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Daulton Jefferies Diagnosed With Thoracic Outlet Syndrome

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The A’s placed right-hander Daulton Jefferies on the injured list earlier today amid a series of roster moves, also optioning lefty Kirby Snead and recalling righty Jake Lemoine and left-hander Zach Logue. The A’s originally stated that Jefferies had some nerve irritation in his right arm, but manager Mark Kotsay now gives reporters a much more ominous update, revealing that the 26-year-old righty has been diagnosed with thoracic outlet syndrome (Twitter link via Matt Kawahara of the San Francisco Chronicle). He’s receiving a second opinion.

While not as common as Tommy John surgery, thoracic outlet syndrome often requires surgical repair — an operation that involves removing a portion of the player’s rib in order to alleviate nerve pressure. The success rate for pitchers returning from TOS hasn’t been as strong as those returning from the more common Tommy John surgery, though there are plenty of examples of hurlers who’ve returned to have successful careers. Arizona’s Merrill Kelly, for instance, had thoracic outlet surgery in September 2020 and was back on the mound for a slate of 27 starts in 2021. He’s made another eight starts of 3.27 ERA ball this season.

It’s yet to be seen whether Jefferies will undergo surgery, which would likely end his season. That’ll surely hinge on what he and the A’s hear in his forthcoming second opinion. Even in the event of a non-surgical route, an absence of some note seems safe to expect.

Selected by the A’s with the No. 37 overall pick back in 2016, Jefferies entered the year with just 17 big league innings under his belt. However, the Athletics’ offseason fire sale shipped both Chris Bassitt and Sean Manaea to other clubs, opening the door for Jefferies to win a long-term spot on the starting staff. Jefferies posted a 1.17 ERA through three starts but has been rocked for 23 runs over 24 innings in his past five turns. Overall, he carries a 5.72 ERA with a 16.3% strikeout rate, a 4.7% walk rate and a 46.6% grounder rate. Metrics like fielding independent pitching (3.76) and SIERA (4.15) feel he’s been a good bit better than his ERA would indicate.

The A’s still control Jefferies for five seasons beyond the current campaign, so even if he doesn’t factor into the mix again this season, he should have ample opportunity down the road. For the time being, with Jefferies sidelined, Oakland will look to Frankie Montas, James Kaprielian, Paul Blackburn and a returning Cole Irvin, who’s slated to come off the injured list and start a game this weekend. Logue, recalled today, will probably step directly into the rotation. One of four players acquired in the trade that sent Matt Chapman to Toronto, he’s already made four appearances (three starts) and pitched to a 2.04 ERA with an 18.9% strikeout rate against a 6.8% walk rate in 17 2/3 frames.

Should the A’s need another starter in the near future, they have a pair of other newly acquired options to evaluate. Right-hander Adrian Martinez, acquired from the Padres in the Manaea trade, made his big league debut in a doubleheader against the Tigers last week and tossed 5 1/3 shutout innings with three strikeouts and no walks. Fellow right-hander and trade acquisition Adam Oller, who came over from the Mets as part of the return for Bassitt, could be an option as well. He’s already made four big league starts with the A’s, though he’s been tagged for 20 runs in 14 2/3 frames.

A’s Place Cole Irvin On Injured List

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6:35pm: Irvin has shoulder tendinitis, manager Mark Kotsay told reporters (including Matt Kawahara of the San Francisco Chronicle). Kotsay isn’t ruling out the possibility of Irvin returning when first eligible on May 17.

12:55pm: The Athletics announced this afternoon that starting pitcher Cole Irvin has been placed on the 15-day injured list, retroactive to May 2, due to soreness in his throwing shoulder. Fellow southpaw Zach Logue has been recalled from Triple-A Las Vegas to take his spot on the active roster. Martín Gallegos of MLB.com tweets that Logue is expected to start this evening’s game in Minnesota.

Irvin’s shoulder soreness cropped up between starts during the week. The still-nebulous diagnosis and lack of a timetable provided by the team leave it unclear how long he’ll be sidelined. Irvin will miss at least a couple starts, though, as the return of the 15-day IL for pitchers is now in effect after being suspended for the first month of the season.

Acquired from the Phillies over the 2020-21 offseason for cash considerations, Irvin has stepped directly into the A’s rotation and proven a nice find. He made 32 starts and tossed 178 1/3 innings last year, posting a reasonable 4.24 ERA in spite of a lack of velocity or swing-and-miss stuff. Throughout his minor league career, he’d demonstrated excellent control. That strike-throwing prowess has carried over to the majors, as Irvin walked a meager 5.5% of batters faced. His pitch-to-contact style played better in front of an excellent A’s defense and in Oakland’s cavernous home ballpark than it had in Philadelphia, where he’d gotten terrible results in limited action between 2019-20.

