Eric Sogard

Rays Acquire Eric Sogard

By George Miller | July 28, 2019 at 6:16pm CDT

6:16PM: The trade has been officially announced. Toronto will indeed receive two players to be named later.

1:20PM: The Blue Jays have traded infielder Eric Sogard to the Tampa Bay Rays, per Joel Sherman of the New York Post. Sogard was a late scratch from Sunday’s game, with Jon Morosi of MLB Network first reporting that a trade was “imminent.” The deal is pending a physical.

According to Scott Mitchell of TSN Sports, it appears that the Blue Jays will receive two players to be named later in the deal, though he notes that the deal has not yet been finalized and details have yet to be confirmed. The Rays will need to clear a spot for Sogard on the 40-man roster.

As one of just a few utility options on the trade market, the 33-year-old attracted the interest of a number of teams, having been linked to the Cubs and Giants, though in the end it was the Rays who made the most compelling proposal. With the Blue Jays playing out the finale of a series against the Rays, Sogard won’t have to travel far to join his new team. He’ll depart the Toronto dugout and travel to Boston with his new teammates.

With more than eight years of MLB experience under his belt, Sogard is not an unknown commodity. That said, no one—perhaps not even the Blue Jays—could have expected the veteran to transform himself into a coveted trade target. The club inked Sogard to a minor-league contract in December after his market didn’t develop in free agency. Now, though, president Mark Shapiro and company will turn that small investment into a prospect that better fits their timeline for contention.

Though the Rays certainly don’t have a glaring need on the infield, depth and versatility are imperative for contending clubs as the postseason approaches. A number of injuries have already thinned the Tampa infield, with Brandon Lowe, Daniel Robertson, Yandy Diaz, and Christian Arroyo all currently on the injured list. With Joey Wendle struggling to replicate last season’s success and still no timetable for Lowe’s return, per Marc Topkin, Sogard looks like a solid candidate to fill in at second base for the time being, with the potential to slide into a depth/utility role when Lowe gets healthy. While Sogard has spent the bulk of his career at second base, he has played sparingly at shortstop, third base, and in the outfield in 2019.

Sogard has enjoyed a career year at the dish, turning in career-best power numbers and displaying on-base skills that have made him a viable leadoff option for Toronto. In 73 games, He’s posted a .300/.363/.477 slash line to go with ten homers and six stolen bases. Prior to this year, Sogard had never hit more than three home runs in a single season. Defensively, his -5 DRS paint him as a below-average second baseman.

For the Blue Jays, it seems likely that Sogard’s departure will usher in a frenzied couple of days as they look to sell off Major-League pieces before the trade deadline. Marcus Stroman is perhaps the crown jewel of this trade season, and Ken Giles should receive attention from nearly every contending team. Daniel Hudson won’t draw as big a return as the aforementioned pair, but teams that can’t afford big-name relievers could pursue Hudson instead.

Giants Rumors: Sogard, Watson, Cardinals

By Connor Byrne | July 26, 2019 at 10:18pm CDT

The Giants’ surge up the standings this month has turned them from surefire trade deadline sellers to potential buyers. To that end, the Giants have “inquired” about Blue Jays infielder Eric Sogard, Jon Morosi of MLB.com tweets.

Considering the 33-year-old Sogard is a pending free agent, acquiring him would be a win-now move by the Giants, who have climbed to 52-51 and within 3 1/2 of a wild-card spot. Sogard is primarily a second baseman – a position that has that has been problematic this season for San Francisco. Main Giants option Joe Panik has struggled to a .235/.309/.317 line with a 69 wRC+ and three home runs over 369 plate appearances. Sogard, meanwhile, has slashed a far superior .299/.363/.480 (124 wRC+) with 10 HRs in 317 trips to the plate.

As MLBTR’s Jeff Todd explained a couple weeks ago, Sogard’s production doesn’t look sustainable – especially factoring in that he has seldom approached it over a career consisting of 2,000-plus trips to the plate. Nevertheless, Sogard’s 2019 offensive output, defensive versatility and league-minimum salary should make it easy to for rebuilding Toronto to find a taker in the next few days.

