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Tigers Notes: Castellanos, Harrison, Hardy

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As Tigers legend Lou Whitaker celebrates his 62nd birthday today, let’s look at some news from Motown…

  • Trade rumors have swirled around Nicholas Castellanos for well over a year, and the outfielder admitted to Chris McCosky of the Detroit News that he has been left feeling “uneasy” from the constant speculation.  The piece provides an interesting look into the mindset of a player who knows he is in something of a limbo state, no longer in the long term plans of the team with whom he has spent his entire pro career.  “You do everything you can to not let it affect you. If I am going to say it doesn’t affect me, I’d be lying,” Castellanos said.  “I’d be giving you a media answer. The only thing I can control is going out and handling my business for me and take each at-bat the best I can for me.  And in doing that, I can help the team win.”  Whereas Castellanos embraced a face-of-the-franchise type of responsibility as a public and private team leader last season, McCosky notes that Castellanos has somewhat stepped back from those duties in 2019.  “He’s knows he’s a lame-duck right fielder, and as such no longer HAS the obligation or the right to play that role,” McCosky writes.
  • Josh Harrison will return from the injured list prior to tomorrow’s game, as per a team announcement.  The Tigers have already optioned Harold Castro back to Triple-A in order to create a 25-man roster spot.  Harrison has spent two weeks on the IL recovering from a left shoulder contusion.  The infielder signed a one-year, $2MM deal with Detroit over the winter and has often been mentioned as a possible deadline trade chip, though Harrison will first need to greatly improve on his .156/.212/.233 slash line from his first 99 PA in a Tigers uniform.
  • The Tigers activated left-hander Blaine Hardy from the injured list on Saturday, though as Hardy told the Detroit News’ Chris McCosky and other media, he isn’t entirely recovered from the left flexor tendinitis that shelved him for over two weeks.  “I have a feeling it’s something I’m going to have to learn to pitch through,” Hardy said.  “It’s just at a point now where it’s not affecting my pitching….You have to be able to get through those times when you don’t feel 100 percent, whether it’s from sickness, minor injury or tendinitis. The majority of the guys up here have done it before and know how to deal with it.”  Pitching through such an injury carries risk, of course, though Hardy said that “I don’t think, from what everybody’s telling me, that [surgery] is the route this is going.”  The southpaw got off to a rocky start (5.54 ERA in 13 innings) this season, a year removed from posting from quality numbers as a swingman in Detroit’s pitching staff.

Central Notes: Sano, Wood, Tigers

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Twins third baseman Miguel Sano is launching an official rehab assignment, per a club announcement. He’ll open at the High-A level, with planned stops at the next two rungs on the ladder before MLB activation, MLB.com’s Do-Hyoung Park was among those to report. Sano has been working back from an injury to his Achilles that healed much more slowly than anticipated. The hope now is that the issue is behind him, but the Twins want to get Sano plenty of reps before bringing him back to the big-league roster. Sano, who’ll turn 26 on May 11th, is looking to bounce back after a highly disappointing 2018 campaign. No doubt the Minnesota organization would like to see him put in some of the work he was prevented from undertaking this spring.

More from the game’s central divisions …

  • The Reds received some unwelcome news on starter Alex Wood, as manager David Bell told reporters including Bobby Nightengale of the Cincinnati Enquirer (Twitter link) that the southpaw recently suffered a setback while trying to work through the back problems that have sidelined him to date. Wood has yet to appear with his new organization, which had hoped he’d be one of three new veteran starters to bolster the rotation. An examination has been scheduled for Wednesday, at which time more on Wood’s outlook may be known. The 28-year-old is earning $9.65MM in his final season of arbitration eligibility after defeating the Reds in an arb hearing.
  • Health issues are creating problems in the Tigers rotation, which means GM Al Avila is weighing the options for filling in. As Chris McCosky of the Detroit News writes, the top Detroit baseball decisionmaker doesn’t see much of interest in free agency; he says the front office will “have to keep our eye on the waiver wire and on guys in the minor leagues who have opt-out clauses.” With nothing doing there at the moment, the Tigers are looking internally. Ryan Carpenter and Kyle Funkhouser both are under consideration, with the team also pondering the possibility of utilizing Blaine Hardy in a swingman role once he’s activated from the IL.
  • It’s awfully tempting to wonder whether one of the Tigers’ blue-chip pitching prospects could instead get the call, particularly after ace-in-the-making Casey Mize spun a rare complete-game no-hitter this evening. Whether that’ll be a possibility at some point remains to be seen, but it’s worth bearing in mind that there are some notable roster considerations that counsel against a quick promotion even beyond service-time considerations. As Avila tells McCosky, the organization anticipates a need to add something like ten prospects to the 40-man roster in advance of this winter’s Rule 5 draft. The club is obviously keeping a close eye on the downstream effects of its decisions.