The 28-year-old Irvin got off to another solid beginning this year. Through five starts, he owns a 2.93 ERA in 27 2/3 innings despite a subpar 15.9% strikeout rate. He’s again thrown plenty of strikes and seen an early uptick in ground-balls relative to last year. While he’s sidelined, the A’s will need to plug a rotation spot behind Frankie Montas, James Kaprielian, Daulton Jefferies and Paul Blackburn.

Adam Oller, acquired from the Mets in the Chris Bassitt trade this past offseason, has been the top rotation depth candidate in the early going. He’s not fared well in his first three MLB appearances, though, and he tossed three innings with Las Vegas on Tuesday after being optioned out.

Like Oller, Logue was acquired as part of the A’s Spring Training sell-off. The 26-year-old was one of four players sent from the Jays in the Matt Chapman deal. He made his MLB debut in relief last month but will now get his first big league start. Over four starts with the Aviators, he has a 5.63 ERA in 16 innings.

A’s Announce Several Roster Moves

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3:40pm: Martin Gallegos of MLB.com relays more information about Smith’s injury, which initially came without designation. It’s a bone bruise that Smith incurred during a slide on Monday night. He’ll be in a walking boot for an undetermined amount of time before returning to baseball activity.

1:39pm: The Athletics announced a series of roster moves this afternoon, with lefty A.J. Puk being reinstated from the Covid IL. Outfielder Mickey McDonald was selected from Triple-A Las Vegas. Infielder Kevin Smith went to the 10-day IL while southpaw Zach Logue was optioned to Las Vegas.

Puk was one of six A’s players who landed on the Covid IL on Monday, with no indication given at that time as to which players had actually tested positive and which were just close contacts or experiencing symptoms. With Puk being the first of that group to return, it’s possible that he was just a close contact and not one of the positive cases. Players who test positive are subject to a 10-day absence, though it’s possible to reduce that if the player has gone 24 or more hours without a fever, received a pair of negative PCR tests, and been given approval from a team physician and the MLB/MLBPA joint committee (a panel of one league-appointed and one union-appointed physician). Players who are experiencing symptoms but do not test positive can return in shorter order if their symptoms abate. The lefty had a rough season in 2021 but has started off well this year, throwing 4 innings with a 2.25 ERA, 31.3% strikeout rate and 6.3% walk rate.

As for McDonald, as soon as he gets into a game, it will be his MLB debut. Selected by the A’s in the 18th round of the 2017 draft, he was recently ranked as the #32 prospect in the Oakland system by Baseball America. BA’s report on the 26-year-old (27 in June) notes that he “fits the A’s mold as an older, under-the-radar performer without an obvious carrying tool.” They note that he gave up switch-hitting to hit exclusively as a lefty in 2021, with excellent results. In 106 games last year between Double-A and Triple-A, he hit .305/.402/.390 for a wRC+ of 113. He’s never hit more than two homers in a minor league season, but has made up for that lack of pop with good plate discipline and some speed (18 steals last year). He can play all three outfield positions and even a bit of third base. For an Oakland club that traded away many of their established players, McDonald will join the group of inexperienced guys getting an audition to see what they can do.

Smith and Logue were both acquired by the A’s from the Blue Jays as part of the Matt Chapman trade. Smith is hitting .161/.212/.226 over 33 plate appearances so far this year. Logue has thrown 1 1/3 scoreless innings in his first taste of MLB action.

A’s Announce Several Roster Moves

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The Athletics announced a series of roster moves Friday, placing outfielder Stephen Piscotty on the Covid-related injured list in addition to placing catcher Austin Allen, left-hander A.J. Puk and left-hander Kirby Snead on the restricted list in advance of the team’s series in Toronto. In their place, the A’s added catcher Christian Bethancourt, right-hander Ryan Castellani, left-hander Zach Logue and outfielder Drew Jackson as “substitute” players. That they’ve been designated Covid-related substitutes will allow the A’s to send all four back to Triple-A without needing to use an option or (in the case of Bethancourt, Castellani and Jackson) pass anyone through waivers. Lastly, the A’s announced that outfielder Luis Barrera, whom they designated for assignment last week, cleared waivers and has been assigned outright to Triple-A Las Vegas.

