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AL Rumors: Rangers, Rays, Twins, Tigers, Angels

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The most prominent pitcher the Rangers have pursued as the Aug. 1 non-waiver trade deadline nears is White Sox ace Chris Sale, who’s currently embroiled in a strange controversy, but the sides haven’t made much progress, according to Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News. With that in mind, Texas’ focus is on the Rays’ starters at the moment, writes Grant. Tampa Bay’s asking price is high for Matt Moore and Jake Odorizzi, though, as it wants powerful corner infielder/outfielder Joey Gallo – Baseball America’s 11th-ranked prospect. The Rangers would only give up Gallo for the Rays’ top starter, Chris Archer, per Grant.

More rumors from the American League:

  • While reports have connected the Rangers to Milwaukee catcher and trade candidate Jonathan Lucroy for months, Texas is “not really” in pursuit of the All-Star backstop as of now, reports T.R. Sullivan of MLB.com (Twitter link). The Rangers’ focus is instead on upgrading their pitching.
  • The Twins aren’t inclined to deal right-hander Ervin Santana unless they’re “wowed” by an offer, tweets Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com. Despite Santana’s age (33) and their distance from contention, the last-place Twins regard him as a quality future piece. Santana, who’s on a $13.5MM yearly salary through 2018 and has a $14MM club option for 2019, has pitched respectably this season (105 1/ innings, 3.93 ERA, 6.41 K/9, 2.48 BB/9).
  • The Tigers, who are 51-46 and just 2.5 games out of a Wild Card spot, are likely to stand pat at the deadline, general manager Al Avila told reporters – including Evan Woodbery of MLive.com (via Twitter) – on Saturday. “It’s not sexy,” admitted Avila, who added that buying is difficult because teams are asking for the Tigers’ best young starters, standout rookie righty Michael Fulmer and southpaw Daniel Norris. “I have been in contact with several GMs in sell mode. The asking price is too high right now, even for fifth starters,” Avila stated (Twitter links via Jason Beck of MLB.com). Avila’s Tigers do have in-house reinforcements on the way in Norris, righty Jordan Zimmermann and right fielder J.D. Martinez, all of whom are on the disabled list. When those three come back, Avila expects Detroit to have enough talent to compete for a World Series (Twitter link via Anthony Fenech of the Detroit Free Press).
  • The playoffs continue to look highly unlikely for the Angels, who have won 10 of 12 games and closed the gap in the AL West from 19 1/2 games to a still-high 11 1/2 behind first-place Texas, but their recent hot streak could prevent them from selling, writes Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times. “A lot of things have come together at the exact same time,” GM Billy Eppler told DiGiovanna. “We felt that this club had a lot of positive elements to it. It wasn’t all clicking like it is right now, but the character and the fight within those guys has never faded.” The Halos don’t have the assets to turn into buyers, notes DiGiovanna, so their decision will come down to selling or keeping the roster as it is. If they sell, DiGiovanna lists third baseman Yunel Escobar, setup man Joe Smith and closer Huston Street as Angels who could soon change homes.

AL Central Notes: Twins, Davidson, Indians, Fulmer

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The Twins are baseball’s most disappointing team at 25-53, but owner Jim Pohlad voiced continued confidence in manager Paul Molitor when speaking to Sid Hartman of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune in a recent interview. “I would say ’no’ to that definitely,” said Pohlad when asked if Molitor’s job was in danger. Pohlad told Hartman that Molitor will return for the 2017 season, though Hartman notes that there slightly more open-ended answer when asked about GM Terry Ryan. “…I mean we have to figure out what we’re doing wrong, what we’re doing wrong in the system,” said Pohlad. “If that points to the need to change personnel, I guess I would have to say we’d look at everything. But there has been no identification of anything like that. We’re beginning to discuss the process of how we examine doing things throughout our system.” While those comments certainly don’t indicate that the GM is on the hot seat, they’re a bit less firm than recent reports indicating that the team is “100 percent committed” to Ryan. Pohlad went on to emphasize that money isn’t an issue for the Twins despite a number of underperforming veterans and expressed frustration and disappointment that top prospects Byron Buxton and Jose Berrios have struggled so greatly upon reaching the Majors after dominating Triple-A.

