Dan Straily

Quick Hits: C. Martinez, Rangers, Straily, Mercer

By Connor Byrne | June 20, 2019 at 9:47am CDT

Cardinals right-hander Carlos Martinez has been a highly capable starter for most of tenure with the club, which dates back to 2013. But the Cardinals moved the then-injured Martinez to their bullpen in late April, and that’s where he’s going to stay for the time being, per manager Mike Shildt (via Rick Hummel of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch). Shildt suggested the Cardinals don’t have time to build up Martinez, who opened the season on the injured list with shoulder problems. “To put him back in that cycle again doesn’t make a lot of sense when he’s in a spot where he’s had success and he’s recovering,” Shildt said of Martinez, who has totaled 12 appearances and 13 1/3 innings with a 3.38 ERA/3.47 FIP, 8.1 K/9, 2.7 BB/9 and a 58.3 percent groundball rate since he made his season debut May 18. Even though Martinez has posted good numbers as a reliever, the Cardinals’ rotation has missed the 27-year-old. Their starting staff has been mediocre or worse this season.

Here’s more from around the majors…

The Rangers were planning on giving left-hander Joe Palumbo a chance to audition for a role in their thin rotation, but that may not be the case anymore, Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News writes. The 22-year-old Palumbo has started twice, including in Wednesday’s 10-4 drubbing at the hands of the Indians. The Tribe lit up Palumbo for seven earned runs on six hits (two home runs) in two innings. Reliever Jesse Chavez came in after Palumbo and tossed five innings of one-run ball. Although Chavez, 35, hasn’t started extensively since 2017, the Rangers are so hard up for stability in the back of their rotation that they’ll “consider” shifting him there, manager Chris Woodward said.
Orioles righty Dan Straily’s place on the team’s roster may be in jeopardy, Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com suggests. The low-risk flier the club took on Straily on April 5, a little over a week after the Marlins released him, hasn’t worked out to this point. Straily, 30, was coming off a multiyear run as a useful starter when he joined Baltimore, yet he has worked to a hideous 9.82 ERA/9.30 FIP in 47 2/3 innings since then. While Straily began 2019 as a starter, his struggles convinced the O’s to demote him to their bullpen nearly a month ago. Straily has fared even worse in that role.
Injured Tigers shortstop Jordy Mercer is nearing a rehab assignment and could return to the majors by the first week of July, according to manager Ron Gardenhire (via Chris McCosky of the Detroit News). Mercer, out since April 14 with a right quad strain, already began a rehab stint once. However, he suffered a setback three weeks ago and hasn’t returned to game action yet. When the rebuilding Tigers signed the soon-to-be 33-year-old Mercer to a $5.25MM guarantee in the offseason, they were likely hoping he’d perform well enough to emerge as a summer trade chip. Instead, the former Pirate got off to a brutal start – .206/.275/.317 (55 wRC+) in 69 plate appearances – and hasn’t played since.

Orioles Move Dan Straily To Bullpen

By Jeff Todd | May 24, 2019 at 8:12pm CDT

Righty Dan Straily is being shifted into the bullpen, the Orioles informed reporters including Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com (via Twitter). It isn’t yet known who’ll step into his spot in the rotation.

This move wasn’t hard to see coming. The O’s added Straily for a low price at the outset of the year, with the idea that he’d help solidify the rotation. Unfortunately, that has just not happened.

While the 30-year-old has been a sturdy rotation piece for several years now, he has been drubbed in Baltimore. Over 34 2/3 innings, he carries a 9.09 ERA with just 18 strikeouts against 17 walks. Opposing hitters have already launched 14 long balls.

Straily is living outside of the zone (career-low 38.8%) in an effort to avoid that hard contact. He’s struggling to get swinging strikes (career-low 7.3%). Opposing hitters are putting the ball in the air against him more than ever before, with 20.6% of those flies leaving the yard.

While the O’s don’t have any particularly compelling replacement options, they are said to be browsing the market for pitching depth. If they can’t find a new arm quickly, they’ll need to look internally for at least one start. Just-claimed hurler Chandler Shepherd is one possibility. 40-man members Josh Rogers, Jimmy Yacabonis, and Luis Ortiz are also presently working at Triple-A. Southpaw Keegan Akin is there as well. He’s perhaps the most intriguing possibility, but would need a 40-man spot to be promoted.

