Kenta Maeda

Dodgers To Acquire Betts, Price In Three-Team Trade; Twins To Acquire Maeda

By Steve Adams | February 4, 2020 at 8:40pm CDT

The Mookie Betts saga has reached its conclusion, and the result is a stunning three-team blockbuster that’ll massively alter the fortunes of all three clubs. The Dodgers are reportedly set to acquire Betts, David Price and significant cash considerations in a deal that will sent young outfielder Alex Verdugo to Boston and right-hander Kenta Maeda to the Twins. Minnesota, meanwhile, will send flamethrowing young righty Brusdar Graterol to the Red Sox to complete the swap.

In making this move, Boston bids adieu to one of its most popular and productive players of the current generation. Betts, the 2018 AL MVP and a career .301/.374/.519 hitter, has cemented himself as one of baseball’s truly elite talents. However, he has also candidly stated time and time again that he intends to test the open market as a free agent.

That lack of interest in an extension left the recently restructured Red Sox front office to weigh trading him for controllable talent now versus simply netting a draft pick in the event that he rejects a qualifying offer and signs elsewhere next winter. The prospect of losing him for that level of minimal return, coupled with ownership’s clear goal of dipping south of the $208MM luxury tax barrier, ultimately led rookie chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom to orchestrate tonight’s mega-deal.

The Dodgers, meanwhile, will land perhaps the greatest consolation prize in history. After missing out on top target Gerrit Cole earlier this winter, they’ve now acquired one of the game’s best all-around players, Betts, in addition to a high-profile starter who can still contribute to their rotation — even if his halcyon days are in the past.

Betts, still only 27, now joins an outfield that’ll feature Cody Bellinger and A.J. Pollock, with the versatile Chris Taylor and Enrique Hernandez playing complementary roles as well. While Betts didn’t quite replicate his 2018 MVP production in 2019, his .295/.391/.524 slash was still elite by measure of both wRC+ and OPS+ (both 135). He’s now been at least 35 percent better than an average hitter in three of the past four seasons by those same measures.

The bat alone would make Betts a coveted player, but he’s also among baseball’s best baserunners and an all-world defender in the outfield. Betts has won a Gold Glove in each of the past four seasons, and his 98 Defensive Runs Saved in that time lead all Major League players, regardless of position, by a whopping 13 runs. His aversion to signing a long-term deal means he has to be viewed as a pure rental player, but if you’re going to rent any player on the planet, renting one whose 30.7 fWAR over the past four seasons trails only Mike Trout for the MLB lead is certainly a good way to go. Betts will earn a $27MM salary after avoiding arbitration for the final time this winter — a record salary for an arb-eligible player.

At 34 years old, Price probably won’t be winning any more Cy Young Awards in his career, but this past season’s 4.28 ERA, 10.7 K/9, 2.7 BB/9, 1.26 HR/9 and 41 percent grounder rate were all quite sound. That ERA undersells the season that Price had, too; he was plagued by a career-worst .336 average on balls in play, and fielding-independent metrics were more bullish on his efforts (3.62 FIP, 3.73 xFIP, 3.85 SIERA).

In fact, Price carried a terrific 3.16 ERA and 3.00 FIP through his first 17 starts and 88 1/3 innings with the Red Sox in 2019. Things began to go south in July as he tried to pitch through a cyst in his left wrist, and he eventually went on the injured list for more than a month while dealing with the issue. He returned in early September but made only one appearance before being shut down and undergoing surgery to alleviate the issue. Price is still owed $96MM under the then-record $217MM contract he signed prior to the 2016 season, but the Red Sox will pay a substantial portion of that sum to lessen the sting for the Dodgers.

Acquiring Betts and Price will cost Los Angeles a hefty five years of control over Verdugo and four more years of the talented Maeda, and there’s another major ripple effect, as the Dodgers have reportedly struck a separate trade sending outfielder Joc Pederson to the Angels in exchange for young infielder Luis Rengifo. Between the cash the Red Sox are sending to cover some of Price’s contract, the subtraction of Maeda and now the subtraction of Pederson’s final arbitration salary, it seems likely that the Dodgers will have managed to stay beneath the luxury tax threshold.

Not to be lost in the shuffle, the Twins are adding a quality arm to a rotation that looked to be in need of augmentation. In Maeda, they land an accomplished 31-year-old starter (32 in April) who prefers to work out of the rotation but was frequently moved to the bullpen for short stints — perhaps in part due to the massive incentives package in his eight-year contract.

