Headlines

Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Sean Manaea

Injury Notes: Syndergaard, Sanchez, Duda, Cabrera, Skaggs, Britton, Dyson, More

By | at

A pair of struggling teams got the good news that they’ll have key hurlers taking the hill on Sunday. Noah Syndergaard is ready to go after some worry over his biceps, as Anthony DiComo of MLB.com reports on Twitter. Syndergaard is said to have denied a request that he undergo an MRI, saying he feels fully healthy. Also, Aaron Sanchez will return for the Blue Jays, as Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet.ca tweets.

Here’s more on the injury front:

  • First baseman Lucas Duda is also nearing a return for the Mets. He started a rehab assignment this evening and played for six innings. Given the fairly limited duration of his layoff for a hyperextended elbow, it seems reasonable to think he’ll be back up in just a few days.
  • It seems there’s forward momentum for Tigers star Miguel Cabrera, as MLB.com’s Jason Beck reports on Twitter. Cabrera, who was forced to the DL with a groin strain, was able to jog and take batting practice today at the park.
  • The Angels are assessing another injury for lefty Tyler Skaggs. Per a club announcement, he left his outing tonight with “right side tightness.” Just that means for the 25-year-old isn’t clear at this time. Heading into the current season, Skaggs had made only 41 starts since debuting in 2012. Over his five starts and 29 1/3 innings in 2017, Skaggs has pitched to a 3.99 ERA with a strong 29:9 K/BB ratio.
  • Orioles closer Zach Britton may also be back Sunday — or, if not, then after the team’s off-day on Monday — per Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com (via Twitter). The southpaw is preparing to return rather quickly from an initially worrying forearm injury. He figures to step right back into the closer role for the O’s.
  • The Rangers welcomed back Sam Dyson from his short DL stint. Though he jumped right back in and pitched in the ninth tonight, working a scoreless frame, that came in a losing effort. Unlike Britton, Dyson has likely been bypassed in the closer role, at least for the time being.
  • While the Nationals are holding their breath over a new and potentially serious injury issue tonight, the team did get a bit of positive news earlier. An MRI came back clean for southpaw Sammy Solis, as Mark Zuckerman of MASNsports.com tweets. While there’s some inflammation present in his balky elbow, there’s no ligament issue.
  • There are a few updates on some Reds hurlers who are working back from injury, as C. Trent Rosecrans of the Cincinnati Enquirer reports. Homer Bailey will throw a pen session early next week — his first since having bone spurs removed over the offseason. Fellow righty Anthony DeSclafani, meanwhile, is unfortunately still not ready to start throwing. Doctors will reassess his sprained UCL after allowing it a few more weeks of rest. And lefty Brandon Finnegan, who’s dealing with an oblique issue, is still a week away even from being examined again by physicians. The club is allowing him plenty of rest before taking stock of his path back tot he rotation.
  • Dodgers skipper Dave Roberts provided the latest on a few of his team’s ailing players, as Andy McCullough of the Los Angeles Times was among those to report (links to Twitter). “Mechanical” issues are still holding back lefty Scott Kazmir, who still doesn’t seem to have a clear path back to the majors. The club will soon activate several position players, though, with Franklin Gutierrez likely to be followed within a week or so by Joc Pederson and Logan Forsythe. That’ll likely mean dropping top prospect Cody Bellinger back to Triple-A, McCullough notes.
  • Athletics southpaw Sean Manaea is likely to miss a start and may hit the 10-day DL, as Joe Stiglich of NBC Sports Bay Area tweets. But the overall news is good. Manaea, who came down with some shoulder stiffness in his most recent outing, is not expected to require an extended absence.

Injury Notes: Manaea, Beltre, Red Sox, Span

By | at

Athletics lefty Sean Manaea exited yesterday’s game after just two innings due to left shoulder tightness, per Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle. The departure of yet another of the Athletics’ top starters is troubling enough, but Slusser adds that Manaea’s velocity was topping out at 90 mph on Wednesday — a far cry from the 95 mph at which he usually tops out and from the 92.5 mph he’s averaged thus far in 2017. Slusser has since tweeted that Manaea did pass some initial strength tests with his shoulder today and hopes to try throwing tomorrow.