Quick Hits: Epstein, Cubs, Hunter, Straily, Japan

By Mark Polishuk | April 6, 2019 at 11:14pm CDT

After a 1-6 start to the Cubs’ season, Chicago fans are already pointing fingers in many directions, including criticism of ownership for not greenlighting more offseason spending, or of the team’s desultory pitching performance. President of baseball operations Theo Epstein, however, told ESPN.com’s Jesse Rogers and other reporters that the blame falls with him. “There is always a search for scapegoats when you get off to a tough start. [Pitching coach] Tommy Hottovy is not the problem. He’s a big part of the solution,” Epstein said. “[Owner] Tom Ricketts is not the problem. It’s not a resource issue. I know he’s another one that’s been taking a lot of heat. It’s not a resource problem. If people have a problem with the allocation of resources, then that’s on me. And it has been ever since I got here, with a lot of good and some bad.”

While it’s obviously still early in the season, the Cubs are already facing a big deficit in the NL Central due to the Brewers’ 7-1 start, as Rogers notes. The Cubs can make up some of that ground in their ongoing series with Milwaukee, plus there’s also really nowhere to go but up after this opening week. “It’s been real close to, if not, a worst-case scenario for us, defensively and in terms of our pitching….We’re sorry we’re putting our fans through this,” Epstein said.

Some more from around the National League…

Phillies reliever Tommy Hunter has been shut down from throwing after receiving a PRP injection in his right arm. (MLB.com’s Todd Zolecki was among those to report the news.) Hunter won’t resume throwing for three weeks, so factoring in those days plus the time Hunter would require to get into game readiness after missing much of Spring Training, the veteran righty might not be back in the Philadelphia bullpen until late May or perhaps early June. A flexor strain sidelined Hunter during the spring, and while the injury wasn’t thought to be overly serious at the time, it will result in a lengthy absence for the 32-year-old. Hunter was a solid contributor for the Phils last season, posting a 3.80 ERA, 3.40 K/BB rate, and 7.2 K/9 over 64 relief innings in the first year of a two-year, $18MM contract.
The Rangers and Blue Jays were two of the teams that had interest in Dan Straily before the right-hander signed with the Orioles last week, MLB Network’s Jon Heyman reports (Twitter link). Both Texas and Toronto are dealing with rotation injuries, though the Rangers had a more immediate need for starting help now that Edinson Volquez has been sidelined with a UCL injury.
Japan used to be seen as something of a last resort for players that couldn’t crack the Major Leagues, though as The Athletic’s Peter Gammons writes (subscription required), more and more players are returning from stints in Nippon Professional Baseball capable of thriving at the MLB level. Colby Lewis, Ryan Vogelsong, Miles Mikolas, and Ryan Brasier are some of the pitchers who revived or kickstarted their careers while playing in Japan, which some players and executives feel is a more conducive environment than Triple-A. NPB not only offers a higher level of competition, but just competition in general — players are playing to win in pressurized games in front of large crowds, rather than the more developmental nature of the minor leagues. Plus, players can earn much more in guaranteed NPB deals than in playing for meager minor league salaries or even minimum-level Major League contracts, and the extra security allows more focus on performance. “I’m not looking over my shoulder after every outing,” said Frank Herrmann, who is in his third season as a star reliever for Rakuten Golden Eagles after tossing 135 1/3 innings for the Indians and Phillies between 2010-16. “When you are that ’4A guy,’ a bad outing or even an extra-inning game in which you did your job could potentially be a demotion to the minors. That’s a grind mentality.”

Orioles Sign Dan Straily

By Jeff Todd | April 5, 2019 at 3:42pm CDT

4:53pm: Baltimore announced the signing. Rule 5 pick Drew Jackson was designated for assignment to create roster space.

Jackson, 25, will be offered back to the Dodgers if he clears waivers. He had not appeared above the Double-A level prior to his brief stint with the O’s. Jackson slashed .251/.356/.447 with 15 home runs in 410 Double-A plate appearances last year.

3:42pm: The Orioles have agreed to a MLB deal with righty Dan Straily, as first reported on a transactional website that declines attribution. The deal comes with a $575K salary along with a $250K trade bonus, per Craig Mish of MLB Network Radio on Sirius XM (Twitter link).

This move will help the O’s fill some innings and give Straily a sure rotation spot as he seeks to rebuild some value. Straily was cut loose late in camp by the Marlins, who are obligated to him for 45 days of severance pay on his previously agreed-upon, $5MM arbitration salary — about $1.21MM.