Whether the Dodgers deliberately manipulated Maeda’s rotation work to suppress his earnings can’t be known, but his deal contains only a $3MM annual base with a whopping $10MM in annual bonuses based on games started and innings pitched. With the Twins, he’ll all but certainly be viewed as a rotation piece and be given every opportunity to max out those additional payments. Maeda is signed through the 2023 season, and his contract calls for a $1MM assignment bonus in the event of a trade, so he can tack that onto his career earnings.

In 589 career innings, Maeda has a 3.87 ERA with 9.8 K/9, 2.7 BB/9, 1.18 HR/9 and a 40.9 percent ground-ball rate. That he’s more of a fly-ball pitcher bodes well for his fortunes in Minnesota, as the Twins have significant questions about their middle-infield defense but a high-quality group of outfield defenders led by Byron Buxton and Max Kepler. Maeda has racked up 32 2/3 career postseason innings as well, pitching to a 3.31 ERA in that time. He might not be the ace Twins fans hoped to net early this winter, but he’ll bump one of two rookies — southpaw Devin Smeltzer or right-hander Randy Dobnak — from the rotation and provide a clear boost.

In 2020, Maeda will step into a rotation that’ll be fronted by Jose Berrios and Jake Odorizzi. The Twins also re-signed Michael Pineda to a two-year contract earlier this winter, but he’ll be out through mid-May as he serves a reduced 60-game suspension for taking a banned substance. Veteran Homer Bailey will also be a part of the Twins’ starting staff after signing a one-year pact on the heels of a healthy season, and Maeda will eventually be reunited with former Dodgers teammate Rich Hill. The veteran southpaw inked a one-year deal this winter but will be out until the summer as he recovers from primary revision surgery.

Looking beyond the 2020 campaign, Maeda is all the more important for the Twins. Odorizzi, Bailey and Hill are all slated to become free agents next winter, so prior to this trade, Berrios and Pineda were the only proven starters Minnesota controlled beyond the upcoming campaign. Maeda gives them a solid mid-rotation presence to help anchor the staff and does so at an affordable rate that’ll allow the Twins to continue to be aggressive in free agency next year if they choose to double down on this winter’s surprising Josh Donaldson splash.

As for the Red Sox, today is presumably one of the most difficult days in franchise history for a number of the team’s longest-tenured executives. Luxury tax aside, Sox ownership recognizes that trading Betts will be a wildly unpopular move. John Henry and Co. surely didn’t think they’d be in this position just 16 months ago when celebrating a World Series victory, but injuries and some ill-fated expenditures brought about a mediocre 2019 season and a slew of tough choices. It’s easy to argue that a team with such considerable financial resources at its disposal should simply have kept Betts and paid up for him, but even their detractors can agree that there’s likely little joy in trading away a generational player.

The 2020 Red Sox are unquestionably worse having made this move, but they were a long shot to topple the Yankees anyhow and now acquire a pair of potential building blocks. The 23-year-old Verdugo is a longtime top prospect who enjoyed a strong 2019 season and will step right into the void left by Betts. He’s fresh off a .294/.342/.475 slash with a dozen home runs, 22 doubles and two triples in 377 plate appearances with Los Angeles and should see his playing time soar to full-time levels in 2020 and beyond.

Verdugo has excellent bat-to-ball skills and rarely strikes out (13.7 percent in his career). And while he’s no Betts with the glove — no one is — he racked up 13 DRS in 2019 and is capable of handling all three outfield positions. He’s the Red Sox’ right fielder of the future, and unlike many young players who are acquired for stars, that future will start right away; Verdugo should be in the Opening Day lineup and give Sox fans an immediate look at his potential.

The 21-year-old Graterol is less certain to open the year with the Sox, but he’s an electric and exciting talent — albeit one with more volatility than Verdugo. Injuries have plagued Graterol throughout his minor league career — he’s already undergone Tommy John surgery and has battled shoulder troubles, too — but pitchers with his type of velocity and upside are rare. The massive 6’1″, 255-pounder boasts a fastball that sits just under 100 mph and can reach as high as 103 mph, and he’s utterly dominated in the minors when healthy.

