NL Notes: Reds, Braves, Teheran, Markakis
Reds minor league right-hander Jairo Capellan died in a car crash in the Dominican Republic on Saturday, the team announced. He was 19 years old. Two other Reds minor leaguers – righty Raul Hernandez and outfielder Emilio Garcia (both of whom are 19) – were also in the car, and each player suffered injuries. Hernandez is currently in critical condition, while Garcia is in stable condition. “We received this terrible news and send our condolences and support to the families, friends and teammates of Jaro, Raul and Emilio,” said Reds CEO Bob Castellini. “Our Dominican operations are an integral part of the Reds organization, and this tragedy affects us all. We will remain closely involved to help everyone through this difficult time.” MLBTR joins the Reds in extending our condolences to the families, friends and teammates of all three players.
Here’s lighter news on another National League club:
- Although Julio Teheran has long been a workhorse in Atlanta, where he has totaled 30-plus starts in six straight seasons, his status with the team is “in limbo,” per Mark Bowman of MLB.com. Even if the Braves are unable to find a trade partner for Teheran this offseason, they may not guarantee him a rotation spot in 2019, when he’s due $11MM, Bowman adds. Next season’s the last guaranteed year of the $32.4MM extension Teheran signed in 2014. At that point, the Braves were hoping Teheran would emerge as a front-line starter for the long haul. That hasn’t really happened, but Teheran has nonetheless been a competent major league starter. The right-hander is also still relatively youthful, as he’s coming off an age-27 season in which he logged 175 2/3 innings of 3.94 ERA ball. Teheran’s peripherals were less impressive than his run prevention (as has been the case throughout his career), however, and his already unimposing velocity trended downward.
- More on the Braves, who haven’t officially closed the door on the Nick Markakis era, Bowman relays. Markakis is currently a free agent, though, and Bowman reports that the Braves will see if they can acquire a more powerful outfielder before potentially circling back to him. Set to turn 35 on Nov. 17, Markakis just wrapped up a four-year, $44MM contract, over which he offered slightly above-average offensive production (103 wRC+) in 2,745 plate appearances. Markakis, to his credit, was exceptionally durable as a Brave, as he missed just 12 games over the span of his just-expired deal. He took the field for all 162 games this past season and put up his best numbers as a Brave, hitting .297/.366/.440 (114 wRC+) with 14 home runs and 2.6 fWAR.
Braves Place Mike Foltynewicz on 10-Day DL, Reinstate Julio Teheran
The Braves have placed right-hander Mike Foltynewicz on the 10-day disabled list with right triceps tightness, retroactive to June 13th. In a corresponding move, they’ve activated fellow righty Julio Teheran from the disabled list, who is scheduled to start tomorrow’s game.
The 26-year-old Foltynewicz has been a revelation this season, pitching to a pristine 2.16 ERA across 79 innings so far. He’s managed to strike out 10.71 batters thanks in part to a fastball that averages a whopping 97 miles per hour. That mark trails only Luis Severino in all of MLB. Foltynewicz has taken his game to a new level in June, having allowed just two earned runs across his three starts this month while striking out 25 batters. That includes a complete game shutout against the Nationals on June 1st.
Teheran has posted a career-high 5.59 FIP so far this season due in part to diminished velocity, a spike in his already-high walk rate, and a catastrophic 39% hard contact allowed. That last mark is the 20th-highest among all qualified major league starters. Teheran’s career has been a roller coaster of highs and lows, but he’ll hope he can turn his season around after a brief stint on the DL for a thumb injury.
Braves Place Julio Teheran On DL, Select Luke Jackson
The Braves announced that they’ve placed right-hander Julio Teheran on the 10-day disabled list due to a right thumb contusion and selected the contract of righty Luke Jackson to take his spot on the 25-man roster. Atlanta had an open spot on the 40-man, so the team didn’t need to make a corresponding move in that regard.