Oakland already has Sonny Gray and Kendall Graveman on the disabled list, though they’ll welcome Graveman back to the rotation tonight. If Manaea needs to miss time, I’d imagine that right-handers Cesar Valdez and Paul Blackburn would be options to step into his rotation spot. Each is already on the 40-man roster, and Valdez is presently serving as the team’s long reliever after making a spot start last week.

A few more injury notes from around the game…

  • While the Rangers hoped at the time of Adrian Beltre’s most recent setback that he’d be able to join the club by the end of April, it’s now questionable whether he’ll even be ready to take the field at some point in May, according to MLB.com’s T.R. Sullivan. “It’s at the point where we didn’t necessarily see the progress results we thought we would see,” manager Jeff Banister tells Sullivan. Banister said there’s still no timeline on Beltre, adding that the team is still trying to reduce the swelling and soreness in Beltre’s strained calf. Joey Gallo will continue to man third base in Beltre’s absence.
  • Red Sox reliever Carson Smith has had a setback in his recovery from 2016 Tommy John surgery, as Jen McCaffrey of MassLive.com writes. Smith was throwing off a mound a couple of weeks ago but has “had to slow down,” manager John Farrell told reporters. Smith is long tossing from 110 feet but is now two weeks removed from his most recent mound session. Boston had been targeting a June return for Smith, but a July return is now more realistic, per McCaffrey. The Red Sox have had rough luck when trading for potential setup arms; in addition to losing Smith for more than a year due to Tommy John surgery just months after trading for him, the team has yet to reap any benefit from its trade to acquire Tyler Thornburg this offseason, as Thornburg has been sidelined all season by a right shoulder impingement. CSNNE.com’s Evan Drellich tweeted recently that Farrell said on MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM that Thornburg essentially needs to progress through Spring Training all over again, which would normally consist of seven to 10 appearances.
  • The initial MRI on Denard Span’s shoulder revealed no serious injuries to the Giants center fielder (Twitter links via Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle and Chris Haft of MLB.com). Span, who has already been placed on the 10-day disabled list, said that his shoulder was in too much pain yesterday to even get through the first attempt at an MRI (via Schulman). Manager Bruce Bochy told reporters earlier today that the expectation is that Span will miss more than the minimum 10 days on the disabled list (Twitter link via Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News).

Injury Updates: Fowler, Alvarez, A’s, Smith

By | at

Here’s the latest on some notable injury situations around the game.  Be sure to check out Roster Resource to see how teams’ depth charts will be impacted by these injuries…

  • Dexter Fowler exited Saturday’s game in the first inning after suffering a hamstring injury while running out a grounder.  The Cubs haven’t yet made a decision on whether or not Fowler will need a DL stint, Joe Maddon told media (including MLB.com’s Cody Stavenhagen).  Fowler has cooled off in June after a blistering start to the season, though he’s still hitting .290/.398/.483 with seven homers over 284 plate appearances.  Jason Heyward is the most likely candidate to take over in center field should Fowler miss time, though with Jorge Soler and Tommy La Stella already on the DL, Fowler’s absence would be a big hit to the Cubs’ roster depth.
  • The Athletics have shut down Henderson Alvarez and the righty has a visit scheduled with Dr. James Andrews, manager Bob Melvin told reporters (including MLB.com’s Jane Lee).  Alvarez was pitching in what was supposed to be his final minor league rehab start on Saturday night when he left the game early due to discomfort in his throwing shoulder.  He underwent surgery on that same shoulder last July and hasn’t thrown a Major League pitch since, which led to the Marlins non-tendering Alvarez over the winter and the A’s signing him to a one-year, $4.25MM contract.
  • In better injury news out of Oakland, Melvin said that Rich Hill and Sean Manaea both threw bullpen sessions on Sunday and are on track for, respectively, a simulated game and another session later this week.  Manaea is one of the Athletics’ top pitching prospects while Hill could be a major trade deadline chip if he proves he’s healthy after missing almost a month with a groin strain.
  • Speedy Braves outfielder Mallex Smith suffered a broken left thumb after being hit by a pitch on Sunday and is sidelined indefinitely, David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.  More will be known about Smith’s DL timeline when he visits a hand specialist tomorrow.  Smith got off to a very slow start at the plate after making his MLB debut earlier this season and is still just hitting .241/.314/.386 , though he has displayed a good center field glove and is 8-for-8 in his last eight stolen base attempts.