More from the American League Central…

  • The White Sox called up third base prospect Matt Davidson to make his debut with the team yesterday, and the former top 100 prospect (originally acquired from the D-backs in exchange for Addison Reed) experienced awful luck when he suffered a fracture in his foot while running the bases, as CSN Chicago’s Dan Hayes writes. The seemed to occur when Davidson was going from first to third on a J.B. Shuck double, with manager Robin Ventura telling the media that the injury was apparent when he was between second and third base. Davidson was a highly touted prospect when the ChiSox picked up up prior to the 2014 season in the aforementioned trade, but he struggled terribly with Triple-A Charlotte from 2014-15 before rebounding with a .268/.349/.444 slash in 75 Triple-A contests this season. It’s not yet clear how much time Davidson, who collected his first big league hit since September 2013 in yesterday’s game, will spend on the disabled list.
  • Via MLB.com’s Jordan Bastian, Indians GM Mike Chernoff said yesterday that while the club has looked to fill holes in its outfield at various times — most notably when Michael Brantley was injured and when Abraham Almonte was suspended — the team is hopeful that it can patch its outfield internally (Twitter link with screen cap of Chernoff’s full quote). Chernoff praised the recent play of Tyler Naquin and said the team is optimistic about the recent progress of Michael Brantley, whom Chernoff labels the “highest-impact ’acquisition’ [the Indians] could make.” Brantley has scarcely played this season, though Chernoff points out that the current alignment of Rajai Davis, Naquin, Lonnie Chisenhall and Jose Ramirez are all playing well. Naquin’s success is largely fueled by a .462 BABIP, of course, but even if there’s regression around the corner, there’s no denying that he’s bridged the gap nicely if the club is indeed seeing positive signs out of Brantley. Reports yesterday indicated that Jay Bruce would be willing to waive his no-trade clause to go to Cleveland (or any contender), but the outfield may not be as big of a need as it once looked to be with the recent performances of internal options.
  • The Tigers are carefully monitoring Michael Fulmer’s innings to preserve his arm for the long haul, as MLB.com’s Jason Beck writes. Fulmer hasn’t started in eight days and will make two more starts before the All-Star break, and he’ll then wait until July 19 when the Tigers first need a fifth starter after the break. That’ll give him nearly two weeks between starts, after which he’s tentatively scheduled to remain in the rotation on regular rest but with the occasional quick hook to avoid further arm fatigue. Per Beck, the Tigers have discussed a 25 to 30 percent increase over Fulmer’s total of 124 1/3 innings from the 2015 season, which would put him in the range of 155 to 165 innings this season. Fulmer, the centerpiece of last summer’s Yoenis Cespedes trade, has somewhat quietly had a brilliant debut with Detroit thus far, pitching to a 2.40 ERA with 8.5 K/9, 3.4 BB/9 and a 48 percent ground-ball rate in 63 2/3 innings.

Heyman’s Latest: Harper/Machado, Braves, Shields, Odor

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Bryce Harper of the Nationals and Manny Machado of the Orioles are young, controlled superstars who look like highly appealing extension targets. Of course, that also makes them incredibly expensive potential candidates for their respective teams, as Jon Heyman explains at todaysknuckleball.com. According to Heyman, there’s some suggestion that it could take more than $500MM over an unprecedented term to keep Harper from heading to the open market after the 2018 season. “We have not to this point had any substantive negotiations about a long-term deal,” Nats GM Mike Rizzo said with regard to Harper. Rizzo did suggest that the team has serious interest in doing so, however. “They know what our intentions are,” he said. “My intention is always to get him on a long-term deal that will make him a National for life. At a very young age he performed admirably, not only admirably, but the year he had was historic. It’s going to be a unique deal. We have a very unique player.” 