Straily, 30, has rarely been a high-end producer but has steadily eaten innings while providing solid results. Through 495 1/3 frames over the past three seasons, he carries a 4.03 ERA with 7.8 K/9 and 3.4 BB/9. Straily gives up too many home runs and has typically outperformed his peripherals. He has long generated a solid number of swinging strikes (10.8% for his career), but declined in that area last year while also seeing a worrying jump in hard contact. Long an extreme flyball pitcher, Straily will face a big challenge in Orioles Park.

Contenders that find themselves with a rotation opening and little in the way of cash to work with may see some appeal in Straily come late July. It’s not hard to imagine him turning into something of a trade deadline chip for the O’s, who’ll no doubt be willing to strike a deal if there’s any kind of intriguing return to be found. That possibility was obviously foreseen by both sides, given the inclusion of an unusually hefty (for this level of signing) assignment bonus.

AL Central Notes: Royals, Bailey, Twins, ChiSox

By Steve Adams | April 1, 2019 at 11:45am CDT

The Royals are still listing Wednesday’s starter as TBA, but the nod will likely go to former Reds right-hander Homer Bailey, Jeffrey Flanagan of MLB.com reports. Bailey threw in a minor league game late last week and built up to 6 1/3 innings, and he was already in the team’s clubhouse over the weekend. Flanagan further tweets that the Royals have at least discussed the possibility of pursuing recently released Marlins right-hander Dan Straily or recently designated Reds lefty Brandon Finnegan (a former Royals first-round pick), but neither move is likely to come to fruition. The organization, it would seem, is committed to giving Bailey a look with its lone open 40-man roster spot. It’s hard to imagine that a team in the Royals’ position couldn’t clear some additional 40-man room should they see fit, so perhaps the organization simply isn’t that interested in either Straily or Finnegan.

Dan Straily Reportedly Weighing Multiple Offers

By Steve Adams | March 28, 2019 at 10:07pm CDT

Recently released Marlins right-hander Dan Straily has received big league offers from three American League teams, per MLB Network’s Jon Heyman (Twitter link). Some clubs have been willing to promise a rotation spot to the 30-year-old Straily, who’ll take the next week or so to mull those and any other offers that arise with his family and his representatives.

Miami’s decision to release Straily registered as somewhat of a surprise. Miami had reportedly sought to trade Straily for much of the offseason but found no takers at his $5MM price point, it seems. Rather than opening the season with the 30-year-old holding down a starting job and then looking for early opportunities to move him, the Fish instead simply opted to cut Straily loose, eating about $1.21MM of his non-guaranteed arbitration salary in the process. Straily will take home that salary no matter what, and he’ll earn whatever sum a new organization is willing to pay him on top of that figure.

Straily struggled through a rough spring but has generally been a solid back-of-the-rotation arm for the Reds and Marlins across the past three seasons, pitching to a combined 4.03 ERA with 7.8 K/9, 3.4 BB/9 and 1.5 HR/9 in 495 1/3 innings. He’s an extreme fly-ball pitcher, which has led to frequent issues with the long ball, but Straily typically misses bats at an average or better rate and also generates a large number of infield flies.

Several teams throughout the American League could speculatively make sense for Straily. The Athletics are piecing things together at the back of their rotation, while the Angels have been perennially clobbered by injuries and are currently uncertain about the status of Andrew Heaney’s elbow. A rebuilding club like the Orioles could easily accommodate Straily, though he may prefer to head to a club with at least some semblance of postseason aspirations now that he’s choosing his destination. There are, of course, numerous clubs in the National League who could benefit from swapping out Straily for their current fifth option as well.

When Straily does sign, he’ll be an option not only for the remainder of the 2019 season but also the 2020 campaign. Because he has four years, 126 days of big league service time under his belt, Straily won’t qualify as a free agent at season’s end and would be controllable for another season via the arbitration process.

Marlins Release Dan Straily

By Steve Adams | March 25, 2019 at 8:44am CDT

8:44am: Marlins president of baseball operations Michael Hill announced to reporters that Straily has been released by the organization (Twitter link via Joe Frisaro of MLB.com). Mish tweets that Straily is going on release waivers today, meaning he’ll become a free agent if he clears on Wednesday at 1pm ET. Assuming that happens, he’ll receive the aforementioned 45 days’ termination pay and can can sign with any club for any amount of money (on top of that termination pay from Miami).

7:52am: In a fairly surprising move, the Marlins have designated right-hander Dan Straily for assignment, according to Craig Mish of SiriusXM (all Twitter links). The Marlins will now have a week to trade him or release him. Left-hander Caleb Smith has made the Marlins’ Opening Day rotation in what was expected to be Straily’s spot, Mish adds.