Whether the Giants should buy Sogard or anyone else is up for debate, depending on how much you’re convinced of their sudden brilliance. If the club goes the other way by the 31st, it still has several useful trade chips it could unload, including reliever Tony Watson. The Cardinals, who are seeking another left-hander for their bullpen, have done their “due diligence” on Watson, according to Mark Saxon of The Athletic. However, the Redbirds are leery of the escalator clauses in his contract, per Saxon.

Watson’s current salary has skyrocketed from a guaranteed $3.5MM to $8.5MM with the help of incentives, and it could increase to $10.5MM if he accrues 50 appearances. That seems inevitable for the 34-year-old, who has already piled up 44 this season. Along the way, the typically reliable Watson has thrown 41 innings and pitched to a 2.85 ERA (with a much less dominant 4.20 FIP) while posting 6.8 K/9, 1.1 BB/9 and a 46.9 percent groundball rate.

Regardless of whether Watson finishes the season in San Francisco or elsewhere, a trip to free agency looks probable for the winter. Watson’s pact features a $2.5MM club option for 2020, though it’s likely he’ll turn that down in favor of a $500K buyout. Meantime, it’s iffy at best the Giants will trade Watson, let alone to a wild card-leading Cardinals team they’re trying to chase down.

Quick Hits: Dodgers, Giants, Cubs, Sogard, Yanks, White Sox

By Connor Byrne | July 25, 2019 at 12:30am CDT

As was the case a couple weeks ago, the Dodgers are “quite interested” in multiple Giants relievers, Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle tweets. Jon Morosi of MLB.com reported July 10 that Will Smith, Sam Dyson, Tony Watson and Reyes Moronta were on the Dodgers’ radar. At that point, San Francisco owned a 41-48 record and looked as if it was sure to sell prior to the trade deadline. However, the Giants were in the early stages of an out-of-nowhere tear that has continued, putting them at 52-51 and calling into question whether they’ll trade any of their top chips in the next week. Even if they do, there’s no guarantee the Giants will deal with the archrival Dodgers, despite the connection between SF president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi and LA president Andrew Friedman. Zaidi was Friedman’s top lieutenant with the Dodgers from 2014-18.

Cubs Have Interest In Jarrod Dyson, Eric Sogard

By Steve Adams | July 22, 2019 at 8:58am CDT

The Cubs have interest in D-backs outfielder Jarrod Dyson and have been “gathering information” on Blue Jays infielder Eric Sogard, according to Patrick Mooney, Sahadev Sharma and Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. Yesterday, Chris McCosky of the Detroit News reported Chicago’s interest in outfielder Nicholas Castellanos, and today’s report from Mooney, Sharma and Rosenthal doubles down on that interest while also acknowledging that Castellanos’ remaining salary could make such a move difficult to piece together.

Chicago hopes to land a veteran hitter with quality contact skills, per The Athletic, and both Dyson and Sogard would fit that bill. Dyson is hitting .254/.335/.369 with six homers and 21 steals on the season. His strikeout rate is sitting at 19 percent, which is elevated quite a bit from the 13.3 percent clip he notched across the past three seasons but is still lower than the league average (22.2 percent among non-pitchers). Sogard, meanwhile, is batting .305/.369/.491 with 10 home runs, six steals and a 14.1 percent strikeout rate (career 13.3 percent).

Adding Dyson, 34, to the fray would give the Cubs an excellent defensive outfielder who can handle all three positions. His presence would surely push struggling Albert Almora Jr. out of the lineup against right-handed opponents. Dyson’s career platoon numbers are pronounced, and his left-handed bat makes him a natural pairing with Almora. The 25-year-old Almora has been uncharacteristically awful against lefties in 2019 but is still a career .286/.335/.420 hitter against them. Dyson owns a lifetime .257/.324/.360 line against right-handers.