As for Machado, he might not be far behind in value if the O’s hope to reach a deal. Intriguingly, the report suggests that Baltimore very nearly agreed to a seven-year contract with its best player at some point in recent years. That would have certainly proved a bargain given Machado’s increasingly outstanding performance, though the terms of the prospective pact are not known. (Neither is it clear what caused negotiations to fall apart.)

Here’s more from Heyman:

  • “A few teams” have checked in with the Braves on Nick Markakis, Heyman writes, but his recent skid at the plate hasn’t helped out his trade value much. Kelly Johnson, too, could become available, though Heyman adds that GM John Coppolella said of Julio Teheran that he expects the right-hander “to be on the team a long time.” From my vantage point, Markakis doesn’t have much value at $11MM per season and with apparently evaporated power. Even if the Braves were to pay down half of his remaining salary through the 2018 season, he hasn’t been productive enough to bring in a meaningful prospect return.
  • The Orioles talked to the Padres about James Shields in Spring Training but weren’t willing to cover even half of the salary owed to Shields at the time. Shields has two years and $44MM remaining on his contract following the 2016 season (if he doesn’t opt out), and he’s earning $21MM this season as well. Shields has grabbed headlines recently, having been prominently featured in trade rumors over the weekend and then suffering a 10-run meltdown earlier this week, which the team’s executive chairman publicly referred to as “an embarrassment.”
  • The Red Sox, too, have considered Shields but are waiting to see how Eduardo Rodriguez performs upon returning from the disabled list (so far, so good). The White Sox, meanwhile, would want the Padres to pay down a significant portion of the $57MM that remains on Shields’ contract (again, barring an opt out). Heyman writes that a source indicated that shortstop prospect Tim Anderson wouldn’t be involved in talks, though that doesn’t strike me as a surprising revelation; even with half of his contract paid down, that would seem like an overpay on Chicago’s behalf. On a somewhat similar vein, Heyman adds that the Padres approached the Tigers about Shields, but Detroit had no interest in parting with any of Michael Fulmer, Daniel Norris or Matt Boyd in a potential deal.
  • Shortly after the Rockies acquired Jose Reyes, the Yankees were willing to part with shortstop prospect Jorge Mateo and pay half of the $22MM that is owed to Reyes annually through the 2017 season, Heyman hears.
  • The jobs of Tigers manager Brad Ausmus and Twins manager Paul Molitor are safe, Heyman writes, though he adds that Detroit GM Al Avila has privately told Ausmus to stop discussing his job security (or lack thereof) with the media, as the situation doesn’t need any extra fuel.
  • Greg Holland could take the mound in August, per Heyman, and he may wait until that point before deciding on a team. Both the Royals and Braves have shown interest to this point, he adds.
  • The Athletics “may be a favorite” for Cuban second baseman Jose Miguel Fernandez, writes Heyman, who also notes that incumbent second baseman Jed Lowrie could help a number of clubs on the trade market. The Padres, too, are said to be considering Fernandez, he adds.
  • Rougned Odor’s agent and Rangers GM Jon Daniels recently rekindled extension talks, and Heyman notes that the team heaped praise onto Odor during his appeal hearing during which his suspension for punching Jose Bautista was dropped from eight games to seven games. His suspension has also given Jurickson Profar a chance to play, and Heyman writes that the former top prospect could be a trade candidate now that he’s healthy. Sticking with the Rangers, Heyman adds that the Phillies lobbied hard for Texas to include Nomar Mazara in last year’s Cole Hamels blockbuster, but Daniels refused to give him up.
  • The Nationals talked with the D-backs in the offseason about Gio Gonzalez, but Arizona wouldn’t part with Ender Inciarte or David Peralta in the prospective trade. Heyman writes that the Nats spoke to a few teams about Gonzalez, including the Marlins. However, Miami wasn’t keen on surrendering Christian Yelich.

