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Indians Are “Distinct Favorites” For Jonathan Lucroy; Mets, Rangers Out

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10:40pm: The Indians are the “distinct favorites” to acquire Lucroy from the Brewers, reports Yahoo’s Jeff Passan (on Twitter), who adds that the Mets and Rangers are “out” on Lucroy.

7:58pm: A mystery team remains in the mix for Lucroy, according to Heyman (Twitter link). The unknown team is not on Lucroy’s no-trade list, he adds. Rosenthal hears the same, tweeting that there’s a third team in play along with the Indians and Mets.

5:05pm: The Rangers are out on Lucroy and the Mets didn’t make any headway on talks with the Brewers today, per ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick (Twitter links). Cleveland is looking more and more like the favorite, he notes.

4:40pm: The Brewers are “getting close” to a Lucroy trade, and the Indians are still in the mix, tweets Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer. Notably, Cleveland is on Lucroy’s no-trade list, though it’s not clear how much (if at all) that fact would impede talks. Lucroy has stated his desire to play for a winning club multiple times this year, and Cleveland has a 4.5 game lead on the AL Central.

4:34pm: Rosenthal tweets that a pair of rival general managers believe the Indians to be the front-runners for Lucroy. Rosenthal mentions Class-A catcher Francisco Mejia as a possible component in a Lucroy package.

3:43pm: Manager Craig Counsell tells reporters that GM David Stearns is “progressing” on a Lucroy trade (Twitter link via MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy). USA Today’s Bob Nightengale tweets that there is a “strong sense” among some Brewers officials that Lucroy has played his final game for the team.

3:31pm: Lucroy isn’t in the lineup tonight, and Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel tweets that he is not playing because he is being discussed in trades.

2:00pm: The Mets have made a three-player offer to the Brewers in a bid to land catcher Jonathan Lucroy, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reports on Twitter. That package would be centered around current Mets receiver Travis d’Arnaud, with outfielder Brandon Nimmo or a “comparable” player constituting the second player on offer.

Previous reports had suggested that New York fell shy in its initial bid for Lucroy, which reportedly also was built on the talented but fragile d’Arnaud. He comes with three years of arb control and has long been regarded as a top catching prospect, so Milwaukee would be swapping in a longer-term solution behind the plate — if it believes in him.

Though d’Arnaud has showed his talent at times, he has also already been shelved with injuries at times and hasn’t yet put it all together at the plate. After a strong showing in 2015, d’Arnaud has fallen back to a .238/.291/.323 batting line with a pair of home runs in his 141 plate appearances this season.

As for Nimmo, Joel Sherman of the New York Post tweets that Milwaukee is “fond” of the 23-year-old, who has reached the majors for the first time this year. He hasn’t shown much in his brief action in the bigs, but has enjoyed something of a breakout year at Triple-A, where he owns a .336/.409/.517 slash that dwarfs his prior output while rising through the system.

There certainly appear to be many other teams still in pursuit of Lucroy. The Brewers reportedly asked interested teams to submit bids for the outstanding receiver, whose highly favorable contract includes another year of cheap control. Lucroy received plenty of attention in the rumor mill yesterday, with a range of teams — including those of the mysterious variety — said to be sniffing around.

It’s not yet clear, though, what kinds of offers Milwaukee has fielded from other organizations. The club has placed an understandably high asking price on a player who is one of the best in the majors at a premium defensive position. There may not be any single team that has a desperate need for him, but as the Mets’ interest shows, clubs looking for ways to make and succeed in the postseason always have cause to pursue upgrades, and Lucroy is the type of player who can push out even a perfectly solid regular.

Mets To Promote Brandon Nimmo, Will Option Michael Conforto

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The Mets will promote outfield prospect Brandon Nimmo, Jeremiah Johnke of the Wyoming Tribune Eagle (Nimmo’s hometown paper) tweets. He will take the roster spot of Michael Conforto, who will be optioned to Triple-A Las Vegas, as MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo tweets.

