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Heyman’s Latest: Managers, White Sox, Yunel, Dodgers, Puig, Norris, Rangers

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Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports kicks off his weekly Inside Baseball column with a look at the job security of a number of managers, noting that Mets skipper Terry Collins, D-backs manager Chip Hale and White Sox manager Robin Ventura could all be on the hot seat, while Braves interim manager Brian Snitker doesn’t seem especially likely to shed the interim label and keep his post. Other names mentioned include Mike Scioscia (Angels), Brad Ausmus (Tigers), Kevin Cash (Rays), Paul Molitor (Twins), Bryan Price (Reds) and Walt Weiss (Rockies), but none from that group seems to be eminently in danger of losing his job even at season’s end, per Heyman.

Some highlights from the lengthy column…

  • White Sox GM Rick Hahn was far more in favor of a deadline sale than owner Jerry Reinsdorf, Heyman writes, but the Sox ultimately held onto nearly all of their tradeable assets, with the exception of left-hander Zach Duke, suggesting that Hahn ultimately wasn’t given the go-ahead to operate as he might’ve wished. The Sox haven’t put Chris Sale on trade waivers yet, Heyman notes, though that decision is a moot point. He’d be claimed by the first team available — the Twins, as things currently stand — and pulled back off waivers. Chicago had interest in Gary Sanchez when the Yankees were looking at Sale, he adds, though that’s not much of a surprise. Catcher has long been a weak spot in Chicago, and Sanchez is among the more highly regarded prospects in all of baseball.
  • There wasn’t much chatter pertaining to Yunel Escobar prior to the non-waiver trade deadline (and there’s been less in August), but Heyman writes that Escobar did draw interest in July. However, the Angels like what he’s been able to give to the club offensively, batting .316/.365/.397 in 474 plate appearances. I’m not sure I see the logic behind not being willing to move Escobar but trading a similarly priced and very arguably more valuable asset with the same amount of club control (Hector Santiago) for what amounted to an injured prospect, but perhaps the Halos simply didn’t receive an offer to their liking for Escobar.
  • The Dodgers “love” Rich Hill and were planning to pursue him last winter until Brett Anderson accepted the team’s qualifying offer, per Heyman. Those two don’t seem like they should’ve been mutually exclusive — the Dodgers went out and signed Kenta Maeda and Scott Kazmir following Anderson’s acceptance of the QO, after all — but perhaps the Dodgers either couldn’t guarantee a rotation spot or didn’t find the notion of two starters with such recent injury woes to be palatable. Either way, if the Dodgers are as fond of Hill as Heyman indicates, it seems likely that they’ll be in the mix to re-sign him come the offseason.
  • One executive from a non-Dodgers club opined to Heyman that no team will claim Yasiel Puig if and when he’s placed on revocable waivers and added, “…if they do, they’re going to get him.” Furthermore, Heyman writes that it isn’t likely that Puig will rejoin the Dodgers at any point this season, as he has “turned off” many of his teammates. It seems difficult to fathom that the Dodgers wouldn’t bring him back in the month of September when rosters expand, but we’ll find out in just a few weeks — if Puig isn’t dealt first.
  • The Padres have yet to put Derek Norris on trade waivers, and Heyman calls him a more likely offseason trade candidate. The Indians showed mild interest but ultimately decided that their internal options were preferable to Norris, who is once again struggling tremendously following a strong showing at the plate from May 1 through the All-Star break. Heyman also notes that the Padres are interested enough in Puig to at least be thinking about it and points out the connection between pro scouting director Logan White and Puig. White was the Dodgers VP of amateur scouting prior to his Padres gig and was one of the execs that recommended Puig to his colleagues.
  • The Rangers weren’t able to swing a deal for any of the big-name starters they pursued, but that’s in part due to the asking prices they received. The Rays asked the Rangers for Jurickson Profar and other pieces in exchange for Matt Moore, while Rougned Odor’s name was suggested by the Rays in Chris Archer talks and by the White Sox in talks for Chris Sale.

Colin Rea To Undergo PRP Treatment Instead Of TJ Surgery

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Padres righty Colin Rea will forego Tommy John surgery in favor of a platelet-rich plasma treatment — at least for the time being — as Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune reports (Twitter links). The decision was reached after consultation with Dr. James Andrews.

Rea is expected to rest for three to four weeks after receiving the treatment, and then begin a throwing program in hopes of staving off a UCL replacement procedure. That approach seems to be paying dividends right now for Angels righty Garrett Richards, and it seems that Rea has elected to follow suit after prior reports suggested he’d be going under the knife.

It has been quite an eventful couple of weeks for Rea, who was surprisingly dealt to the Marlins along with Andrew Cashner. He departed in the middle of his first start with his new team, paving the way for an even more stunning trade that sent him back to San Diego and more or less unwound that portion of the transaction.

Given the timeline suggested, it seems that Rea has designs on returning to the mound in fairly short order. He obviously won’t be ready to make it back to the big leagues in the present season, but perhaps he could join Richards in competitive fall or winter action before making a final call on his surgery, with plans for a normal spring build-up in 2017 if all goes well.

