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Pitcher Rumors: Cole, LA, Porcello, Roark, Reds, Brewers, Jays, Fish

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The latest on several pitchers…

  • The Yankees won the bidding for right-handed ace Gerrit Cole on Tuesday, when the two sides agreed to a history-making deal worth $324MM over nine years. But the runners-up, the Angels and Dodgers, made mighty competitive offers in their own right. Both clubs were willing to go to eight years, with the Dodgers’ bid at exactly $300MM and the Angels’ just below that line, Jorge Castillo of the Los Angeles Times reports. Both teams’ offers included deferrals, whereas the Yankees’ didn’t.
  • Free-agent righty-hander Rick Porcello has a three-year offer in hand, but he’s more inclined to accept a one-year contract, Jon Heyman of MLB Network relays. By taking a short-term pact, Porcello would be betting on himself and pinning his hopes on bouncing back next year after a tough 2019. In possibly his last season as a member of the Red Sox, the former AL Cy Young winner struggled to a below-average 5.52 ERA/4.76 FIP, though the durable 30-year-old did pile up at least 170 innings (174 1/3) for the 10th time in his career.
  • Righty Tanner Roark came off the market Wednesday when he reached a two-year, $24MM agreement with Toronto, but a couple NL Central teams were also in the race for him. The Reds, with whom Roark spent the first half of 2019, and the Brewers pursued him, per reports from Jon Heyman of MLB Network and Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. So far this offseason, Cincinnati hasn’t yet added to an already formidable rotation fronted by Luis Castillo, Sonny Gray, Trevor Bauer and Anthony DeSclafani. On the other hand, the Brewers made a low-risk, possibly high-reward signing Wednesday in grabbing former KBO star Josh Lindblom.
  • Speaking of Lindblom, the Blue Jays put a “significant” offer on the table for him before he headed to Milwaukee, per Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet.  The details of that proposal aren’t known. Lindblom would up agreeing to a three-year deal worth $9.125MM.
  • The Marlins are drawing some interest in righty Jose Urena, Craig Mish of MLB Network reports on Twitter. The Blue Jays are said to be one of the clubs to have called on the hard-throwing 28-year-old, who’s under arbitration control for two more seasons. Fellow Marlins starters Sandy Alcantara, Caleb Smith and Pablo Lopez have also gotten clubs’ attention, as upward of half the league’s teams have inquired about them, Joe Frisaro of MLB.com tweets. However, Frisaro writes that it’s “extremely unlikely” the Marlins will trade anyone from that trio.

Marlins Notes: Rotation, Smith

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The Miami Marlins haven’t had a lot to feel good about in recent seasons, but the rebuild is beginning to bear fruit. The Marlins rotation has been a talking point since around the All-Star break of 2019, and though they’re not yet a fearsome unit, they’re worth keeping an eye on. They finished the year 16th in the majors by ERA, 20th by FIP, 14th in HR/9, and 22nd by fWAR. They didn’t generate a lot of groundballs, but that’s playing to strength given their ballpark. The biggest area of improvement looking ahead to next season will be control, as they finished second-to-last with 3.50 BB/9. Still, given where the franchise has been in recent seasons, any unit climbing from the cellar is noteworthy.

That said, the first wave of talent often becomes the last wave of prospect-gathering trade bait. At least for the time being, however, the Marlins aren’t overeager to move their starting pitching. Still, that doesn’t stop teams from asking, particularly about Caleb Smith, per MLB Network Insider Jon Heyman. Smith, 28, is the veteran at the front of their young group, and his trade value remains high due to having just over two years of service time. He struggled with the long ball in 2019, but it was an overall successful campaign: 10-11, 28 starts, 4.52 ERA/5.11 FIP, 153 1/3 innings. Smith definitely made strides in securing his spot as a major leaguer, though it would not be surprising were the Marlins to pivot and decide to move him.