Teheran, still just 27 years of age, is sporting a respectable 4.31 ERA on the season, though there’s plenty of reason to believe that he’s been fairly fortunate to maintain that mark. The right-hander’s average fastball velocity is down to a career-worst 89.3 mph, and he’s averaging a career-high 4.18 walks and 1.77 homers per nine innings pitched. Beyond that, Teheran’s chase rate and swinging-strike rate are down from his career levels, and he’s benefiting from a .225 BABIP and an 80.4 percent strand rate. Fielding-independent metrics like FIP, xFIP and SIERA all peg Teheran around 5.00 or higher.
[Related: Updated Atlanta Braves depth chart]
It’s not clear how long Teheran will miss, though there’s no indication that he’s expected to be out for a prolonged period. With off-days on June 7 and 11, the Braves can skip the fifth spot in their rotation and stick with current starters Sean Newcomb, Mike Foltynewicz, Brandon McCarthy and Anibal Sanchez. If they have to dip into their Triple-A ranks, Matt Wisler has already made three spot starts this season and could be the first line of defense to do so again. Max Fried and Lucas Sims are also starting in Triple-A and are on the 40-man roster, though they’ve been used primarily out of the ‘pen in the Majors so far in 2018.
As for Jackson, this’ll be the third time he’s been selected to the team’s 40-man roster this season. Atlanta has already outrighted Jackson on two occasions, but he’s stuck with the organization and will now embark on his third stint with the Major League team in 2018. The 26-year-old has surrendered two runs in 1 1/3 innings at the MLB level so far and posted a 4.62 ERA in 50 2/3 innings for the Braves last year. In 21 1/3 Triple-A frames so far in 2018, he’s pitched to a pristine 1.69 ERA with 34 strikeouts against 10 walks.
Injury Notes: Teheran, Buchter, Giants, Donaldson, Schoop, Nats
Braves righty Julio Teheran left his outing today with what the team is calling “right upper trap tightness.” He had shown a concerning velocity drop before departing, as David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution tweets. The 27-year-old Teheran entered the day with a 4.00 ERA in his 27 innings, while carrying a career-best 12.8% swinging-strike rate, but gave up three earned in his three frames. It seems generally promising that there’s a muscular explanation for Teheran’s sudden loss of velo, though of course that does not necessarily mean he’s out of the woods and we’ll have to await further word.
Here’s the latest on some other health situations around the league:
- The Athletics have placed southpaw Ryan Buchter on the DL, per a club announcement. He’ll be replaced on the active roster by Danny Coulombe. At this point, the team plans to shut Buchter down for at least ten days and possibly longer, as MLB.com’s Jane Lee tweets. The 31-year-old southpaw, who was acquired over the offseason, has been quite good thus far for the A’s. He’s carrying a 1.69 ERA with 9.3 K/9 and 3.4 BB/9 over 10 2/3 innings.
- While the Giants will hold off on putting Mac Williamson on the DL, he’s in the concussion protocol at present, as manager Bruce Bochy informed reporters including Kerry Crowley of the Bay Area News Group (Twitter link). In the meantime, the organization has brought fellow outfielder Austin Slater onto the active roster, creating space by sending reliever Josh Osich to the 10-day DL. It’s unclear at this point how long Slater will have in the majors, but he’ll surely be hoping to follow the same track as Williamson, who kept on raking after receiving a promotion. Slater owns a .358/.435/.642 slash with just six strikeouts in his 62 plate appearances on the year at Triple-A.
- Blue Jays third baseman Josh Donaldson is beginning his rehab assignment tomorrow, as the team announced. He’ll open as a DH as he eases back into action, though the real test will come when he puts his throwing back on display at game speed. There’s similarly good news for the division-rival Orioles, who expect to send second baseman Jonathan Schoop on a brief rehab assignment next week, as Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com tweets. He has been out for two weeks with an oblique strain.
