Dodgers Option Gavin Lux
The Dodgers have optioned talented young infielder Gavin Lux,. Lux had recently returned to Summer Camp after an unexplained absence that may or may not have been related to the coronavirus.
It’s not immediately clear why the Dodgers decided against carrying Lux to open the season. It had long been expected he’d be a key part of the roster after destroying upper-minors pitching in 2019 and holding his own over his MLB debut. That may still come to pass, but Lux will begin the year at the team’s alternate training site awaiting another call-up.
There’s obviously some potential here for service-time implications for the 22-year-old. He logged only 28 days in the majors last year, so even a brief absence in a shortened season could leave him shy of a full year of service when the 2020 campaign wraps up.
Lux obviously has nothing more to prove in the minors, so this decision surely isn’t about his development. With thirty active roster spots, there’s ample space to work with, though the Dodgers are surely committed to carrying loads of extra pitching. The uber-deep organization certainly has many viable candidates to cycle through at second base, where Lux had been the presumed option, though it’s still a bit difficult to imagine he truly fell short on a pure talent assessment.
It’ll be interesting to see how the organization (and Lux himself) discuss the decision when reporters have a chance to pose some questions. It could be there’s some as-yet-unknown developmental or motivational prerogative, or perhaps the Dodgers feel Lux is just in need of further work after a layoff. Whatever the reasoning, the service implications are hard to ignore given that the team could stand to pick up an extra year of control on the back end.
Gavin Lux Reports To Dodgers Camp
Dodgers infielder Gavin Lux is back in action at Summer Camp, MLB.com’s Ken Gurnick was among those to report on Twitter. He’ll jump right into an intrasquad game this evening.
Lux’s status was never clear, though his absence obviously spoke to the fact that he may not be ready for the start of the season. We still don’t know why he was away. If the time away related to the coronavirus, then Lux must have tested negative twice in order to be admitted.
This is good news for Lux’s health and the Dodgers’ competitive position. The 22-year-old held his own in the majors last year after dominating upper minors pitching. He’s expected to play a key role in the team’s middle infield mix in 2020.
Prospect Faceoff: Franco v. Lux
Yesterday’s prospect faceoff post featured two fairly similar youngsters: upper-level left-handed hurlers MacKenzie Gore and Jesus Luzardo. Today, we’ll examine another duo with a lot of commonalities … but they won’t be quite so closely situated.
Glance up at the top ten list of most prospect rankings and you’ll see two middle infielders: Wander Franco of the Rays and Gavin Lux of the Dodgers. MLB.com and Fangraphs rank them 1-2. They share many attributes beyond position and lofty prospect standing. But these two players also present completely different propositions.
Franco is more or less universally considered the game’s very best prospect. But he also just turned 19 on March 1st and hasn’t yet played above the High-A level. In his two A-ball stops last year, the switch-hitter carried a collective .327/.398/.487 batting line with nine long balls over 495 plate appearances. He swiped 18 bags but was also gunned down 14 times.
This is not a complete product. There are some questions as to whether Franco will stick at shortstop, though he has thus far proven capable. More importantly, perhaps, is the fact that his power is still more a projection than a present skill. But the scouts see the potential in his actions at the plate. And Franco seems quite likely to maximize whatever raw power he ends up with given his exceptional plate discipline and contact ability. Franco recorded 56 walks against just 35 strikeouts last year while driving the ball around the yard. Though he hardly carries a big frame, Franco is said to carry immense wrist strength and bat speed. And his command of the zone will make him awfully tough to pitch to.
Do you feel like you need some precedent to believe a player can convert plate discipline and less-than-imposing physical stature? How about Lux? He didn’t put a single ball over the fence in 253 rookie ball plate appearances, then managed only seven dingers in 501 trips to the dish at the Class A level. But last year, Lux produced 26 long balls in his 523 upper-minors plate appearances.
Lux never quite matched Franco’s ludicrous K/BB numbers. But he’s not easy to retire on strikes, knows how to draw a walk, and features a blend of power and average. Last year’s minor-league slash line: .347/.421/.607. That’ll play, particularly for a guy known as a quality baserunner and fielder. What of the notorious PCL offensive inflation? Lux exploded with a 188 wRC+ in Triple-A, so the numbers stand out even against a high mean. While Lux may end up playing second base with the powerhouse Dodgers, he’s generally considered capable of holding down shortstop in the majors.