Straily, 30, was acquired from the Reds in a January 2017 trade that cost the Marlins right-hander Luis Castillo (along with the since-reacquired righty Austin Brice and minor league outfielder Zeek White). Straily made 33 starts for Miami in his first year with the club and tallied another 23 starts for the Fish in a 2018 season that was slowed a bit by a forearm strain early in the year. In all, he gave the Marlins 304 innings of 4.20 ERA ball with averages of 8.0 strikeouts, 3.3 walks and 1.5 homers allowed per nine innings pitched.

On the heels of that output, Miami and Straily agreed to a $5MM salary earlier this winter, avoiding arbitration in the process. Today’s DFA will save the Marlins about $3.8MM of that $5MM sum, as even if Straily is released, the organization would only owe him 45 days’ termination pay (roughly $1.2MM). Ultimately, those cost savings were surely at the heart of the move. There’s little doubt that Straily is a better option for the Miami pitching staff than fellow veteran Wei-Yin Chen, but Miami will retain Chen and his fully guaranteed $20MM salary and instead part ways with a veteran arm whose salary was only partially guaranteed.

Miami has reportedly been exploring trades for Straily all offseason, including prior to tendering him at that $5MM rate, but without any success. As such, it may be difficult for them to find a partner in the coming days, though perhaps a club with injury issues in its rotation will have some interest — if not via trade then via straight waiver claim. Straily did rank in the 70th percentile of MLB pitchers in terms of fastball spin and in the 80th percentile in terms of curveball spin, so he could hold particular appeal to clubs that emphasize spin rate. If he goes unclaimed, Straily will become a free agent who is eligible to sign with any club for any amount of money while still pocketing the $1.2MM owed to him by Miami.

As for the Marlins, they’ll now trot out a younger rotation consisting of Jose Urena, Trevor Richards, Pablo Lopez, Sandy Alcantara and Smith, with Chen lined up as the long man in the bullpen. Elieser Hernandez, Jeff Brigham and Jordan Yamamoto are all on the 40-man roster as depth options.

Developmentally speaking, one can hardly fault the rebuilding Marlins for wanting to give as many of their growing stable of arms an opportunity as possible, though the fact that doing so now means paying a reasonably useful Major League arm to pitch somewhere else is hardly ideal. The truly questionable element of the whole equation will be the decision to tender Straily in the first place a youth movement was always the preferred route for the rotation. Presumably, though, when that decision was due in early December, Miami still had confidence in its ability to find a trade partner.

NL East Notes: McNeil, Marlins, Braves

By Steve Adams | January 18, 2019 at 11:43am CDT

The Mets’ additions of Robinson Cano and Jed Lowrie have eaten up most of the infield at-bats that would’ve otherwise gone to breakout 2018 rookie Jeff McNeil, writes Anthony DiComo in his latest inbox column. As such, McNeil now looks outfield bound in 2019 — a role he’s only played in a total of nine minor league games. While Brandon Nimmo and Michael Conforto are locked into outfield spots — likely in center and right field — McNeil will join Juan Lagares and Keon Broxton in the mix for additional outfield playing time. (Yoenis Cespedes’ status for the 2019 season is uncertain following surgery on both heels.) It’s curious to see McNeil to a more limited role after the 26-year-old burst onto the scene with a .329/.381/.471 slash in 248 plate appearances, though surely the organization feels its depth on the position player side is formidable. For those wondering, DiComo notes that Todd Frazier isn’t likely to be moved coming off a career-worst year, adding that GM Brodie Van Wagenen indicated Frazier is expected to receive regular at-bats at the infield corners. It’s somewhat curious, then, that the Mets chose to deepen their infield mix with Lowrie rather than add a reliever like Adam Ottavino, who agreed to a $9MM annual salary on a three-year deal with the Yankees yesterday.

Here’s more from the National League East…

Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald provides an update on a sleepy Marlins offseason, explaining that the club is still waiting for some bigger things to fall into place before adding to its roster. Beyond the obvious fact that the rebuilding club is waiting to see what players might fall through the cracks in free agency, the Marlins are not particularly interested in making moves before lining up a hopeful trade involving star catcher J.T. Realmuto. That deal could return some MLB pieces, which would dictate the team’s further needs. Jackson also reports that Miami would like to add a lefty bat who can play both the infield and the outfield — a perplexing target considering the fact that the Marlins cut Derek Dietrich, who fits that description to a tee, rather than pay him a projected $4.8MM salary. Jackson again notes that right-hander Dan Straily is available, though Miami isn’t shopping him and would be happy to have him in the rotation in 2019 if a solid offer doesn’t materialize.
The Braves likely wouldn’t offer Craig Kimbrel more than three years to bring him back to Atlanta, writes Mark Bowman of MLB.com, and even then, the average annual value Kimbrel figures to seek could prove prohibitive. The outfield and the rotation, it seems, are still larger priorities for Atlanta decision-makers. Bowman notes that the Braves have not pursued Adam Jones in free agency despite a clear corner outfield opening, instead citing Nick Markakis as the likeliest free agent for the team to pursue.

