to the Indians. The Twins figure to be wide open to trade scenarios in the coming days, and Nunez would give the Giants some cover at third base, shortstop, second base and in left field. Similarly, the Giants have a bit of interest in Alex Guerrero, who was released by the Dodgers earlier this year. However, Heyman points out that catcher Miguel Olivo, who is being sued by Guerrero after biting off a piece of Guerrero’s ear in a dugout altercation with the Dodgers’ Triple-A affiliate in 2015, is playing for San Francisco’s Triple-A affiliate.
  • The Cubs and Rangers have both called the Mariners about Taijuan Walker and James Paxton, but Seattle hasn’t shown any inclination toward moving either pitcher. Wade Miley is more likely to be moved, and Heyman adds that the Mariners are still open to adding some pieces for 2016 and have checked into Angels righty Joe Smith, whom GM Jerry Dipoto signed while serving as GM in Anaheim.
  • The Nationals turned down proposals centered around both Lucas Giolito and Joe Ross when negotiating with the Yankees about Aroldis Chapman. From there, the Yankees shifted to younger players and asked for a four-prospect package centered around pitching — though it’s not clear just who New York was targeting.  Washington never got close on a Chapman trade despite quite a bit of talk with the Yankees, per Heyman.

Orioles “Trying Hard” To Land Andrew Cashner

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The Orioles are “trying hard” to get right-hander Andrew Cashner from the Padres in trade talks, per FOX’s Ken Rosenthal (links to Twitter), though Baltimore isn’t necessarily considered the favorite. The Marlins and Rangers are both still in on Cashner, he notes, and others recently linked to the free-agent-to-be include the Blue Jays and Giants. While MLB.com’s Jon Morosi recently reported that San Diego was making progress on a Cashner trade, Rosenthal feels that Cashner talks could stretch into Monday.

As Rosenthal points out, the Orioles and Padres had extensive talks regarding Melvin Upton Jr., so the O’s are likely already familiar with the players from their minor league ranks that are most coveted by the Padres. Likewise, San Diego is familiar with the players that the Orioles would be reluctant to surrender, though given the meager return on Upton and the fairly significant demand for Cashner, it’s safe to assume that Cashner talks would feature more highly regarded names than Upton talks. (Reportedly, the Padres sought lefty Garrett Cleavinger and righty Jhon Peluffo in Upton negotiations.)

Baltimore looked perilously thin in the rotation entering the season, and the need to augment the rotation has become even clearer as the season has worn on. Chris Tillman and Kevin Gausman are the only two regular members of the Orioles’ rotation that have managed an ERA south of 5.00. Yovani Gallardo’s 5.37 ERA ranks third among Orioles that have made five or more starts. Aside from the work turned in by Tillman and Gausman, Baltimore has received a collective 5.93 ERA in the starts made by Gallardo, Ubaldo Jimenez, Tyler Wilson, Mike Wright, Vance Worley and Dylan Bundy. The final member of that group has at least looked solid over his past two starts, but Bundy pitched a combined 67 professional innings from 2012-15 due to injuries and is already at 52 innings pitched in 2016, making it virtually impossible for the Orioles to entrust him with a starter’s workload down the stretch.

Generally speaking, Cashner has been unimpressive for the bulk of the season, posting a 4.76 ERA in 79 1/3 innings while missing time due to a hamstring strain and a neck strain. He’s rattled off three consecutive nice starts against contending teams, however, yielding five runs with a 23-to-3 K/BB ratio over his past 17 2/3 innings.

Latest On Andrew Cashner

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TODAY, 10:00am: The Giants are still in “active talks” with San Diego regarding Cashner, Morosi tweets, so evidently the market for his services remains wide open.

YESTERDAY, 8:05pm: Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reports (via Twitter) that clubs eyeing Cashner wanted to see him pitch one more time before deciding whether to meet the Padres’ asking price. Cashner got off to a rocky start when he walked Jose Bautista and gave up a two-run homer to Josh Donaldson, but he recovered quite well, finishing the evening with three runs allowed on four hits and three walks with six strikeouts in six innings.

6:16pm: The Blue Jays/Padres game is underway with Cashner on the mound, so there’s clearly nothing imminent at this time.

3:54pm: Morosi adds that the Padres are still discussing Cashner with multiple clubs, but there’s been enough progress in talks that he could be scratched from tonight’s start vs. the Blue Jays (Twitter link).