The series of placements on the restricted list quite likely stems from restrictions preventing unvaccinated athletes from traveling into Canada to participate in games there. Many teams will likely make a few placements of this nature in advance of road series against the Jays, at least so long as those regulations remain in place (although the Rangers did not do so prior to traveling to Toronto for last weekend’s opener).

Piscotty, 31, is out to a 4-for-14 start with four singles, a pair of walks and five strikeouts in 17 trips to the plate. He’s hoping for a bounceback season after logging a combined .223/.277/.355 batting line in 359 plate appearances from 2020-21. That he was placed on the Covid-related injured list does not necessarily indicate a positive test from Piscotty; players can also be placed on the Covid-related IL if they’re deemed close contacts or experiencing symptoms.

Bethancourt, Castellani, Logue and Jackson will provide some depth in the absence of the three players going on the restricted list. Bethancourt, Castellani and Jackson have some MLB experience — Bethancourt, in particular — but this’ll be the first call to the Majors for the 25-year-old Logue, who was one of four players Oakland acquired from the Blue Jays in the trade that sent Matt Chapman to Toronto (as was Snead). Logue has made a pair of starts in Triple-A Las Vegas thus far but will likely be available out of the ’pen, with Daulton Jefferies, Paul Blackburn and Adam Oller slated to start the next three games for Oakland.

As for Barrera, the A’s will surely be glad they were able to hang onto the 26-year-old — although the very fact that he went unclaimed speaks to the manner in which his stock has deteriorated in recent years. Barrera has long been considered one of the organization’s better prospects but hit just .276/.348/.393 in Triple-A last season, checking in at 12% worse than league-average by measure of wRC+.

Despite last year’s 10.1% walk rate in Triple-A, however, virtually every scouting report on Barrera cites a need to be more selective at the plate. Baseball America notes that he swung at 48% of the pitches he saw in 2021, which might make it tough for him to repeat that walk rate. Still, Barrera can play all three outfield spots and has above-average speed, as well as a solid track record up through Double-A.

Athletics Trade Matt Chapman To Blue Jays

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Oakland’s rapid sell-off and the Blue Jays’ aggressive offseason both continued Wednesday, as the A’s announced that third baseman Matt Chapman has been traded to Toronto in exchange for right-hander Gunnar Hoglund, infielder Kevin Smith, left-hander Zach Logue and left-hander Kirby Snead.

Matt Chapman | Kevin Sousa-USA TODAY Sports

The acquisition of Chapman will give the Blue Jays not only one of the best defensive third basemen in the game but one of the top defensive players in baseball at any position. Since Chapman’s 2017 Major League debut, his 88 Defensive Runs Saved and his 47.3 Ultimate Zone rating both trail only Mookie Betts and Andrelton Simmons among all big leaguers. Statcast’s Outs Above Average metric largely agrees, ranking him tenth among all big league players, regardless of position, since 2017. Indeed, Chapman has twice been recognized as the league’s best all-around defender by being named the league’s Platinum Glove winner.

Of course, Chapman is far from a glove-only player. From 2018-19, he was a legitimate MVP candidate on the strength of his combined offensive and defensive prowess. The former No. 25 overall draft pick posted a .263/.348/.507 slash with 60 home runs while playing his home games at the cavernous Oakland Coliseum during those two seasons, finishing Top 7 in American League MVP voting on both occasions.

Chapman’s offensive production has fallen sharply over the past two seasons, due in no small part to a major hip injury in 2020 that he tried to play through before succumbing to surgery. That procedure both repaired a labrum tear and “cleaned up” the head of his right femur bone. Even as his production has dipped, Chapman has still hit for power (37 home runs, .216 ISO) and drawn plenty of walks (11.4%), but his strikeout rate has spiked from 22.8% in 2018-19 all the way to 33.1% in 2020-21. Over the past two seasons, he’s posted a combined .215/.206/.431 batting line.

The Jays are surely betting that Chapman will bounce back to an extent at the plate now that he’ll be 18 months removed from that September 2020 surgery. However, even if he doesn’t return to his MVP-caliber levels from 2018-19, the new three-true-outcomes version of Chapman was still worth 3.5 wins above replacement per both Baseball-Reference and FanGraphs last season. He’s a pronounced upgrade for a Jays team hoping to make a deep postseason run on the strength of a dominant offense and a rotation that has improved by leaps and bounds in recent seasons.

