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Blake Snell

AL Notes: Darvish, Smith, ERod, Kelly, Owens, Snell, Farquhar, Gausman, Gallardo

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Here’s the latest out of the American League, with a focus on some recent injury news on key pitchers:

  • Rehabbing Rangers ace Yu Darvish will throw another live BP session before beginning his rehab assignment, Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News reports. The righty hasn’t suffered any kind of setback, but hopes to refine his offspeed offerings before reporting to Double-A to begin his march back to the majors.
  • Meanwhile, Red Sox reliever Carson Smith looks to be on track for a return in early May, Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe reports on Twitter. He’ll need to make at least three minor league outings, including two on back-to-back days, before being activate. The righty will be a welcome addition to the back of the Boston pen. Likewise, lefty Eduardo Rodriguez may be on his way back soon, as Evan Drellich of the Boston Herald tweets that he could return to the majors after two rehab starts.
  • In other Red Sox pitching news, the club is hopeful that Joe Kelly won’t miss much more than the minimum on his 15-day DL stint, Jason Mastrodonato of the Boston Herald reports (Twitter links). Southpaw Henry Owens will step into Kelly’s place in the rotation. He’s put up three solid outings at Triple-A thus far, allowing just two earned runs in 18 innings with 23 strikeouts and ten walks.
  • With top Rays pitching prospect Blake Snell coming up for his first start tomorrow, Baseball America’s Vince Lara-Cinisomo takes a look at the 23-year-old lefty. While he still needs to refine his command, BA suggests he could become a number two starter if he can reach his ceiling in the majors. Tampa Bay has optioned reliever Danny Farquhar to clear room for Snell, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times tweets. The 29-year-old righty has pitched well enough in the early going, but he was one of only a few optionable arms in the Rays’ pen and appeared in each of the last two games.
  • The Orioles are set to activate Kevin Gausman for his first start of the season on Monday, with the heralded righty saying that he thinks his shoulder issues are a thing of the past, as MLB.com’s Britt Ghiroli reports. In his latest rehab appearance, said Gausman, he felt more “comfortable” than he had in his prior outings. Hopes are high for the 25-year-old, and the Baltimore rotation is certainly need of a boost with only one member (Ubaldo Jimenez) currently carrying a sub-4.00 ERA.

Rays To Promote Blake Snell

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4:19pm: Snell is expected to be active only for one start, manager Kevin Cash tells reporters, including Topkin (Twitter link).

2:09pm: The Rays will promote one of the game’s top pitching prospects, left-hander Blake Snell, to start Saturday at Yankee Stadium, reports Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times (Twitter link). Snell, the No. 52 overall pick in the 2011 draft, will be making his Major League debut.

While he wasn’t an overly heralded prospect until last season, Snell’s 2015 was simply too dominant to ignore. The Washington native began the season at Class-A Advanced and had a meteoric rise to the Triple-A level, beginning with an incredible streak of 46 scoreless innings to open the year. All told, Snell’s 2015 season culminated with a microscopic 1.41 ERA with 10.9 strikeouts and 3.6 walks per nine innings pitched. That showing prompted Baseball America and MLB.com each to rank him as the No. 12 prospect in baseball, while ESPN’s Keith Law rated him 14th and Baseball Prospectus penciled Snell in at No. 21 on their list.

Snell is said to have the upside of a No. 2 starter now that his command has taken several steps forward (he averaged 6.6 and 4.4 walks per nine innings in 2013 and 2014, respectively). The 6’4″ lefty has a 92-94 mph fastball that can reach 96-97 mph and complements that plus heater with a plus changeup and a plus slider in addition to a curveball that BA calls “more of a supplement to his arsenal than a true weapon.” Law writes that Snell is probably a No. 3 even if his command doesn’t take a further step forward, and he could become one of the 10 best lefties in baseball.

Because Snell will have spent the first 20 days of the season at the minor league level, he’ll be able to earn a maximum of 163 days of Major League service this season. That’s assuming he doesn’t make a return trip to the minors, which is far from a given. It’s also worth noting that the 20 days he’s spent in the minors is the minimum he could’ve spent at that level without retroactively receiving the service time he’s missed by being optioned to open the season. In essence, Saturday then marks the first day that Snell could be recalled without the Rays running the risk of losing a year of club control. In the event that Snell does not return to the minors this year, the Rays would be able to control him through the 2022 season, though he would still qualify as a Super Two player and be arbitration eligible four times instead of the more typical three. Snell is already on the 40-man roster, so Tampa Bay will only need to clear space for him on the active roster. He’s begun the season with a 2.41 ERA and a 21-to-7 K/BB ratio in 14 1/3 innings at the Triple-A level.

