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Notable Roster Decisions: Friday

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As Spring Training draws to a close, the final determinations about each team’s roster will be continue to come into focus. Here are some of the day’s more notable roster decisions…

  • Prized righty Tyler Glasnow will take the final spot in the Pirates rotation, Stephen Nesbitt of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports on Twitter. He had been competing with Trevor Williams, who’ll head to the bullpen, Adam Berry of MLB.com adds on Twitter. With southpaw Wade LeBlanc also taking a job, that seems to set the stage for Rule 5 pick Tyler Webb to hit the waiver wire.
  • The Giants have nailed down their bench and rotation, as Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area reports. Aaron Hill and Chris Marrero will round out the bench. The veteran Hill figures to share the infield reserve duties with Conor Gillaspie, while Marrero will surprisingly open the season as a part of a left field platoon with the left-handed-hitting Jarrett Parker. Meanwhile, Matt Cain will keep a rotation spot, though Ty Blach will also make the club as a reliever — where he could often spell Cain in lengthier outings.
  • With injuries and young arms entering the picture, the Rockies’ pitching plans were interesting to watch this spring. As Nick Groke of the Denver Post tweets, the team will roll with lefty Kyle Freeland and righties Antonio Senzatela and German Marquez to fill out their starting staff. It seems likely that the former two will open the year in the rotation, with Marquez heading to the pen and staying on hand if a need arises.

Click to read earlier updates …

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Brewers Demote Wily Peralta To Minors

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11:27am: Garza will indeed take Peralta’s place, tweets Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

10:54am: The Brewers have optioned Opening Day starter Wily Peralta to Triple-A Colorado Springs, per a team announcement. There’s no official word on a replacement, though fellow veteran right-hander Matt Garza could be the choice on the heels of making his final rehab start earlier this week. Garza hasn’t yet pitched for the Brewers this year because of a back injury.

Peralta took the hill for the Brewers in their 7-4 win over the Mets on Saturday, striking out four batters and surrendering three earned runs on five hits and a walk in five innings. Given the way Peralta has performed in 2016, that so-so outing counts as one of his best of the year. The highlight of his day came as a hitter, believe it or not, as he clubbed a 429-foot home run off Mets starter Logan Verrett.

In 66 frames prior to today’s demotion, Peralta pitched to an unsightly 6.68 ERA – the worst mark among the majors’ qualified starters – with 42 strikeouts and 27 walks. His K/BB ratio sits at 1.56, which puts him ahead of just eight other starters.The wheels began falling off last year for Peralta, who struck out a meager 4.97 hitters per nine innings and recorded a 4.72 ERA in 108 2/3 frames. He was a more reliable option the previous two years, combining for a 3.93 ERA, 6.67 K/9 and 3.16 BB/9 across 64 starts and 382 innings. At his best, Peralta logged a 3.53 ERA, 6.98 K/9 and 2.76 BB/9 in 198 1/3 innings just two seasons ago.

Peralta, 27, is on a $2.8MM salary this year and is slated to make two more trips through arbitration, though it’s possible the Brewers will simply non-tender him at season’s end.

NL Central Notes: Taillon, Adams, Grichuk, Garza

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Top Pirates prospect Jameson Taillon skipped a start at Triple-A this week, but not because he’s hurt, writes MLB.com’s Adam Berry. “Taillon is strong and healthy, but as we look to monitor his and other pitchers’ workload to put them in a position to finish the season strongly, we will periodically look to reduce pitch counts by removing the pitcher from a game early or by skipping a start,” says GM Neal Huntington. Pirates fans are anxious for Taillon’s big-league debut, a day that could potentially come in June, after the Super Two threshold passes. After missing two seasons due to injury, Taillon has been outstanding for Triple-A Indianapolis, posting a 1.82 ERA, 9.3 K/9 and a measly 0.9 BB/9 in 49 1/3 innings. Here’s more from the NL Central.

  • Cardinals hitters Matt Adams and Randal Grichuk got off to slow starts this season but have come up huge lately, ESPN’s Mark Saxon writes. Adams is batting .382/.433/.673 in May, while Grichuk is hitting .273/.333/.481 this month after batting just .182 in April. Adams’ resurgence is perhaps the more notable of the two, given the big lefty’s disappointing .240/.280/.377 showing last year. “This is the kind of player we saw coming up through the system,” says manager Mike Matheny of Adams. “We were just kind of waiting for it to happen at this level and there’s no reason why it shouldn’t be happening now.”
  • Brewers starter Matt Garza, who’s missed the entire season thus far with a lat issue, will begin a rehab assignment with Class A Wisconsin on Tuesday, MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy tweets. Garza says he hopes to return to the Brewers June 14. The Brewers are just 22-26 and don’t look like contenders, so it’s doubtful Garza’s return will have an immediate impact, especially given that he posted just a 5.63 ERA, 6.3 K/9 and 3.5 BB/9 in 2015. If he does return in June, though, a performance closer to his 2014 (3.64 ERA, 6.9 K/9, 2.8 BB/9) could potentially make him a summer trade candidate.