NL Notes: Padres, Cards, Reds, D-Backs

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The Padres had a chance to add righty Michael Fulmer from the Mets at last year’s trade deadline, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. Instead, San Diego held onto Justin Upton and recouped a draft pick via the qualifying offer, which the club will put to use alongside many other early picks in a few weeks. Fulmer, of course, ended up with the Tigers when New York cashed him in for Yoenis Cespedes. The jettisoned Carlos Gomez trade had already provided an interesting set of alternative history scenarios, and this deal-that-never-was only adds to the intrigue.

Here’s more from the National League:

  • The breakout performance of Aledmys Diaz has the Cardinals looking for ways to adapt the rest of the roster to a new full-time shortstop, as Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports. St. Louis has had discussions with both Jhonny Peralta and Matt Carpenter about occupying more versatile roles — something in the mold of, but less dramatic than, Ben Zobrist’s old position-less situation with the Rays. Both Peralta and Carpenter have played multiple positions in the majors already, but it seems that the variety and day-to-day volatility may increase somewhat. Meanwhile, GM John Mozeliak said that he has high expectations for Diaz. “[G]iven what you’re seeing out of Diaz at his age [25], you really need to see him develop at shortstop,” said the veteran executive. “When you look at what he’s been able to do, seeing him hold that spot for the next five or six years is reasonable to think.”
  • Reds president of baseball operations Walt Jocketty says that his organization has not been fielding calls on possible trade pieces, MLB.com’s Mark Sheldon reports. Jocketty says his expectation is that trade chatter won’t really pick up until late June. “It’s really hard to say,” said Jocketty. “I don’t think anything will happen much until after the Draft. That’s usually when it starts to happen, a couple of weeks after the Draft.” Of course, that’s not to say that there isn’t any action in the month of June; I recently looked back at some notable trades in recent years and we just saw a swap yesterday involving a veteran reliever.
  • Over at Fangraphs, Dave Cameron suggests that the Diamondbacks ought to consider what might be their boldest move yet: dangling the just-signed Zack Greinke in trade talks this summer. While the organization is committed to near-term contention, says Cameron, it may not have the flexibility it needs to address its many concerns over the winter. Dealing Greinke this summer in a market that looks light on arms would offer an opportunity to big-budget contenders to add a premium pitcher in advance of a free agent class that falls well shy of last year’s crop of talent. While Greinke hasn’t been as sharp as last year, and has posted far worse results, he’d certainly still draw interest, even if his huge salary would require some serious negotiating. All told, the scenario seems rather unlikely — as Cameron acknowledges — but is interesting to consider.

Tigers To Promote Michael Fulmer

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The Tigers will promote right-hander Michael Fulmer to make his Major League debut against the Twins on Friday, reports MLive.com’s Chris Iott (via Twitter).

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Fulmer, acquired from the Mets last summer in the trade that sent Yoenis Cespedes to New York, rated as the game’s No. 47 prospect entering this season, according to Baseball America. Other prospect outlets agreed, as ESPN’s Keith Law rated him 48th, MLB.com rated him 50th and Baseball Prospectus rated him 87th.

The 23-year-old Fulmer hasn’t exactly dominated at the Triple-A level, yielding seven earned runs on 16 hits and five walks with 20 strikeouts in 15 1/3 innings thus far. That marks his first action at the top minor league level, as the former No. 44 overall draft pick split the 2015 campaign between Class-A Advanced and Double-A, working to a combined 2.24 ERA with a 125-to-30 K/BB ratio in 124 2/3 innings. BA gives Fulmer credit for two plus pitches — his fastball and slider — and writes that he could be a No. 3 starter or, if durability issues persist, a shutdown arm at the back of the bullpen. Law is higher on Fulmer’s changeup than BA, calling solid-average as opposed to fringe-average. Law and MLB.com both give him praise for an average curveball as well. All of the scouting reports on Fulmer note that he was on the cusp of big league readiness.

Fulmer is already on the club’s 40-man roster, so the club needs only to clear a spot on the active roster for him. That will be accomplished by placing fellow right-hander Shane Greene on the 15-day disabled list, tweets Iott. Greene had been previously occupying the fifth spot in the rotation, and it’s conceivable that a strong showing from Fulmer will create a long-term opportunity for him. Left-handers Daniel Norris and Matt Boyd remain as alternatives in the Triple-A rotation, in the event that Fulmer falters or that further injuries arise among the Detroit starting staff.

