Phil Maton Done For The Season Due To Hand Surgery
Astros right-hander Phil Maton told reporters today, including Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle, that he fractured the fifth metacarpal in his right pinkie finger after punching his locker on Wednesday. He has already had surgery and won’t be able to return this season.
Maton, 29, has just finished his sixth MLB season, throwing 65 2/3 innings out of Houston’s bullpen. He registered a 3.84 ERA along with a 26% strikeout rate, 8.5% walk rate and 38.2% ground ball rate. He moved into higher leverage positions this season, earning 14 holds after never previously cracking double digits.
Brian McTaggart of MLB.com tweeted video of Maton’s comments, where the reliever relays that he punched his locker because he was upset with how his outing went. It’s unknown if it’s related, but Wednesday was the final game of the season wherein his brother, Nick Maton of the Phillies, singled off him. Phil goes on to describe his actions as “short-sighted” and “selfish” before hoping that his absence doesn’t hurt the team. He says he’s expected to be in a cast for the next eight weeks but will be ready for Spring Training.
The Astros are set to begin their ALDS series against the Mariners and will now do so without Maton. He had a strong showing with Houston in the playoffs last year, throwing 12 1/3 innings with a 0.73 ERA, though he won’t be able to contribute this time around. Maton is earning $1.55MM this year and can be retained for one more season via arbitration. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projects that Maton would earn a raise into the vicinity of $2.5MM for next year.
Astros Select Jake Meyers, Designate Nivaldo Rodriguez For Assignment
The Astros announced a number of roster moves today. Phil Maton — acquired yesterday from the Indians — was added to the active roster, while Jake Meyers had his contract selected. To make room on the active roster, Bryan Abreu was optioned to the taxi squad and Brandon Bielak was optioned to Triple-A. To create a spot on the 40-man roster, right-hander Nivaldo Rodriguez was designated for assignment, tweets Mark Berman of Fox 26.
Meyers, 25, is the most interesting addition of the bunch here, despite his lack of prospect status and unheralded beginnings as a 13th-round pick. His revelatory play in Triple-A this season seems to be one of the driving factors in Houston’s decision to trade Myles Straw for Maton. It’s certainly not standard operating procedure for a first-place team like the Astros to deal their starting centerfielder for a middle reliever in the middle of a playoff race — especially with Straw being cheap and controllable through 2025.
But Meyers raked in Triple-A, slashing .343/.408/.598 with 16 home runs for the Sugar Land Skeeters. He brings a less extreme version of Straw’s positive approach at the plate, but with the added benefit of some power potential. Meyers has walked at an 8.2 percent clip while striking out just 19.4 percent of the time. He has benefited from a .389 BABIP, and the power marks – .255 ISO, .598 SLG — are way above his career averages prior to this season.
Defensively, he has split his time evenly between all three outfield spots this year. Back in June, Kevin Goldstein of Fangraphs noted that he profiles as an above-average defensive centerfielder, though without Straw’s arm. If his power proves to be for real, Meyers ought to be an upgrade in centerfield, assuming he can outbid Chas McCormick for playing time. The 26-year-old McCormick has a head start on the starter’s job with a 113 wRC+ through 178 plate appearances this season.
Rodriguez, meanwhile, will be left exposed to waivers as a result of Houston’s trade deadline additions. The 24-year-old righty has nine career appearances between this season and last. He logged 16 innings, allowing eight earned runs on 19 hits and 10 walks while serving up five long balls. Given the need for pitching league-wide, there’s certainly a possibility somebody takes a chance on Rodriguez either as a starter or a reliever with multi-inning potential.
Astros, Indians Swap Myles Straw For Phil Maton
The Astros and Indians have made a trade that will see Cleveland acquire outfielder Myles Straw, while Houston will land right-handed reliever Phil Maton and minor league catcher Yainer Diaz. Both teams have announced the swap.
Straw, 26, becomes the latest acquisition in a long line of attempts for the Indians to find some consistency in the outfield. It’s been an ongoing organizational issue for the past several seasons, with center field in particular standing out as a problem.