Whether Snell sticks with the big league club remains to be seen. As Topkin notes, the promotion was necessitated by the need for a fifth starter after Erasmo Ramirez was needed in relief, so there may not be a permanent spot in the rotation — especially with right-hander Alex Cobb making his way back from Tommy John surgery. It’s conceivable, though, that Snell would be impressive enough to earn a lengthier look than merely one start with a strong showing, leaving Ramirez in a swing-man role while Cobb continues his rehab.

Rays, Blake Snell Have Discussed Long-Term Deal

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12:56pm: SB Nation’s Chris Cotillo tweets that talks between the Rays and Snell, to this point, have been preliminary in nature. Nothing is particularly close for the time being.

8:31am: The Rays have discussed a long-term deal with top left-handed pitching prospect Blake Snell, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports near the end of a lengthier profile on the former No. 52 overall pick. An extension for Snell would be a move that is very characteristic to the Rays, who have a penchant for locking up potential stars early in their careers as a means of securing control of free-agent years.

Locking up the 23-year-old Snell, though, would be a somewhat of a precedent-setter for the Rays, as Snell has yet to accrue even one day of Major League service time. Even prior extensions such as the long-term deals for Matt Moore and Evan Longoria came when Moore had 17 days of big league service (and some additional postseason experience) and Longoria had cracked the Opening Day roster and picked up six days of service (though, realistically, the Longoria negotiations almost certainly began before the season when he, like Snell, had no MLB experience). The Rays have also secured long-term control over the likes of James Shields, Wade Davis and Chris Archer, among others, in this capacity. While those deals were finalized when Andrew Friedman was the club’s general manager (Friedman is now with the Dodgers), present-day GM Matt Silverman was club president for all of those extensions.

Were a deal to be reached prior to Opening Day, Snell would become just the second player in Major League history to sign an extension without a single day of Major League service time under his belt. Notably, the other player — Houston’s Jon Singleton — shares the same representation as Snell, who is a client of Sosnick, Cobbe and Karon Sports. (Sosnick, Cobbe and Karon also represents Moore.) Singleton received a $10MM guarantee over five years before ever stepping foot on Major League soil, and his contract also contained a trio of options that would’ve allowed the contract to max out at $35MM. Moore’s deal was a five-year, $14MM contract that can max out around $40MM over the life of eight years by virtue of club options and escalators.

Certainly, none of this means that a deal is likely to be struck. For one thing, Topkin notes only that the two sides have had discussions — not that talks are currently active or advanced. Beyond that, the numbers will have to make sense. We often hear of long-term extension talks for players that have limited or no Major League experience, but rarely do such deals come to fruition. The incentive for the Rays (or for any club) to check in with their top prospect is easy enough to see, and there’s a possibility that the talks amounted to little more than due diligence for the agency, though their history of early extensions does make the Snell scenario seem more plausible.

The Rays will have control of Snell for at least six seasons from the time he makes his Major League debut, meaning he’d be under control through the 2021 season were he to crack the Opening Day rotation. That seems unlikely, with Archer, Moore, Jake Odorizzi, Drew Smyly and Erasmo Ramirez all serving as options on the big league roster, though a spring injury could potentially create an opening. It’s worth pointing out, of course, that the Rays could extend that club control through the 2022 season by stashing Snell in the minors for as little as three weeks to open the season — a trade-off that seems highly worthwhile from a business standpoint, especially for a small-market club.

Snell skyrocketed up prospect rankings this past season on the strength of a dominant minor league campaign that saw him begin the year at Class-A Advanced and finish in Triple-A. Snell rattled off 46 consecutive scoreless innings to open his season and finished the year with a combined 1.41 ERA, 10.9 K/9, 3.6 BB/9 and a 51.8 percent ground-ball rate in 134 innings. As Topkin notes, Snell’s success could be attributable to a heart-to-heart with his father — a former minor league pitcher himself — who implored his son to increase his work ethic prior to the 2015 campaign. Rays farm director Mitch Lukevics told Topkin that Snell’s talent was obvious from the day he was drafted, though he added that Snell was “okay with the work ethic but not to where needed him to be” earlier in his career. Lukevics explained to Topkin that those questions evaporated beginning in Spring Training last season, as Snell looked like a player that had “turn[ed] the light switch on.” The entire profile is well worth a read for Rays fans looking to get to know a bit more about Snell, who rated as the game’s No. 12 prospect according to Baseball America. Snell also ranked 14th on the top 100 of Jim Callis & Jonathan Mayo at MLB.com, 14th on the top 100 of ESPN’s Keith Law and 21st on the top 101 over at Baseball Prospectus.

Added To The 40-Man Roster: Friday

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Tonight at 8:00pm ET is the deadline for teams to add players to their 40-man roster and thereby protect them from this year’s Rule 5 Draft. In other words: there will be a significant amount of 40-man roster moves made over the course of the next 13 or so hours. Six clubs already made moves to protect prospects from the Rule 5 yesterday, and each of the remaining 24 clubs should make moves today as well.