Scooter Gennett Placed On DL; Brewers Select Hernan Perez’s Contract

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11:20am: Manager Craig Counsell tells Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel that Gennett has a “mild” strain of his oblique (Twitter link). Counsell’s early expectation is that Gennett will be out three weeks, which would be on the low end of the typical recovery time frame for oblique strains.

10:36am: The Brewers announced this morning that second baseman Scooter Gennett has been placed on the disabled list due to right oblique tightness. In his place, the club has selected the contract of infielder Hernan Perez from Triple-A Colorado Springs and transferred Matt Garza to the 60-day disabled list to clear a spot on the 40-man roster.

Gennett, 25, has been one of Milwaukee’s more productive hitters thus far, batting .258/.361/.516 with four homers through 18 games (72 plate appearances). There’s no timeline on his return just yet, though an oblique issue could conceivably sideline him for up to a month, depending on the severity of the issue. Jarrod Dyson recently missed six weeks with a Grade II oblique strain, though the club has labeled Gennett’s injury simply as “oblique tightness” for the time being.

Perez, also 25, was hitting .339/.364/.484 in one of the best hitters’ environments in the minor leagues, but he doesn’t have that type of track record in the Majors, where he has posted a collective .235/.251/.307 batting line in 351 trips to the plate. He’ll combine with Yadiel Rivera and Rule 5 pickup Colin Walsh to cover Gennett’s time at second base.

Garza’s transfer to the 60-day disabled list confirms that he won’t return to the club within his initial timeline of four to six weeks. The veteran right-hander hit the disabled list with a strained lat muscle earlier this month and has yet to pitch for the Brewers in 2016. Garza is in the third season of a four-year, $50MM contract with Milwaukee which also contains a complex fifth-year option that is largely dependent on the health of his right arm. (The $5MM club option turns into a $13MM vesting option if Garza throws 110 games over the course of the contract’s first four seasons but also shrinks to just a $1MM option if he spends more than 130 days of a season on the disabled list.) The Brewers owe Garza approximately $23.36MM over the remainder of that contract through the end of the 2017 season. He’s earning $12.5MM this year and will earn the same in 2017. At this point, his best-case scenario for a return would be early June. While Milwaukee may have had some hope of Garza pitching well for the first half of the season in order to emerge as a viable trade chip, he won’t have much time to build up value before this season’s Aug. 1 trade deadline rolls around.

Matt Garza Out At Least Four To Six Weeks With Lat Strain

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Brewers right-hander Matt Garza learned today that a strained lat muscle will sideline him for the next four to six weeks, he told reporters, including Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel (Twitter link). Garza has been dealing with some tightness in his shoulder, but based on his comments, he wasn’t anticipating anything overly serious from his medical examinations. Via MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy (Twitter link), Garza told the media: “I’m not afraid of work, it just wasn’t what I was looking forward to at the beginning.”

Garza, 32, was expected to return to the Brewers’ rotation after losing his spot late last season, but he’ll now spend the foreseeable future on the disabled list instead. Right-hander Zach Davies stands out as a likely candidate to step into the rotation alongside fellow right-handers Wily Peralta, Jimmy Nelson, Taylor Jungmann and Chase Anderson, although top prospect Jorge Lopez received some Major League experience in 2015 as well. And, as McCalvy further tweets, the Brewers won’t need a fifth starter through the first 11 games due to scheduled off days, so there’s no immediate need to promote a starter in Garza’s place. For the time being, righty Tyler Cravy will be promoted to take Garza’s roster spot.

While the rebuilding Brewers aren’t expected to contend this season, it’s nonetheless a disappointing way to begin the season. After losing potential closer Will Smith to a freak LCL tear, Garza’s injury thins out the pitching depth a bit more and also eliminates the possibility of the once-excellent veteran rebuilding some trade stock with a strong early showing. While Garza could, of course, do so upon his return in what appears to be May or June (based on the presented timetable), he already has a fairly lengthy injury history under his belt, and a recent shoulder issue won’t do his stock any favors come July even if he’s pitching well. Last season, Garza struggled to a career-worst 5.63 ERA in 148 2/3 innings.