And here’s the thing about Lux: he has already reached and shown he can hang at the game’s highest level. He didn’t exactly take the league by storm when he arrived late in 2019. But Lux produced a .240/.305/.400 slash in 82 plate appearances. And he was trusted with a postseason roster spot. It remains to be seen whether Lux will be a perennial All-Star or something less, but when it comes to getting value from a guy, he’s about as sure a thing as a prospect can be.
In this case, there’s probably not much question that Franco has the loftier ceiling. And we have seen players shoot up from the lower minors into the majors rather quickly, so he may not be far off from a debut if he terrorizes the upper minors as expected. But there’s inherently much more risk in such a player than in Lux, who’s ready to slot in as a MLB regular as soon as this season finally gets underway. Particularly if you’re somewhat risk-averse and/or need immediate contributions in the majors, perhaps Lux is actually the better bet.
Which prospect would you prefer to have? (Poll link for app users.)
Which prospect would you rather have?
-
Wander Franco 51% (2,666)
-
Gavin Lux 49% (2,518)
Total votes: 5,184
Latest On Dodgers’ Interest In Mookie Betts
The Dodgers have been linked to several superstar players in both free agency and potential trades this winter, though with so many of the big free agents already signed elsewhere, the trade market might be Los Angeles’ best avenue to land a major roster upgrade. To this end, the Dodgers have continued to explore the possibility of acquiring Mookie Betts from the Red Sox, according to MLB.com’s Jon Paul Morosi.
The deal could potentially be expanded to involve multiple players heading from Boston to Chavez Ravine, as Morosi suggests that David Price might be a fit as the veteran arm the Dodgers are looking to add to their rotation. With the Red Sox looking to cut payroll and ideally get under the luxury tax threshold, rumors have swirled all winter about Price, Betts, and other high-priced Boston names being floated as trade chips. Betts is projected for a hefty $27.7MM salary in his final year of arbitration, though that’s certainly a reasonable price to pay (especially for a big-market team like the Dodgers) for one of the sport’s very best players.
As game-changing as the idea of a Betts trade may be, the Sox aren’t actively trying to deal him, since the club would naturally prefer to explore other cost-saving options before parting ways with the 2018 AL MVP. Moving Price and the $96MM owed to the southpaw through 2022 would be one of those preferred options. While the Sox have drummed up some trade interest in Price, however, it still seems unlikely that a suitor would take on most of that contract given Price’s age (34) and recent injury concerns.
Moving Betts along with Price would definitely make a trade suitors more willing to absorb perhaps even all of Price’s contract, though obviously the Red Sox aren’t willing to move Betts just for the sake of a salary dump. Indeed, Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom recently downplayed the idea of giving away any sort of younger talent along with Price, saying “so much of what we’re always going to be trying to accomplish, but certainly now, is to make sure we have as strong a farm system as possible.”
Morosi opines that the Red Sox would want one of the Dodgers’ top young pitchers (i.e. Dustin May or Tony Gonsolin) as part of a trade, though “Boston appears less insistent on” including infielder Gavin Lux as part of a trade package. It could be for this reason that L.A. is perhaps currently more focused on Betts than on Indians shortstop Francisco Lindor, another All-Star who has been heavily rumored to be on the Dodgers’ list of targets. The Lindor talks appear to be in something of a stalemate — Cleveland has continued to demand Lux in any deal for Lindor, while the Dodgers think so highly of Lux’s potential that they “have refused to include him in any offer for Lindor alone.” The Dodgers are also known to be pursuing Cleveland righty Mike Clevinger, so it’s safe to assume that some multi-player offers have been floated in the Tribe’s direction.
Winter Meetings Preview: The Dodgers’ Infield
The Los Angeles Dodgers have unsurprisingly been asked about the availability of Gavin Lux, the Dodgers’ minor league player of the year for 2019. Thus far, understandably, suitors have been turned away, per MLB Network Insider Jon Heyman. Granted, this isn’t shocking news in and of itself, but it is telling of the Dodgers’ mindset on the eve of the winter meetings.
Lux, 22, is coming off a monster season that saw him hulk out for a .347/.421/.607 line in 113 games across Double-A and Triple-A (which included a monstrous-even-for-the-PCL .719 SLG and 188 wRC+ in 49 games in Triple-A). He didn’t disappoint in a cup of coffee with the big league club, holding his own at .240/.305/.400 in 23 games of uneven playing time. He proved capable enough to make the playoff roster and earn the start in games 2 and 4 in the NLDS versus the Nationals.