Graterol owns a career 2.48 ERA with 9.7 K/9 against 2.7 BB/9 in 214 minor league frames, and he skyrocketed across multiple levels to make his MLB debut in 2019. There’s some concern that his future is in the bullpen, but the Red Sox will likely give him every opportunity to prove that he can be a difference-maker in their rotation.

Graterol was a consensus Top 100 prospect a year ago and remains on those oft-cited rankings. Eric Longenhagen of FanGraphs has already moved Graterol to the top of Boston’s prospect rankings, noting the big righty’s potential to either function as a high-end starter or, if he moves to the ’pen, an elite reliever.

Although there are myriad high-profile players whose name will still be bandied about the trade market, there’s a chance that the Betts/Price/Maeda blockbuster will serve as the finishing touch on what has been a riveting offseason — on that hearkened back to the pre-labor-tension days that seem far longer ago than just two or three years. And in some respects, it’s merely an interesting prelude to a 2020-21 offseason that will quite likely see Betts set out into the free-agent market in search of the largest contract in MLB history. Trades of this magnitude are of the utmost rarity — and virtually unprecedented this time of year — and there’s a good chance that come October we’ll look back at Feb. 4 as a day that majorly impacted multiple division races and postseason outcomes.

ESPN’s Jeff Passan reported (via Twitter) that a deal was in place after MLB Network’s Jon Heyman and the Boston Globe’s Alex Speier reported that talks had become “advanced.” Speier reported the inclusion of a third team (Twitter link). SKOR North Radio’s Darren Wolfson first suggested the Twins’ potential involvement (Twitter link), and USA Today’s Bob Nightengale tweeted that the Twins were indeed the third team. Rosenthal reported the basic framework of the deal, tweeting that Betts and Price would head to L.A., Maeda would go to Minnesota and that Verdugo and Graterol were headed to Boston.

Latest On Kenta Maeda’s Status With Dodgers

By Dylan A. Chase | November 16, 2019 at 2:03am CDT

Recent years have seen the Dodgers deploy pitcher Kenta Maeda in something of a fluid fashion, with the Japanese import generally moving to late-season bullpen duty after performing for the first few months of each campaign as a starter. While Maeda has generally flourished while working out of the bullpen, Friday’s report from Andy McCullough of The Athletic indicates that the hurler hasn’t been pleased with his tenuous hold on a rotation spot. Maeda’s dissatisfaction with his role has been communicated to the club and team president Andrew Friedman, who has, in return, issued a challenge to the pitcher to find “another gear” in his performance.

While taking this situation at face value might lead some to assume that the two parties are at an impasse, the sides have, judging from McCullough’s report, maintained an amicable relationship and open lines of communication. Maeda’s agent from Wasserman, Joel Wolfe, is quoted as saying that the idea of a trade has been explored by both sides, but such a possibility remains firmly on the backburner as both team and player figure out a way to accommodate a compromise. While there is a contractual component to Maeda’s concerns, Wolfe was quick to point out that the pitcher’s chief frustration is with his usage and not his compensation.

“He cares more about the role than the contract,” Wolfe said. “But the contract acts somewhat as a limitation because there’s a lot of upside for the Dodgers in limiting his starts.” The contract Wolfe refers to is the one Maeda signed with Los Angeles in advance of the 2016 season, when the right-hander secured an eight-year, $28MM on the strength of a sterling NPB track record.

Owing in part to elbow concerns that dogged Maeda at the time of his posting, that deal featured a $10MM in annual incentives related to games started and innings pitched. Obviously, Maeda’s move to the bullpen in 2017, 2018, and 2019 has severely hampered his chances of securing those sizable bonuses–and that’s before accounting for potential moves the club might make this offseason in an effort to improve its staff.

To be clear, the Dodgers already project to enter 2020 with a rather stacked rotation picture. Friedman recently outlined the club’s plan to enter next season with Clayton Kershaw, Walker Buehler, Julio Urias, and Maeda in the rotation, with youngsters Dustin May and Tony Gonsolin also on hand as rather formidable options. Rich Hill has clearly stated his desire to return to Dodger nation, and the club has been speculatively connected to virtually every significant free agent starter this side of Gerrit Cole.

Obviously, it may prove tough to find Maeda the 30 to 32 starts he desires with such a surplus in the rotation; further complicating matters is the unique value that the 32-year-old has offered in his recent hybrid role. Maeda’s annual moves to the bullpen have been something of a strategic boon for the club, as he’s posted a 3.19 ERA and 3.13 FIP out of the pen since 2017 (compared to a 4.12 ERA and 3.84 FIP as a starter across that same span).