Garza is entering the third season of a four-year, $50MM contract with Milwaukee which also contains a complex fifth-year option that is largely dependent on the health of his right arm. (The $5MM club option turns into a $13MM vesting option if Garza throws 110 games over the course of the contract’s first four seasons but also shrinks to just a $1MM option if he spends more than 130 days of a season on the disabled list.) The Brewers owe Garza a combined $25MM between the 2016 and 2017 seasons, which is spread out evenly by annual salaries of $12.5MM.

In further injury news, the Brewers have also lost bullpen candidate Yhonathan Barrios to shoulder surgery, as McCalvy tweets. The 24-year-old Barrios, acquired from the Pirates last summer in exchange for Aramis Ramirez, had his rotator cuff repaired by renowned surgeon Dr. James Andrews. Barrios made his big league debut with the Brewers in 2015, firing 6 2/3 scoreless innings out of the ’pen. In that brief but dominant cameo, Barrios allowed just three hits and no walks while averaging 96.4 mph on his heater and striking out seven hitters. His minor league work wasn’t quite as impressive, however; Barrios logged a solid 2.83 ERA in 60 1/3 innings between Double-A and Triple-A, but the hard-throwing righty also averaged just 5.5 strikeouts against 3.3 walks per nine innings pitched.

Brewers Notes: Attanasio, Lucroy, Garza, Braun

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Here’s some of the news coming out of the “Brewers On Deck” winter fanfest event held today in Milwaukee…

  • Rebuilding is “a little bit of a new experience” for Mark Attanasio, and while the Brewers principal owner tells Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that he wants his team to return to contention as soon as possible, he also wants to give his front office a fair amount of time to properly rebuild the roster.  “I’ve told them [GM David Stearns and assistant GM Matt Arnold] to look at what we need to do to get back to the playoffs,” Attanasio said. “If that takes a few years, it takes a few years. You don’t have to make a trade every few months.”  Here’s some more from around the NL Central…
  • Attanasio expects Jonathan Lucroy to still be a Brewer when Spring Training camp opens.  “Jonathan is like me; he wants to win,” Attanasio said.  “He works hard. He’s one of our hardest-working guys. So, we have the same mind set on this….As an owner, I’m delighted he’ll be playing for us this year. I’m very supportive of Jonathan. He’s been an awesome part of this team.”  Lucroy was quite candid in a recent interview with Haudricourt about how a trade could benefit both he and the Brewers, while the catcher stopped short of actually asking for a trade.
  • Matt Garza plans to “pitch selfishly” in 2016, the righty told reporters (including MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy), meaning that he will “stop trying to be someone [else], stop trying to please people and just go out there and be me. I’ve been trying to please people to stay places, and it’s just the point in my career where I’m over it.”  Garza said he’s revamped his offseason training procedures to rebound after a tough 2015 season that saw him leave the team after he was removed from the rotation in September.  That departure coincided with a tough situation in Garza’s personal life, as his wife was bedridden while pregnant with twins (thankfully, the delivery went smoothly in October).  With the difficulties of 2015 behind him, Garza also said that he wants to remain in Milwaukee.  “I want to see [the rebuilding] through.  I want to be here when all the fruits come bearing.  I’m going to do what I’ve got to do to stay here,” Garza said.
  • Ryan Braun is excited by all of the young talent entering the Brewers’ system, he tells Tom Haudricourt and other reporters.  “I think we have probably more potential, young impact players than we’ve had in a long time, probably since I’ve been part of the organization….I think we’re building toward something that we’ll be able to have sustained success and have some impact players,” Braun said.  “We’re completely dependent upon our system being able to produce impact players.  I think that’s something we haven’t done very well the last five or six years.”  It’s for this reason that Braun takes a realistic view of the Brewers’ trades of veteran players and the decision to rebuild, noting “It is not like we’re breaking up a team that had a tremendous amount of success.”
  • For more on the Brewers, check out the most recent edition of the MLBTR Podcast, which features an interview with Milwaukee general manager David Stearns about the team’s offseason moves, future plans and more.

Matt Garza Removed From Brewers’ Rotation

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The Brewers informed right-hander Matt Garza that they’ve removed him from the rotation this weekend, writes Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. Garza, according to Rosiak, “was livid” when informed of the move.

“It’s not my decision,” said Garza. “I didn’t get much say. It’s completely taken out of my hands. That’s it. I didn’t have any say at all. It is what it is. It’s just (expletive).”