Regardless, President of Baseball Ops Michael Hill suggested the Marlins are secure in their starting options heading into 2020, and they’re unlikely to make a major acquisition in that regard, per Wells Dusenbury of the South Florida Sun Sentinel. The current group includes Smith, 2019 All-Star Sandy Alcantara, Pablo Lopez, Jordan Yamamoto, Jose Urena, Elieser Hernandez, and Robert Dugger. Alcantara and Smith are probably the only two with their rotation spots guaranteed. The rest of the group should have no trouble conjuring a sense of urgency, as top prospect Sixto Sanchez finished the year in Double-A, as did Edward Cabrera, perhaps their most promising arm after Sanchez.

The Marlins felt secure enough in this group (and the intriguing group of prospects coming behind them) that they dealt Zac Gallen to the Diamondbacks for young shortstop Jazz Chisholm. The position player side of the ball should soon see an influx of intriguing young talent get their chance in the big leagues. Along with Chisholm, the Marlins added JJ Bleday with the 4th overall pick in the draft and acquired another top prospect in Jesus Sanchez from the Rays. Chishold and Sanchez are likely to reach the majors in 2020, along with centefielder Monte Harrison. Chisholm, Sanzhez, and Harrison are the Marlins #3, 4 and 5 ranked prospect by MLB.com. On both sides of the ball, patience will carry the day for now in Miami. Given the gusto with which their division mates have approached the offseason, Miami is all but assured to finish 2020 in the NL East cellar for the third consecutive season.

Marlins Notes: Free Agents, Castellanos, Urena, Chen, Mejia

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While the Marlins have made it clear that upgrading the offense is a priority this winter, the team would prefer to stay away from long-term contracts so as not to block its younger position players, Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald writes.  Any number of veterans could fit as short-term adds for 2020, though it does mean the Marlins likely won’t be signing Marcell Ozuna or Nicholas Castellanos, two free agents Miami was rumored to have interest in signing.  Jackson notes that the Fish aren’t keen to give up the draft pick necessary to sign Ozuna (who rejected a Cardinals’ qualifying offer), while Castellanos is probably also unlikely, though the Marlins “could enter the bidding if he’s still available in a few weeks and willing to accept a shorter deal.”  One would imagine that if Castellanos was open to a short-term deal, however, he might prefer to take such a contract with a contending team rather than the rebuilding Marlins.

Some more from South Beach…

  • Also from Jackson’s piece, “the Marlins are leaning toward tendering” a contract to Jose Urena, who is projected for a $4MM salary in arbitration this offseason.  After solid results in 2017-18, Urena struggled to a 5.21 ERA over 84 2/3 innings in a season hampered by injury, and it’s possible Miami could now opt to use him as a reliever rather than the rotation.  Even for a low-payroll team like the Marlins, $4MM doesn’t seem like too expensive a sum for a pitcher with Urena’s resume, though Jackson notes that Miami could tender Urena a contract now and then release him before Opening Day (thus paying only a fraction of his agreed-upon salary) if they don’t like what they see in Spring Training.
  • After a busy day of roster additions and subtractions on Wednesday, president of baseball operations Michael Hill discussed the team’s moves with reporters (including MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro and Wells Dusenbury of the South Florida Sun Sentinel).  The most notable transactions was Wei-Yin Chen being designated for assignment, which all but officially ended the southpaw’s disappointing tenure in Miami after signing a five-year, $80MM deal in the 2015-16 offseason.  Chen still has one year and $22MM remaining on that contract, though the DFA “was not about money.  It was about building the best and deepest 40-man roster to allow us to compete in 2020 and beyond,” Hill said.  Since Chen wasn’t expected to be a big contributor next season and his trade value was virtually non-existent, it isn’t a shock that the Marlins felt that Chen’s roster spot was better used to protect a young player from the Rule 5 Draft.
  • All in all, six players were added to the 40-man in advance of the Rule 5 deadline — shortstop Jazz Chisholm, first baseman Lewin Diaz, and right-handers Sixto Sanchez, Nick Neidert, Humberto Mejia and Edward Cabrera.  It seems like Mejia was the only member of the group who wasn’t a no-brainer, as his inclusion on the 40-man “took a lot of discussion among our group,” Hill said. “He battled injuries in his history, but you’re talking about a very physical right-handed pitcher with three pitches and he’s an extreme strike-thrower.  We feel he’s a future major league starter and we didn’t think we should leave that profile exposed.”  As Hill noted, Mejia “pitched his way onto the roster” following a strong 2019 season that saw the righty post a 2.09 ERA over 90 1/3 innings at the A-ball and high-A ball levels.