- The Nationals, who are still waiting for a trio of important players, gave some updates today. (Links to the Twitter feed of Mark Zuckerman of MASNsports.com.) Third baseman Anthony Rendon is reasonably close and is expected to return in relatively short order after a brief stint on the shelf. It’s not quite as rosy for outfielder Adam Eaton, who has seemingly had some ups and downs in rehabbing his ankle issues, but — GM Mike Rizzo emphasized — also has not experienced any setbacks. As for second baseman Daniel Murphy, who has yet to play at all following offseason knee surgery, there’s still no timeline for a return.
- A number of other players are already coming off of the DL. The Reds have activated righty David Hernandez and the Mariners have brought back first baseman Ryon Healy. Both were relatively significant offseason acquisitions for their organizations. Meanwhile, the Rays activated infielder Matt Duffy and the Rangers did the same with righty Tony Barnette.
Julio Teheran Switches Agencies
Braves right-hander Julio Teheran has changed representation and is now a Wasserman client, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports (via Twitter).
Set to turn 27 in January, Teheran is coming off the worst full season of his professional career by most statistical measures. While he continued to demonstrate durability with his fifth straight season of 185 or more innings, Teheran saw his strikeout, walk and home-run rates all trend in the wrong direction. In 188 1/3 innings, he averaged 7.2 K/9 against 3.4 BB/9 with an ugly 1.48 HR/9 mark en route to a 4.49 ERA. That ERA was the highest of his career, and metrics like FIP (4.95), xFIP (4.96) and SIERA (4.89) actually painted an even more troublesome picture.
Teheran did pitch better away from the newly constructed and homer-friendly SunTrust Park, though the discrepancy between his performance wasn’t quite as large as his 5.86 home ERA and 3.14 road ERA would suggest at first glance. His K/BB numbers and batted-ball profile were all relatively similar, but he enjoyed an unsustainable 83.7 percent strand rate on the road that helped to buoy his bottom-line run prevention numbers. On the plus side, Teheran is nowhere near the top of the leaderboard for average exit velocity or number of 95+ mph balls yielded, as measured by Statcast, so perhaps there’s some hope for better fortune with the long ball in 2018 and beyond.
He’ll have plenty of time to work on reestablishing himself as a quality mid-rotation piece moving ahead, as Teheran is still under contract through at least the 2019 season thanks to the six-year, $32.4MM contract he inked prior to the 2014 campaign. He’s slated to earn $8MM in 2018 and $11MM in 2019, and that contract contains a $12MM option ($1MM buyout) for the 2020 season as well. Even if the Braves — or a team to which he’s theoretically traded — exercise the option, Teheran would still hit the open market as a 29-year-old on the brink of his age-30 campaign.
His switch in representation has been noted in MLBTR’s Agency Database, which contains agent information on more than 2,500 Major League and Minor League players. If you come across any errors or omissions in the database, let us know via email: mlbtrdatabase@gmail.com.
NL East Notes: Kelley, Ausmus, Mets, Teheran, Braves
Shawn Kelley left during the eighth inning of last night’s Nationals game due to an arm injury that left him with a badly-swollen right hand. “Just on that last pitch I felt something go down through my arm and my hand swelled up a bit,” Kelley told media, including Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post. “I just didn’t feel like I could pitch another pitch honestly. I couldn’t really grip the ball. I motioned for somebody to come out because I knew it wasn’t good.” Kelley will meet with doctors today to evaluate the problem, which is particularly ominous given that Kelley has twice undergone Tommy John surgery. The veteran right-hander has had two separate DL stints due to a bad back and a trap strain, and these injury issues have very likely impacted Kelley’s subpar performance. Kelley has a 7.27 ERA over 26 innings this season, with huge spikes in his homer rate and hard-hit ball rate. As Janes notes, Kelley may not have made the Nats’ playoff roster even if healthy, though the team will have one less bullpen option to choose from if Kelley is indeed hurt.