Maeda has also exhibited undeniable inconsistencies across his splits profile, often struggling against left-handed hitters while absolutely trouncing righties. In 2019, Maeda offered a 5.27 ERA against southpaws while holding a 2.96 ERA mark against same-handed hitters; weighted on-base average (.319 vs. .229) painted a similarly imbalanced picture, supporting the notion that Maeda’s annual transformation into a right-handed setup stopper may actually just be the most prudent course of club action.

While the merits of the club’s historical usage of Maeda may be difficult to argue against, it will still be interesting to monitor whether the pitcher’s sentiments play at least some small role in the Dodgers’ approach to the trade or free agent front. The addition of a top right-handed relief option could conceivably lessen the imperative to again shift Maeda’s role again in 2020, whereas a significant free agent starter signing could represent yet another arm to help usher Maeda toward the bullpen in the season’s final months.

NL Notes: Eaton, May, Maeda, Weaver

By Dylan A. Chase | September 2, 2019 at 7:05pm CDT

Nationals outfielder Adam Eaton exited today’s game, a 7-3 loss to the Mets, after the second inning. Following the defeat, Manager Dave Martinez told Jesse Dougherty of The Washington Post that he’s concerned that the veteran Eaton may be dealing with a hamstring issue, after experiencing “back of the knee pain”(link). Eaton has been sent for MRI testing.

It’s inopportune timing for the Nats and troublesome altogether for Eaton. Though the Nats hold a comfortable 3.5-game lead for the primary NL Wild Card spot, a September hamstring injury could preclude Eaton from postseason usage–especially considering the way injuries have dogged the outfielder since his arrival in D.C. via a 2016 trade with the White Sox. That deal, which saw Lucas Giolito, Reynaldo Lopez, and Dane Dunning go to the South Side from Washington, was largely debrided as an overpay for the Nationals at the time and, with distance, has only come to seem even more lopsided in Chicago’s favor. Though Eaton provided the Pale Hose with a cumulative 13.5 WAR from 2014-2016, he has struggled to stay on the field with the Nationals, with his 2019 representing his high watermark in terms of games played at just 127. Eaton holds a strong .288/.377/.436 line on the year and was coming off of an August that saw him hit .329 with 5 HRs and 26 runs scored in 23 games.

More items of note from around the National League…

Redhaired Dodgers rookie Dustin May was nailed by a vicious line drive off the bat of Arizona’s Jake Lamb on Sunday, but, fortunately, appears to have avoided serious injury. Manager Dave Roberts told MLB.com’s Ken Gurnick that May is dealing with some neck stiffness but “feels fine” after his intimate encounter with a fast-moving baseball (Twitter link). Meanwhile, Gurnick also relays that pitcher Kenta Maeda will be performing in a bullpen capacity in tonight’s game with the Rockies–which is the same capacity he will be expected to function in moving forward (link). This is a similar usage timeline for Maeda as we saw in 2018, when the Japanese vet moved into a high-leverage relief role beginning on Aug. 14 of that year. In 2019, Maeda’s fourth season with the Dodgers, the righty has logged a 4.11 ERA, 3.96 FIP, and 9.72 K/9 across 26 starts.
With Zack Greinke wearing Astros colors these days, the Diamondbacks will likely be looking to youngster Luke Weaver to lead their pitching staff in coming seasons. After arriving in Phoenix along with catcher Carson Kelly in the deal that sent Paul Goldschmidt to St. Louis, the 26-year-old Weaver flummoxed opposing hitters in his first 11 starts as a D’Back this year. His 9.82 K/9 rate and 2.02 BB/9 rate pairing were fuel for a solid 3.03 ERA over 62.1 innings, but many feared the worst when the righty went down with an elbow injury in May. Since being diagnosed with a mild right flexor pronator strain and a mild right UCL sprain, Weaver has been working on a rehab regimen that, on Monday, called for him to throw a 21-pitch simulated game before his team’s game with the Padres. MLB.com’s Steve Gilbert passes word from manager Torey Luvollo regarding that sim game, with the skipper saying that Weaver’s pitches “had life” and that this episode in Weaver’s rehab represents “extremely encouraging news”. The team is expected to determine next steps depending on how the pitcher feels following today’s exercise.

