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Indians Designate Melky Cabrera For Assignment

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SUNDAY: The team expects to know by Monday whether or not Cabrera will accept an outright assignment, according to the Indians’ official Tribe Insider Twitter news feed.

THURSDAY: The Indians announced Thursday that they’ve activated outfielder Brandon Guyer from the disabled list and cleared a spot for him on the active roster by designating Melky Cabrera for assignment.

Signed to a minor league deal in late April, the 33-year-old Cabrera appeared in 17 games with Cleveland and tallied 66 plate appearances, though he managed just a .207/.243/.293 batting line in that small sample of work.

Cabrera, of course, was operating without the benefit of a full Spring Training during his short time with the Indians. While he did pick up 42 plate appearances in Triple-A before making his debut with the team, it’s perhaps not surprising that he exhibited a fair bit of rust at the plate. To his credit, Cabrera posted a 34.6 percent hard-hit rate, per Fangraphs, and punched out just 10 times in his 66 PAs (15.2 percent).

The switch-hitting Cabrera is only a year removed from providing roughly league-average offense at the big league level. In 666 plate appearances between the White Sox and Royals last season, Cabrera slashed .285/.324/.423 with 17 homers, 30 doubles and a pair of triples — good for a 99 OPS+ and a 98 wRC+.

While he’s long graded out as a sub-par defensive outfielder — never more so than in 2017 — he’s also been a steadily average or better producer at the plate throughout his late 20s and early 30s. From 2014-17, Cabrera racked up 2616 plate appearances between the Blue Jays, White Sox and Royals, hitting a combined .289/.333/.431 in that time (110 OPS+). So while things didn’t work out for the Melk Man in Cleveland, it’s certainly not out of the question that another team could look to pick him on a similarly low-cost investment with the hopes that he can provide some additional offense.

The Indians will have a week to trade Cabrera or run him through outright or release waivers, though a veteran player with his service time will have the option of refusing an outright assignment and again exploring free agency. He’s better-suited for an AL club who can plug him in at DH periodically, though Cabrera could also function as a bench bat and occasional outfielder in the NL.

Brandon Guyer To Undergo Surgery

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Indians outfielder Brandon Guyer is set to undergo surgery on his left wrist, Ryan Lewis of the Akron Beacon Journal reports on Twitter. The club provided a bit more detail in an announcement, noting that the procedure will involve a repair of the extensor tendon.

At this point, it’s not clear how long Guyer will miss; more will be known after he emerges from surgery. Regardless of the prognosis, he’s under contract for next season under the two-year, $5MM deal he signed in January. Cleveland also possesses a $3MM option (with a $250K buyout) for 2019.

Obviously, the injury news means that Guyer won’t be a part of the Indians’ postseason run, though that had largely become clear already. The 31-year-old endured an injury-limited and disappointing 2017 campaign. Through 192 plate appearances, he slashed just .236/.326/.327 with a pair of long balls.

Prior to the current season, Guyer has been a source of solidly above-average hitting line he carried to that point. While he has never done much damage against same-handed pitching, Guyer has been a weapon against lefties, posting a lifetime .281/.379/.448 batting line.

Right-hander Adam Plutko has undergone his own surgery, the team further noted. In his case, a procedure to repair his right hip labrum is likely to sideline him for four to six months. Plutko briefly cracked the majors last year but struggled to a 5.90 ERA in 135 2/3 Triple-A frames in 2017.

Injury Notes: Giants, Red Sox, Indians, Jays, Jankowski

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The Giants announced tonight that right fielder Hunter Pence has been placed on the 10-day disabled list due to a left hamstring strain. Fellow outfielder Mac Williamson is up from Triple-A Sacramento to take Pence’s spot on the roster. The loss of Pence is the latest blow to a Giants roster that has seen a number of key players go down with injuries this year, though Pence’s performance hasn’t been anywhere near what one would expect from the typically productive slugger. The 34-year-old has been at least 18 percent better than the league-average hitter in each of the past four seasons, per park-adjusted metrics OPS+ and wRC+, and he’s batted a combined .281/.339/.463 in that time. However, this year, he’s mustered just a .243/.289/.338 batting line through his first 149 plate appearances.