Here’s more from around the NL East…
- Brad Ausmus won’t be returning as the Tigers’ manager next year, though Peter Gammons of GammonsDaily.com reports that some in the Mets front office are interested in speaking with Ausmus. New York has also been rumored to be making a managerial change, and will likely look into several different candidates if it does indeed move on from the Terry Collins era. It’s also possible that the Mets’ interest in Ausmus may not necessarily involve managing; Ausmus also worked as a special assistant in the Padres’ baseball ops department before taking the Tigers job.
- Also from Gammons’ piece, he expects the Braves to be listening to offers for Julio Teheran during the GM Meetings in November. Teheran drew some trade buzz this past summer, with Atlanta reportedly holding onto Teheran since it was unable to land another top-tier arm to replace the right-hander as the rotation’s ace. Teheran has struggled to a 4.52 ERA over 175 1/3 IP this season, though that inflated number has been due to a lack of success at SunTrust Park — Teheran has a 6.23 ERA at home this season and a 2.84 ERA on the road. While Teheran’s swinging-strike and contact rates have also gone in the wrong direction, between his controllable contract and the idea that he would rebound in another ballpark, the Braves would certainly garner quite a bit of interest in trade talks.
- Braves CEO and chairman Terry McGuirk told MLB.com’s Mark Bowman and other media that the team won’t make any management decisions until after the season is over, though McGuirk did praise manager Brian Snitker and president of baseball operations John Hart. McGuirk expects Hart, whose deal is up after the season, to return in 2018. The Braves hold a club option on Snitker’s services for next year, though there has been speculation that the team could be exploring a change in the dugout, with FanRag Sports’ Jon Heyman hearing from a source that the Braves are currently “leaning toward” hiring a new manager. Snitker will meet with the front office to learn about his future, and USA Today’s Bob Nightengale tweets that this meeting could take place as soon as today.
NL Notes: Teheran, Ellis, Cubs, Beede, Nationals
The Braves aren’t likely to trade righty Julio Teheran at the deadline, tweets Jon Heyman of FanRag. A report earlier this month suggested the Braves were open to dealing Teheran, but there haven’t been many specific details about potential Teheran deals since. Teheran is in the midst of an underwhelming season (5.09 ERA, 6.8 K/9, 3.5 BB/9 over 120 1/3 innings), is only 26, and is controllable at reasonable prices through 2020, so it wouldn’t be at all surprising if the Braves opted to keep him for now. Here are more quick notes from the NL.
- The Cubs remain interested in Marlins catcher A.J. Ellis, writes Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times. A report earlier this week from MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro connected the Cubs to Ellis, who would provide Chicago with a veteran backup to Willson Contreras. (Frisaro tweets that two other teams are interested in Ellis as well and that the Cubs might not ultimately land him.) The Cubs also continue to look for a reliever. “That’s what you would be looking for — that high-leverage, later-inning guy that you’re really comfortable with — so you can spread the work out a little bit more evenly,” says Cubs manager Joe Maddon, who adds that his guess is that the team will make another move of some sort before the deadline.
- Top Giants pitching prospect Tyler Beede will likely miss the rest of the season with a groin strain, as Alex Pavlovic of CSNBayArea.com notes. Beede is expected to miss four weeks, taking him to around the end of the minor-league season. The injury could wind up costing him a chance at a big-league call-up once rosters expand in September as well. He could, however, pitch in the Arizona Fall League. After a strong season with Double-A Richmond in 2016, the former first-round pick struggled in Triple-A Sacramento in 2017, posting a 4.79 ERA, 6.9 K/9 and 3.2 BB/9 over 109 innings.
- The Nationals need catching help, FanGraphs’ Travis Sawchik writes. Matt Wieters has not hit or framed pitches well, batting .248/.297/.381 over 310 plate appearances while rating -10.8 runs in framing, via Statcorner. Sawchik suggests Atlanta’s Tyler Flowers (a much better receiver) and Detroit’s Alex Avila as good targets for the Nats to pursue.