Athletics Place Sean Manaea On 15-Day DL

By | at

6:38pm: The belief after an MRI is that the injury is “muscular and minor,” manager Bob Melvin told reporters including MLB.com’s Jane Lee (Twitter link). The hope is that Manaea will be back after the minimum (or close to it).

6:15pm: The Athletics have placed young southpaw Sean Manaea on the 15-day DL, per Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle (via Twitter). He has been diagnosed with a pronator strain in his left forearm.

Things could be worse, as it was scary to see the 24-year-old walk off with an apparent injury in his most recent start. Forearm troubles often precede more serious elbow issues, and it’s promising that there’s no current evidence of a problem further up the arm. On the other hand, as Carson Smith showed earlier this year, a preliminary assessment of a forearm injury doesn’t mean that the ulnar collateral ligament is safe.

Manaea represents an important part of Oakland’s present and future plans. He has struggled a bit early in his debut season, surrendering 33 earned runs and eight long balls in 49 1/3 innings. But Manaea has also shown promise, putting up 7.3 K/9 (with a 10.7% swinging strike rate) against 2.9 BB/9.

[Related: Updated Oakland Athletics depth chart]

It’s unclear at present how long the youngster will be out, but odds are that the club will take things slow. And it’s still possible that further assessment will reveal further cause for concern — or, at least, caution. For the time being, Erik Surkamp has been recalled to take Manaea’s spot on the active roster.

West Notes: Hahn, Bassitt, Gutierrez, McCullers

By and | at

After giving Sean Manaea his first start tonight, the Athletics will recall right-hander Jesse Hahn from Triple-A Nashville to start tomorrow’s game against the Astros, reports Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle. The 26-year-old spent much of the 2015 season in Oakland’s rotation after coming over from the Padres in the Derek Norris trade, but his season was cut short by an injured right flexor tendon and a woeful Spring Training landed him in Triple-A. Hahn has recorded a 2.04 ERA in four starts with Nashville this season, though he hasn’t been as dominant as that mark might initially suggest. Hahn has lasted a total of 17 2/3 innings in those four outings with a 13-to-9 K/BB ratio.

More from the American League…

  • The Athletics’ rotation has struggled of late, and now right-hander Chris Bassitt is heading to the DL after seeing his velocity dip from 92-94 mph to 89-90 mph in his most recent start. He’s been diagnosed with an elbow sprain, Slusser tweets, but there are some worrying indications. As MLB.com’s Jane Lee reports, Bassitt says he’s struggling with more than just his velocity, and indicated that he’s been quietly dealing with elbow discomfort for some time. “I didn’t want to say anything because I’ve worked harder than I ever have this offseason,” Bassitt said. “I felt so excited and prepared going into this season, and for this to happen, it really sucks. The way I’m feeling right now, I can’t throw right now.”
  • The Astros and Dodgers had the most notable scouting entourages on hand to watch Cuban righty Vladimir Gutierrez in what will likely be his final showcase, Baseball America’s Ben Badler reports. There were plenty of other organizations with eyes on Gutierrez, of course, so one shouldn’t read too much into that. Generally, says Badler, the interesting youngster showed a mid-90s fastball and impressive breaking ball, though his fastball command and other offerings still need work.
  • Astros righty Lance McCullers Jr. is ready for a sixty to seventy-five pitch outing in his next extended spring work, Jake Kaplan of the Houston Chronicle reports on Twitter. That certainly seems to indicate that he could be nearing a rehab stint, which would be good news for a Houston club that badly misses his high-octane arm in the rotation.

AL West Notes: McBride, Manaea, Zunino, Wilson, Heaney

By | at

The Athletics have called up catcher/first baseman/outfielder Matt McBride in order to prevent the 30-year-old from signing with a club in Japan, reports Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle. McBride received an offer from the Yokohama DeNa BayStars of Nippon Professional Baseball, Slusser reports, and his contract contains a clause that would’ve allowed him to opt out and pursue the deal. Rather than allow the versatile McBride to leave the organization, Oakland added him to its 25-man and 40-man roster (Felix Doubront was transferred to the 60-day DL). “I’m happy to be here,” McBride told Slusser following the promotion. “I knew it would be one or the other, and I think everyone wants to get the chance to play in the big leagues.” McBride does have some Major League experience, having spent parts of three seasons with the Rockies. In 158 plate appearances in the Majors, he’s batted .199/.228/.305. The A’s, then, will hope that his production can more closely resemble his lifetime .315/.351/.527 line at the Triple-A level (1418 PAs).