Dodgers To Place Kenta Maeda On 10-Day Injured List

By Mark Polishuk | May 16, 2019 at 6:43pm CDT

The Dodgers will place right-hander Kenta Maeda on the 10-day IL before tomorrow’s game, according to Jorge Castillo of the Los Angeles Times (Twitter link). Maeda’s placement caps off a busy day of roster-shuffling for the Dodgers, as the team also activated lefty Caleb Ferguson from the IL and sent catcher Rocky Gale and right-hander J.T. Chargois to Triple-A. Prior to tomorrow’s game, the Dodgers will also call up utilityman Matt Beaty from Triple-A and select the contract of outfielder Kyle Garlick.

Maeda fouled a ball off his thigh in last night’s game, and the Dodgers are thusly putting him on the IL “as a precaution,” Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register tweets. Since the Dodgers have two off-days next week, it looks like Maeda will miss one start at the most while he recovers from what looks like a minor injury.

Los Angeles has deployed Maeda exclusively as a starting pitcher in 2019, and the righty has delivered his usual strong results. Though nine starts and 51 1/3 innings, Maeda has a 3.51 ERA, 9.1 K/9, and 2.60 K/BB rate, numbers that are largely backed up by advanced metrics. Maeda is inducing soft contact on 27% of his batted balls this season, the second-highest total of any qualified starter in the game.

A 28th-round pick for the Dodgers in the 2015 draft, Garlick will get his first MLB exposure after posting a 1.002 OPS over 136 PA for Triple-A Oklahoma City this season. The 27-year-old Garlick has a .283/.341/.519 slash line through 1678 career minor league plate appearances.

NL Notes: Reds, Mets, Cubs, Maeda

By Ty Bradley | December 12, 2018 at 3:46am CDT

With news that the team is contemplating a rare foray into the big-game portion of the offseason’s free agent market, and today’s reports that the club is interested in acquiring Dodger outfielder Yasiel Puig, the Reds have moved to the fore of the offseason’s hot stove. As The Athletic’s C. Trent Rosecrans details, it’s a unique position for a team that’s spent the last four years in the cellar of the NL Central. The Reds, to no one’s surprise, are said to be pursuing a center fielder, but quotes from President of Baseball Ops Dick Williams suggest the player need not be of the defense-first variety: “That’s one of the factors in not being comfortable in paying Billy (Hamilton) what we were paying him,” he said. “You could argue we can have room for a little more offense, a little less defense out of our center fielder.” One player said to be in the plans is blue-chip prospect Nick Senzel, a third baseman by trade who apparently offers enough athleticism to handle the position, though the options surely remain numerous at this juncture.

In other news from around the NL . . .

Per Joel Sherman of the New York Post, the Mets continue to ruminate internally about whether or not top prospect Andres Gimenez will be able to make the jump to the parent club in 2019, which would allow the team to dangle current shortstop Amed Rosario in a deal to reel in the trade market’s big fish, Miami catcher J.T. Realmuto. Such a scenario would, in all likelihood, necessitate the signing of a stopgap, defense-first shortstop, though 24-year-old Luis Guillorme, a supposed virtuoso with the leather, would seem to fit the bill as well as any. Gimenez, who spent nearly half of last season in Double-A as a 19-year-old, has a scouting report that reads quite similar to the one originally stamped to Rosario: a plus glove, with questions surrounding the bat.
Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times cites sources who claim the Cubs would like to acquire two “established” but “not high-end” relievers, though such moves might not happen until next month. The Cubs’ pen delivered strong results last season (an NL best 83 ERA-), though much of the success may be ascribed to a combination of luck and sterling defense — the unit’s .277 BABIP, after all, was tied for the second lowest in the league, and its collective 106 xFIP- ranked in the league’s bottom half. Brandon Morrow, arguably the team’s best reliever in his limited action last year, is already scheduled to miss time next season after undergoing elbow surgery in November.
Per Los Angeles manager Dave Roberts (via the LA Times’ Jorge Castillo on Twitter), righty Kenta Maeda will begin next season in the Dodger rotation. Maeda, 30, was yo-yoed between the bullpen and rotation last year despite mostly excellent (10.62 K/9, 3.30 FIP) results as a starter. His contract, which includes a series of incentive bonuses for each additional 10 IP after reaching the 90-inning plateau for a season, plus $1MM each for making his 15th, 20th, 25th, 30th, and 32nd starts of the year, may have been a factor, though the club’ll be hard-pressed to again limit the Japanese hurler if he reprises his dominance from a season ago.