Dyson is earning a reasonable $3.5MM in 2019 and is still owed about $1.32MM of that sum between now and season’s end. Contrast that with the $3.75MM remaining on Castellanos’ $9.95MM salary, and he’s not only the better defender of the two but the more affordable. Dyson can’t match Castellanos’ bat, though, and the Diamondbacks aren’t the slam-dunk sellers that the Tigers are known to be. It’s certainly possible that Arizona could deal Dyson and other short-term pieces, but at 50-50 through 100 games, the Snakes likely haven’t determined how they’ll proceed over the next nine days. As a pending free agent, Dyson could be moved even as the D-backs look to simultaneously add longer-term parts who can help in 2020 and beyond.

Sogard, 33, seems a near-lock to be traded so long as there’s sufficient interest. His power surge and general offensive production are largely out of the blue — Sogard was released by the Brewers in 2018 and signed a minor league deal in Toronto this winter — but his strong output has likely positioned as a piece the Jays can flip. As a versatile defender capable of handling second base, shortstop, third base and the outfield corners, Sogard could give the Cubs a sort of Ben Zobrist-lite skill set at a time when the organization still isn’t sure when (or if) Zobrist will return. Sogard’s numbers at second are down this season, but he has a long track record of plus defense there. And after inking a minor league pact in the offseason, he’s assuredly an affordable option for the Cubs or any other interested team.

Blue Jays Notes: Hudson, Red Sox, Sogard, Pompey

By Mark Polishuk | July 22, 2019 at 12:09am CDT

Daniel Hudson’s strong season is drawing trade attention from the Red Sox and multiple other teams, MLB.com’s Jon Paul Morosi reports (Twitter link). The Blue Jays signed Hudson to a one-year, $1.5MM contract over the offseason, and the 32-year-old is on pace to deliver his best season as a relief pitcher, with a 2.72 ERA, 8.8 K/9, and 2.00 K/BB rate over 43 innings. The Red Sox are known to be looking at the high end of the bullpen market, though it isn’t surprising that they would also be seeking out pitchers like Hudson, who wouldn’t cost nearly as much in the way of prospects.

Hudson’s performance comes with some red flags, however, as ERA predictors (4.46 FIP, 5.51 xFIP, 4.67 SIERA) hint that Hudson is due for some major regression, and he is allowing a lot of hard contact — 40% of Hudson’s balls in play are hard-hit. On the plus side, Hudson’s fastball velocity and spin rate both rank in the 89th percentile or better of all qualified pitchers, so a lot of that hard contact is going for naught (or is being converted into relatively harmless fly balls, as his 47.5% fly ball rate is well above his 39.2% career average).

Here’s more out of Toronto….

In another tweet from Morosi, Eric Sogard is getting some looks from teams in search of a utilityman, especially clubs turned off by the Royals’ “crazy” asking price on Whit Merrifield. Sogard is another unheralded offseason signing who has become a big contributor for the Jays, with a .305/.369/.491 slash line (128 wRC+) and 10 homers over 304 plate appearances. MLBTR’s Jeff Todd recently explored how Sogard’s unexpected power surge has been something of a mirage, though Sogard’s solid contact skills and defensive versatility make him an asset even if his bat cools off. He has worked mostly as a second baseman this year, though also with time at third base, shortstop, and both corner outfield positions.
The Blue Jays are facing a decision about Dalton Pompey, Sportsnet.ca’s Arden Zwelling writes, as Pompey’s 20-day injury rehab assignment is up on Monday. Since Pompey is out of options, the Jays have to either call the outfielder up to the majors, or designate him for assignment. It isn’t out of the question that Pompey could come through DFA limbo without being claimed, Zwelling notes, as other teams might also not want to spend a 25-man roster spot on his services. Once a consensus top-50 prospect prior to the 2015 season, Pompey has fallen off the radar after several injury-plagued years, including multiple concussions. He only returned to action in early July after suffering another concussion during Spring Training.

Eric Sogard: Face Of MLB [Trade Deadline]?

By Jeff Todd | July 11, 2019 at 7:25am CDT

You remember Eric Sogard. He once rode his rec spec-chic good looks and charmingly scrappy play to internet stardom, nearly winning the memorable “Face of MLB” contest through a thrilling hijacking effort launched by the crafty A’s faithful.