Center field has been Straw’s lone position for Houston in 2021 (though he does have experience at shortstop as well). He’s handled the position quite nicely, turning in two Defensive Runs Saved and a 6.6 Ultimate Zone Rating in 831 innings there. At the plate, Straw has virtually no power of which to speak, but he’s still batting a passable .262/.339/.326 thanks in large part to a strong 10.3 percent walk rate. Straw’s speed is nothing short of excellent, which has contributed both to those strong defensive ratings and to his value on the basepaths, where he’s swiped 17 bases in 22 attempts on the year.
Straw is a long-term option in center for Cleveland, as he’ll finish out the season with just two-plus years of service time. He won’t have quite enough days to reach Super Two status, so he won’t be eligible for arbitration until the 2022-23 offseason at the earliest. He’s controllable through 2025.
Maton, 28, gives the ‘Stros a bullpen option for the remainder of this year and for each of the two subsequent seasons, as he’s controllable through 2023 via arbitration. He’s posted a 4.57 ERA through 41 1/3 innings this season and carries a career 4.74 mark through 190 frames.
Those numbers may not seem like much, but there’s good reason to believe that Maton could have a breakout in him. A rather pedestrian strikeout rate for the right-hander jumped to 33.3 percent last year upon arriving in Cleveland, and he’s managed that uptick so far in 2021 as well (34.3 percent). Command is something of an issue, but Maton’s rough ERA is in many ways tied to an awful and rather unfortunate .356 average on balls in play. He’s posted that .356 mark despite generally limiting hard contact nicely.
In fact, it’s possible Maton is already experiencing the positive regression those numbers seem to foreshadow. Over his past 18 games — a span of 17 2/3 innings pitched — he’s posted a 2.04 ERA while punching out 25 of his 76 opponents. Maton’s 11 walks in that time are still too plentiful, but the hits have stopped dropping in quite so frequently. He’s certainly not going to sustain this 2.00-ish ERA pace, but metrics like SIERA (3.13), FIP (also 3.13) and xFIP (3.56) all think he’s pitched far better than his raw earned run average would indicate.
The 22-year-old Diaz, meanwhile, wasn’t considered to be among Cleveland’s better prospects, but he’s having a nice season in Class-A, where he’s batting .314/.357/.464. He’s hit at every minor league stop he’s made since signing as an amateur back in 2016. He’ll be Rule 5 eligible this winter if the Astros don’t add him to the roster, though it might be hard for some clubs to justify carrying a 23-year-old catcher who’s scarcely played above A-ball (assuming he gets a late promotion to Double-A, even). Still, the Astros have been thin on catching depth in recent years, so there’s a decent chance they protect him if he keeps tearing up minor league pitching.
FOX 26’s Mark Berman first reported the trade.
Players Avoiding Arbitration: 1/15/21
The deadline to exchange arbitration figures is today at 1pm ET. As of this morning, there were 125 arbitration-eligible players who’d yet to agree to terms on their contract for the upcoming 2021 season. Arbitration is muddier than ever before thanks to the shortened 2020 schedule, which most believe will lead to record number of arb hearings this winter. Be that as it may, it’s still reasonable to expect dozens of contractual agreements to filter in over the next couple of hours.
We’ll highlight some of the more high-profile cases in separate posts with more in-depth breakdowns, but the majority of today’s dealings will be smaller-scale increases that don’t radically alter a team’s payroll or a player’s trade candidacy. As such, we’ll just run through most of today’s agreements in this post.
I’ve embedded MLBTR’s 2021 Arbitration Tracker in the post (those in the mobile app or viewing on mobile web will want to turn their phones sideways). Our tracker can be sorted by team, by service time and/or by Super Two status, allowing users to check the status on whichever groups of players they like. You can also check out Matt Swartz’s projected arbitration salaries for this year’s class, and we’ll do a quick sentence on each player’s agreement at the bottom of this post as well, with the most recent agreements sitting atop the list.
Today’s Agreements (chronologically, newest to oldest)
- Rockies outfielder Raimel Tapia avoided arbitration with a $1.95MM deal, Jon Heyman of MLB Network tweets. The team also reached an agreement for $805K with reliever Robert Stephenson, per Joel Sherman of the New York Post.
