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Padres Sign Keone Kela

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FEB. 18: The Padres have announced the signing of Kela to a one-year deal. MLB Network’s Jon Heyman tweets that he’ll be guaranteed $1.2MM with another $2.3MM available via incentives.

To make room for Kela on their 40-man roster, they placed righty Trey Wingenter on the 60-day injured list. Wingenter underwent Tommy John surgery last July, so he’s unlikely to pitch much — if at all — in 2021.

FEB. 15: The Padres have signed right-hander Keone Kela, per Jon Heyman of the MLB Network (via Twitter).  The deal is pending a physical.  Perhaps accidentally, Kela broke the news himself in an updated bio on his Instagram page last night, though his bio was soon deleted.

Kela is the latest acquisition in a very busy offseason for the Padres, particularly on the pitching side.  The addition of Yu Darvish, Blake Snell, and Joe Musgrove to the rotation has pushed some of the younger arms who might have been in contention for starting jobs down into the mix for bullpen time, and San Diego has further augmented its pen by signing Mark Melancon.  Kela now joins Melancon and Emilio Pagan as pitchers with past closing experience, should the team prefer to mix and match save opportunities based on situations rather than fully entrust the ninth inning to Drew Pomeranz.

Of course, Kela is far from a lock for such a key role himself considering that he barely pitched in 2020.  Between a positive COVID-19 test and then an injured-list stint due to forearm tightness, Kela appeared in only three games for the Pirates last season.  This lack of playing time might well have kept him in a Pirates uniform, as he would surely have been a prime trade candidate for the Bucs so close to his entrance into the free agent market.

The 27-year-old Kela has been a source of controversy during his time in Pittsburgh, primarily during a 2019 season that saw him suspended twice.  One was a 10-game, league-mandated punishment for throwing at Derek Dietrich and sparking a huge brawl between the Pirates and Reds, and the other was a team-mandated two-game absence for an altercation with a member of the coaching staff.

A change of scenery certainly seemed necessary, and Kela will now join a familiar face in Padres general manager A.J. Preller.  The Rangers made Kela a 12th-round pick in the 2012 draft when Preller was still working in the Texas front office, and Kela joins Darvish and Jurickson Profar as prominent ex-Rangers who have made their way to San Diego during Preller’s tenure as GM.

It was in Arlington that Kela emerged as a hard-throwing future closing candidate, finally taking over the ninth inning for Texas during the 2018 season, and the Pirates were planning to use him as a closer prior to the 2020 season.  Over six seasons and 216 2/3 innings with the Rangers and Pirates, Kela has a 3.24 ERA and a very strong 30.1% strikeout rate, though he has had some issues with walks (9.4% walk rate) and his spin rates range from average (his fastball) to mediocre (his curve).

NL West Notes: Taylor, Padres, Myers, Giants, Luciano

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The Dodgers may not have a key player available for today’s Game 6 against the Braves, as Chris Taylor suffered an ankle injury in last night’s game.  Taylor suffered the injury while chasing down a Freddie Freeman double in the eighth inning of Game 5, and Taylor managed to finish the inning before being lifted for a pinch-hitter in the ninth.  Manager Dave Roberts told reporters that Taylor would undergo tests to determine the severity of the problem.

It hasn’t been a great postseason for Taylor, who has hit only .161/.257/.226 over 35 plate appearances during Los Angeles’ playoff run.  Still, Taylor’s regular-season performance and his versatility (he has been used as a second baseman and left fielder this October) make him a valuable roster asset, and it’s not like Taylor hasn’t had success in the playoffs — he was the 2017 NLCS MVP.  If Taylor can’t play in Game 6, the Dodgers could turn to Max Muncy or Enrique Hernandez to play second base.  The Dodgers would also be reduced to a three-man bench, as they used 15 of their 28 roster spots for the NLCS on pitchers.  [UPDATE: Taylor isn’t in the Game 6 lineup, but Roberts told Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times and other reporters that Taylor is available off the bench and is “moving around much better today.  It’s better than he expected.”]