Trade Buzz: Samardzija, Strickland, Hand, Tigers, Teheran, Mariners, Twins, Nats
The Giants are “drawing [a] fair amount of interest” in right-handed starter Jeff Samardzija and right-handed reliever Hunter Strickland, reports Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle (all Twitter links). While Samardzija’s surface-level numbers aren’t exactly appealing this season — 4.86 ERA, 20 homers in 124 innings (1.45 HR/9) — he leads the Majors in K/BB ratio and is fifth in K%-BB% (23.7 percent). Moreover, Schulman notes that other teams simply value Samardzija’s durability. The Giants, too, value Shark’s innings, however, making the situation complicated. Schulman adds that the Giants are willing to think “creatively” in terms of trades, speculating about possible three-team swaps or taking on poor contracts.
As far as Strickland goes, the 28-year-old has a pristine 1.91 ERA with 9.8 K/9 through 33 innings this season. His 5.2 BB/9 rate and 88.5 percent strand rate suggest that there’s probably some regression in order, but the Giants (or an acquiring team) can control Strickland through the 2021 season, so it stands to reason that he’d draw interest as a long-term bullpen option.
More trade buzz from around the game…
- Padres general manager A.J. Preller has been asking for teams’ “top, top prospects” when shopping lefty Brad Hand around the league, an exec that has inquired on Hand tells ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick (Twitter link). While it’s hard to blame the Friars for aiming high — especially with 13 days remaining until the deadline — asking for multiple top-ranked prospects in return for Hand certainly seems like a steep asking price. The 27-year-old Hand does have an impressive 2.25 ERA with 11.4 K/9, 2.4 BB/9 and a 47.7 percent ground-ball rate, though, and he’s controllable through 2019.
- Crasnick also tweets that the Tigers are “optimistic” that they’re getting close to completing a trade or two. GM Al Avila said yesterday that he expects something “soon,” Crasnick notes. The Tigers are known to be marketing the likes of J.D. Martinez, Justin Wilson and Alex Avila, though it’s worth noting that Martinez is in the lineup tonight. Avila is out of the lineup, though that’s likely due to the fact that Detroit is facing a left-handed opponent, and James McCann rakes against southpaw pitching.
- David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution tweets that the Royals had a scout in attendance to watch Julio Teheran‘s start for the Braves last night. It should be noted, of course, that there were likely a number of clubs on hand and that the Royals are certain to be scouting a number of potential rotation additions. Teheran turned in six innings of two-run ball without allowing a homer, though he also issued four walks and uncorked a wild pitch.
- The Mariners are becoming an “increasingly active” buyer as the deadline approaches, tweets Jon Morosi of MLB.com. Seattle currently sits just 1.5 games out of a Wild Card spot, and GM Jerry Dipoto is prioritizing starting pitching that can be controlled beyond the 2017 season. Seattle has had poor luck in its rotation this year, with Drew Smyly going down to Tommy John surgery and Hisashi Iwakuma missing a huge chunk of the season, to say nothing of injuries to Felix Hernandez and James Paxton. King Felix and Paxton are back in the fold now, but the M’s currently have rookies Andrew Moore and Sam Gaviglio in their rotation.
- MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand hears that the Twins are shying away from rental assets and are focusing primarily on pieces they can control beyond the current season. Minnesota is preparing for the deadline with a buyer’s mindset, but it’s not clear exactly how aggressive they’ll be. ESPN’s Buster Olney recently wrote that Minnesota isn’t prepared to gut its farm system in order to make a significant splash, but if the team isn’t keen on rentals, as Feinsand suggests, then perhaps they’ll zero in on some second-tier assets that will remain under contract through 2018. Speaking purely speculatively, David Phelps, AJ Ramos and Brad Brach are among the bullpen names that could potentially be had without ransacking the farm, while a starter like Edinson Volquez could fit the same bill.
- Despite the loss of Joe Ross for this season (and much of next), further upgrading the bullpen is a larger priority for the Nationals than pursuing a rotation piece, reports Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post. Edwin Jackson is currently getting a chance to make some starts thanks in part to the struggles of righties A.J. Cole and Austin Voth in the minors. Meanwhile, well-regarded prospect Erick Fedde is being stretched back out as a starter after briefly converting to the bullpen, Janes notes.