More from the division…

  • Slusser also writes that lefty Sean Manaea has an “excellent shot” to stick in the Athletics’ rotation for the long haul if he can approach his numbers from Triple-A. The top prospect, acquired in last summer’s Ben Zobrist trade, could have an audition window of several weeks to impress the front office, as right-hander Henderson Alvarez still figures to be sidelined until mid-May. Should Manaea falter in his initial taste of the Majors, right-hander Jesse Hahn could re-emerge from Nashville, though he’s currently dealing with a blister that prevented him from getting the call on Friday. As Slusser notes, a strong early impression from Manaea will lead to a difficult decision for Oakland, who could have Manaea, Alvarez, Hahn, Sonny Gray, Rich Hill, Kendall Graveman and Chris Bassitt all in the rotation picture. And, for those looking for a bit of a scouting report on the exciting young lefty, Vince Lara-Cinisomo of Baseball America has posted just that, in addition to his thoughts on what to expect from Manaea in the Majors.
  • Mike Zunino spoke with Larry Stone of the Seattle Times about the mechanical adjustments he’s made to his swing and the more relaxed mental approach he’s been able to adopt with the Mariners’ Triple-A affiliate this season. Triple-A hitting coach Scott Brosius and manager Pat Listach each weighed in on Zunino’s hot start as well, noting that he’s not only more mechanically sound but also showing greater strike-zone recognition, neglecting to chase sliders on the outer edge of the plate and high fastballs out of the zone. Zunino said to Stone that he doesn’t feel “on edge all the time” like he has in the past while struggling in the Majors, adding that he’s “not chasing base hits” by worrying about the outcome. Zunino has come around on recognizing that hard contact, such as a line drive that turns into an out, isn’t necessarily a bad outcome. Zunino was particularly heartened recently with some success hitting to the opposite field — a component of his game that he freely acknowledged has long been lacking.
  • Angels lefty C.J. Wilson is now targeting a mid-June return, as Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register writes. The 35-year-old southpaw is slated for a bullpen session on May 9 and a simulated game on May 18, each of which would precede a minor league rehab assignment that is currently scheduled to begin on May 23. “It feels like it’s taking forever,” Wilson said. “I want to pitch. I always want to pitch. When you have a light at the end of the tunnel, it feels a little longer as opposed to ’I’m not going to pitch till next year.'” Wilson added that he’s experimenting with a new arm slot in an effort to maintain his health.
  • Another Angels lefty, Andrew Heaney, hasn’t received as optimistic news as Wilson. As MLB.com’s Alden Gonzalez tweets, the team said today that Heaney’s recovery “has slowed,” and the lefty will seek an “additional opinion” on his forearm strain. The club didn’t make any further comment on his health, but it’s now been several weeks since Heaney has thrown, and the continued uncertainty surrounding his recovery (or lack thereof) is discouraging for the team and for Angels fans.

Athletics To Promote Sean Manaea

By | at

The Athletics will promote top pitching prospect Sean Manaea to start on Friday, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports. Manaea, a 24-year-old southpaw, came to Oakland last summer in the deal that sent Ben Zobrist to the Royals.

Since his arrival, Manaea has done nothing but impress. Already considered a top-100 prospect, he dominated at Double-A and started out the 2016 season at the highest level of the minors. Over 18 innings in three starts, he owns a 1.50 ERA with 10.5 K/9 against 2.0 BB/9.

Entering the year, Baseball America credited Manaea’s big fastball, inconsistent but intriguing slider, and promising but still-developing change. BA rated him just inside the top fifty pre-MLB assets in the game, while MLB.com (#65) and ESPN.com’s Keith Law (#59) placed him a bit further down on their own lists. He isn’t generally seen as a fully-finished product, with polish on the secondary offerings and command cited as areas for improvement, but he’s certainly has done enough to warrant a shot at the major league level.

Righty Jesse Hahn had seemed in line for a promotion as the club looks to replace the optioned Eric Surkamp, and he’s certainly the more experienced arm. But as Slusser explains, Hahn is dealing with a blister at present so wasn’t an immediate option.

Whether or not Manaea will get more than a spot start remains to be seen. Either way, he won’t have the chance to accumulate enough MLB time to achieve a full year of service. But if Manaea can stick at the major league level, he would line himself up for future Super Two status and an extra year of arbitration eligibility.