It’s not surprising that the Dodgers would make a point to hang onto the young star, but doing so doesn’t exactly jibe with their rumored interest in free agent Anthony Rendon. Justin Turner has made clear his openness to moving around the diamond, and while it’s certainly nice to be reminded that chivalry is not yet dead, it’s not obvious where Turner would move if the Dodgers are indeed intent on making Lux a part of their core moving forward.
A Corey Seager trade could open a spot with Lux taking over at short, Max Muncy taking full-time duties at second and Turner moving to first. Chris Taylor, Enrique Hernandez, and NL MVP Cody Bellinger are capable of filling in around the infield as needed. But as good as Rendon is, Seager himself was a 4.0 bWAR player in 2019, and it would seem that the Seager/Lux/Muncy/Bellinger/Taylor/Hernandez/Turner septet already provides the perfect amount of wholesale injury coverage and star power. Swapping in Rendon for Seager cuts their shortstop options by one, and while they’d still probably be two injuries away from any real panic, it’s still a little hard to fathom why swapping in Rendon and his presumably monstrous contract makes sense – unless the goal is simply to keep the development train moving by restocking the lower levels via trade.
They could certainly sign Rendon – or Josh Donaldson, for that matter – and shop one of their other infielders, but there’s not a natural fit on that front either. Turner and Muncy have been central figures to the culture and success of the Dodgers in recent seasons, and it’s frankly jarring to imagine either one suiting up elsewhere. Moving Taylor or Hernandez neither frees up at-bats nor brings back a significant prospect haul.
The logical conclusion is that the Dodgers’ interest in Rendon is probably more smoke than fire. President of Baseball Operations Andrew Friedman has made a point of avoiding lavish and reactionary spending, and a Rendon signing would appear to qualify as both. Luxury tax estimates (per Roster Resource) peg the Dodgers at around $176MM for the upcoming season, which would make it difficult to fit Rendon under the tax line. Their longer-term financial picture is more flexible, however, with only ~$93MM on the books for 2021 and ~$33MM the year after.
The Dodgers did suffer a particularly tough playoff defeat in 2019, and after seven years of making the playoffs and coming home without a ring, it’s fair to wonder if the disciplined roster building that’s become the brand of these Los Angeles Dodgers might finally break under the strain of those playoff defeats. Andrew Friedman is also one of the more creative thinkers in the game and if there’s a way to make this work, he’s sure to find it. But it’s also not hard to see why they’d keep on keeping on with business as usual.
Dodgers Promote Gavin Lux
Sept. 2: The move is official. Lux’s contract has been selected from Oklahoma City, with Tyler White (whose season is over) moving to the 60-day injured list to open a 40-man roster spot. The Dodgers also announced that they’ve reinstated lefty Julio Urias from the 60-day injured list and recalled right-hander Josh Sborz from Triple-A.
Sept. 1: The Dodgers are calling up star prospect Gavin Lux, manager Dave Roberts told reporters (including Jorge Castillo of the Los Angeles Times). Lux will make his MLB debut tomorrow, starting at second base for the NL West leaders.
Max Muncy‘s wrist fracture could have been the catalyst for the beginning of Lux’s time with the Dodgers, as Roberts said at the time that the club would “be more aggressive” with its September promotions if Muncy’s injury proved to be serious. While Muncy is only expected to miss around two weeks with his relatively minor fracture, that was still enough for L.A. to decide that more depth was required at second base.
Of course, it’s not as if Lux himself didn’t do everything he could to force the Dodgers’ hand. Lux has been nothing short of spectacular at Triple-A Oklahoma City this season, hitting .392/.478/.719 with 13 homers over 232 plate appearances. Even accounting for the extremely hitter-friendly conditions of the Pacific Coast League, the numbers were still astounding, and far from out of nowhere given Lux’s already-strong prospect status.
Selected as the 20th overall pick of the 2016 draft, Lux appeared on top-100 prospect lists (ranked 40th by Baseball America, 70th by MLB.com) prior to this season and zoomed up the various rankings as he continued to shred Triple-A pitching — the updated midseason ratings from Fangraphs, MLB.com, and BA all list Lux as the ninth-best prospect in baseball. As cited by the Fangraphs and MLB.com scouting reports, Lux’s hitting potential has been unlocked in the minors (even prior to 2019) by a number of swing changes, including more lift in his swing, as well as incorporating his hands and legs into his action at the plate.