The good times didn’t last in Oakland. Sogard was a solid contributor in 2013, but his high-contact, low-power approach fizzled as he turned in consecutive sub-70 wRC+ seasons at the plate. There was a second act in Milwaukee in 2017, when Sogard turned in a remarkable combination of 45 walks against 37 strikeouts despite a near-total absence of power (.104 ISO). But he collapsed in the following campaign, carrying a ghastly .134/.241/.165 slash in 113 plate appearances for the Brewers.

Thus it was with little fanfare that the Blue Jays inked Sogard to a minors pact this past offseason. He was a solid depth piece, destined to open the year at Triple-A. At most, Jays fans might have hoped they’d finally have an organizational replacement for fan-favorite Ryan Goins, a utility infielder who was feted as a hero upon his return to Toronto. He had been dumped unceremoniously the winter prior after appearing in a career-high 143 games, sneaking the ball over the right field wall nine times and producing 62 ribbies. (That last state is the one that Jays announcer Buck Martinez chose to support his questionable assertion, in the above-linked video, that Goins had a “great year” in 2017. Goins slashed .237/.286/.356.)

As it turns out, Sogard was called upon by the Jays when youngster Lourdes Gurriel Jr. got the yips. Sogard had hit well at Triple-A, mostly by hounding young pitchers into walks. He drew seven free passes against just four strikeouts in 38 plate appearances while socking a dinger and a pair of doubles among his eight base knocks.

There was nothing remarkable about any of this … until the ghost of Goins inhabited Sogard’s spectacles. Those nine long balls Goins hit in his legend-making campaign? Well, Sogard has matched him already in nearly half the tries. The 33-year-old journeyman is now through 261 plate appearances of .294/.364/.478 hitting in Toronto, handily topping even mid-prime Goins in output. He’s hitting well against righties but doing even more damage against same-handed pitching (137 wRC+).

Just what is going on here? Is it remotely sustainable? Is Sogard a legit deadline trade chip for the rebuilding Toronto team?

This Goins-Sogard thing has had far longer legs than I anticipated when I sat down to write this, but it will help illustrate one more point. In large part, it seems Goins just happened to loft a few over the course of the season. His nine homers averaged 400 feet with a 27.6 degree average launch angle. Otherwise, he averaged only an 8.3 degree launch angle that season and has typically sat lower even than that.

Sogard? Much as with his predecessor, every single one of his homers has gone down the right field line — two-thirds of them at the Rogers Centre. They’re likewise flying on fairly lofty flight paths — moreso, in fact. Sogard’s mean dinger is taking a parabolic path of 29.6 degrees, placing him 122nd on the list of all home run hitters in the majors this year, sitting comfortably among between a bunch of double-digit dinger men.

That’s about where the similarities end. Sogard is producing some true wall-scrapers. His long balls are averaging just 380 feet, good for 399th of 452 players registered by Statcast. They have left the bat at a meager 96.5 mph average exit velo. That’s just 445th of 456 players in the database; you have to run up the board to Yuli Gurriel (14 homers at a 99.4 mph average exit velo) to find another hitter with more long balls.

The baseball may not be juiced, per se, but it sure is flying like never before. And Sogard is taking full advantage, maxing out his meager power to the breaking point. He currently owns a .184 isolated power mark — more than double his career average (.090) — despite a meek 20.7% hard-hit rate, 85.3 mph average exit velocity, and grand total of three barreled balls this season. Oh, and he’s also sending the ball skyward like never before, with a hefty 19.2 degree average launch angle.

Now, I’m not going to sit here and tell you that Sogard absolutely can’t keep things going like this. But Rogers Centre has borne witness to more long balls than any other MLB stadium this year. The Jays’ pitchers are playing their part in that, to be sure. But let’s just say that teams weighing a move for Sogard will want to do some ballpark dimension overlays before pulling the trigger.