A few more notable injury scenarios from around the league…

  • Giants closer Mark Melancon is on the mend and appears to be progressing well, as the right-hander told reporters that he threw a 22-pitch mound session today (Twitter links via John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle and Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area. Melancon said that he was “pretty much full go,” and Pavlovic notes that he can be activated as soon as tomorrow. Derek Law has been filling in as San Francisco’s closer with Melancon on the shelf.
  • An MRI of Drew Pomeranz’s left triceps didn’t reveal any new injuries, and the Red Sox lefty has been cleared to resume baseball activities, tweets Alex Speier of the Boston Globe. News on Tyler Thornburg, though, isn’t as good. The Sox are still trying to get to the bottom of the shoulder woes Thornburg is experiencing, as Evan Drellich of CSNNE.com tweets. Thornburg is set for additional testing and medical consultations this week. He has yet to take the hill since arriving in Boston via trade over the winter.
  • The Indians will be without Brandon Guyer for the next four to six weeks due to a sprained left wrist, manager Terry Francona told reporters today (via MLB.com’s Jordan Bastian). Guyer will be completely shut down for a week before he begins the next phase of his rehab. Bastian also notes that ace Corey Kluber tossed a 20-pitch session today but still needs a more aggressive mound session and a simulated game before he’s cleared to begin a rehab assignment. And if those injuries aren’t enough for Cleveland, the Indians’ No. 2 starter, Carlos Carrasco, exited tonight’s game with tightness in his left pectoral muscle (Twitter link via Bastian). There’s no word on the severity of that issue, though it seems reasonable to expect further word following the completion of tonight’s game.
  • Steve Pearce became the latest member of the Blue Jays to land on the disabled list, as the infielder/outfielder suffered a calf injury last night and was placed on the 10-day DL today following an MRI. The Jays announced the injury as a right calf strain and did not offer a timeline on Pearce’s absence. Right-hander Leonel Campos is up from Triple-A to give the relief corps a quick boost, though as Sportsnet’s Ben Nicholson-Smith tweets, that gives the Jays a two-man bench and a nine-man bullpen. As such, it seems likely that a reliever will be sent down soon. On a more positive note for Toronto fans, the team also announced that Troy Tulowitzki began a rehab assignment today, suggesting that he’s quite near to a return.
  • Padres outfielder Travis Jankowski has been on the DL since late April, and MLB.com’s AJ Cassavell now tweets that it’ll be at least another six weeks before the defensive standout is ready to return to the team. Jankowski hit the DL with what was termed a “deep bone bruise,” though reports at the time suggested that doctors believed there could be a hairline fracture in his foot. Per Cassavell, Jankowski’s most recent tests did indeed reveal a fracture, which lengthens the amount of time that he’ll be away from the club.

Indians Sign Brandon Guyer To Two-Year Deal

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10:41am: The deal also allows Guyer to earn up to $400K in plate-appearance-based bonuses in both 2018 and 2019, Bastian tweets. And the option value can rise to as much as $3.75MM with escalators.

9:51am: It’s a two-year, $5MM contract for Guyer, tweets MLB.com’s Jordan Bastian. He’ll receive $2MM in 2017 (just shy of the $2.1MM midpoint between the two sides’ arbitration numbers) and $2.75MM in 2018. Guyer’s contract contains a $3MM club option for the 2019 season, which comes with a $250K buyout.

9:35am: The Indians announced on Wednesday that they’ve signed outfielder Brandon Guyer to a two-year deal with a club option for the 2019 season. The 30-year-old Guyer (31 next week) was arbitration-eligible and had filed for a $2.3MM, which the Indians countered with a $1.9MM offer (as shown in MLBTR’s 2017 Arbitration Tracker). Rather than hammer out a one-year pact, Guyer will instead agree to lock in both of his remaining arbitration salaries in exchange for a club option over what would’ve been his first free-agent year.