Fulmer’s debut will come nearly four weeks into the regular season, meaning that the right-hander won’t be able to accrue a full year of service, even if he remains in the Majors for the long haul this year. He will, however, be a very likely Super Two player if he is in the Majors to stay, finishing the season with 158 days of big league service. The Super Two cutoff is typically in the 2.122 to 2.140 range, so unless Fulmer were to be sent down in the future, he’d be on pace to arbitration eligible four times, should he stick on the roster.

This marks the fifth time in the past week that a Top 100 starting pitcher has been promoted to make his big league debut. Since Saturday, we’ve seen Rays lefty Blake Snell, Braves righty Aaron Blair and Twins right-hander Jose Berrios make their big league debuts, while A’s southpaw Sean Manaea is slated to make his MLB debut on the same day as Fulmer.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

AL Central Notes: Molitor, Royals, Minor, Fulmer, Greene, Tribe

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The Twins haven’t had any talks with Paul Molitor about a contract extension, Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer Press reports.  Molitor exceeded expectations in his first year as a Major League manager, leading the Twins to a surprising 83-79 record.  There isn’t necessarily a lot of urgency to get a new deal done — not only is Molitor still under contract through the 2017 campaign, “the expectation at this point is that” the Twins will give Molitor “every opportunity to” continue managing, Berardino writes, especially as long as Terry Ryan is the GM.  Here’s some more from around the AL Central…

  • The Twins will likely wait to see how their bullpen situation develops in Spring Training before checking out any free agent relievers, LaVelle E. Neal III of the Minneapolis Star Tribune tweets.
  • Given how Ned Yost, Dayton Moore and J.J. Piccolo all have ties to the Braves, it’s maybe no surprise that the Royals have picked up so many former Atlanta pitchers as reclamation projects, ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick writes.  Kris Medlen proved to be a very sound investment for K.C. last winter and now Peter Moylan and Mike Minor have both joined the Royals this offseason looking to re-establish their value. The ties between the pitchers themselves also played a role — Medlen and Moylan trained and rehabbed together in 2014 when both were recovering from Tommy John surgery.
  • Minor said that pitching at Kauffman Stadium and the Royals’ offer of two guaranteed years were big reasons he signed with the team, the lefty tells Rustin Dodd of the Kansas City Star (Twitter link).
  • Shane Greene’s first season with the Tigers was riddled with injuries, including a scary situation involving an aneurysm that caused blood clots in his fingers, ESPN’s Katie Strang writes.  Greene underwent shoulder surgery to address the problem in August, and while the blood clots have yet to dissolve (which may not happen for years), Greene said he’s feeling much better and is looking forward to competing for a spot in Detroit’s rotation.
  • Michael Fulmer drew heavy interest in trade talks this offseason, Jeff Seidel of the Detroit Free Press reports, though the Tigers didn’t bite on dealing the highly-touted young righty.  It’s no surprise that GM Al Avila was keen to keep Fulmer, given that the right-hander was the centerpiece of the trade package received last summer for Yoenis Cespedes.
  • “The Indians are always sneaky about” working on contract extensions, Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer writes, so it wouldn’t surprise him if the Tribe inks at least one player to a multi-year deal this spring.  Danny Salazar and Trevor Bauer make sense as possible extension candidates since both become arbitration-eligible next winter, and Hoynes also thinks the Tribe could extend Cody Allen.
  • Hoynes’ mailbag piece covers several other Indians-related topics, including Hoynes’ belief that the Tribe won’t exercise their $12MM club option on Carlos Santana for the 2017 season.  I tend to agree, unless Santana rebounds from something of a down year in 2015.