NL West Notes: Dodgers, LeMahieu, Belt, Greinke

By Jeff Todd | December 10, 2018 at 10:55am CDT

Entering the Winter Meetings with a wide variety of potential moves under consideration, the Dodgers will “in all likelihood” move an existing starter via trade, ESPN.com’s Alden Gonzalez writes. Just what the might look like isn’t yet clear, but the club’s numerous options will surely hold appeal to rivals. To be sure, the Dodgers have found ways on numerous occasions in the recent past to juggle seeming roster overloads, but Gonzalez says that the ability to utilize a player such as Kenta Maeda as a trade piece (while improving in other areas) will likely prod a deal of some kind.

The Dodgers, meanwhile, are “showing continued interest” in second bagger DJ LeMahieu, per MLB.com’s Jon Morosi (via Twitter). Certainly, the club has seen plenty of the 30-year-old over his career, virtually all of which has taken place with the division-rival Rockies. LeMahieu would presumably be seen as a near-everyday piece at second base in Los Angeles, though it’d hardly be surprising to see a lefty hitting platoon mate utilized to some degree if he’s added. Beyond the team’s general predilection for such arrangements, LeMahieu has been 80 OPS points better against left-handed pitching in his career.
Giants first baseman Brandon Belt is drawing calls from “several” other teams, according to Bob Nightengale of USA Today (via Twitter). Belt is still owed a hefty $48MM over the next three seasons and also can block deals to ten teams. His worrisome concussion history also poses a clear concern. And, of course, the market has not been particularly kind to first basemen of late. Certainly, Belt’s OBP-heavy bat would promise to improve quite a few lineups around the game, but it’s unclear as yet exactly what kind of trade scenarios might be under consideration.
As the Diamondbacks weigh their next move, they are finding Zack Greinke’s partial no-trade rights a “major impediment,” according to Jon Heyman of Fancred (Twitter link). Numerous potential landing spots for Greinke appear among the 15 clubs to which he can block a deal, which leaves the veteran no small amount of leverage and complicates things for the Arizona organization. It is not clear whether the D-Backs have engaged with Greinke and his reps about his willingness to green-light a deal to certain destinations, but obviously the clause adds a notable variable to an already-tricky situation. While he’s still a high-level performer, Greinke is already 35 years of age and is entitled to a hefty $104.5MM ($95.5MM of salary, the remainder signing bonus) over the next three seasons.

West Notes: Beltre, Maeda, Dodgers Pen, Franmil

By Jeff Todd and Steve Adams | August 16, 2018 at 10:46pm CDT

Rangers third baseman Adrian Beltre doesn’t seem to believe his latest hamstring injury is a particularly significant one, but nevertheless says it is impacting his thinking as he weighs whether to play another season. As Drew Davison of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram writes, Beltre emphasized that the hammy troubles have been with him for his entire career. But, he said, the latest tweak “brings the question of, ’Is this going to keep happening more often? Is it worth it to fight it back? Is it a sign that maybe it’s time to get close to say goodbye to you guys?'” While the remark certainly could be read as a suggestion that Beltre is preparing for the end of his playing career, it also clearly indicates he’s still pondering a continuation.