AL Pitching Injury Notes: Snell, Carrasco, Smyly, Estrada, Hardy

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The Rays have decided to start ace lefty Blake Snell today after he bounced back quicker than expected from a minor toe fracture, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports. There are some obvious risks to bringing him back before he’s ready, but the organization obviously feels that isn’t the case. The reigning American League Cy Young winner has been outstanding once again early in 2019, with a 2.16 ERA and 13.0 K/9 against 1.4 BB/9 over 25 frames.

More on the health front, focusing on some other AL hurlers:

  • Indians righty Carlos Carrasco departed his start yesterday early with some left knee discomfort and will undergo an MRI to make sure there isn’t an injury. It’s being billed as a precautionary measure, as MLB.com’s Mandy Bell reports (via Twitter). The Indians will hope it comes back clean, as he’s a key part of the team’s plan to fend off challengers in the AL Central. Carrasco has had a few rough outings this year, but has also spun a pair of 12-strikeout gems and was getting the job done yesterday before tweaking the joint.
  • Rangers starter Drew Smyly was placed on the 10-day injured list yesterday with what the club described as mid-arm nerve tightness in his left arm. It seems the hope is that he’ll only miss a start or two; the placement was back-dated to April 20th. The 29-year-old Smyly hasn’t quite had the bounceback campaign he was hoping for to this point, with a 7.80 ERA, 19:10 K/BB ratio, and four home runs allowed through 15 innings over four starts. Right-handed Wei-Chieh Huang is up to take the open roster spot. He made his MLB debut earlier this season and has been throwing well at Double-A.
  • The Athletics sent righty Marco Estrada in for an “ablation procedure” on his balky back yesterday, as Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle was among those to cover (Twitter links). It seems he’ll be out through at least early May, though there isn’t a precise timeline just yet. The hope seems to be that this surgery will speed things up a bit. Meanwhile, the A’s hoping that reliever Lou Trivino will bounce back quickly after he was struck in the thumb by a baseball. He’s taking a few days but not slated to hit the injured list at the moment.
  • The Tigers announced yesterday that lefty Blaine Hardy was heading to the IL with a left forearm strain. Injuries to that area can be quite concerning for a pitcher, but there’s no real indication at this point of the outlook for the 32-year-old. After dabbling with the rotation in 2018, Hardy has been utilized in a multi-inning relief capacity thus far, throwing a dozen frames in eight appearances. Fellow southpaw Jose Fernandez takes his spot on the active roster.

Players Avoiding Arbitration: American League

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The deadline for players and teams to exchange arbitration figures passed at 1pm ET yesterday, meaning over the next few hours, there will be a landslide of settlements on one-year deals to avoid an arbitration hearing. We’ll track today’s minor settlements from the American League in this post. Once all of the day’s settlements have filtered in, I’ll organize them by division to make them a bit easier to parse.

It’s worth mentioning that the vast majority of teams have adopted a “file and trial” approach to arbitration, meaning that once arbitration figures are exchanged with a player, negotiations on a one-year deal will cease. The two parties may still discuss a multi-year deal after that point, but the majority of players who exchange figures with their team today will head to an arbitration hearing.

As always, all salary projections referenced within this post are courtesy of MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz, and we’ll also be updating our 2019 Arbitration Tracker throughout the day…