Olney’s Latest: Gray, Alonso, Neshek, Tigers, Teheran, Twins, Hand, Angels
In his latest pair of columns, ESPN’s Buster Olney tackles a host of trade-related topics. Each is well worth a full read-through, but here are some highlights…
- Olney lists Sonny Gray, Yonder Alonso, J.D. Martinez, Justin Wilson and Pat Neshek as five players that definitively will be traded prior to the non-waiver trade deadline. All of those players are known to be available, with the Athletics and Phillies at differing stages of a lengthy rebuilding process and the Tigers aiming to pare down payroll by moving short-term veterans. But, Olney’s strong characterization of the likelihood is nonetheless notable, especially since both Gray and Wilson are controllable beyond the 2017 campaign. The Brewers, Cubs, Astros, Yankees, Braves and Indians are among the teams in the mix for Gray, though likely not all to the same extent. Alonso, meanwhile, has reportedly had talks with the A’s about an extension, though Billy Beane’s rebuilding comments yesterday certainly lend credence to the notion that a trade could be the likelier outcome.
- The Braves, meanwhile, are “very much open to offers for Julio Teheran,” Olney reports, citing execs with other clubs that have spoken to Atlanta about the righty. Olney’s report meshes with recent indications from David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, as he writes that the Braves would like to move Teheran for a package of prospects but would first prefer to acquire a suitable rotation replacement for him. Teheran has struggled mightily at Atlanta’s new SunTrust Park this season (7.58 ERA, 13 HR in 46 1/3 home innings; 2.53 ERA, seven HR in 57 road innings), so perhaps the Atlanta front office thinks now more than ever that he’s best suited for a change of scenery.
- The Twins have let other clubs know that while they plan to be buyers at the deadline, they’ll act in a measured sense and won’t gut the upper echelon of their farm system in order to land a significant name. Minnesota has previously been linked to bullpen and rotation help, and while GM Thad Levine has outwardly suggested that the team will at least consider pursuing controllable assets this July, Olney’s column casts some doubt on how strongly the Twins will be in the mix for the top names available (e.g. Gray).
- The Padres seem intent on getting the best return possible on lefty Brad Hand at some point in the next two weeks rather than waiting for the offseason, Olney writes. While the 27-year-old is controlled through the 2019 season, there’s an argument to be made that his value is near its peak right now, especially with so many clubs seeking bullpen help. Olney notes that the Rays are one such team that is looking specifically for left-handed relief pitching.
- Currently sitting at 46-49 and buried in the AL West but just 3.5 games out of a Wild Card spot, the Angels will determine their deadline course based largely on their play in the next week or so, per Olney. A strong week that puts them closer to a Wild Card spot could lead to a conservative buyers’ mentality (similar to the Twins), but if they struggle and fall further back, rental relievers like Bud Norris, David Hernandez and Yusmeiro Petit could all be marketed. The same goes for other impending free agents such as Cameron Maybin and Yunel Escobar.
Trade Rumblings: Darvish, Marlins, Starters, Tigers, Astros, Iglesias, Hand
There’s “increasing buzz” that the Rangers will listen to offers on top starters Yu Darvish and Cole Hamels if they don’t open the second half of the season with strong play, tweets ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick. It’s been previously reported that the Rangers will hold onto Darvish even if they fall out of the race, so that’d represent something of a change of mindset for GM Jon Daniels & Co. Darvish is set to hit the open market at season’s end, so if the Rangers are out of the race and don’t trade him, they run the risk of losing him to free agency (though he’d obviously receive and reject a qualifying offer, affording Texas some draft compensation). Hamels, meanwhile, hasn’t been listed as a potential trade target to date. He’s earning $23.5MM this year and next, and he’s owed at least $6MM as the buyout on a $20MM club option for the 2019 campaign. That contract and a bizarrely low strikeout rate (4.9 K/9) could complicate Hamels’ market, though he’s shown recent improvement with 12 strikeouts in his past 14 1/3 innings of work.