While Garza’s numbers certainly aren’t in line with his career norms — the veteran has a 5.63 ERA, 1.57 WHIP, 6.3 K/9 and 3.5 BB/9 in 148 2/3 innings — he seemingly wanted the opportunity to sort out his issues and end the season on a high note. “I’ve played with guys who have gone through similar-type situations, just a rough year, and never once have I seen a guy shut down,” said Garza, adding that he has asked agent Nez Balelo of CAA Sports to contact the front office and express his displeasure with the decision.

Via MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy, Garza continued: “We have an acting GM, and in three to four months, I’ll be introducing myself to a new one. That’s all I’ve got. For the last nine seasons, I’ve had a mid-3.00 [ERA], and I have one off year. It is what it is.” (Full video of Garza’s interview can be seen here, courtesy of MLB.com.) Garza did accept responsibility for the way he pitched and offered no excuses for his performance, stating, “It’s all on me. I’m the one who makes the pitches.”

Garza was given the option to pitch out of the bullpen for the rest of the season, GM Doug Melvin told Rosiak, but unlike teammate Kyle Lohse, he declined to take that opportunity. Summer trade acquisition Zach Davies has already joined the rotation (following Taylor Jungmann’s addition earlier this year), and the Brewers will use Garza’s spot to look at other future options as well. Ariel Pena is one option to get a look. Manager Craig Counsell did tell reporters that Garza “is going to be a member of the rotation in 2016.”

As McCalvy notes, though, there could potentially be financial ramifications of the decision for Garza. The right-hander is slated to earn $12.5MM in each of the next two seasons, but his contract contains a vesting option for the 2018 season that will vest at $13MM if Garza makes 110 starts from 2014-17 and finishes the 2017 healthy with more than 115 innings thrown. As it stands right now, he’s on pace to finish with 106 starts over the initial four years of his contract, making the three to four lost starts potentially significant. If the option does not vest at $13MM, it shrinks substantially to a $5MM club option.

Central Notes: Twins, Benoit, Kelley, Fiers, Cubs, Samardzija

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Rumors from MLB’s central divisions:

  • The Twins are in the market for a power reliever, writes Mike Berardino of the Pioneer Press. Minnesota has long been known for their reliance on command and control pitchers. Their bullpen has a league worst 6.08 K/9. The Tigers are next worst with 7.30 K/9. Twins GM Terry Ryan acknowledged the advantage strikeouts can provide in big situations. If somebody’s got the out pitch to be able to get a strikeout, that’s great. Unfortunately there are pitchers that don’t have that capability as much as others, so it makes those sac flies or putting the ball in play with the infield back … it just gives the other offense that advantage.
  • Minnesota has spoken with the Padres about relievers, tweets Jon Morosi of FOX Sports. Morosi lists Joaquin Benoit and Shawn Kelley as possible fits. I would add that Brandon Maurer fits the power pitching profile. However, Benoit and Kelley could both hit free agency after this season. Kelley is unsigned beyond this season, and Benoit has a $8MM club option ($500K buyout). Maurer comes with four more seasons of club control. As such, he’s probably more difficult to acquire.
  • The Brewers are drawing plenty of interest in starter Mike Fiers, tweets Tom Haudricourt of MLB.com. However, the club presently plans to keep Fiers. They are more open to trading veterans Kyle Lohse and Matt Garza. Given the performance of both pitchers this season, they’ll have a hard time finding an interested suitor. Garza has a 5.49 ERA in 100 innings while Lohse has scuffled to a 6.29 ERA in 113 innings.
  • Prior to being no-hit by Cole Hamels, Cubs GM Jed Hoyer reiterated a need for pitching and bench depth, tweets Jesse Rogers of ESPN 1000. Hoyer didn’t elaborate about any specific talks. Rogers opines (via Twitter) that the club could seek to make some smaller moves for veterans to bolster depth and balance a young roster. The offense has struggled recently, but the Cubs are still in the thick of the Wild Card race. They’re just 1.5 games behind the Giants for the second slot.
  • The White Sox are increasingly willing to trade starter Jeff Samardzija, writes Dan Hayes of CSN Chicago. Samardzija has performed below expectations this season with a 3.91 ERA, 6.93 K/9, and 1.67 BB/9. However, he’s posted a strong 2.55 ERA over his last eight starts due to a low HR/FB ratio. While teams may no longer view him as an ace, he has failed to last seven innings in just four of his 20 starts this season. This is my speculation: he could prove to be a valuable innings eater for a club on the bubble like the Orioles or Astros. Hayes also notes that the White Sox have lined up Erik Johnson’s starts with Samardzija. Johnson is in the midst of a breakout season with a 2.59 ERA, 10.05 K/9, and 2.87 BB/9.
  • The big story tonight is that the Royals nearly acquired Johnny Cueto from the Reds; read all about that here.