AL Central Notes: Park, Smith, Indians, Brantley, Tigers

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Nine different Twins talent evaluators saw Byung-ho Park in person before the team submitted its $12.85MM bid earlier this offseason, Minnesota vice president of personnel Mike Radcliff tells David Dorsey of the News-Press Media Group. Radcliff himself was among those who watched Park personally in South Korea, having been to Korea in four of the past six seasons, per Dorsey. “It’s a different style,” said Radcliff of Korean baseball. “They swing hard and often over there. There’s a transition. … But we think his swing is Americanized, if you will. He has less movement in his body, from head to toe. He will see velocities he hasn’t seen much of before. But we think the transition will be good, if you will. There just aren’t too many situations to compare him to.”

Here’s more on the Twins and their division…

  • The Twins continue to poke around the trade market for left-handed relief help and like Brewers left-hander Will Smith quite a bit, reports 1500 ESPN’s Darren Wolfson in his latest podcast (audio link, with Twins talk firing up around the 37:45 mark). There’s certainly no indication that Milwaukee is looking to move Smith, although as this winter’s Ken Giles trade showed, moving a controllable relief arm can certainly bolster a farm system in a hurry. The Twins have no shortage of minor league talent that could entice the Brewers, though GM Terry Ryan recently spoke about a number of in-house options that intrigue him as lefty options in the bullpen, calling out Taylor Rogers and J.T. Chargois by name.
  • The Indians have shuffled their Latin American Operations department, writes Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer. After an “amicable” split between the organization and former Latin American director Ramon Pena, the Indians have promoted Koby Perez to that post and made a series of subsequent promotions. Previously, Pena had overseen all Latin American scouting, player development and operations, but those responsibilities will be spread out among different officials now, Hoynes continues. Hoynes spoke to Cleveland president of baseball operations about the team’s approach in Latin America and how the Indians plan to leverage their player development resources in that sphere.
  • Indians outfielder Michael Brantley has begun taking no-contact swings, writes MLB.com’s Jordan Bastian. Brantley, who underwent surgery to repair a torn labrum in his right shoulder back in November and was said to have a recovery timeline of five to six months, reported to camp early and will need to progress to hitting off a tee and eventually taking batting practice before he’s ready for in-game action, Bastian writes. Bastian spoke to GM Mike Chernoff and hitting coach Ty Van Burkleo about Brantley’s progress and the possibility of a swifter-than-expected return. “…knowing him and his makeup and how hard he works, and our training staff, how diligent they are, I’m pleased, but I wouldn’t say I’m surprised [by his progress],” said Van Burkleo.
  • Right-hander Michael Fulmer, the key piece received by the Tigers in July’s Yoenis Cespedes trade, is viewed by the organization as a starter but could factor into the team’s bullpen in 2016, writes Anthony Fenech of the Detroit Free Press. Justin Verlander, Jordan Zimmermann, Anibal Sanchez and Mike Pelfrey are locks for the rotation, with lefty Daniel Norris favored to land the fifth spot, but manager Brad Ausmus was open to the idea of Fulmer in a relief role this year. “Realistically, if he were to make the club, he would probably be a reliever,” Ausmus told Fenech. “If he were not to make the club, he would probably be a starter. … You have enough time in spring training that even if he’s coming out of the pen right now in big league camp, there will be a point where if you think he’s going to be a starter in Toledo, we can make the switch and get his innings up before the start of the season.”

Added To The 40-Man Roster: Friday

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Tonight at 8:00pm ET is the deadline for teams to add players to their 40-man roster and thereby protect them from this year’s Rule 5 Draft. In other words: there will be a significant amount of 40-man roster moves made over the course of the next 13 or so hours. Six clubs already made moves to protect prospects from the Rule 5 yesterday, and each of the remaining 24 clubs should make moves today as well.

In brief: players drafted/signed at 18 years of age or younger must be added to the 40-man roster within five years of signing or be exposed to the Rule 5 Draft. Players drafted/signed at 19 or older must be added within four years. Those interested in all of the specifics can refer to articles from MLB.com’s Jonathan Mayo and J.J. Cooper of Baseball America. Perhaps of greater interest is that Mayo lists all of the prospects from MLB.com’s Top 100 list and from their organizational Top 30 lists that much be protected in advance of tonight’s deadline, while Cooper provides brief write-ups on each player that has been protected (and will continue to do so as additions are made).