Lux has played the majority of his games as a shortstop, but he also saw a lot of action at second base in preparation for fit into the lineup alongside stalwart Corey Seager in Los Angeles. It’s safe to assume that Lux will get the bulk of time down the stretch, as the Dodgers have the NL West long since wrapped up, and are now merely making adjustments for the playoffs. It certainly isn’t out of the question that Lux could force his way onto the postseason roster if he plays well in September, giving the Dodgers an embarrassment of depth once Muncy returns to their already-stacked roster.
Seager, Cody Bellinger, Justin Turner, and rookie catcher Will Smith look to be the only true everyday players on a Dodgers team that prizes versatility. A.J. Pollock is more or less the regular center fielder and Muncy will presumbly return to regular duty at second or first base when he returns. Beyond those names, Los Angeles boasts the likes of Chris Taylor, Joc Pederson, Enrique Hernandez, Matt Beaty, David Freese, the currently-injured Alex Verdugo, Jedd Gyorko, Kristopher Negron, and now Lux to rotate into the starting lineup and as late-game subs to maximize their chances in various matchups.
Beyond just what Lux can do this season, of course, he also represents a major building block for the future. The Dodgers resisted all trade offers for Lux both this season and in past years, and it’s fair to guess that L.A. has him penciled in at second base for years to come.
Max Muncy To Miss Time With Wrist Injury
FRIDAY: X-rays didn’t reveal a fracture, Roberts announced, though Muncy still has to undergo more tests (via Castillo).
THURSDAY: Dodgers slugger Max Muncy made an early exit from Wednesday’s 6-4 win over the Padres, as Muncy left the game after being hit in the right wrist by a Matt Strahm fastball during a fifth-inning plate appearance. Muncy is undergoing x-rays today to determine the extent of the injury, though manager Dave Roberts told the Los Angeles Times’ Jorge Castillo (Twitter links) that even if Muncy has avoided a fracture or a break, the infielder will be sidelined “until at least early next week” until he recovers from what is currently being called a right wrist contusion.
A 10-day injured list stint could be in the offing for Muncy, as if he’s in line to miss at least four or five days at minimum, the Dodgers could choose to simply put him on the IL to give him more time to fully recover. Then again, with rosters expanding on Sunday, an IL placement might not be necessary since Los Angeles will have up to 15 extra players on hand.
These looming September call-ups bring an added dimension to Muncy’s injury, as if he faces a longer-term absence, Roberts said the Dodgers “will be more aggressive” in determining their minor league promotions. The skipper didn’t provide any further details when asked the obvious follow-up of whether this could result in star prospect Gavin Lux receiving his first taste of MLB action.
Lux has been obliterating Triple-A pitching, though the Dodgers have reportedly been on the fence about promoting Lux given their depth of second base options. Muncy has received the large bulk of playing time at second base (Lux’s intended position) in recent months, though Enrique Hernandez and Chris Taylor are both back from the IL and utilityman Jedd Gyorko is also on hand. Since Hernandez and Taylor are both regularly required in the outfield, however, Lux could have a clearer path to regular second base time without Muncy in the mix.
After signing a minor league contract with the Dodgers in April 2017, Muncy came out of nowhere to hit 35 homers with a .973 OPS over 481 plate appearances for L.A. last season. While Muncy hasn’t quite been as spectacular in 2019 as he was in 2018, his follow-up campaign has been more than solid — .253/.375/.525 with 33 home runs over 534 PA. A broken or fractured wrist would require at least a month to heal, thus putting Muncy’s availability for the postseason in serious question and creating a big hole in the Dodgers’ powerful lineup.
Quick Hits: Lux, Morrison, Bogaerts
Some stray items from around the baseball world…
- It still isn’t clear if the Dodgers will call up infield prospect Gavin Lux this season, as FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal (video link) said the team is “not ruling out” the possibility that Lux could yet make his big league debut. The potential upside is obvious, as Lux is hitting .407/.493/.747 with 12 homers over 213 Triple-A plate appearances and clearly has nothing left to prove in the minors. If Lux was called up and installed at second base, however, that would leave L.A. with a logjam of A.J. Pollock, Chris Taylor, Enrique Hernandez, and Joc Pederson between two outfield positions, as Max Muncy would then become the regular first baseman and Cody Bellinger would play every day in either center or (more likely) right field. And that’s not even counting other bench options like Matt Beaty, Jedd Gyorko, or how currently-injured players like Alex Verdugo or David Freese would fit back into the roster. Further developments (injuries, slumps, etc.) could change the situation in the coming weeks, of course, so there’s still time for the Dodgers to decide whether not to make Lux a part of their late-season and postseason plans.