NL Notes: Rockies, Marlins, Mets

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The Rockies pitching staff collapsed in 2019, and it led to a myriad of attempted fixes, per The Athletic’s Nick Groke. So far, however, the Rockies remain at a loss. There is concern about the state of the baseball and how it reacts in Colorado’s altitude, but scouts around baseball also point to a habit of “careless deliveries” among Colorado hurlers as a cause for concern. Bud Black and his team are hard at work trying to diagnose the issue(s), and without payroll flexibility over the winter, identifying internal solutions might be their best chance at improvement in 2020. Still, it’s a dispiriting read for Colorado’s fans, as the Groke writes that the Rockies went so far as to “shut down their top starter, 24-year-old German Márquez, in late August, in part to save him from the bombardment.” They’ll have a clean slate in 2020, but a long road ahead as the Dodgers remain a juggernaut, while the Diamondbacks and Padres are rising contenders. Let’s check in elsewhere around the NL…

  • The Marlins feel much differently about the future of their pitching staff. This season definitely opened some eyes to the burgeoning talent in Miami’s rotation, but the best may be yet to come. Miami management believes they have a dozen or more identifiable arms in their system with big-league rotation potential, per Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald. Jose Urena has been the big name of the rotation in year’s past, but his future is uncertain with Caleb Smith, Sandy Alcantara, Jordan Yamamoto, Pablo Lopez, and Elieser Hernandez all competing for regular roles next year.
  • Managing the Mets is not the easiest job in baseball, but in tabbing Carlos Beltran for the role, New York found someone who knows what to expect and is ready to handle the unique challenge of managing in Queens, per The Athletic’s Tim Britton. Beltran is a long-respected clubhouse leader, and though he’ll be new to the managing role, he is no stranger to the New York spotlight. Ownership rarely takes a backseat for the Mets, but Beltran’s existing relationships will help him in that department as well. The biggest obstacle to a successful tenure for Beltran remains in Atlanta, DC, and Philadelphia.

Jose Urena Could Return As Marlins’ Closer

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Marlins right-hander Jose Urena hasn’t pitched since June 7 on account of a lower back strain, though his season doesn’t look over. Manager Don Mattingly announced Friday that Urena could return in September as the Marlins’ closer, per Craig Mish of FNTSY Radio.

At 45-81, owner of the worst record in the National League, Miami hasn’t had much use for a closer this season. Indeed, the team traded Sergio Romo – by far its saves leader – prior to last month’s deadline. Nevertheless, it’s good news that the 27-year-old Urena, one of the Marlins’ several promising 20-something pitchers, is likely to make it back this season. Urena reportedly generated interest from other clubs prior to landing on the shelf, and if he returns this year and ends the campaign in solid fashion, he could wind up as a winter trade chip for the rebuilding Fish.

Urena entered 2019 as something of a workhorse for Miami, for which he delivered 169 innings or more of sub-4.00 ERA ball in each of the previous two years. He wasn’t as successful this year before his injury, though, as he pitched to a 4.70 ERA/4.59 FIP with 6.15 K/9 against 2.77 BB/9 and a 50.6 percent groundball rate in 74 2/3 frames. But Urena did fire fastballs at an average of nearly 96 mph in that span, and perhaps his above-average velocity will play up in a short relief role.