[Related: Updated Mets Depth Chart]

Nimmo, the 13th overall pick in the 2011 draft, has moved slowly through the minor leagues, but he’s done well in his second season at Las Vegas this year, batting .328/.409/.508 — solid numbers even in a very good environment for hitters. MLB.com currently ranks Nimmo the Mets’ fourth-best prospect, praising his batting eye (he has 290 career minor league walks against 454 strikeouts) but noting that it remains to be seen whether the power he’s demonstrated in batting practice will begin to turn up in games. (He has just five homers this season, although he does have 16 doubles and seven triples.) Nimmo might require a move to a corner spot eventually, but for now he’s a center fielder, having played 48 games there so far in 2016. It’s unclear how the Mets will use him, although their current primary center fielder, Yoenis Cespedes, hasn’t rated well at that position this season and has more career games in left.

Conforto’s demotion, meanwhile, must come as a disappointment for both player and team. He burst onto the scene last year as a rookie and actually hasn’t hit terribly this season overall, with his 24 extra-base hits mostly compensating for his poor .222 average. He has struggled horribly of late, however, with just a .399 OPS in the last 28 days, and could perhaps use a stay in Las Vegas to fix what isn’t working. Conforto skipped Triple-A completely on his way to the big leagues last year, so he’ll get his first experience at the level in the coming weeks.

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

Mets Notes: Cuddyer, Conforto, Trade Targets

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The Mets are currently squared off with the Nationals in a key mid-season match-up. Despite entering the series just two games back in the division, New York faces a lot of scrutiny due to its scuffling offense.

Here’s the latest:

  • Michael Cuddyer’s knee problems are an increasing concern for the Mets, as Marc Carig of Newsday reports. If one final effort at managing the pain proves unsuccessful, Cuddyer will likely hit the DL. An extended absence from the club’s major offseason acquisition would only increase the team’s already pressing need for offense.
  • Of course, any missed time from Cuddyer will also increase calls for the team to promote well-regarded outfield prospect Michael Conforto. But as Andy Martino of the New York Daily News reports, that move remains unlikely. There is at least some consideration being given to a call-up, but the club does not believe that the second-year professional is the answer it is looking for right now. As Mike Puma of the New York Post explains on Twitter, the lack of viable alternatives at the Triple-A level means it is necessary to entertain the thought if Cuddyer has to go on the DL.
  • All said, it seems as if GM Sandy Alderson is looking more for complimentary pieces than “one transformational bat,” according to Carig (Twitter links). That is reflected, to some extent, in the identity of the young players that internal and external executives see as being viable trade pieces. Per Carig, New York has little stomach for moving its most prized pre-MLB position talent (Conforto and shortstop Amed Rosario), but might be willing to deal well-regarded youngsters (and top-ten MLB.com organizational prospects) Brandon Nimmo, Gavin Cecchini, Jhoan Urena, and Matt Reynolds (among others).
  • There are any number of outfielders that could be available to the Mets, but Joel Sherman of the New York Post says that one name to consider is Ryan Raburn of the Indians. Per Sherman, Cleveland is interested in picking up younger bats if it moves Raburn and/or fellow part-time Indians outfielder David Murphy. While the Mets prefer the idea of adding a Ben Zobrist-type super-utility player or a left-handed-hitting player capable of manning center — Sherman mentions Gerardo Parra — Raburn may be a more practicable target given his manageable salary and likely reasonable prospect cost.

Mets Not Anxious To Trade Jon Niese

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The Mets view prospects such as center fielder Brandon Nimmo, shortstop Gavin Cecchini, and right-hander Michael Fulmer as trade chips in a possible deal, Mike Puma of the New York Post tweets. Meanwhile, Puma also hears that the Mets are not anxious to move Jon Niese since they may need his innings going forward.  Marc Carig of Newsday (on Twitter) hears that the Mets feel they have enough talent in the system to get help at the deadline.

On Sunday morning, Cafardo wrote that there’s currently a feeling in the organization that the Mets will make a move for a hitter in the coming days with Niese being the outgoing asset.  Niese has been pitching well as of late, but that hasn’t sold everyone.

“It changes nothing for me,” an NL exec told Andy Martino of the New York Daily News. “Stuff has gotten lighter every year. The Mets are going to tell everyone it’s as good as ever to keep trade value high.” 

Nimmo, 22, was the Mets’ No. 13 overall pick in the 2011 draft.  The center fielder has spent the bulk of the year in Double-A Binghamton and has hit .284/.346/.373 in 260 plate appearances.  Coming into the year, Nimmo was ranked as the No. 45 prospect in the country by Baseball America while Fulmer was rated No. 98.  All three prospects are former first-round selections.

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