Today’s Updates

  • Yankees 1B Greg Bird will make $1.2 MM next season, per Bob Nightengale on Twitter.
  • The controversial Roberto Osuna will make $6.5MM next season, per Feinsand. Teammate Jake Marisnick, who again scuffled in ’18 after a promising 2017, will make $2.2125MM.
  • Per Mark Feinsand on Twitter, A’s lefty Sean Manaea $3.15MM in what’s sure to be an injury-marred 2019.
  • Hard-throwing reliever Mychal Givens will make $2.15MM, per Eduardo A. Encina of the Tampa Bay Times (via Twitter), with additional incentives for making the All-Star team or placing in the Top-3 for the Rivera/Hoffman Reliever of the Year Awards, added MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand (via Twitter).
  • The Mariners agreed on a $1.95MM deal with outfielder Domingo Santana, per MLB.com’s Greg Johns (via Twitter). Santana is the second and last of the Mariners’ arbitration-eligible players.
  • The Angels agreed to contracts with a pair of players yesterday, per Maria Torres of the LA Times (via Twitter). Reliever Hansel Robles signed for $1.4MM. Robles threw 36 1/3 innings of 2.97 ERA baseball after the Angels claimed him off waivers from the Mets in June. Luis Garcia, acquired via trade from the Phillies this winter, signed for $1.675MM.
  • The Tigers and reliever Shane Greene settled on $4MM, per USA Today’s Bob Nightengale (via Twitter).
  • The Yankees reached an agreement with Sonny Gray for $7.5MM, per Nightengale. Gray, of course, has been involved trade rumors most of the winter, but for the time being, he stands to play a role in the Yankee pen while providing insurance for the rotation.
  • Didi Gregorius has also come to an agreement with the Yankees on a one-year, $11.75MM deal in his final season before free agency, per USA Today’s Bob Nightengale (Twitter links).
  • New Yankee James Paxton signed for $8.575, per Nightengale (via Twitter). Paxton is under contract for the 2020 season as well.
  • The Houston Astros came to an agreement with Collin McHugh for $5.8MM, per Nightengale (via Twitter). McHugh could be moving back into the rotation after a stellar season in the pen, either way this will be his final season of arb eligibility before hitting the open market.
  • Jonathan Villar comes away with $4.825MM for what will be his first full season in Baltimore, per Nightengale (via Twitter).

Earlier Updates

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Trade Rumors: Cubs, Hardy, A’s, Tigers, Holt, Yankees

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The Cubs have been linked to the reliever market, though they may wait until January before making any new acquisitions.  As one source speculates to the Chicago Tribune’s Mark Gonzales, the Cubs might first need to clear some payroll space before adding to their bullpen.  Rumors of a lack of a spending capacity have loomed over Chicago’s offseason, and the crunch could be tighter than anticipated if the team will have to move other salaries to afford even mid-tier relief pitching signings.  Gonzales runs through a few of the names on the Cubs roster that could possibly be dealt in salary-clearing moves, though he notes that several of these options don’t look too feasible, as players are either coming off down years (i.e. Brian Duensing, Brandon Kintzler) or they’re coming off good years (i.e. Jose Quintana, Ben Zobrist) and thus still have value to a Cubs team looking to contend in 2019.

Some more trade rumblings from around the Winter Meetings…

  • The Athletics have some interest in Tigers left-hander Blaine Hardy, the San Francisco Chronicle’s Susan Slusser reports.  Hardy started 13 of his 30 appearances in 2018 and posted some generally solid (3.56 ERA, 3.00 K/BB rate) numbers, though he didn’t miss many bats with a 6.9 K/9.  Hardy is only projected to earn $1.2MM next season and he is controllable through two more arbitration-eligible seasons beyond 2019, making him a particularly good fit for the budget-conscious A’s.  With a rotation still dotted with injury question marks, the A’s could use Hardy as a swingman again, deploying him as a starter on occasion or possibly coming in to pitch after an “opener” starts the game.  Despite this need for pitching, Oakland could be playing the waiting game on starting options, as Slusser notes that the club has yet to contact free agent arms like Derek Holland, Gio Gonzalez, or Lance Lynn.  Also from Slusser’s piece, he notes that the Athletics will still look to re-sign catcher Jonathan Lucroy even after acquiring Chris Herrmann yesterday.
  • There have been a number of names on the Red Sox roster (some surprising) mentioned as trade candidates within the last 24 hours, and the Boston Globe’s Nick Cafardo mentions that Brock Holt is another name that has received interest.  A deal seems unlikely, however, as the super-utilityman is slated to handle second base if Dustin Pedroia isn’t ready for the start of the season.  Holt rebounded from a poor 2017 campaign to hit .277/.362/.411 over 367 PA for the World Series champs last season, spending most of his time as a second baseman but also making starts at shortstop, third base, first base, and both corner outfield slots.
  • As usual, a ton of trade speculation has swirled around the Yankees, and GM Brian Cashman told reporters (including George A. King III of the New York Post) that he has been asked about virtually every player on his roster.  That list even includes James Paxton, as teams checked in to see if New York would consider flipping the star southpaw after acquiring him from the Mariners last month (needless to say, the Yankees declined).  Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton were the only two players Cashman said he hadn’t yet been asked about.