Here’s more from out west …

It appears that Dodgers righty Kenta Maeda is not exactly thrilled with the team’s decision to utilize him as a reliever. As Dylan Hernandez of the Los Angeles Times wrote recently, Maeda artfully avoided any direct criticism of the move, but also declined to offer any indication that he is truly amenable to pitching from the pen. That’s understandable, given that he carries a 3.85 ERA in 110 innings on the season and certainly seems worthy of a MLB rotation spot. It probably doesn’t help that his incentive-heavy contract pays more if he racks up innings, though Maeda also tells Hernandez that the money isn’t an issue for him. While it isn’t hard to see why this is a disappointing development for the 30-year-old, it’s also understandable for a club that has six other starters with even better earned run averages and also has experienced significant bullpen issues of late.
Despite those recent struggles in the relief corps, Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman tells Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times that he remains bullish on the pen’s outlook. With some hurlers expected to return from health issues — none more important than closer Kenley Jansen — the organization seemingly thinks it has enough pieces on hand to get things done. Indeed, Friedman even says he anticipates that the relief unit “will be a strength” down the stretch. That, per Friedman, is why the club set “a high bar for what [it was] looking to acquire” at the trade deadline. When nothing sufficiently intriguing came together, says the club’s top baseball exec, the decision was made to focus instead on boosting the ability to score runs. It certainly does not sound as if the Dodgers are particularly inclined to pursue further reliever acquisitions in August, though perhaps that still cannot be ruled out either.
The Padres gambled in this past winter’s Rule 5 Draft by leaving slugger Franmil Reyes unprotected, writes MLB.com’s AJ Cassavell, and the towering outfielder is now forcing himself into the team’s long-term plans. Reyes acknowledges that he was “disappointed” to be left off the 40-man roster, though Cassavell reports that there was some strategy involved in that roll of the dice; Reyes underwent minor surgery on his hand not long before the deadline to set 40-man rosters in advance of the Rule 5, and the Padres felt it would lessen the chances of him being taken. That proved to be the case, and while Reyes’ overall .278 OBP is an eyesore, he’s demonstrated prodigious power and cut back on his strikeouts (admittedly, in a tiny sample) since returning from the minors — though he has also encountered a particularly dry spell of late. Between Reyes, Franchy Cordero, Manuel Margot, Wil Myers, Hunter Renfroe and Travis Jankowski (among others), the Friars’ front office will have some decisions to make this winter.

NL Notes: Realmuto, Mets, Brewers, Dodgers

By Connor Byrne and Mark Polishuk | August 12, 2018 at 6:18pm CDT

Marlins catcher J.T. Realmuto suggested last month he’d be open to discussing a contract extension with the club, but if he’s uninterested in signing a deal over the winter, “there’s a good chance” the team will trade him, Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald writes. The 25-year-old Realmuto, one of the game’s elite backstops, is controllable via arbitration through the 2020 season.

West Links: Maeda, Stripling, Padres, Skaggs, Astros, Rangers

By Mark Polishuk | August 12, 2018 at 1:36pm CDT

Some items from both the NL and AL West divisions…

The Dodgers are moving Kenta Maeda and Ross Stripling to the bullpen, manager Dave Roberts told reporters (including The Athletic’s Pedro Moura and the Los Angeles Times’ Andy McCullough). The club was facing a rotation overload with Alex Wood and Hyun-Jin Ryu both coming off the DL this week, though Stripling’s role change is a bit of a surprise given how well he has pitched. Roberts said he hopes to let Stripling start again at some point this season, though the Dodgers have a greater need in the bullpen with Kenley Jansen on the DL for the near future. Maeda has also pitched well this year, though he “appears there [the bullpen] to stay,” McCullough said. It’s probably safe to assume that the team’s pitching plans will continue to remain somewhat fluid, given how Dodgers seem to be constantly dealing with injuries, yet they also get consistently good results from just about everyone they slot into the rotation.
Baseball America recently released its updated organizational talent rankings, rating all 30 teams on the quality and depth of prospects in their minor league pipelines. The Padres took the #1 spot, rising from third place in BA’s previous ranking from earlier in the season. San Diego is deep enough is both pitching and position player prospects that “general manager A.J. Preller’s biggest task is sorting out which prospects are keepers and which ones should be traded to speed the big league club’s rebuild.” The full 30-team ranking is available to Baseball America subscribers.
The Angels announced that left-hander Tyler Skaggs has been placed on the 10-day DL due to a left adductor strain, with righty Eduardo Paredes called up from Triple-A in a corresponding move. Skaggs was only just activated yesterday from a DL stint with the same injury, and he also missed time in July due to a problem with his right adductor. No stranger to injuries throughout his career, Skaggs has already tossed a career-high 116 2/3 innings this season, posting a 3.78 ERA, 3.51 K/BB rate, and 9.5 K/9.
Astros manager A.J. Hinch provided some updates on injured players to reporters today, including MLB.com’s Christian Boutwell (Twitter links). Chris Devenski and Brian McCann are on pace to begin rehab assignments soon, while outfielder Jake Marisnick is facing a lengthy absence after being placed on the DL yesterday with a groin injury. Marisnick will be out of action for “at least for the next few weeks,” Hinch said, possibly not returning until the September roster expansion.
The Rangers’ “de-load” program for pitching prospects focuses on “acclimation, education and, they hope, injury prevention,” for these prized young arms, Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News writes. The idea behind the program is to help better prepare these minor leaguers, some of whom are just out of high school, as they begin their careers in professional baseball. This includes sessions on everything from physical fitness to charting pitches to even just how to conduct oneself in a clubhouse. Interestingly, there isn’t much actual pitching (whether in practice or games) involved in this program. “Let’s get their bodies and minds right on a daily basis so that when they are ready to pitch, they’ve got building blocks,” said Paul Kruger, Rangers assistant director of player development. “We wanted something that could be used to build a better routine from Day One.”