Brandon Guyer

Guyer, a longtime member of the Rays, was a deadline pickup for the Indians, who traded minor league outfielder Nathan Lukes and minor league righty Jhonleider Salinas to the Rays to acquire the remaining two and a half years of control on Guyer’s contract. Guyer has long been a thorn in the side of left-handed pitching, and Cleveland benefited substantially from that trait, as Guyer slashed .333/.438/.469 in a limited role (91 plate appearances) over the remainder of the regular season following the trade. He also chipped in a .333/.500/.389 batting line in 24 postseason plate appearances.

Beyond his strong career performance against left-handed pitching (.289/.391/.470), Guyer thrives in one perhaps underappreciated element of the game: getting hit by pitches. Shortly after the trade, August Fagerstrom examined Guyer’s uncanny penchant for being hit by pitches over at Fangraphs, observing that Guyer is not only the active leader in total HBPs over the past couple of seasons, but the leader in HBPs on a percentage basis (min. 500 PAs) dating all the way back to 1921.

A ridiculous 6.1 percent of Guyer’s plate appearances have resulted in him being plunked by a pitch, which compensates for a below-average walk rate and has allowed him to consistently post strong OBPs in the Majors. As Fagerstrom breaks down in the aforementioned Fangraphs column, Guyer’s HBP magic isn’t as much from crowding the plate (though he does that, too) as it is from a striding toward the plate and the inside edge of the batter’s box as he loads for a swing. While some might raise an eyebrow at calling that a “skill,” Guyer’s propensity for reaching base the hard way has undoubtedly benefited his teams over the years, and no one in the game seems as adept at doing so.

Turning to Guyer’s glovework, he has experience at all three outfield positions but has spent the majority of his time in left field, where he grades out as an above-average defender. With Cleveland, however, he’s likely to spend the bulk of his time in right field, where he’ll serve as a platoon partner for the left-handed-hitting Lonnie Chisenhall (who has struggled considerably against southpaw pitchers in his career). Guyer, of course, can move all over the outfield for manager Terry Francona, if needed. Guyer and Chisenhall will be part of a mix that includes a hopefully healthy Michael Brantley in left field, Tyler Naquin in center (who could also potentially benefit from some platooning) and presumptive reserve outfielder Abraham Almonte.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Indians Acquire Brandon Guyer

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The Indians announced today that they’ve acquired outfielder Brandon Guyer from the Rays. Minor league outfielder Nathan Lukes is going to Tampa Bay, as is minor legaue right-hander Jhonleider Salinas.

Guyer, 30, will give the Rays a massive upgrade against left-handed pitching, as he’s crushed southpaws at a .344/.488/.594 clip in 82 plate appearances this season and has a career .283/.384/.464 slash when holding the platoon advantage. He can also provide manager Terry Francona with quite a bit of defensive versatility, as he’s capable of handling all three outfield positions. Guyer is earning $1.185MM this season and is arbitration eligible two more times before reaching the open market upon completion of the 2018 season.

Neither of the two names heading back to Tampa Bay in this deal cracked the midseason version of the Indians’ Top 30 prospects at MLB.com. Lukes, 22, recently moved up to Class-A Advanced after hitting .301/.375/.453 with five homers and 14 steals in 393 plate appearances in the Class-A Midwest League. The 20-year-old Salinas, meanwhile, has logged 30 innings in the Arizona Rookie League and compiled a 3.30 ERA with a 38-to-14 K/BB ratio in 30 innings of work.

Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times first reported that Guyer had been traded (via Twitter) and that Salinas was in the deal. FanRag’s Jon Heyman reported that Guyer was going to Cleveland and Lukes was part of the package.

Rays To Designate Jaff Decker For Assignment, Activate Brandon Guyer

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The Rays will designate outfielder Jaff Decker for assignment and activate fellow outfielder Brandon Guyer from the 15-day disabled list, reports Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times (via Twitter).