Quick Hits: Napoli, Cubs, Koehler, Tigers

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Even after tearing his right ACL and meniscus last April, Mike Napoli isn’t ready to close the book on his career, the veteran slugger tells The Athletic’s Zack Meisel (subscription required).  “I’m going to train like I’m going to play next year,” Napoli said.  “When it’s time to make that decision, I’ll make it, but I still really want to play.  I don’t want to go out like that.  I feel like I can still play.  We’ll see.  We’ll see what opportunities there will be and go from there.”  Even if his chances at a 13th big league season seem remote, it wouldn’t be too surprising for a team to take a flier on Napoli on a minor league deal next spring, assuming he is healthy enough to play.  If a comeback doesn’t materialize, Napoli said his next dream would be to become a Major League manager, and he believes he would be able to start his post-playing career as a coach somewhere in the Indians organization.

Here’s some more from around the league…

  • The Cubs aren’t yet sure what their plans are for the trade deadline, GM Jed Hoyer told Patrick Mooney of The Athletic (subscription link).  “What we may need on July 31 may be totally different than what we know sitting here right now,” Hoyer said.  “I do think that right now the answers are here….Now, that might not be the answer in six weeks. But I think that’s the answer today.”  Chicago already has quite a bit of depth and talent on the roster, plus Yu Darvish and Carl Edwards Jr. will provide reinforcements upon returning from the disabled list, though it would be surprising if the Cubs didn’t make at least one notable addition as they push for another postseason berth.
  • Right-hander Tom Koehler has had a setback in his recovery from an AC strain and isn’t expected back until August, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts told J.P. Hoornstra of the Southern California News Group (Twitter link) and other reporters.  Koehler signed a one-year, $2MM deal with Los Angeles last winter but has yet to officially pitch for the club after suffering the injury during Spring Training.  He initially hoped to return by the All-Star break but will now have to wait longer to properly don the Dodger blue.
  • The Tigers are considering deploying a six-man rotation, as manager Ron Gardenhire hinted to MLive.com’s Evan Woodbery and other reporters.  With Blaine Hardy pitching well, Detroit wants to find a way to keep him in the rotation when Francisco Liriano makes his expected return from the DL this week, plus the other starters could benefit from the lesser workload.  “We’ve got some guys in there that could probably use extra days, take innings off our load.  We started thinking we could probably do this.  Not saying we’re going to, but we could,” Gardenhire said.

Tigers To Select Blaine Hardy’s Contract

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The Tigers are set to select the contract of left-hander Blaine Hardy from Triple-A Toledo prior to tonight’s game, reports Anthony Fenech of the Detroit Free Press (via Twitter). Detroit outrighted the 31-year-old southpaw late in Spring Training, but his absence from the 40-man roster will only last for about a total of six weeks, it seems.

Hardy, a regular in the Detroit relief corps over the past four seasons, notched an even 3.00 ERA with 7.6 K/9 against 2.9 BB/9 in 126 innings out of the Detroit ’pen from 2014-16 before stumbling in 2017. Last year proved to be the most difficult season of his career, as Hardy limped to a 5.94 ERA and served up seven homers in just 33 1/3 innings of work.

Over the winter, there was talk of Hardy hoping for an opportunity to stretch out as a starter, and the Tigers have granted him that wish at the minor league level. Hardy’s first three appearances of the season were in short relief, but he’s since been stretched out over the course of four starts. The results are actually quite intriguing.

Hardy went 3 1/3 innings in his first outing, jumped to five innings in his second start, six in his third and seven in his fourth and final start before being brought back to the Majors. More impressive, however, is the fact that he’s allowed just two earned runs over the life of those four starts and has averaged well north of a strikeout per inning. Hardy has a sparkling 0.84 ERA and a 25-to-4 K/BB ratio in 21 1/3 innings out of the Triple-A rotation, highlighted by a seven-inning, five-hit gem in which he allowed just one run and racked up 10 strikeouts without issuing a walk.