Pitcher Notes: Ohtani, Urena, Cole

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Shohei Ohtani threw what Los Angeles Times reporter Maria Torres described as a “high-intensity bullpen session” on Saturday, and one spectator, Angels manager Brad Ausmus, walked away impressed. “He looked easy and free,” Ausmus said. “He threw about 40 pitches, I think. He was good. No complaints, so that’s good.” Ohtani relayed through an interpreter that he was throwing up to 82 mph during the pre-game workout, which, in his estimation, places him at about the “80%” point in his recovery process from Tommy John surgery. Of course, the Japanese import is known for ratcheting fastballs well in excess of 80 mph, so the Los Angeles org will likely have to wait until 2020 to see their prized two-way talent back on a big league mound.

More pitcher-focused frottages from around the web…

  • There are few sports-related injuries that are conceivably more painful than a herniated disc, but, after two months spent recovering from such an injury, Marlins starter Jose Urena is soldiering onward in his recovery, according to a report from Wells Dusenbury of the South Florida Sun Sentinel. Urena, a veteran of five big league seasons, threw a bullpen session yesterday that manager Don Mattingly described as “really good”. According to the skipper, the team expects their homegrown hurler to return to the team in September, possibly in a bullpen capacity.
  • According to a tweet from Mandy Bell of MLB.com, the Indians have placed pitcher AJ Cole on the 10-day injured list, with a recall of pitcher Hunter Wood as a consequent move (link). Cole, a 27-year-old righthander, has been generally effective out of the Cleveland pen this year. His 10.38 K/9 rate over 26 innings has helped catalyze a solid 3.81 ERA rate, although his strikeout-geared repertoire could go a long way toward explaining the shoulder impingement that has now landed him in injury trouble. On the year, Cole has thrown a slider on 45.9% of his offerings, far, far above the usual 15% usage rate generally seen among pitchers utilizing that breaking ball in their repertoire.

Marlins Place Jose Urena On 60-Day IL

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3:14pm: An MRI revealed a herniated disc in Urena’s back, Wells Dusenbury of the Sun Sentinel was among those to tweet.

1:07pm: Marlins right Jose Urena is hitting the shelf for the foreseeable future, with the club announcing that he’s going to the 60-day injured list. Urena is said to be dealing with a left lower back strain.

It’s a bit of a surprising turn of events for the starting pitcher, who had been scheduled to start on Wednesday before hitting the 10-day IL. At the time, there wasn’t much indication that he’d be sidelined for a lengthy stretch. The injury is evidently more severe than is apparent from the basic description of a lower back issue.

Given the timing, Urena won’t be eligible to return from the IL until mid-August. That all but eliminates him as a summer trade target. The 27-year-old hadn’t been in top form, with a 4.70 ERA in 74 2/3 innings, but he turned in consecutive sub-4.00 ERA campaigns in the prior two seasons. With his steady mid-to-upper nineties fastball velocity, Urena could have been an interesting swingman for the right contender.

Urena is earning $3.2MM this year as a 3+ service-class arbitration player. That leaves two more arb-eligible campaigns to come. The injury will sap his ability to procure a significant raise next fall, so it’s still plausible to imagine the Marlins tendering him a contract. Whether that’ll be a sensible approach will depend upon Urena’s recovery and showing upon his return,

This move represents the corresponding 40-man roster transaction for the club’s previously reported decision to select the contract of Yadiel Rivera. He’ll help fill in for Martin Prado while the veteran infielder is sidelined.

Marlins To Promote Jordan Yamamoto, Place Jose Urena On IL

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9:40pm: Urena’s battling lower back tightness, Wells Dusenbery of the Sun Sentinel tweets.

7:10pm: Right-hander Jose Urena, who had been lined up to start tomorrow’s game, will be placed on the injured list, tweets Joe Frisaro of MLB.com. It’s not yet known what type of injury Urena is dealing with. The team has yet to formally announce either move.

5:16pm: The Marlins will promote right-handed pitching prospect Jordan Yamamoto to make his Major League debut tomorrow, Yamamoto himself confirmed to FishStripes.com’s Ely Sussman (Twitter link). He’s already on the 40-man roster, so the team will only need to make a 25-man roster move to accommodate his arrival.