Decker, 26, was brought up from Triple-A earlier this season due largely to a deluge of injuries incurred by Rays outfielders — Kevin Kiermaier, Steven Souza and Mikie Mahtook were all on the disabled list alongside Guyer — and received 32 plate appearances with Tampa Bay. The former No. 42 overall pick (Padres, 2008) batted .138/.219/.138 in that brief sample. Decker has been a considerably better performer than that at the Triple-A level, where he owns a .264/.365/.396 batting line in 1321 plate appearances. That production has never carried over to the Majors, though, where Decker is a career .159/.267/.227 batter in 104 trips to the dish.

The flailing Rays should be quite pleased to get Guyer back into their lineup, as the 30-year-old was in the midst of a career year before landing on the DL earlier this month with a hamstring strain. In 168 PAs this season, Guyer is batting .271/.365/.472 with six homers and 11 doubles.

AL Notes: Angels, BoSox, Twins, Rays

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Pirates third baseman David Freese spoke fondly of his two-year tenure with the Angels on Sunday and told reporters, including Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register, that he had hoped to re-sign with them last offseason. “I wanted to be an Angel. I can’t hide that,” stated Freese, who was an Angel from 2014-15. “From Day 1, I wanted to come back. I loved the guys. We had unfinished business. It just didn’t happen.” Freese said that he and the Angels discussed a return, but the team never actually made an offer. The Angels instead acquired Yunel Escobar, leaving Freese to eventually sign with Pittsburgh. Freese hit a decent .258/.322/.401 and accounted for 4.3 fWAR in 981 plate appearances with the Halos.

Elsewhere around the American League…

  • Red Sox catcher/left fielder Blake Swihart landed on the disabled list earlier today with a left ankle sprain, and manager John Farrell revealed that he won’t be back within the 15-day window. Farrell called the sprain “severe” and added that Swihart will be immobilized for two weeks, Michael Silverman of the Boston Herald was among those to report (Twitter link). With fellow left field option Brock Holt also out, the Red Sox are down to Chris Young and Rusney Castillo at the position.
  • Twins infielder Eduardo Nunez has hit a terrific .331/.359/.497 with six home runs in 193 trips to the plate this season, but manager Paul Molitor isn’t sold on the 28-year-old as an everyday long-term option for the club (via Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com). “It’s a slippery slope as far as projecting a guy into that role who has played well for a couple months,” said Molitor. “If you base it on how he’s performed, it’s easy to speculate he could be one of those guys who sheds the role as a utility guy. But I think it’s too early for that.” This has easily been Nunez’s best season in an otherwise unremarkable career since he broke into the majors with the Yankees in 2010, so Molitor’s position is certainly understandable. Nunez, to his credit, has been far better in Minnesota than he was in New York, though. Since joining the Twins in 2014, Nunez has batted .286/.318/.435 with 14 homers in 607 PAs, also chipping in 28 steals.
  • The Rays placed outfielder Brandon Guyer on the 15-day disabled list with a left hamstring strain Sunday and recalled infielder Nick Franklin from Triple-A Durham, Bill Chastain of MLB.com was among those to report (Twitter link). Guyer is now the second notable Rays outfielder to hit the DL in recent weeks, joining center fielder Kevin Kiermaier. The 30-year-old had gotten off to an excellent start pre-injury, evidenced by his .271/.365/.472 batting line in 168 PAs, and helped his cause by reaching base 15 times via the hit by pitch. That’s nothing new for Guyer, whom opposing pitchers have struck a combined 50 times since he started seeing extensive big league action in 2014. Franklin, a former well-regarded prospect with the Mariners, has spent this year in the minors after hitting an unsightly .158/.213/.307 in 109 PAs with the Rays last season.
  • Speaking of the Rays, they entered play Sunday with the second-worst record in the AL, and Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times offered some potential ways the team could save its season before it slips away. Among Topkin’s suggestions: Cut $3.3MM outfielder Desmond Jennings loose or demote him to Durham (either option could be difficult now with the Rays’ depth already having taken multiple hits), promote top pitching prospect Blake Snell and find an outside catcher solution – even if it means surrendering a significant haul for Brewers backstop Jonathan Lucroy.