The young lefty is one of several notable arms to get their first call-ups in recent days. You can read up on all of the recent top prospect promotions right here.

A’s Notes: Butler, Surkamp, Manaea, Hahn

By | at

Here’s the latest from Oakland…

  • With Billy Butler receiving so little playing time, the Athletics may need “to make a larger decision” about his future with the club, ESPN’s Buster Olney opines within his latest subscription-only column.  Butler is hitting .192/.222/.269 in 27 plate appearances this season, showing no signs of turning around his declining production of 2014-15.  Because he’s almost a full-time DH, Butler has no other value than his bat, hence his sub-replacement level fWAR in each of the last two seasons.  Butler is owed roughly $18.2MM through 2017, however, so cutting him would be a costly decision for the A’s.
  • Eric Surkamp had a rough outing today against the Blue Jays, and there is already speculation that his time in the A’s rotation could be up.  Jesse Hahn or top prospect Sean Manaea are options down at Triple-A, though as Jeremy F. Koo of the Athletics Nation blog writes, there are quite a few weather factors that could impact any decision Oakland makes about their staff.  Triple-A Nashville has had its pitching order thrown off by a pair of recent rainouts and the A’s face a possible weather cancellation tomorrow in Detroit, so a double-header could be in play for Tuesday or Wednesday.  Koo outlines the various weather-related scenarios, as well as looking at what bullpen additions the A’s could make with an extra roster spot (via either a demotion or the 26th spot assigned to teams for double-headers).

Reactions To The Ben Zobrist Trade

By | at

The Royals added their second major rental piece via trade earlier today, acquiring Ben Zobrist from the Athletics in exchange for right-hander Aaron Brooks and minor league lefty Sean Manaea. It’s another steep price for the Royals to pay, as they’ve now parted with their first-round picks from both 2014 (Brandon Finnegan) and 2013 (Manaea) in addition to their 2013 second-rounder (Cody Reed).

Here are some reactions from around the web…

  • Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle spoke with several Athletics players and GM Billy Beane about the move. “You’d rather be on the other end of it,” Beane told Slusser. “We’ve been on both sides in my tenure here, but you have to be realistic in evaluating your situation going forward. This season we had high hopes and we got off on the wrong foot….and it just snowballed.” Beane stressed that he has no plans to trade a player that is controlled beyond the 2015 season, Slusser adds. Beane said that Manaea wasn’t the type of player he thought he could get in a deal, but he’s happy to bring him on board. Athletics DH Billy Butler is familiar with Manaea from his time in the Royals organization. “I thought Manaea was untouchable,” said Butler, who praised Manaea’s “tremendous” arm.
  • Brooks was assigned to Triple-A following the trade, but he won’t stay there long. Joe Stiglich of CSN Bay Area tweets that Brooks will start Saturday’s contest for the Athletics. A roster move will have to be made prior to that happening, of course, though Brooks is already on the 40-man roster.
  • While Zobrist isn’t the player that he was a couple of years ago, he’ll still be a significant improvement over Omar Infante at second base (once he moves there upon Alex Gordon’s return from the DL), writes ESPN’s Keith Law (subscription required/recommended). Zobrist is at least a one-win upgrade, if not more, says Law, who finds the price paid by Kansas City a reasonable one. Manaea’s upside is tantalizing and Law has seen him at his best, but he also notes that he saw him unable to hold his velocity two weeks ago. Manaea’s injury history raises questions about whether he can handle the workload of a starter. If he proves durable enough, Law notes that Manaea can be at least a mid-rotation starter even with average velocity, or more if he can stay healthy and maintain his velocity deeper in games. Brooks fits the strike-thrower mold of Tommy Milone or Kendall Graveman he adds — a fringe rotation option for many teams that could succeed due to Oakland’s cavernous stadium.
  • Jonathan Mayo of MLB.com (video link) broke down the prospects acquired in the trade, praising Manaea’s “solid first full season” but explaining that the lefty dropped off MLB.com’s Top 100 on their midseason update, in part due to missing the first half of 2015 with non-arm related injuries. Mayo feels that if everything comes together for Manaea, he can be “at least” a No. 3 starter, but “has a chance to be much more than that.” Brooks doesn’t come with a big upside but has average stuff across the board and four-pitch mix that can pitch as a fourth or fifth starter. The Athletics’ trade activity over the past week has done quite a bit to restore what had been a declining group of Top 30 prospects and deepen Oakland’s farm, Mayo adds.
  • The Royals were pursuing Zobrist even before acquiring Cueto, writes Andy McCullough of the Kansas City Star. The team had, in fact, pegged Cueto and Zobrist as its two top targets entering the trade deadline, and they’ve managed to secure both pieces. As McCullough notes, last season, the Royals “spun their wheels” and tried for incremental upgrades at the deadline, pursuing deals for Marlon Byrd and Alex Rios without success. Riding a World Series berth and record attendance, however, the Royals have been able to take a win-now, all-in approach that the organization and its fans haven’t experienced before.
  • One NL exec told ESPN’s Jayson Stark that Manaea was the most surprising prospect he saw traded today, calling him an “impact player” and opining that the A’s did well to acquire him in the deal (Twitter link). Stark’s colleague, Buster Olney, tweets that he’s heard other teams praising the Athletics’ acquisition of Manaea as well.
  • MLBTR’s Zach Links was among the reporters on today’s conference call with Royals GM Dayton Moore. As Zach wrote, Moore said he doesn’t foresee making any significant additions between now and the trade deadline, so it would seem that the heavy lifting for Kansas City is out of the way.
  • Instagram users can check out our new @traderumorsmlb account for a glimpse of what Zobrist will look like in his new uniform when he joins the team, which will reportedly happen on Thursday.