More from around the NL West…

  • Several Padres-related topics are addressed by The Athletic’s Dennis Lin as part of a reader mailbag piece, with a particular focus on San Diego’s offseason plans.  Lin doesn’t think the Padres will make a play for Trevor Bauer this winter, and re-signing Jurickson Profar could be difficult since his asking price may be beyond the Friars’ comfort zone.  “The team isn’t interested in paying handsomely for a secondary option,” Lin writes, though Profar ended up being essentially an everyday player in 2020.
  • Of course, more regular playing time could emerge for a player like Profar if the Padres were to trade Wil Myers.  Lin figures San Diego will again look into trades for Myers, whose once-negligible trade value has been boosted by an outstanding 2020 season (.288/.353/.606 with 15 homers in 218 PA).  The $41MM that Myers is owed through the 2022 season may still make a trade hard to complete, though naturally the Padres wouldn’t mind keeping Myers if he keeps producing as he did this year.  At the outskirts of the Padres’ roster, Lin thinks Francisco Mejia, Joey Lucchesi and Trey Wingenter could also be trade candidates.
  • In a Giants mailbag, Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle believes shortstop Marco Luciano is the Giants’ only truly “untouchable” prospect in trade talks.  This doesn’t mean that other highly-touted youngsters like Joey Bart or Heliot Ramos are anywhere near being available, but rather that San Francisco perceives Luciano as “the main driver for a winning era.”  Luciano emerged as a favorite of top-100 prospect lists (ranked 14th by Fangraphs, 17th by Baseball America, 29th by MLB.com) after a big breakout in last year’s Arizona Fall League, though the 19-year-old has only one official year of pro ball under his belt.  It remains to be seen if he’ll stay at shortstop or move to third base or the outfield in the future, but the 19-year-old Luciano’s batting potential has already drawn raves.

Padres’ Trey Wingenter Undergoes Tommy John Surgery

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Padres reliever Trey Wingenter underwent Tommy John surgery on his right elbow on Friday, according to AJ Cassavell of MLB.com. The procedure will force Wingenter to miss all of the 2020 season and likely the majority of 2021.

Wingenter’s surgery represents a blow to the depth of the San Diego bullpen, which will already be without lefty Jose Castillo for the next six or so weeks. Flamethrower Andres Munoz also fell victim to Tommy John surgery in March.

That said, the Friars’ bullpen should still be a strong unit, with the acquisitions of Drew Pomeranz, Emilio Pagan, and Pierce Johnson strengthening the supporting cast behind Kirby Yates. The trade for Tim Hill is looking like a timely move, and Gerardo Reyes, Javy Guerra, and Cal Quantrill are on board as depth options.

Wingenter, 26, was a core piece in the Padres’ bullpen last year, appearing in 51 games. He’s a strikeout specialist, averaging 12.7 K/9 in his first 70 career innings. Despite that, he ran a high 5.65 ERA last year, in part due to high walk numbers, and perhaps due to some bad luck: although the ERA is inarguably unimpressive, he managed a solid 3.61 FIP last year, indicating that Wingenter’s talent is deserving of a better mark.

Unfortunately, further development to the righty’s game will have to wait until late next season, at best. Without a doubt, it’s an untimely procedure for a young pitcher who looks to be coming into his own at the Major League level.

 

Health Notes: Nationals, deGrom, Tanaka, Quintana, Pads

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Outfielder Juan Soto, infielder Howie Kendrick and infield prospect Luis Garcia all returned to the Nationals on Thursday after quarantining for two weeks, Mark Zuckerman of MASNSports.com was among those to report. It’s up in the air whether the Nationals will be able to pencil Soto or Kendrick into their lineup when their season opens next Thursday, but it’s encouraging to see those two and Garcia cleared. Meanwhile, there hasn’t been any change in center fielder Victor Robles’ status, manager Dave Martinez said (via Zuckerman, on Twitter). Robles has been in isolation during Summer Camp.