AL East Notes: Red Sox, Orioles, Rays

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Red Sox president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski issued a public vote of confidence to manager John Farrell on Friday, writes Jason Mastrodonato of the Boston Herald. “I think John Farrell has done a fine job managing our team,” Dombrowski said. “The only thing I would tell him is the same I would tell any manager: You need to manage with your conviction. Whatever you believe is the right move, you’re the one who is most knowledgeable in the case, and you do what you think is the right thing to do.” The Red Sox won the World Series under Farrell in 2013, but they’ve endured back-to-back sub-.500 seasons since and are a so-so 8-8 this year, leading to calls for his ouster from the team’s fan base. Mastrodonato defends Farrell by pointing out that the Red Sox have played disciplined baseball under him this season (they entered Friday with only six errors and just one caught stealing, as the writer notes). Further, Farrell was right to award Travis Shaw and Brock Holt the third base and left field jobs over Pablo Sandoval and Rusney Castillo, respectively, and has handled the team’s various personalities well – including Hanley Ramirez’s – Mastrodonato offers.

Here’s more from Boston and two of its American League East rivals:

  • Red Sox starters are currently toward the bottom of the league in ERA (5.38) and FIP (4.52), and if the team is looking for outside rotation help around July’s trade deadline, Mastrodonato lists five potential options: Jered Weaver (Angels), Mat Latos (White Sox), James Shields (Padres), Andrew Cashner (Padres) and Scott Kazmir (Dodgers). Of that group, only Shields and Kazmir are signed beyond this season, but both have opt-outs in their contracts at the end of the year. Barring an unexpected fall from contention by the Dodgers, Kazmir seems unlikely to be dealt. If the White Sox continue their winning ways, Latos probably won’t end up on the block, either. In the immediate future, the forthcoming return of lefty Eduardo Rodriguez from a knee injury should buoy the Red Sox’s rotation.
  • There was a report that Orioles right-hander Yovani Gallardo would see team orthopedist Dr. Mike Jacobs regarding his injured shoulder on Saturday. That examination will actually take place today, according to Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com. An MRI should offer more clarity on the status of Gallardo, who landed on the 15-day disabled list Saturday with tendinitis.
  • With Gallardo on the shelf for at least two weeks, the Orioles need another starter. They may have found a temporary solution in righty Tyler Wilson, who threw five innings of three-run ball in an 8-3 win over Kansas City on Saturday and impressed manager Buck Showalter in the process. “Things don’t seem to bother him mentally. He’s very mentally strong and that bodes well up here,” Showalter told reporters, including Brittany Ghiroli of MLB.com. Showalter indicated that Wilson will start again, per Ghiroli. Wilson, who had been in the Orioles’ bullpen until Saturday, made five big league starts last season and put up a 4.32 ERA/4.05 FIP/5.01 xFIP in 25 innings.
  • Rays outfielder Brandon Guyer was hit by a pitch a major league-record-tying three times Thursday, a feat that had only been accomplished on 22 previous occasions. Guyer also did it once last year, when he was hit an American League-leading 24 times. Guyer, who has already been hit by five pitches this year, told David Laurila of FanGraphs that there isn’t a special skill involved. “There’s no art to it. I promise,” he said. “It’s not something I’m out there looking to do, it just happens. I don’t know how to get out of the way. It’s just instinctual that I don’t move. I’m not afraid.” Thanks in part to his fearlessness, Guyer got on base an impressive 35.9 percent of the time in 385 plate appearances in 2015 and has a tremendous .485 OBP in 33 PAs this season.