- The Tigers have deals with infielder Jeimer Candelario ($2.85MM), outfielder JaCoby Jones ($2.65MM) and righty Jose Cisnero ($970K), Chris McCosky of the Detroit News relays.
- The Yankees and reliever Chad Green settled for $2.15MM, Mark Feinsand of MLB.com reports.
- The Marlins and lefty Richard Bleier have a deal for $1.425MM, Mark Feinsand of MLB.com tweets.
- The Dodgers reached a $3.6MM settlement with lefty Julio Urias, Jorge Castillo of the Los Angeles Times reports.
- The Angels announced a deal with righty Dylan Bundy for $8.325MM.
- The Tigers and southpaw Matthew Boyd have settled for $6.5MM, Chris McCosky of the Detroit News tweets.
- The Yankees have deals with catcher Gary Sanchez ($6.35MM), first baseman Luke Voit ($4.7MM), third baseman Gio Urshela ($4.65MM), shortstop Gleyber Torres ($4MM) and outfielder Clint Frazier ($2.1MM), per Jon Heyman of MLB Network and Ken Davidoff of the New York Post.
- The Rays and outfielder Manuel Margot avoided arbitration with a $3.4MM agreement, per Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times.
- The Padres and outfielder Tommy Pham have a deal for $8.9MM, according to Robert Murray of FanSided. Reliever Dan Altavilla settled for $850K, AJ Cassavell of MLB.com tweets.
- The Angels and righty Felix Pena have come to terms for $1.1MM, Maria Torres of the Los Angeles Times reports.
- The Red Sox and third baseman Rafael Devers have reached a $4.575MM agreement, per Jon Heyman of MLB Network.
- The Mets and outfielder Brandon Nimmo have come to a $4.7MM agreement, Anthony DiComo of MLB.com tweets.
- The Reds and righty Luis Castillo have settled for $4.2MM, Robert Murray of FanSided relays.
- The Rays reached a $2.25MM agreement with infielder Joey Wendle and a $1.175MM settlement with righty Yonny Chirinos, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times tweets.
- The Cardinals and flamethrowing reliever Jordan Hicks have an agreement for $862,500, according to Heyman.
- The White Sox and ace Lucas Giolito avoided arbitration with a $4.15MM agreement, James Fegan of The Athletic reports.
- The Pirates and righty Joe Musgrove have reached an agreement for $4.45MM, Jon Heyman of MLB Network tweets. They also made deals with second/baseman outfielder Adam Frazier ($4.3MM), third baseman Colin Moran ($2.8MM) righty Chad Kuhl ($2.13MM) and lefty Steven Brault ($2.05MM), per reports from Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and Adam Berry of MLB.com.
- Hard-throwing right-hander Reyes Moronta agreed to a $695K deal with the Giants after missing the 2020 season due to shoulder surgery, tweets Robert Murray of Fansided.
- The Tigers agreed to a $2.1MM deal with infielder Niko Goodrum, tweets Robert Murray of Fansided. They also inked lefty Daniel Norris for a $3.475MM salary, tweets Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press.
- The Pirates agreed to a $1.3MM deal with catcher Jacob Stallings and a $1.1MM deal with righty Chris Stratton, per Robert Murray of Fansided (Twitter links).
- Athletics right-hander Lou Trivino agreed to a $912,500 salary for the 2021 season, tweets Robert Murray of Fansided.
- Right-hander Richard Rodriguez and the Pirates agreed to a $1.7MM deal, tweets Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
- Catcher Jorge Alfaro and the Marlins agreed to a $2.05MM deal, tweets Craig Mish of SportsGrid.
- The Reds agreed to a $2.2MM deal with right-hander Tyler Mahle, tweets Fansided’s Robert Murray. Cincinnati also signed lefty Amir Garrett for $1.5MM, tweets Mark Feinsand of MLB.com.
- The Indians agreed to a $2.4MM deal with newly acquired shortstop Amed Rosario and a $975K deal with righty Phil Maton, tweets Zack Meisel of The Athletic.
- The Tigers and righty Buck Farmer settled at $1.85MM, tweets Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press.