AL Central Notes: Indians, Tigers, Cabrera

By and | at

For the third installment of a four-part series comparing the Indians and the division-rival Tigers, Cleveland.com’s Zack Meisel spoke to both Tigers GM Dave Dombrowski and Indians GM Chris Antonetti about the way in which their payroll allows them to operate. Dombrowski discussed how the financial muscle provided to him by owner Mike Ilitch allows for an aggressive approach that he didn’t necessarily have when serving as GM of the Expos and Marlins, or even earlier in his Tigers tenure. While a larger pool of resources hasn’t changed his philosophical approach to the game, per se, it has changed his approach to accomplishing his goals.

Antonetti, meanwhile, discussed the importance of acquiring and building around players in the “sweet spot” of their careers, as the Tribe GM termed it — players who are entering, or in the midst, of their peak years (and subsequently are in the early stages of arbitration). The young nature of Cleveland’s core made the team comfortable with adding only Brandon Moss and Gavin Floyd to the roster this winter, Antonetti added. “It’s a group that played its best baseball in the second half, and so as we looked at things, we felt very good about the group of guys we headed into the offseason with,” Antonetti said.

Some more AL Central notes…

  • The Tigers announced yesterday that two-time AL MVP Miguel Cabrera has been cleared to begin non-impact baseball activities, which include hitting and throwing. Cabrera “will begin a running progression until full weight-bearing is achieved,” per the press release. While the Tigers neglected to give a specific timetable for his return, the release indicated that the club is “optimistic” that Cabrera will be ready come Opening Day. Cabrera underwent surgery in October to remove bone spurs from his right ankle and repair a stress fracture in his right foot.
  • A report earlier this week indicated that the Royals watched Phil Coke throw recently, and Andy McCullough of the Kansas City Star tweets that the Royals have not only watched Coke, but also Alfredo Aceves throw. Kansas City is still on the hunt for relief depth, McCullough notes. While Coke makes some sense as a lefty option in the K.C. bullpen, he’s reportedly seeking a Major League contract, whereas Aceves could certainly be had on a minor league deal.
  • When the Braves and Royals engaged in Justin Upton trade talks earlier this winter, Atlanta wanted left-handed prospect Sean Manaea included in the deal, according to Peter Gammons in his most recent post at GammonsDaily.com. The 34th overall pick of the 2013 draft, Manaea was projected by many as a top 10-15 pick before questions about hip and shoulder injuries caused his stock to drop. The southpaw performed well in his first pro season, posting a 3.11 ERA, 10.8 K/9 and 2.7 K/BB rate over 121 2/3 IP in high-A ball. Gammons believes Manaea has a shot at being a late-season call-up this year, and compares him to another heralded left-handed prospect in Carlos Rodon.
Show all

MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

Do not Sell or Share My Personal Information

hide arrows scroll to top