3:39pm: The Padres are making progress on a trade involving Andrew Cashner, reports MLB.com’s Jon Morosi (via Twitter). Cashner, widely expected to be on the move prior to the Aug. 1 non-waiver deadline, could even be moved before tonight’s scheduled start against the Blue Jays, Morosi adds. Bleacher Report’s Scott Miller, however, heard otherwise earlier today, tweeting that the Padres are expecting Cashner to start in tonight’s game. However, Miller did add that trade talks surrounding Cashner continue, with the Blue Jays and Marlins “heavily” involved and the Rangers involved to a lesser extent.

Last week, Morosi reported that the Padres were trying to move Cashner before his Thursday start in St. Louis, though obviously those efforts came up short. Cashner threw well against the Cardinals, however, limiting them to a run on three hits and no walks with eight strikeouts across 5 2/3 strong innings, so if anything the delay in finding a trade partner may have caused an ever-so-mild uptick in his value.

Cashner, 29, is currently sporting a 4.79 ERA on the season with 7.5 K/9, 3.3 BB/9 and a 47.3 percent ground-ball rate in 73 1/3 innings. A neck strain and a hamstring strain have resulted in a pair of DL stints and limited his innings this season, further compounding the Padres’ efforts to extract strong value in a potential trade. That said, Cashner’s heater is averaging 93.6 mph this season and has trended upward of late, and he’s still displaying an ability to rack up grounders at a rate that is slightly above the league average. His status as a former high draft pick and top prospect that looked to be delivering on that hype as recently as 2013-14 (2.87 ERA in 298 1/3 innings) creates somewhat of a sense of upside as well, even if the 2015-16 seasons have yielded decidedly underwhelming results (4.47 ERA in 258 innings).

A number of teams have been connected to Cashner in recent weeks, with the Orioles, Marlins, Blue Jays, Rangers and Giants among the supposedly interested parties. Cashner is earning $7.15MM in his final season before hitting the free agent market, and about $2.67MM of that sum remains on his contract through the end of the year. Cashner’s name has been in trade rumors for months, and the right-hander has accepted the fact that his days in San Diego are nearing an end. “I know I’m going to be traded,” Cashner told Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune following his start last week. “It’s just part of the game, part of where the season’s at.”

Bullpen Rumors: Street, Giants, Cashner, Brewers, Nationals, Robertson, Rosenthal

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With one potential relief pitching blockbuster in the works, let’s look around at some other news and rumors surrounding the bullpen market…

  • The Giants’ list of relief pitching targets includes Angels closer Huston Street, the San Francisco Chronicle’s Henry Schulman reports.  Street, who turns 33 in August, is enduring by far the worst season of his 12-year career — the veteran has as many walks (11) as strikeouts over his 19 2/3 innings pitched, and he missed a month due to an oblique strain.  His 5.03 K/9 would be a career low, while ERA indicators (5.69 FIP, 6.16 xFIP, 5.67 SIERA) show that Street is actually somewhat fortunate to “only” be posting a 5.03 ERA, though he also has a .358 BABIP.  With around $2.8MM still owed to Street this season and $9MM for 2017, the Angels would surely have to eat a big chunk of that contract to facilitate a deal given Street’s struggles.
  • Andrew Cashner has been cited as a possible Giants target, though interestingly, Schulman reports that San Francisco could explore converting the righty into a reliever.  I would guess that this scenario wouldn’t happen unless Matt Cain quickly rounds back into form.  The Padres are getting a lot of interest in Cashner and are certainly demanding a “starting pitcher” price tag for him, which the Giants likely wouldn’t be willing to pay unless they were totally committed to using Cashner in the rotation.
  • Brewers relievers Jeremy Jeffress and Will Smith are also Giants targets, with Schulman reporting that Milwaukee has been trying to include either reliever together with Jonathan Lucroy or Ryan Braun as part of a larger trade.  This tactic is of no interest to San Francisco since the Giants have no interest in Lucroy or Braun.
  • If the Nationals aren’t able to land Aroldis Chapman or Wade Davis, that won’t stop the team from searching for back-of-the-bullpen help, FanRag Sports’ Jon Heyman writes (Twitter links).  David Robertson will surely be a target if the White Sox shop him around, and Heyman figures the Cardinals’ Trevor Rosenthal will get a look.  Though St. Louis is no longer using Rosenthal as closer, Heyman isn’t sure the Cards would make him available.
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