Injury Notes: Buehler, Maeda, Cashner, Cabrera, Archer, Cahill

By Steve Adams | June 12, 2018 at 7:39pm CDT

The Dodgers announced that they’ve placed right-hander Walker Buehler on the 10-day disabled list with a microfracture in his right rib and recalled left-hander Caleb Ferguson from Triple-A. Pedro Moura of The Athletic tweets that Buehler made three starts with the fracture before being forced to the DL and is playing catch today. Moura adds that the Dodgers are hopeful that it’ll be a matter of a couple weeks as opposed to an extended absence.

There’s good news for the Dodgers, however, as Buehler’s spot will be filled by an established face. Manager Dave Roberts revealed to reporters Tuesday night that Kenta Maeda will be activated from the DL to start on Wednesday (Twitter link via the OC Register’s Bill Plunkett). While he’ll be limited in terms of pitch count and innings, the return of Maeda serves as a welcome breath of fresh air for a Dodgers pitching staff that has been utterly hammered by injuries of late. Even with Maeda’s return, Buehler will join Clayton Kershaw, Rich Hill, Hyun-Jin Ryu, Julio Urias and Dennis Santana on the DL.

More injury news from around the game…

Orioles righty Andrew Cashner landed on the 10-day disabled list due to a lower back strain, per a club announcement. Left-hander Donnie Hart is up from Triple-A Norfolk to take his roster spot for now. Cashner, 31, signed a two-year deal worth $16MM this offseason but has struggled through his first 13 starts in Baltimore. The well-traveled righty has a 4.98 ERA with 7.7 K/9 against 4.2 BB/9 and a 38.9 percent ground-ball rate in 72 1/3 innings. While Cashner’s strikeout rate is up noticeably from 2017, he’s also seen his walk rate rise substantially and has also been plagued by a 1.62 HR/9 mark. Dylan Bundy, Kevin Gausman, Alex Cobb and David Hess remain active in the Baltimore rotation, and there’s been no announcement as to who’ll start tomorrow in Cashner’s place.
The Tigers announced that Miguel Cabrera left tonight’s game against the Twins with a biceps tendon strain. He’s undergoing an MRI to evaluate the extent of the damage, per the announcement. The 35-year-old Cabrera has had a bounceback season at the plate in terms of his average and on-base percentage, but he’s hit just three homers in 155 plate appearances and hasn’t shown much power. Cabrera is hitting .301/.394/.451 on the season overall and has already missed nearly a month of the season due to a strained hamstring.
Chris Archer has had a minor setback in his rehab from an abdominal strain, writes Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. Rays manager Kevin Cash stated Tuesday that Archer woke up feeling “not that great” and added that the team is taking a more “conservative” approach in light of the news. Archer clarified to Topkin (Twitter links) that he hasn’t had a major setback but some post-bullpen soreness that could slow him for a few days. Topkin notes that that could be enough to push Archer into a minor league rehab assignment, which would delay his return to the Tampa Bay staff. After a terrible start to the season, Archer has turned in a 2.47 ERA with a 40-to-15 K/BB ratio in 43 2/3 innings across his past seven appearances.
Athletics righty Trevor Cahill hasn’t seen any improvement in his ailing Achilles tendon and is likely headed to the disabled list, manager Bob Melvin told reporters Tuesday afternoon (Twitter links via Jane Lee of MLB.com). If that likely outcome does come to pass, then right-hander Chris Bassitt will “certainly be the first option” to step into Cahill’s spot in the rotation, the skipper adds. Cahill, who signed a one-year deal worth $1.75MM late in Spring Training after Jharel Cotton went down with Tommy John surgery, has been excellent when healthy enough to take the hill for the A’s. In 48 2/3 innings, he’s notched a 2.77 ERA with 47 punchouts against 11 walks.

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