- The Marlins agreed to a $1.9MM deal with right-handed reliever Yimi Garcia, tweets MLB Network’s Jon Heyman.
Dominic Leone, Mike Freeman, Cam Hill Make Indians’ Opening Day Roster
The Indians have informed several players, including three who aren’t currently on the 40-man roster, that they’ve made the Opening Day club, Ryan Lewis of the Akron Beacon-Journal tweets. Right-handers Dominic Leone, Cam Hill, James Karinchak and Phil Maton; infielders Mike Freeman, Yu Chang and Christian Arroyo; and outfielders Greg Allen and Bradley Zimmer have all made the roster to begin the year. Leone, Hill and Freeman will each need to be added to the 40-man roster.
The team has also informed a quartet of players that they won’t open the year on the 30-man roster. That includes first baseman/outfielder Jake Bauers and righties Jefry Rodriguez, James Hoyt and Hunter Wood. That Wood won’t be on the Opening Day roster is of particular note, as he is out of minor league options and thus cannot be sent down to alternate camp without first being run through outright waivers.
It seems likely, then, that some form of 40-man move involving Wood will help to pave the way for the three non-roster players who’ve made the squad. Cleveland currently has 39 players on the 40-man roster, and Delino DeShields isn’t counting against the group either while on the Covid-19 injured list.
The 28-year-old Leone has the most big league experience of the bunch, having logged 243 1/3 innings of relief dating back to his MLB debut with the Mariners in 2014. Leone’s past two seasons with the Cardinals went poorly, as he worked to a combined 5.15 ERA and 4.77 FIP in 64 2/3 frames, but the righty was excellent for the Jays as recently as 2017, when he pitched 70 2/3 innings with a 2.56 ERA and better than 10 punchouts per nine frames. In all, Leone joins the Indians’ bullpen with a career 3.92 ERA, 9.4 K/9, 3.7 BB/9, 1.15 HR/9 and a 43.6 percent grounder rate.
Freeman, who’ll turn 33 early next month, should be a familiar face for Cleveland fans after suiting up for 75 games there in 2019. Last year with the Indians, Freeman played second base, shortstop, third base, left field and even pitched two innings. Along the way, Freeman hit .272/.362/.390 with four homers and eight doubles — good for a 97 OPS+. That’s a solid showing from a part-time player, and although he had to work his way back on another minor league deal, Freeman clearly impressed the club enough to stick around as a depth piece.
Hill, meanwhile, has never pitched in the Majors, so this’ll mark the 26-year-old’s debut season. A 17th-round pick by the Indians back in 2014, Hill has just a 4.81 ERA in 43 2/3 innings at the Triple-A level but impressed the club with a strong effort this spring (five innings, one run) and summer. He ranked near the back of the organization’s top prospect list at FanGraphs this year, where Eric Longenhagen wrote that Hill has “nasty” stuff but sub-par control that causes some concern.
Wood, 26, has plenty of success with the Rays in his first season-plus at the MLB level before being traded to Cleveland alongside Arroyo last summer. He posted decent numbers with the Indians following the trade and carries a career 3.32 ERA and 4.04 FIP in 86 2/3 MLB frames, so it’s a bit of a surprise to see him on the outside looking in. It’s quite possible that another club with more questionable bullpen depth would have interest in swinging a deal for Wood, who has high-end spin and above-average velocity on his four-seamer. Barring that, he could generate interest on the waiver wire.
Indians Place Danny Salazar, Tyler Olson On 10-Day IL
Today: Fortunately, Salazar’s groin strain is “mild,” tweets Zack Meisel of the Athletic. Nevertheless, there is no current timetable for his return, Meisel adds.
Friday: The Indians have placed righty Danny Salazar and southpaw Tyler Olson on the 10-day injured list, per a club announcement. The former is dealing with a right groin strain and the latter a “non-baseball medical condition.”
To take the open roster spots, recently acquired righties Phil Maton and Hunter Wood were recalled from Triple-A. Those two hurlers were picked up in separate deals during the month of July.
It’s massively disappointing to see Salazar head right back to the IL after just one outing. The 29-year-old had last pitched in 2017, with major arm issues keeping him off the mound in the interim.