In brief: players drafted/signed at 18 years of age or younger must be added to the 40-man roster within five years of signing or be exposed to the Rule 5 Draft. Players drafted/signed at 19 or older must be added within four years. Those interested in all of the specifics can refer to articles from MLB.com’s Jonathan Mayo and J.J. Cooper of Baseball America. Perhaps of greater interest is that Mayo lists all of the prospects from MLB.com’s Top 100 list and from their organizational Top 30 lists that much be protected in advance of tonight’s deadline, while Cooper provides brief write-ups on each player that has been protected (and will continue to do so as additions are made).

Here are today’s additions to the 40-man roster. You can check out Baseball America’s coverage to learn more about the individual players listed below …

Earlier Updates

Rays Designate Arencibia, Gomes, Nava, Yates

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The Rays have designated catcher J.P. Arencibia, outfielder Daniel Nava, and righties Brandon Gomes and Kirby Yates for assignment, the club announced. Tampa Bay will add righties Jacob Faria, Taylor Guerrieri, and German Marquez to the 40-man roster along with infielder/outfielder Taylor Motter and rising lefty prospect Blake Snell.

By parting with Arencibia, the club appears to have chosen to keep Rene Rivera around behind the dish, as Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times tweets. The 29-year-old Arencibia still benefited from his time in Tampa Bay, though, as he put on a power show in his 73 plate appearances and figures to have boosted his free agent stock. Nava, soon to turn 33, never really got going last year and will probably be left looking for an opportunity on a minor league deal this winter.

On the pitching side of the ledger, the 31-year-old Gomes has seen his share of action in the Rays’ pen over the last five years, throwing a total of 167 innings of 4.20 ERA ball. He could land an MLB deal with a team looking for reliever depth. As for Yates, the 28-year-old righty was hit hard last year, but will enter the market with 10.1 K/9 vs. 3.5 BB/9 on his ledger over 56 1/3 career MLB innings.

Notably, also, the move will save Tampa Bay some money. MLBTR projected Arencibia ($1.4MM), Nava ($1.9MM), and Gomes ($900K) to command salaries that are not insignificant for a team with Tampa Bay’s tight payroll.

AL East Notes: Yankees, O’Day, Pena, Snell

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Though many Yankees fans have grown weary of Stephen Drew’s low batting average at second base (and “grown weary” is admittedly an understatement), Chad Jennings of the Journal News offers a well-reasoned explanation for the team’s decision to stick with Drew and Brendan Ryan over the likes of Rob Refsnyder and Jose Pirela. Jennings notes Refsnyder’s poor second half at Triple-A and questionable glovework and also points to the fact that Ryan has been an ideal platoon-mate at second base, providing good defense and a hefty .286/.333/.500 batting line against lefties this year. Jennings dispels several oft-used myths, such as the Yankees’ reluctance to rely on young talent or the claim that only manager Joe Girardi would continue relying on a struggling veteran such as Drew.

A few more notes from the AL East…

  • Darren O’Day’s time with the Orioles is quite possibly winding down, writes Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com. Despite being a bit older than typical free agents — he’s 32 and will pitch next season at 33 — O’Day is primed to cash in on a nice free-agent deal due to his recent string of dominant seasons. Manager Buck Showalter offered high praise for the sidearming setup man: “Darren, there’s no doubt he’s the leader of that bullpen,” said Showalter. The manager noted O’Day’s role in keeping the bullpen a tight-knit unit, noting that his shoes would be tough to fill if he ultimately signs elsewhere upon hitting the open market.
  • Carlos Pena is humbled and grateful for the opportunity to sign a contract and retire as a member of the Rays organization, he tells Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. “As much as the Rays have meant to me, for me to even believe that I meant the same to the Rays as well, I couldn’t be more grateful,” said Pena. “This is a dream come true to end my career in such a way, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
  • Rays top prospect Blake Snell was disappointed not to be called up in September, writes Topkin in a separate column, but the left-hander nonetheless has hopes of making the team out of Spring Training in 2015. Snell, 22, hadn’t pitched above A-ball heading into the season but broke out with an absurd 1.61 ERA, 10.9 K/9 and 3.6 BB/9 in 134 innings between High-A, Double-A and Triple-A. Baseball America named Snell its minor league player of the year as a result of the strong performance. Snell could very well have a chance at cracking the roster next season, especially considering the fact that Topkin has recently said it seems likely that Tampa Bay will deal from its surplus of rotation options this offseason.
  • Baseball America’s Matt Eddy examines Snell’s historic minor league season, noting that he’s tied for the second-lowest composite ERA for a starter since 2003, trailing only Justin Verlander. Of the 10 pitchers to have posted a composite 1.60 ERA or better across multiple minor league levels, Snell is the only one who reached Triple-A in his dominant season; the others spread their dominance across lower levels. Snell’s season, Eddy writes, was one of the best in recent minor league history.

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