Chapman’s salary has not yet been settled, as he’s arbitration-eligible and did not settle on a price point with the A’s prior to the lockout. He’s projected by MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz to earn $9.5MM this coming season and will be owed one more raise for the 2023 campaign before reaching free agency in the 2023-24 offseason. While Jays fans may be looking to Matt Olson’s swift extension following a trade from Oakland to his hometown Braves, it should be pointed out that as a client of the Boras Corporation, Chapman seems less likely to follow that same trajectory. Still, he’ll be locked in as the Toronto third baseman for at least the next two seasons.

Adding Chapman firmly pushes Cavan Biggio to second base, where he’s better suited to play from a defensive standpoint. Chapman’s range will also play nicely alongside Bo Bichette, who has drawn mixed reviews for his glovework at shortstop. Statcast notes that Bichette is much stronger on balls hit to his left side than those hit to his right, so getting some extra range out of their third baseman will be particularly helpful.

It’s worth pointing out that Chapman isn’t an ideal fit for a Toronto lineup that skews almost entirely right-handed. He’d give them eight pure right-handed hitters in the starting lineup, with Biggio the lone lefty. That right-handed lean was part of the reason that a potential Freddie Freeman fit has seemed so tantalizing for the Jays. This acquisition technically doesn’t rule out a Freeman signing, but it does quash any speculation of Vladimir Guerrero Jr. moving back to third base. That’s in the team’s best interest anyhow, as Guerrero was never a strong defensive option at the hot corner. A theoretical Freeman addition would push Guerrero into a primary designated hitter role earlier in his career than the Jays might’ve liked, but the sheer offensive firepower of that lineup would still make it worth considering. Toronto had been linked to Kyle Schwarber, but he’s now Philadelphia-bound after agreeing to a four-year deal with the Phillies.

Turning the Oakland’s return, they’ll acquire one high-end but far-off pitching prospect, Hoglund, and a trio of largely MLB-ready pieces in Smith, Logue and Snead. Hoglund was the No. 19 overall draft pick in 2021 and might well have gone in the Top 10 selections had he not required Tommy John surgery during last year’s NCAA season. The former Ole Miss ace was largely regarded as one of the top college arms in the draft after pitching to a 2.41 ERA with a sky-high 39% strikeout rate against a strong 6.1% walk rate.

Baseball America ranked him fifth among Toronto farmhands, while FanGraphs pegged him No. 3 in the Toronto system. Much of Hoglund’s future depends on how he recovers from Tommy John surgery, but he’d been described as an advanced college arm with mid-rotation upside and a potential quick path to the big leagues.

Smith, 25, ought to step right into the Athletics’ Opening Day lineup. He went just 3-for-32 in a brief big league cup of coffee late in the 2021 season, but that’s overshadowed by a big .285/.370/.561 batting line in Triple-A last year. Smith, ranked seventh among Jays prospects at BA and 16th at FanGraphs, smacked 21 home runs, 27 doubles and four triples while also going 18-for-21 in stolen base attempts in that outstanding Triple-A campaign. BA ranked him as the game’s No. 91 prospect in the 2018-19 offseason, and while a poor first showing in Triple-A dropped his stock, last year’s excellent rebound restored a good bit of faith in his abilities.

Kevin Smith | Wendell Cruz-USA TODAY Sports

The Jays played Smith primarily at shortstop during his time in Triple-A, but he also has 651 professional innings at third base and 161 innings of work at second base. Scouting reports peg him as a capable but not-elite defender at short. Given the presence of all-world defensive prospect Nick Allen in the upper tiers of the Oakland system, it seems quite possible that Smith’s eventual home with the A’s will be either third base or second base.

As for the two pitchers, Logue has a chance to be in the Oakland rotation before long. The 25-year-old (26 in April) was Toronto’s ninth-round pick in 2017 and has greatly elevated his status, thanks in part to a nice showing between Double-A and Triple-A this past season. In 125 innings between the two levels, Logue notched a 3.67 ERA with a strong 28.2% strikeout rate, an even better 5.3% walk rate and a 38% ground-ball rate. That he’s a fly-ball pitcher moving to Oakland as opposed to Toronto’s more hitter-friendly Rogers Centre can only help his chances of becoming a quality big league contributor.

Logue ranked 24th among Jays prospects at BA, where he was labeled one of the system’s “most improved” players in 2021 and touted as a potential back-end starter. FanGraphs tabbed him 10th in the Toronto system, praising his plus changeup, plus command and above-average cutter. Scouting reports generally don’t peg Logue as more than a fourth starter, but if he’s able to realize that potential, there’s quite a bit of value in six-plus seasons of a No. 4 starter.