Even if many of his dingers would’ve snuck out elsewhere, it seems wise to bake in a healthy amount of anticipated regression. Sogard does possess undeniable mastery of the strike zone and outstanding contact ability. He carries a 3.7% swinging-strike rate this year and sits under four percent over his career. This isn’t a player selling out to put the ball over the wall. But it’s also not one who’s newly stinging the sphere.

Sogard, a poster boy? In a sense, yeah. Teams considering him will need to closely parse the changes to the broader state of play and try to assess how he’ll fit in moving forward. Can Sogard keep tucking balls into the front rows of the right field bleachers? That depends not only upon a look at Sogard, but other matters. Can pitchers find a way to adjust to these universal changes? Will the baseball undergo further physical change? Likewise, other deadline targets — those performing well and those struggling to adapt, hitters and pitchers alike — will be viewed with one eye on the ever-flying long ball.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Blue Jays Select Eric Sogard, Option Lourdes Gurriel Jr.

By TC Zencka | April 15, 2019 at 3:55pm CDT

April 15: The Blue Jays announced the move. In order to open a spot on the 40-man roster for Sogard, the team has transferred left-hander Ryan Borucki from the 10-day injured list to the 60-day injured list. Borucki has already been on the IL all season but will now be definitively ruled out until May 27.

April 14: The Blue Jays are sending infielder Lourdes Gurriel Jr. to Triple A, per Scott Mitchell of TSN Sports. Gurriel the younger was removed from today’s game for a “mental break” per manager Charlie Montoyo. The team hopes their young infielder can get back on track with a Triple-A reset, per Mitchell (Twitter links). MLB.com’s Gregor Chisholm tweeted about the possibility of a Gurriel demotion earlier today.

While Gurriel Jr. heads to Buffalo, veteran infielder Eric Sogard is set to join the major league roster. The spectacled Sogard received the bulk of his big league playing time with the A’s from 2010-2015, where he slashed .239/.295/.313 over 1331 plate appearances while playing second, third and short. He spent the last two seasons with the Brewers, hitting .234/.351/.318 across 412 PAs.

Gurriel, meanwhile, has flashed moments of athletic playmaking, such as when he stole home off of Chris Sale last week, while also misfiring on a pair of routine throws from second base. An overall rough go of it at the dish (49 wRC+) also likely bolstered the case in favor of demotion. Given the long-term, if reasonable, financial investment the Blue Jays have made to Gurriel, he likely gets ample opportunity to figure it out, though there’s also little reason to rush him back to the majors. Toronto owes the 25-year-old infielder an average of roughly $3.14MM per season until he hits free agency after the 2023 seasons.

Blue Jays, Eric Sogard Agree To Minor League Contract

By Steve Adams | December 21, 2018 at 11:43am CDT

The Blue Jays are in agreement on a minor league contract with veteran second baseman Eric Sogard, per Robert Murray of The Athletic (Twitter link). He’ll head to Major League Spring Training as a non-roster invitee. Sogard is represented by Octagon.

Sogard, 33 in May, floundered through the worst season of his career in 2018, hitting just .134/.241/.165 through 113 trips to the plate before being designated for assignment and subsequently released by the Brewers. He’s posted terrific defensive marks at second base throughout his career, though the Brewers played him more at shortstop this past season. He did give Milwaukee a strong performance in 2017, slashing .273/.393/.378 through 299 plate appearances.

In 1743 career plate appearances at the MLB level, Sogard is a .238/.309/.314 hitter whose value has been derived almost entirely from that aforementioned defensive prowess at second base. He’ll give the Jays a potential utility option following the trade of Aledmys Diaz to the Astros, the non-tender of Yangervis Solarte and the release of Troy Tulowitzki.