  • After an MRI on Mets ace Jacob deGrom’s back returned good results Thursday, he had a throwing session and told Anthony DiComo of MLB.com and other reporters that he plans to start Opening Day. However, the Mets aren’t ready to say whether that will happen. Manager Luis Rojas stated the club’s taking “a day-to-day approach” with the back-to-back NL Cy Young winner, who probably won’t be able to go as long as expected if he does take the mound for their opener. He’d originally been slated for around 100 pitches, but 85 seems to be a more realistic ceiling now. In the meantime, deGrom will throw 65 pitches in an exhibition game against the Yankees on Sunday.
  • Yankees righty Masahiro Tanaka returned to the mound Thursday for the first time since suffering a concussion on July 5. Tanaka threw a 30-pitch bullpen session that was “higher intensity” than the team expected and “very crisp,” pitching coach Matt Blake told reporters (including Kristie Ackert of the New York Daily News). Tanaka will throw another bullpen session Sunday. The Yankees haven’t ruled out Tanaka from being part of the first turn through their rotation, but it seems likely he’ll miss at least one start, per Ackert. In the meantime, considering the team has an off-day in the first week of the season, it could start with a four-man rotation of Gerrit Cole, James Paxton, J.A. Happ, Jordan Montgomery and then plug in Tanaka.
  • Cubs southpaw Jose Quintana, two weeks removed from left thumb surgery, played catch from 60 feet Thursday, Bruce Levine of 670 The Score relays. Quintana “felt fine,” according to manager David Ross. Still, Levine writes that Quintana will start the season on the injured list, which will be the first IL stint of his career. The Cubs aren’t putting a timetable on exactly how long they’ll go without Quintana, with Ross saying, “Today was a nice positive, but one thing I know from my time in baseball — a lot of twists and turns, so it’s wait and see for me.”
  • Padres righty Trey Wingenter is seeking a second opinion on his ailing pitching elbow, manager Jayce Tingler said Thursday (via AJ Cassavell of MLB.com). The team previously shut down Wingenter last week because of inflammation. The 26-year-old was among the Padres’ most-utilized relievers last season, throwing 51 innings. Wingenter only managed a 5.65 ERA, and he walked 4.94 batters per nine, but he also put up a 12.71 K/9, posted a 3.61 FIP and averaged 96 mph on his fastball.

Padres Option Nick Margevicius, Recall Cal Quantrill

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The Padres have optioned left-hander Nick Margevicius to Double-A Amarillo and sent reliever Gerardo Reyes to Triple-A El Paso, per a team announcement. To take their roster spots in San Diego, the club recalled righty Cal Quantrill from El Paso and reinstated reliever Trey Wingenter from the 10-day injured list.

The Margevicius demotion ends his run in the Padres’ starting staff, at least for now. Although the 22-year-old is not a top prospect and had never pitched above the High-A level entering the season, he spent the first month and a half of 2019 in the Friars’ rotation. The returns were great at first, but the soft-tossing Margevicius has gone into a tailspin since mid-April. In his most recent start, a 7-2 loss to the Pirates on Saturday, he yielded six earned runs on eight hits (including four homers) in four innings. Margevicius now carries a 4.96 ERA/6.00 FIP with 6.55 K/9, 2.98 BB/9, a 43.4 percent groundball rate and a 21.2 percent HR-to-fly ball rate over 45 1/3 major league frames.

Margevicius’ struggles have opened the door for Quantrill, who will have a chance to make a case for a starting job. The promising prospect, 24, will take the ball Sunday for his third start of the season. He could eventually hand the ball off to Wingenter, who got off to an effective start this year before right shoulder inflammation forced him to the shelf two weeks ago.

NL West Notes: Bumgarner, Wingenter, Clarke, D’Backs

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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.

Minor MLB Transactions: 8/5/18

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The latest minor moves from around baseball…

Latest Moves

  • The Phillies announced (Twitter link) that infielder Trevor Plouffe has been outrighted to Triple-A after clearing waivers.  Plouffe was designated for assignment on Tuesday to create roster room for newly-acquired southpaw Aaron Loup.  After signing a minors contract with the Phils in April, Plouffe cracked the 25-man roster and appeared in seven games (12 PA) for the team.  The clear highlight of this brief stint was Plouffe’s three-run walkoff homer to end a 16-inning marathon against the Dodgers on July 24.

Earlier Today

  • The Padres have selected right-hander Trey Wingenter’s contract from Triple-A El Paso, the club announced. The 24-year-old reliever, a 17th-round pick in 2015, is now in line to make his major league debut. Wingenter, who has also garnered his first Triple-A experience this season, pitched to a 3.45 ERA/4.58 FIP with 10.76 K/9, 4.87 BB/9 and a 46.5 percent groundball rate in 44 1/3 innings prior to his promotion.
  • The Mets have signed infielder Dylan Tice and left-hander Matt Gage to minor league deals, Anthony DiComo of MLB.com tweets. Both Tice and Gage had been playing independent ball before catching on with the Mets. The 25-year-old Tice was most recently in affiliated ball from 2015-16 with the Cardinals, who chose him in the 36th round of the 2015 draft. Gage, a 10th-round selection of the Giants in 2014, had been with the San Francisco organization until earlier this season. Also 25, Gage opened 2018 with a 3.18 ERA and 6.0 K/9 against 1.2 BB/9 in 22 2/3 innings at the Double-A level.

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