NL East Rumors: Rendon, deGrom, Straily

By Steve Adams | January 14, 2019 at 10:06am CDT

It’s well known that the Nationals hope to work out a long-term deal with third baseman Anthony Rendon before he reaches free agency next winter, and Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic wrote over the weekend (subscription required) that Rendon and agent Scott Boras have been eyeing something in the vicinity of Jose Altuve’s extension from a year ago. Altuve was already under contract for two years and $12.5MM at the time he signed for an additional five years and $151MM, which brought his current contract to a total of $163.5MM over seven years. The Nats are already just a few million dollars shy of the luxury tax threshold, and bumping Rendon’s annual value from the reported $18.8MM figure to which he agreed on Friday would likely take them over the limit. The Nats have been willing to exceed that threshold for Bryce Harper, however, and perhaps the allure of keeping Rendon from reaching the open market would be incentive enough to do the same. As Rosenthal explores, the two situations are also somewhat related, as fitting both players onto the payroll would come with luxury repercussions — even when factoring in the likely stream of subsequent moves that would follow a new contract for Harper (e.g. trading a current outfielder).

NL Notes: LeMahieu, Marlins, Straily, Hill

By Mark Polishuk | January 13, 2019 at 10:52pm CDT

Some items from around the Senior Circuit…

The Marlins had some interest in free agent second baseman DJ LeMahieu, The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal reports (via Twitter), though talks “never got close” between the two sides. It’s surprising to see the rebuilding Marlins make a play in any sort of veteran this offseason, though as Rosenthal puts it, Miami saw LeMahieu as an “undervalued asset at potential below-market price.” While it took until early January for LeMahieu to land his two-year, $24MM deal from the Yankees, the second baseman still had a pretty robust market, with multiple teams (including the Giants, Nationals, Dodgers, and Athletics) showing interest in his services. It stands to reason that several others at least checked in, as the Yankees hadn’t been linked to LeMahieu before their deal was announced and Miami was certainly off the radar as a potential candidate. LeMahieu’s $24MM total also topped MLBTR’s prediction of a two-year, $18MM contract for the free agent second baseman, so it’s fair to assume that his market never dropped to the point that the Marlins could’ve made a play.
Keeping with the Marlins, right-hander Dan Straily remains “high atop the team’s trade list,” the Boston Globe’s Nick Cafardo writes. Straily drew quite a bit of trade attention last winter but his stock dropped after a forearm injury limited him to just 122 1/3 IP in 2018, and some rough advanced metric numbers. Straily’s .350 xwOBA was well above his .324 wOBA, and ERA indicators (5.11 FIP, 4.99 xFIP, 4.92 SIERA) paint a lesser picture of his 4.12 ERA. This could make it hard for the Marlins to get their desired “nice return” for the righty, as Cafardo describes it, though he suggests that Miami could get more offers on Straily after other pitching targets in free agency or the trade market come off the board. Straily is controllable for the next two years and isn’t very expensive, as he and the Marlins recently agreed to a $5MM contract for 2019 to avoid arbitration.
Also from Cafardo, he hears from Dodgers southpaw Rich Hill that the veteran hurler “absolutely” plans to continue his career into the 2020 season. Hill is entering the final season of his three-year, $48MM deal with the Dodgers, and it seemed logical to wonder if Hill could be considering retirement, given that he turns 39 in March and has dealt with a number of injuries throughout his career. That said, it also isn’t surprising that Hill wants to keep going in the wake of his late-career revival, as the southpaw has a 2.98 ERA, 10.6 K/9, and 3.76 K/BB rate over 407 2/3 IP in 2015-18. If Hill manages can duplicate his performance in 2019, it certainly seems like he’ll be able to land another contract (if a short-term deal) from a contending team. “There’s a lot more left in the tank. I want that ring,” Hill said, in reference to the Dodgers’ close calls in the World Series in each of the last two seasons.

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