Minor MLB Transactions: 9/1/18

By Connor Byrne | September 1, 2018 at 9:46pm CDT

The latest minor moves from around baseball…

The Angels have selected right-handed reliever Junichi Tazawa’s contract from Triple-A Salt Lake, the team announced. The 32-year-old Tazawa is finally in position to make his Halos debut nearly two months after signing a minor league deal with the organization. Tazawa has been an effective major leaguer at times dating back to his 2009 debut with the Red Sox, but his career has hit the skids since he signed a two-year, $12MM deal with the Marlins entering 2017. He ended up tossing 75 1/3 innings in Miami from 2017-18 and logging an ugly 6.57 ERA/5.40 FIP, leading the team to release him in late May.
The Pirates announced that they’ve selected infielder/outfielder Pablo Reyes from Triple-A Indianapolis and reinstated righty Nick Burdi from the 60-day DL. The club has also released veteran infielder/outfielder Sean Rodriguez, whom it designated for assignment Wednesday. A Pirate since they signed him out of the Dominican Republic in 2012, the 24-year-old Reyes saw his first Triple-A action this season and slashed .289/.341/.435 with eight home runs and 13 stolen bases over 398 plate appearances. Burdi, whom the Pirates acquired via trade from the Phillies at the 2017 Rule 5 Draft, has rebounded nicely after multiple arm injuries slowed his development. The hard-throwing reliever missed most of 2016 with elbow issues and then underwent Tommy John surgery in 2017, keeping him out for the majority of that season and the current campaign. Despite his injury woes, Burdi – originally a second-round selection of the Twins in the 2014 amateur draft – still ranks as the Pirates’ 20th-best prospect, per MLB.com. Now that he’s healthy, the former Rule 5 choice will have to spend 90 days on the Pirates’ active roster in order to avoid going on waivers.
The Brewers have released infielder Eric Sogard for the second time this season. Milwaukee parted with Sogard on July 12, only to re-sign him to a minor league deal two weeks later. The 32-year-old hasn’t produced at either the Triple-A level or in the majors this year, however, after offering respectable production in 2017 with the Brewers.

Brewers Release Eric Sogard, Activate Wade Miley

By Steve Adams | July 12, 2018 at 4:29pm CDT

4:29pm: Peralta will indeed remain in the rotation after the All-Star break, manager Craig Counsell told reporters (Twitter link via Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel). The move to option him, then, was simply a means of getting some additional arms in the ’pen. Peralta will be able to return to the club as early as Sunday after the All-Star break.

4:20pm: The Brewers announced this afternoon that veteran infielder Eric Sogard, who’d previously been designated for assignment, has been released. Milwaukee also announced that Wade Miley has been reinstated from the 60-day disabled list. Meanwhile, infielder Nate Orf and right-hander Jorge Lopez were optioned to Triple-A, with righties Adrian Houser and Alec Asher being recalled in their place. Lastly, right-hander Freddy Peralta was optioned to Class-A — though that move seems likely to be procedural in nature, as Peralta wouldn’t have been in line to pitch until after the All-Star break anyhow.

It’s been a nightmare of a season for the 32-year-old Sogard, who batted just .134/.241/.165 through 113 trips to the plate before being designated for assignment. He’s typically considered to be a strong defender at second base, but he’s spent more time this season at shortstop, where he hasn’t rated as well defensively.

Sogard’s production at the plate was a far cry fro last season’s .273/.393/.378 slash through 299 plate appearances — though he never seemed likely to repeat that career-best output. In 1743 career plate appearances at the MLB level, Sogard is a .238/.309/.314 hitter with terrific marks for his glovework at second base. He’s now able to sign with any club seeking to bolster its infield depth, and a new team will only owe him the pro-rated league minimum for any time spent in the Majors; the Brewers will be on the hook for the remainder of his $2.4MM salary — a sum of roughly $1.03MM through season’s end).

Miley, meanwhile, will return to the Brewers’ rotation after missing just over two months to a rather severe oblique injury. He pitched just 6 1/3 innings for Milwaukee earlier this season, missing the first several weeks of the year due to a groin strain and then injuring his oblique in just his second start of the season. Miley had a terrible run in 2016-17 between the Mariners and Orioles, leading him to a minor league pact with Milwaukee this season. He’ll look to reestablish himself as a useful source of innings moving forward, in hopes of securing a big league deal when he returns to the free-agent market this offseason.

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