Unfortunately, Salazar’s return was less than promising even before the groin problem was revealed. He barely topped 88 mph with his fastball, a stunning loss of velocity for a pitcher who always sat in the mid-nineties.
It’s not yet known how long Salazar might be sidelined, or what his path back might look like. Similarly, there’s no indication whatsoever what kind of absence the club is anticipating from Olson. The southpaw carries a 4.40 ERA in 30 2/3 innings, but has continued to be tough on lefties, who’ve managed only a .245/.333/.367 line against him this season.
Indians Acquire Phil Maton From Padres
The Indians have acquired righty Phil Maton from the Padres, per a club announcement. International bonus poll space is headed to San Diego in the deal.
In other moves, the Friars announced that that they have selected the contract of righty Andres Munoz. That explains the need to free a 40-man roster. Catcher Austin Allen is also coming to the majors, with backstop Austin Hedges and lefty Eric Lauer being moved to the bereavement list.
Maton, 26, has appeared at the MLB level in each of the past three seasons. Through 114 2/3 total innings, he carries a meager 5.02 ERA — a mark that has skyrocketed this year, in particular.
That said, there are still reasons for some optimism. Maton has shown an ability to generate swings and misses (13.3% for his career). And he has dominated at Triple-A in recent years.
For the Indians, it was easy to take a shot and add some depth. Righty Cody Anderson won’t be returning to action this year anyway. He was bumped to the 60-day injured list to create roster space.
On the Friars’ side of the deal, it’ll be interesting to see what the team has in Munoz. The live-armed 20-year-old has shown intriguing K/BB numbers in the upper minors this year. Through 35 2/3 innings, split about evenly between Double-A and Triple-A, he owns a 3.03 ERA with 58 strikeouts and 18 free passes.
NL West Notes: Bumgarner, Wingenter, Clarke, D’Backs
Trade speculation has swirled around Madison Bumgarner for months, and such buzz figures to grow even louder as we approach the trade deadline due to Bumgarner’s solid results. After a pair of injury-marred seasons, Bumgarner has been healthy and effective this year, with a 3.92 ERA, 8.9 K/9, and a 6.14 K/BB rate that projects as the best of his career. As ESPN’s Buster Olney notes in a subscriber-only column, Bumgarner is throwing his fastball more often than in recent years, and with better velocity. While “the front offices of 2019 don’t necessarily believe in intangibles and mostly won’t pay for them,” Olney wonders if a proven postseason performer like Bumgarner might also benefit from a move to a contending team, similar to how Cole Hamels was reinvigorated after being dealt from the Rangers to the Cubs last summer. With the Giants in last place in the NL West and looking like a deadline seller, it will be interesting to see what San Francisco can acquire for its longtime ace in July, assuming the team indeed does want to move Bumgarner.
Some more from around the NL West…
- The Padres placed right-hander Trey Wingenter on the 10-day IL today (retroactive to Saturday) due to inflammation in his throwing shoulder, as per a team announcement. Phil Maton was recalled from Triple-A to Wingenter’s place in the bullpen. After making his Major League debut in 2018, Wingenter was off to a strong start this season, with a 2.93 ERA and 12.3 K/9 over 15 1/3 innings, albeit with some issues with his control (4.7 BB/9) and home run rate (1.2 HR/9).
- With Zack Godley now pitching out of the bullpen, the Diamondbacks will give rookie Taylor Clarke a shot at the starting rotation, Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic writes. Clarke is scheduled to start Tuesday’s game against the Rays, and there certainly seems to be opportunity for Clarke to stick if he pitches well, as manager Torey Lovullo said “we haven’t looked past Tuesday” in terms of a long-term rotation plan. A third-round pick for the D’Backs in the 2015 draft, Clarke is ranked by MLB.com as Arizona’s 10th-best prospect. The 25-year-old righty has a 3.55 ERA, 7.8 K/9, and 3.06 K/BB rate over 492 1/3 career minor league frames, and he made his MLB debut earlier this season, a three-inning relief outing on April 20.