It’s a tiny sample, to be sure, but for a lefty specialist who struggled to a near-6.00 ERA in his most recent run at the big league level, the results are somewhat astounding. At present, Detroit is running Michael Fulmer, Francisco Liriano, Matthew Boyd, Mike Fiers and Jordan Zimmermann out in the rotation, but Hardy brings a definite level of intrigue to a largely uninspiring mix of arms. There’s little reason not to give him a look in the Majors to see if he can sustain any of his surprising success at the Triple-A level — especially for a rebuilding team whose already paper-thin pitching depth took a notable hit with the news that Daniel Norris will be out for up to 12 weeks.

Tigers Outright Blaine Hardy

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The Tigers announced that left-handed reliever Blaine Hardy has cleared waivers and been outrighted to Triple-A Toledo. The move gives Detroit one open spot on its 40-man roster.

Hardy debuted as a Tiger back in 2014 and has since amassed 159 1/3 frames of 3.62 ERA/3.74 FIP pitching with 7.57 K/9, 3.78 BB/9 and a 42.1 percent groundball rate. While that’s a useful career line, the 31-year-old hurt his stock last season with a dreadful campaign in which he logged a 5.94 ERA/5.38 FIP in 33 1/3 frames. With 7.56 K/9 and 3.51 BB/9, Hardy’s strikeout and walk numbers were normal, but his grounder percentage plummeted to 33.0. That helped lead to a personal-worst 1.89 home runs allowed per nine, a massive increase over Hardy’s career figure (0.68).

Thanks to a shoulder impingement, Hardy wasn’t able to make a case for a roster spot in Detroit this spring. He ended up appearing in just one of the Tigers’ exhibition games before they cut him from their 40-man roster. Because of both that injury and his woeful 2017, no one claimed Hardy, even though he’s cheap ($795K), controllable through 2021 and has a minor league option remaining. Hardy’s 2018 salary would have become guaranteed in two days, making this move all the more painful for him, Evan Woodbery of MLive.com notes.

Tigers, Blaine Hardy Avoid Arbitration

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The Tigers have announced that they’ve agreed to terms on a one-year contract with left-handed reliever Blaine Hardy in order to avoid arbitration.  Hardy will earn around $750K in the deal, according to Tony Paul of the Detroit News (Twitter link), which is slightly below the $800K that MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projected Hardy would earn in the southpaw’s first year of arbitration eligibility.

Hardy has split time between Detroit and Triple-A Toledo during the past two seasons, performing just below replacement level in 2017. His best season in the majors came back in 2015, when he spent the entire year in the big leagues and posted a 3.08 ERA and 2.89 FIP across 70 appearances. The southpaw throws his 90 MPH fastball and his changeup most of the time, occasionally mixing in a curveball and a slider. Although his 5.94 ERA in 2017 isn’t exciting, he’s shown better results in previous years and is used against both left-handed and right-handed hitters.

The team also officially announced the signings of four players to minor-league deals, all with invites to spring training. Those players are right-handers Kevin Comer and Mark Montgomery, infielder Niko Goodrum and outfielder Chad Huffman.

Comer, 25, has spent most of his career in the Astros organization, reaching the Triple-A level for the first time in 2017. The righty reliever has shown a propensity for notching K’s; he struck out 10.46 batters per nine innings for the Fresno Grizzlies this past season. He had trouble limiting walks (3.96 BB/9), but his strikeout upside could help him force his way into a desperate Tigers bullpen; Detroit’s relievers were the only relief group in the majors to post a combine for below-replacement level production in 2017.

Montgomery has also never played in the big leagues, but showed great command at the Triple-A level within the Cardinals organization this past year. The former 11th round pick of the Yankees notched nearly five strikeouts for every walk he issued, while posting a 2.43 ERA across 66 2/3 innings. Interestingly, he only made 46 appearances, implying that he was being utilized as a multi-inning reliever a good portion of the time.

The 25-year-old Goodrum has never known any organization other than the Twins, who drafted him in the second round back in 2010. The 6’3″ switch-hitter made his major league debut in September, compiling 18 plate appearances and striking out in ten of them. He did manage to hit 13 homers and steal 11 bases at Triple-A Rochester, however, and is seemingly capable of providing good defense at second base.

Though Huffman debuted in the major leagues in 2010, he only played in 9 games with the Yankees and didn’t make it back to the MLB level until this past season. The righty-hitting outfielder accrued 15 plate appearances with the Cardinals in September, and reached base in five of them. Huffman will return to a Tigers organization for whose Triple-A affiliate he posted a .286/.387/.505 batting line in 511 plate appearances back in 2016.

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