- Coming off an injury-shortened 2018 season, Logan Morrison went through a quiet offseason of offers before taking a minor league deal with the Yankees in April, and then opting out on July 1 and then catching on with the Phillies on another minors contract. This has led to appearing in seven MLB games for the Phils, though Morrison tells Fangraphs’ David Laurila that he is considering playing in Japan or South Korea due to both interest in a new cultural experience for he and his family, as well as recognizing his limited future opportunities in North American baseball. “You look at rosters and know that you’re better than guys, but at the end of the day it doesn’t matter because of the economic situation,” the 32-year-old Morrison said. “Having someone under control for six years is more important than them actually being good. The game has turned into where being young is a tool. If you ask baseball people, and fans who want their teams to win, that shouldn’t be the case. Unfortunately it is.” While a lack of contractual interest wasn’t surprising following Morrison’s rough 2018 campaign, he also faced a cool market in the aftermath of a 2017 season that saw him hit .246/.353/.516 and 38 homers for the Rays. That big year only led to a one-year, $6.5MM guarantee from the Twins, with a club/vesting option that could have added another season and $10MM to the contract.
- Xander Bogaerts (and his twin brother Jair) signed with the Red Sox on August 23, 2009, and in commemoration of a decade passing since that key signing, Alex Speier of the Boston Globe looked back at the circumstances that led the Sox to the superstar shortstop. The team was only starting to expand its developmental base in the Caribbean, and it was when scout Mike Lord held Boston’s first workout in Aruba that Lord met Jair, only to learn that this impressive young prospect’s brother was an even better player. Since Xander was absent from the tryout due to chicken pox, Lord arranged for a later private workout, and a film of Xander’s session quickly impressed Boston’s front office. A handshake deal was reached to sign both twins within the week, and though teams like the Yankees, Mariners, Braves, Astros, and Reds all tried to top Boston’s offer, the Bogaerts brothers stuck to their initial agreement with the Red Sox. The rest is history, as Xander has emerged as one of the game’s best players.
Prospect Notes: Lux, Adell, Dalbec, Hall
As Gavin Lux continues to shred Triple-A pitching, it isn’t yet clear if the star prospect will make his Dodgers debut in 2019, Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register writes. Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman simply said “I don’t know” when asked about the possibility of a Lux promotion, as Friedman cited considerations like finding room for Lux on the 40-man roster while juggling the roster status of other players returning from the injured list. “I think more of our mental energy is being spent on how to configure our pitching staff (for the postseason) more than our position players that are doing pretty well,” Friedman said.
Lux entered today’s action hitting an unfathomable .415/.497/.768 over 191 plate appearances for Triple-A Oklahoma City (not to mention “only” a .313/.375/.521 slash line in 291 PA at Double-A before his latest promotion). While he has spent much of his pro career at shortstop, Lux has also seen a lot of action at second base, which would be his logical position both in the event of a September call-up and probably for the future, since Corey Seager isn’t leaving L.A. anytime soon. Then again, the Dodgers’ list of second base candidates is also long — Chris Taylor and Enrique Hernandez are expected to return from the IL on Tuesday, Jedd Gyorko and Kristopher Negron are utility options, and Max Muncy needs an everyday role if the Dodgers continue to deploy Cody Bellinger at first base. Interestingly, Friedman hinted that Lux could potentially join the Dodgers in a non-roster capacity in September, traveling with the team and learning the ropes of being a big leaguer without actually being on the active roster.
Here’s some more on some of the game’s stars of the future…
- There’s more clarity on a heralded youngster on Los Angeles’ other team, as the Angels currently aren’t planning to call Jo Adell up for his first taste of MLB action in September, Mike DiGiovanna of the L.A. Times tweets. Prospect ranking outlets have Adell as a consensus top-four minor leaguer in the sport, though preseason ankle and hamstring injuries kept him from making his 2019 debut until May 24, and he has only a modest .233/.303/.317 slash line over 67 plate appearances in his first stint at Triple-A. As a result, the Angels look to give Adell more seasoning and some time at winter ball before looking to promote him to the majors. It has been widely speculated that Adell could be an everyday member of the Halos’ outfield as early as Opening Day 2020, as Kole Calhoun is a free agent this offseason.