Here are today’s additions to the 40-man roster. You can check out Baseball America’s coverage to learn more about the individual players listed below …

Earlier Updates

AL Notes: Twins, Park, Soria, Tigers’ Pen

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It was a bit of a surprise to learn that the Twins emerged with the winning posting bid for Korean slugger Byung-Ho Park. Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN tweets that there were multiple other bids of $10MM or greater, suggesting that Minnesota did not go much beyond the rest of the market to secure the rights. GM Terry Ryan explained that the club’s “evaluators think [Park] can make the transition” to the big leagues, as John Shipley of the St. Paul Pioneer Press reports. Minnesota sees the 29-year-old as a primary DH who is capable of filling in at first or even third. Ryan said that adding Park did not necessarily mean that third baseman Trevor Plouffe would need to be traded to keep exciting young power hitter Miguel Sano in the lineup. Explaining that the team is “adding, not subtracting,” Ryan said that it is “serious about the possibility of Sano playing in the outfield.”

Here’s more from the Twin Cities and their AL Central rivals in Detroit:

  • Righty Joakim Soria has drawn early interest not only from the Tigers, but also from the Twins, according to Wolfson (via Twitter). Minnesota has put out feelers on other relief arms as well, with the pen representing one priority along with the team’s catching situation.
  • Tigers GM Al Avila left no doubt in his comments today that his club intends to play at the top of the relief market, as Anthony Fenech of the Detroit Free Press reports. “We’re trying to get a closer,” Avila said. “Who that guy is right now, I can’t tell you. There might be a guy there that you might not think is a closer but we do, or we might go after a guy that’s already been a closer. I don’t know where it’s going to take me right now.” 
  • The new general manager did stress, though, that starting pitching remains the priority. He also added that Detroit could also shift those starters who don’t make the rotation into the pen, possibly including recent trade addition Michael Fulmer, as Jason Beck of MLB.com tweets.
  • The Tigers are also continuing to make good on the promise to build out their analytical department, and have hired former Blue Jays assistant GM Jay Sartori to run that area, according to Jon Morosi of FOX Sports (via Twitter).

Tigers Decline Nathan’s Option, Add Cessa To 40-Man Roster

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The Tigers announced on Tuesday that they’ve declined their $10MM option on right-hander Joe Nathan and added pitching prospect Luis Cessa to the 40-man roster. Nathan, who underwent Tommy John earlier this year, will receive a $1MM buyout. Nathan said back in April that he planned to undergo the lengthy rehabilitation process that came with the surgery with the goal of again pitching in the Major Leagues.

Nathan was a high-profile signing by now-former Tigers GM Dave Dombrowski prior to the 2014 season. Detroit signed the longtime Twins closer to a two-year, $20MM contract in spite of his advanced age, but Nathan was unable to replicate the All-Star form that he showed with the Twins or with the Rangers. Nathan posted a 4.81 ERA in his age-39 season in 2014 and pitched just one-third of an inning in 2015 before going down with a torn tendon and ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow. The 40-year-old seems like a candidate for a minor league deal this winter, but he could conceivably wait to sign until midseason, when he’s further along in his rehab, in hopes of securing a big league deal.

As for Cessa, the 23-year-old was one of two right-handed pitching prospects acquired from the Mets in exchange for Yoenis Cespedes. (Michael Fulmer was the other.) Cessa would’ve been Rule 5 eligible this winter and needed to be added to the 40-man roster in order to be protected, so it was only a matter of time as to when his contract was selected by the Tigers. Cessa split his age-23 season between the Double-A and Triple-A levels, logging a 4.52 ERA with 7.7 K/9 against 2.3 BB/9 in 139 1/3 innings. He currently ranks sixth among Tigers farmhands, per MLB.com.

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