- In another piece from Piecoro, he talks to Diamondbacks GM Mike Hazen about the team’s good start, and how Hazen’s reluctance to fully rebuild (even while parting ways with the likes of Paul Goldschmidt, A.J. Pollock, and Patrick Corbin) kept the D’Backs in position to potentially contend in 2019. While the losses of those big-name players drew the most headlines, Arizona has gotten some excellent early results from somewhat unheralded offseason pickups, i.e. Adam Jones, Greg Holland, Merrill Kelly, Luke Weaver. As to whether the D’Backs could be buyers or sellers at the deadline, “we are hoping this team tells us what to do – directs us what to do – as we move through the season. To this point, we’ve played good baseball,” Hazen said.
Padres Activate Austin Hedges, Select Robert Stock
The Padres announced a slew of roster moves Sunday, including the reinstatement of catcher Austin Hedges from the disabled list and the selection of right-hander Robert Stock from Triple-A. The club also placed righty Jordan Lyles on the DL with right elbow inflammation, recalled reliever Kazuhisa Makita and optioned both reliever Phil Maton and catcher Rafael Lopez. With a full 40-man roster, the Padres will need to create an opening for Stock.
Hedges is back after going on the DL on May 1 because of tendinitis in his right elbow. The 25-year-old struggled at the plate before then, hitting .173/.235/.293 in 81 trips. On the other hand, the defensively gifted Hedges shined as a pitch framer, per Baseball Prospectus. He’ll rejoin A.J. Ellis to comprise the Padres’ top two catchers, pushing Lopez out of the mix. Lopez didn’t take advantage of Hedges’ absence, as he has batted a meager .180/.263/.290 in 114 PAs and offered subpar pitch-framing work this season.
Stock, 28, is finally in position to make his major league debut nine years after the Cardinals chose him in the second round of the 2009 draft. A two-way player at USC, where he was also a catcher, Stock converted to pitching on a full-time basis after the 2011 season. Also a former Pirate and Red (not to mention an indy league participant), Stock joined the Padres prior to 2018 and has since fared well in the minors, including a 23 1/3-inning run at Triple-A, where he has logged a 1.93 ERA with 9.26 K/9, 3.86 BB/9 and a 55.6 percent groundball rate.
Lyles’ issue isn’t expected to require surgery, but he’ll see a doctor Monday, Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune reports. The 27-year-old has collected 21 appearances (eight starts) this year and recorded a 4.46 ERA with 7.56 K/9, 2.43 BB/9 and a 46.8 percent grounder rate over 66 2/3 innings.
Given the numbers Maton has posted this year out of San Diego’s impressive bullpen, his demotion comes as a surprise. The 25-year-old has recorded a 1.53 ERA with 9.17 K/9 and 4.08 BB/9, though he went on the DL with a right lat strain on May 13 and hasn’t been effective in his two outings since returning this week. Over a total of 1 2/3 innings in those appearances, Maton allowed three runs (two earned) on four hits and a walk.
Padres Place Phil Maton On DL
The Padres announced that they’ve placed right-hander Phil Maton on the 10-day disabled list with a a right lat strain. His roster spot will go to fellow righty Kazuhisa Makita, who’s returning after a short stint at the Triple-A level.
At 15-26, the Padres appear likely to finish under .500 for the eighth straight season. This year’s club isn’t teeming with bright spots, then, though Maton and the bullpen in general have been outstanding. The 25-year-old Maton has pitched to a microscopic .56 ERA with 9.56 K/9, 3.94 BB/9 and a 42.2 percent groundball rate across 16 innings. He’s among a slew of relievers who have been effective for the Padres, whose bullpen ranks toward the top of the majors in fWAR (third), ERA (sixth), K/BB ratio (sixth) and grounder rate (seventh).
Makita, on the other hand, didn’t do San Diego’s run prevention numbers any favors before it demoted him earlier this week. The 33-year-old rookie, an offseason free-agent pickup from Japan, has notched a 6.75 ERA and a paltry 22.2 percent grounder mark over his first 16 MLB frames. On the positive side, the soft-tossing Makita has matched Maton’s K/BB rates and logged an impressive swinging-strike percentage (15.4).