Central Notes: Cueto, Tigers, Pirates, Indians, Garza, Cubs

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At least one executive of a club with interest in Reds starter Johnny Cueto saw significant concern in his latest outing, Jayson Stark of ESPN.com reports on Twitter. Though he only allowed four hits and two runs, Cueto walked six and lasted just four innings, marking his second consecutive start of five innings or less. He also generated a season-low three groundball outs. Given Cueto’s status as one of the premium rental trade pieces on the market, and some pre-existing injury questions, his next appearance could be one to watch.

Here’s more from the game’s central divisions:

  • We heard yesterday that the Tigers were gearing up to sell, but Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports writes on Twitter that multiple GMs tell him they have yet to be informed that Detroit will sell. Per Rosenthal, it’s still up in the air whether the Tigers will move quality veteran assets such as David Price and Yoenis Cespedes.
  • The Pirates are not only looking at possible shortstop acquisitions but continue to seek an addition at first base, Stark tweets. Pedro Alvarez has provided only average offensive production while struggling mightily with the glove. Of course, the first base trade market is not exactly overflowing with obvious upgrade candidates.
  • Indians GM Chris Antonetti says his team plans to be an “opportunistic” and “open-minded” participant on the trade market, as Paul Hoynes of the Plain Dealer reports. One thing the team likely won’t do, however, is deal from its array of quality, controllable starting pitchers. “We are not motivated at all to do that,” said Antonetti.
  • The Brewers will welcome back righty Matt Garza from the DL tonight, Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reports. That means he ought to have two starts to show his health and regain some trade value, though Garza’s big contract makes him a viable August trade piece as well (since he’d very likely clear waivers).
  • The Cubs got promising news on the injury front, as Patrick Mooney of CSN Chicago reports (Twitter links). Backstop Miguel Montero has only a sprained left thumb, rather than something more serious, though he is still set to rest for two weeks before being evaluated again. And minor league infielder Javier Baez may appear in game action this week. That makes the high-upside prospect a more viable trade piece if the Cubs decide to pursue a significant upgrade.

Injury Notes: Garza, Pence, Profar, Luebke

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The Brewers have placed righty Matt Garza on the 15-day DL with what the team is calling right shoulder tendinitis, Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reports. It appears as though the plan is to maximize Garza’s rest with the All-Star break, but one wonders whether the move also removes him from serious consideration as a trade piece this summer. Garza indicated that the issue was not terribly significant, but he has a long and growing list of medical ailments that have cropped up in his career. And then there’s the fact that Garza will not have much opportunity to improve his value after a rough first half. He is sporting a 5.55 ERA in 99 frames on the year, with ERA estimators not painting a much rosier picture, and his strikeout rate continues to fall. Garza is owed $12.5MM annually from 2014-17 under the deal he signed to join the Brewers, and also has a fairly achievable $13MM vesting clause tacked on at the end of his contract.

  • Giants outfielder Hunter Pence appears to be nearing a return from the DL in the fairly near future, possibly before the All-Star break, MLB.com’s Oliver Macklin writes. San Francisco has dropped back to .500 and could certainly use a jolt from the dynamic Pence, not least of which because the club is also missing fellow corner outfielder Norichika Aoki. Assuming Pence can avoid another setback with his wrist and re-entrench himself in right field, the club would have a much less pressing need for an additional outfielder.
  • Padres lefty Cory Luebke has suffered a setback in his bid to return from a second successive Tommy John procedure, Corey Brock of MLB.com reports. For now, it’s just elbow discomfort, but the team was concerned enough to bring the 30-year-old back to San Diego from his rehab assignment in Triple-A. Luebke has not pitched in the big leagues in over three years, though he has finally seen competitive action in the minors for the first time since originally blowing out his UCL.
  • Another once-promising player who is on a long road back is Rangers infielder Jurickson Profar, who was once one of the game’s very best prospects. As Gerry Fraley of the Dallas Morning News writes, Profar remains staggeringly young given how long he’s been on the scene and out with shoulder issues. He’ll still only be 23 come next spring. Profar remains a long way from returning to the big leagues, says Fraley, who notes that he is progressing through daily rehab sessions and monthly MRI tests.
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