- Could the Red Sox go with a youth movement at first base next season? Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe wonders if this could be the case, as since Mitch Moreland and Steve Pearce will both be free agents, the Sox could turn to either Michael Chavis or top prospect Bobby Dalbec. Abraham notes that while Chavis has played a lot of second base this season, the keystone is “probably not a long-term position for him,” and thus Chavis could be used at first base, in the outfield, all over the diamond as a super-utility player, or potentially even as an offseason trade chip to add pitching. A fourth-rounder for Boston in the 2016 draft, Dalbec (ranked 92nd on Baseball America’s list of the game’s top 100 prospects) has steadily climbed through the farm system and is now hitting well over his first two weeks at Triple-A. Dalbec was originally drafted as a third baseman, but has increasingly seen more time at first base thanks to Rafael Devers establishing himself at the hot corner for the Sox. While Devers and Xander Bogaerts have the left side of Boston’s infield locked down for the foreseeable future, the right side is much more in flux, between Moreland and Pearce possibly leaving and the continued uncertainty about whether Dustin Pedroia will ever be able to play again. The Red Sox are likely to explore the market for first base and second base options this offseason, and Chavis will certainly be in the conversation at either position, Dalbec could also be an important piece of the team’s puzzle for 2020.
- Orioles left-handed pitching prospect D.L. Hall has been shut down for the season following a left lat strain, MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubatko reports (Twitter link). While the injury isn’t considered serious, Hall won’t have enough time to get back before the Orioles’ A-ball affiliate in Frederick completes its season. The 21st overall pick of the 2017 draft, Hall has a 3.46 ERA and 12.9 K/9 over 80 2/3 innings for Frederick this season, though with a troubling 6.0 BB/9. ESPN’s Keith Law ranked Hall 35th in his midseason top-50 prospects list and Baseball America has Hall 38th in their top 100 list, while MLB.com (62) and Fangraphs (63) are just a touch less bullish on his promise.
Pitching Chatter: Vazquez, Diaz, Ray, Colome, Greene
As the Dodgers continue to try to pry closer Felipe Vazquez loose from the Pirates, ESPN.com’s Buster Olney reports (Twitter link) that the sides are at a bit of an impasse. It seems the Bucs would (quite understandably) like to receive soaring L.A. prospect Gavin Lux, a versatile infielder who has completely obliterated Triple-A pitching (.474/.553/.918 in 114 plate appearances with eight home runs and a 17:17 K/BB ratio) since a mid-season promotion. The clubs may well be engaged in a bit of a staring contest as the deadline draws near.
More news and rumors from the pitching market …
- The Rays may have faded in the AL East, but they’re not planning to go quietly. Olney tweets that the club is “doing work” on Mets reliever Edwin Diaz, making for an intriguing (if vague) connection. Beyond the obvious appeal of a high-charged young hurler who has shown a past ability to dominate like few others, there are a few other reasons to like this match. Diaz’s run of poor results will limit his arbitration earning power, boosting his appeal to the payroll-conscious Rays. And as Mike Petriello of MLB.com explains, there are plenty of reasons to believe that Diaz is every bit as good as ever before.
- Rival organizations “fully expect” the Diamondbacks to deal southpaw Robbie Ray, according to Bob Nightengale of USA Today (Twitter link). Arizona GM Mike Hazen continued to acknowledge his club’s tricky middle ground while avoiding a firm commitment to a particular course of action, as Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic reports. The top baseball ops man did acknowledge that there’s a possibility the team could pull off enough sell-side moves that it wouldn’t make sense to reload in the offseason. At the moment, the Brewers, Astros, and Yankees are among the teams with active talks or interest in Ray, per Jon Heyman of MLB Network (via Twitter).
- With a real shot at a much-anticipated return to the top of the heap in the NL Central, the Cardinals could yet swing a big deal. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports (subscription link) that the St. Louis ballclub is interested in a controllable starter. Beyond that, the Cards’ precise plans remain a bit difficult to ascertain. The club is interested in lefty relief pitching, though that’s a trade deadline staple for many contenders. We haven’t seen the team connected prominently to any high-end hurlers, but a bold move seems tempting.
- We’ve seen the Yankees connected to a wide variety of hurlers in recent weeks, with the club focused primarily on starters but also entertaining relief upgrades. They’ve recently chatted with the Tigers about old friend Shane Greene, according to MLB.com’s Jon Morosi (Twitter link). Most contenders are no doubt at least checking in on Greene, who’s among the likeliest players in baseball to be traded in the coming days.
- Similarly, the Phillies have cast an exceedingly broad net. Their relief situation remains problematic; now, there are indications that David Robertson‘s rehab may drag into September, as Nightengale was among those to tweet. Another name to add to the list of Phils possibilities: Alex Colome of the White Sox. Morosi tweets that there’s “continued interest” on the part of the Philadelphia organization.