Snead, 27, gives the A’s an MLB-ready bullpen piece who made his big league debut late in the ’21 season. Snead allowed three runs (two earned) on seven hits and a pair of walks with seven strikeouts through his first 7 2/3 big league innings last year. That marked the continuation of an excellent season in Triple-A, where he’d notched a 1.58 ERA with a huge 36.1% strikeout rate, a 10.1% walk rate and a massive 63.3% ground-ball rate.

Unlike many lefties, Snead has no issues containing right-handed opponents in 2021. While he was still better against left-handers, who posted an awful .141/.222/.203 against him (Majors and Triple-A combined), right-handers were similarly futile. Even when batters held the platoon advantage, they mustered only a .186/.278/.245 output against Snead. He’s been a pure reliever throughout his professional career, but that dominance against both righties and lefties mitigates any specialist concerns and gives him the chance to be a multi-inning option. Snead has pitched 236 1/3 innings through 186 minor league appearances, so he’s no stranger to working more than an inning at a time.

The trade of an All-Star third baseman to the Blue Jays for a four-player package consisting of three largely MLB-ready pieces and one further-off but high-upside prospect will do little to quell comparisons to the 2014 Josh Donaldson blockbuster. That trade, which brought Franklin Barreto, Brett Lawrie, Kendall Graveman and Sean Nolin to Oakland, didn’t pan out as the front office hoped, but today’s swap is a separate deal, eerie similarities notwithstanding. The A’s have added a notable influx of talent to their system, and the Chapman return in particular features the largest crop of MLB-ready talent they’ve picked up thus far in their offseason dealings.

The Chapman trade marks the latest step in the dismantling of a roster that was largely foreseeable but is nevertheless disheartening for the fanbase. Chapman follows fan favorites Olson and Chris Bassitt out the door, and it’s unlikely Oakland will stop its roster purge with those three. Lefty Sean Manaea, a free agent at season’s end, seems all but certain to be traded. Right-hander Frankie Montas, center fielder Ramon Laureano and reliever Lou Trivino all have multiple seasons of club control remaining but still could change hands. Montas, in particular, has been a target for pitching-hungry clubs. Looking ahead, it’s not really a question of whether any of those players will be traded — but rather one of who’ll be the next to go.

Former All-Star second baseman Carlos Baerga first reported on Instagram that a trade agreement was in place. Sportsnet’s Shi Davidi reported Oakland’s return for Chapman (Twitter link).

Blue Jays Claim Shaun Anderson From Padres

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The Blue Jays announced they’ve claimed right-hander Shaun Anderson off waivers from the Padres. Additionally, Toronto selected right-handers Hagen Danner and Bowden Francis, lefty Zach Logue and infielder Leo Jimenez to the 40-man roster to keep them from selection in the Rule 5 draft.

Now best known for his inclusion in a lopsided swap that sent LaMonte Wade Jr. from Minnesota to San Francisco, Anderson possesses a big slider and plenty of velocity that have piqued the interest of several clubs. Despite being torched for an 8.49 ERA in 23 2/3 innings this season, Anderson spent time with four different teams. He’s now failed to clear waivers four times in the past six months, demonstrating the quality of his raw arsenal. The 27-year-old still has a minor league option remaining, and the Jays will hope to tap into his raw talent and coax out some better results in 2022.

The 20-year-old Jimenez ranks 11th among Jays prospects at MLB.com and posted one of the more ludicrous lines fans will see, hitting .320/.523/.392 on the season. That’s not exactly a tiny sample, either; Jimenez tallied 262 plate appearances and reached base a comical 137 times. In addition to a ridiculous 20.6% walk rate, Jimenez was also plunked 25 times. He can play both middle infield positions but won’t realistically be an option until at least 2023, as he’s yet to even reach the Double-A level.

Bogh Francis and Logue rank on the back end of MLB.com’s Jays Top 30 and both posted sub-4.00 ERAs with promising strikeout rates. Francis joined the organization in the trade that sent Rowdy Tellez to the Brewers. Logue is a a former ninth-rounder who turned in an eye-opening 28.2% strikeout rate against a minuscule 5.2% walk rate.

As for Danner, he’s 2017 second-rounder who moved from catcher to the mound this season and posted a brilliant 2.02 ERA, 29.4% strikeout rate and 8.4% walk rate through 35 2/3 innings in High-A — his first pro experience on the mound. He’s still new to pitching, but with a debut like that, it’s understandable that Toronto had no interest in potentially losing him in the Rule 5 Draft.

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