More trade chatter from around the league…
- The Marlins have told other clubs that they’re ready to sell off assets, a rival executive tells Bleacher Report’s Scott Miller. According to Miller, the Marlins have spoken to more than 10 teams about right-hander David Phelps, and there are two or three clubs that are showing “serious” interest in closer AJ Ramos. “They’re working on it and talking to clubs,” the exec tells Miller. “But the conversations always end with one caveat, that they don’t know that the owner won’t bail at the last minute.” Miller adds that Giancarlo Stanton isn’t likely to move until the Marlins accept that they won’t get someone to take his salary and give prospects back. The industry feeling is that it’d have to be almost a straight salary dump. (Stanton can also veto any deal via his no-trade clause.) Miller’s column features a look at all 30 teams and their possible deadline course as well.
- Sonny Gray, Justin Verlander and Gerrit Cole are available in trades, writes Jon Morosi of MLB.com, but the Athletics, Tigers and Pirates have each set a lofty asking price. Perhaps more interestingly, Morosi adds that the Braves have said right-hander Julio Teheran isn’t available, though he’s reportedly been drawing interest and others (including David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports) have said that Atlanta would at least consider offers. In addition to that overview of the market for pitchers, Morosi runs down a position-by-position preview of the market for bats.
- Heyman reports that there’s little to no genuine interest in Justin Verlander at this time due to his huge contract and underwhelming numbers. Furthermore, he notes that due to Verlander’s status as a legend in Detroit, they can’t accept an underwhelming return and effectively signal to Tigers fans that his trade was a salary dump. There’s also very little interest in Ian Kinsler, according to Heyman, as the he’s struggled in 2017 and few teams are on the hunt for second base help. He adds that Alex Avila, J.D. Martinez and Justin Wilson are all drawing strong interest, however, so GM Al Avila should make some deals in the next 18 days.
- In his weekly AL Notes column, Heyman reports that with few top starters left on the market, the Astros may instead pursue high-end bullpen help in an effort to shorten the game and load up the relief corps for the postseason. Unsurprisingly, their list of targets would include Zach Britton, if he’s available. (Most clubs in the league would perk up at the notion of acquiring a healthy Britton.)
- Heyman also notes that Braves left-hander Jaime Garcia is one rental pitcher that interests the Royals. On the subject of Kansas City, he also notes that while the team does have interest in Marlins second baseman Dee Gordon, K.C. would want Miami to pay down some of the roughly $41MM remaining on Gordon’s contract, which the Fish aren’t willing to do. The same is true of the Angels and Blue Jays, he adds, both of whom like the player but not his current salary.
- Meanwhile, in his NL Notes column, Heyman writes that the Reds are believed to be willing to listen to offers on closer Raisel Iglesias but would only move him for a package that would “blow them away.” The 27-year-old Iglesias has emerged as one of baseball’s best relievers and is controllable through the 2020 season. He’s affordable at the moment ($3.5MM in 2017), but his contract allows him to opt into arbitration once eligible, so his salary is going to balloon quite a bit between now and 2020. Heyman also notes that the Reds would be interested in a two- or possibly three-year deal with Zack Cozart but recognize that he can earn more than they’re willing to pay when he gets to free agency.
- The Yankees, Nationals, Dodgers, Cubs, Brewers, Royals, Angels and Mariners could all be in the mix for lefty Brad Hand, Heyman reports. Regarding the Dodgers, Heyman and Robert Murray report that San Diego asked Los Angeles for top prospect Alex Verdugo in return, though there’s “no likelihood” of L.A. meeting that price. The Padres are also getting calls on cheap starters Trevor Cahill, Clayton Richard and Jhoulys Chacin, each of whom inked a one-year deal worth $1.75MM this past offseason.