Rays Notes: Cobb, Whitley, Rotation, Outfield, Loney

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Rays pitcher Alex Cobb is targeting a late July return from Tommy John surgery, writes Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. Cobb went under the knife in mid-May of last season. This reported time table puts him on a typical 14 to 15 month pace. Cobb last pitched in 2014 when he posted a 2.87 ERA with 8.06 K/9, 2.54 BB/9 and a 56 percent ground ball rate.

  • Waiver claim Chase Whitley is on a similar return schedule to Cobb. Whitley’s surgery came a few days after Cobb so it’s possible he won’t be ready until early August. While Cobb has a borderline ace ceiling, Whitley has performed more like a swingman. In 95 career innings, he has a 5.02 ERA with 7.20 K/9 and 2.18 BB/9. Interestingly, his peripherals suggest the potential for a sub-4.00 ERA.
  • While they recover, the rotation is a little thin if injuries strike. The team is already relying upon Matt Moore and Drew Smyly – both of whom have missed significant time in recent seasons. Matt Andriese is one of the main depth options with top prospect Blake Snell knocking on the door.
  • Topkin also runs through the position battles at other positions. Outfield is a spot to watch for our readers. The club is particularly deep. Trade acquisition Corey Dickerson is expected to be the primary designated hitter with Desmond Jennings in left, Kevin Kiermaier in center, Steven Souza in right, and Brandon Guyer in a reserve role. Injuries or a trade opportunity could quickly mutate the plans.
  • The Rays problems are of the “good” variety, Topkin writes in a separate piece. Most of the roster is crowded with the exception of the bullpen where options can emerge unexpectedly. With their depth, future transactions in the outfield and at first base are possible. The team has been shopping James Loney for awhile now. He’s owed $8MM for this season.

Quick Hits: Bell, Linares, Puig, Jackson, Rays

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The big ticket free agents aren’t always the most important offseason additions, writes AJ Cassavell of MLB.com. Using the Steamer projection system, Cassavell takes a look at the six players he thinks will most affect their respective divisions. Yankees closer Aroldis Chapman and Cubs center fielder Jason Heyward are obvious picks. Surprisingly, Cassavell finds Mike Napoli to be the big name in the AL Central while Wade Miley’s move to Seattle could be sneaky important.

Here are a few more notes from around the league:

  • Cuban veterans Alexei Bell and Yordanis Linares will hold workouts on February 15 and 16 in Baja California, tweets Jesse Sanchez of MLB.com. Bell, 32, was reported to have left Cuba on January 13 and could fit as a right fielder. Linares’ defection was reported last summer. The 26-year-old doesn’t have enough professional experience in the Serie Nacional to avoid international spending restrictions. Bell, however, can be signed by any team.
  • The White Sox should target Yasiel Puig, opines Scott Merkin of MLB.com. Chicago has shown curiosity about the Dodgers outfield depth and could obviously stand to improve in the outfield. Rumors have tied them to veteran lefty Andre Ethier who could provide a useful platoon bat. However, Puig represents a more definitive upgrade with a star ceiling. Unfortunately, young talent comes with a price. Merkin lists pitchers Carson Fulmer, Spencer Adams, and shortstop Tim Anderson as possible targets for the Dodgers. Trading any of that trio would be a bitter pill to swallow.
  • The Indians could be a fit for free agent outfielder Austin Jackson, suggest Paul Hoynes of Cleveland.com. Center field depth would be useful considering that Michael Brantley will start the season on the disabled list. Lonnie Chisenhall, Rajai Davis, and Abraham Almonte figure to form the Opening Day outfield, and it’s not hard to see a way to improve upon that trio. At the very least, additional depth in case of injury would be valuable.
  • The Rays should consider three more offseason moves, writes Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. The bullpen could use additional depth – perhaps Tyler Clippard or Tommy Hunter. Either Desmond Jennings or Brandon Guyer can be traded. The team is deepest with them on the roster, but they may be expendable. Jennings’ health may make a trade difficult. Lastly, Ian Desmond looks more and more attractive as a buy low option. The Rays have to be willing to discard their 13th overall selection in the draft if they’re to sign Desmond.
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