Yamamoto, 23, is one of the four players Miami received in the 2017-18 offseason blockbuster that sent future MVP Christian Yelich to the Brewers. Being a part of such a high-profile trade will always lead to some unfair expectations, but to this point in his tenure with the Miami organization, Yamamoto has looked like a rather intriguing pitching prospect. In 68 2/3 innings split primarily between Class-A Advanced and Double-A last year, the Hawaiian-born righty notched a 1.83 ERA with a tremendous 85-to-14 K/BB ratio (11.1 K/9, 1.8 BB/9). He also pitched to a 2.08 ERA in 26 inning during the Arizona Fall League.

So far in 2019, he’s turned in a strong 3.58 ERA with 8.8 K/9, 3.4 BB/9, 0.96 HR/9 and a 45.6 percent ground-ball rate through 65 1/3 innings of work. In all, he has a 3.28 ERA with better than a strikeout per inning and roughly average ground-ball tendencies in 82 1/3 innings of Double-A ball.

MLB.com ranks Yamamoto as the Marlins’ No. 17 prospect, calling his curveball a “consistent plus pitch” and adding that high spin rate on his fastball helps to offset the pitch’s fairly pedestrian velocity. Fangraphs tabbed him 23rd among Miami farmhands to open the season, noting that there’s a wide variety of outcomes on Yamamoto — all of which are somewhat dependent on his secondary offerings. He’s a potential back-of-the-rotation starter who could also find some success as a multi-inning reliever if he’s ultimately unable to survive multiple trips through the batting order.

Marlins’ Jose Urena Drawing Trade Interest

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With the July 31 trade deadline getting closer and the Marlins in last place in the National League, they’ll have to decide which veterans to jettison from their roster. One of them could be right-hander Jose Urena, who has drawn inquiries from “several teams,” per Marlins reporter Craig Mish.

A member of the Miami organization since 2009, Urena made his major league debut six years later and has turned into a fixture in its starting staff in recent seasons. Dating back to 2017, the first season in which most of his appearances came in the Marlins’ rotation, Urena has logged a team-leading 69 starts and 387 innings. The 27-year-old has pitched to a solid 4.02 ERA (but with a less impressive 4.64 FIP) with 6.37 K/9, 3.02 BB/9 and a 47.5 percent groundball rate since he became a permanent starter for the Marlins.

So far this season, Urena’s numbers look fairly similar to the production he managed over the previous couple years. Even though his 96 mph fastball velocity outdoes most starters’, Urena hasn’t had much success generating strikeouts. Among qualifying starters, Urena ranks fourth last in K/9 (5.98) and 17th from the bottom in swinging-strike rate (8.9 percent). Urena has offset those figures to some degree with the game’s eighth-best groundball percentage (52.4) and an above-average walk rate (2.76), helping him to a passable 4.30 ERA/4.35 FIP in 58 2/3 frames.

Urena clearly isn’t any kind of front-line option, though it does appear he’s a capable back-end starter. There’s value in that, especially considering Urena’s affordable ($3.2MM salary) and controllable. With two seasons of arbitration eligibility remaining, the Marlins don’t have to part with Urena this summer, but Mish reports that the rebuilding club may be open to it.

MLB Issues Five-Game Suspension To Kevin Gausman

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May 12: Gausman has elected to drop his appeal and will begin serving his five-game suspension on Sunday. He will miss the Braves’ three-game set against the Cardinals, as well as Friday’s series-opener against Milwaukee.

May 6: Braves hurler Kevin Gausman has been slapped with a five-game suspension and undisclosed fine, per a league announcement. The punitive measure relates to a recent incident on the mound.

It was determined that Gausman intentionally threw a pitch at Marlins hurler Jose Urena on Friday night. That assessment was based upon this pitch, which was obviously interpreted as retribution for an incident last season for which Urena himself received a six-game ban.

Gausman is appealing the suspension. That will leave him eligible to make his scheduled start tonight. Whether he’ll ultimately drop the appeal isn’t known, but it shouldn’t be terribly difficult for him and the team to minimize the intrusion. The Braves do have an off day upcoming on Tuesday the 13th to work with as well.

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