There’s still plenty of risk in taking this route, due largely to the recovery timeline in the event that surgery is ultimately required. Having the UCL replacement now might make a relatively full 2018 season a reasonable target, but if he waits and then ends up having the procedure, that could be jeopardized. Given the upside of returning to action in 2017, though, it certainly makes sense at least to see how his elbow responds to the initial treatment and rest protocol.

West Notes: Crisp, Sardinas, Dickerson, Padres, Paxton

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Veteran Athletics outfielder Coco Crisp says that he believes the team is artificially holding down his playing time to prevent his option from vesting, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports. Crisp says that he’s “extremely hurt” by the team’s “shady” handling of the situation. While GM David Forst and manager Bob Melvin have stated that Crisp is sitting against lefties to afford younger players more exposure, he sees more to it — particularly since he is not being used much off the bench. Crisp’s $13MM option vests at 130 games played; entering today’s action, he had appeared in 93 contests, meaning he’d need to take the field for most of the club’s remaining 43 games to reach the threshold. “I’m healthy, I’m playing hard and this has surprised me,” said Crisp, who noted that he has loved playing in Oakland. “This calls their integrity into question, it’s very sad.” The 36-year-old, who owns a .239/.307/.410 slash on the year, indicated that he may not be interested in playing after this season, adding: “The business side sure makes it hard to love the game, and I’ve loved the game since I was six years old.”

Here’s more from out west:

  • The Padres seemingly intend to give just-acquired infielder Luis Sardinas a good run late this year, as Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune tweets. Though he hasn’t hit much at Triple-A or the majors thus far in 2016, Sardinas has a solid pedigree — as club GM A.J. Preller well knows having signed him as an amateur. “I don’t think we [acquired] him to relegate him to Triple-A the rest of the year,” said manager Andy Green.
  • One Padres player who has thrived upon receiving an opportunity is 26-year-old outfielder Alex Dickerson, who entered the day with a .280/.319/.528 slash and seven home runs over 135 plate appearances. Lin writes that there’s more concern over Dickerson’s glove than his bat, though Green also suggests he has been better than the defensive metrics might suggest. Still, the exciting element of Dickerson’s game is his work on offense. “The way he sees the ball, his plate discipline, he’s a guy that could easily have a 10 percent walk rate to go along with the way he hits, the power numbers he puts up,” said Green. “I’m very pleased with what he’s shown early in his major league career and have every expectation he’ll keep improving.”
  • It was reported recently that Major League Baseball is looking into the Padres’ provision of medical information in a pair of recent trades. The initial review, at least, is expected to wrap up this week, Lin tweets. It remains largely unclear whether there’s any possibility of punitive measures being taken against the team, or whether the review is focused more on arriving at a standard approach to swapping health documents for all teams.
  • Mariners lefty James Paxton has been scratched from his next scheduled start, as Bob Dutton of the Tacoma News Tribune reports, and could be headed to the DL. Though Paxton wants to pitch, and the team no doubt wants to give him the ball, manager Scott Servais says that the prudent course is further rest. Forearm soreness is almost always scary, but in this case it resulted not from a throwing injury but a line drive. Regardless, Seattle will hope to get the southpaw back in action as soon as reasonably possible. The 27-year-old appears to be harnessing his talent at an opportune time for a Mariners team that is trying to make a run at a Wild Card, if not the AL West title. Over his 81 2/3 innings on the year, Paxton owns a 3.53 ERA with 8.0 K/9 against 2.0 BB/9, and he has been even better of late.

Padres Have Considered Releasing Alexei Ramirez

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The Padres have considered releasing veteran shortstop Alexei Ramirez in order to open playing time for some younger options, reports Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union Tribune.

The longtime White Sox shortstop landed in San Diego on what looked to be a bargain one-year, $4MM contract with a mutual option for the 2017 season, but even that modest commitment hasn’t been justified by Ramirez’z on-field performance. The 34-year-old is in the midst of perhaps his worst season at the big league level, having compiled a .238/.272/.326 batting line with just four homers and six steals (in 13 attempts). His ratings in defensive metrics such as Ultimate Zone Rating and Defensive Runs Saved had begun to decline in recent seasons even before he signed in San Diego, but both have cratered in 2016; UZR pegs him at 15.7 runs below average, while DRS is even more harsh at -17.

Ramirez’s mutual option was never all that likely to be exercised anyhow — mutual options are rarely picked up by both involved parties — but his poor play in 2016 has made it a certainty that the Padres will buy out the option. Releasing Ramirez would create an opportunity for Padres officials to get a look at players like Jose Rondon, newly acquired Luis Sardinas and former Giants prospect Nick Noonan, who enjoyed a strong season playing shortstop at Triple-A El Paso and made three consecutive starts at short for the Padres from Aug. 11-13.

Padres Acquire Luis Sardinas From Mariners

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The Mariners announced that they’ve traded infielder Luis Sardinas to the Padres in exchange for a player to be named later or cash considerations. The Padres have also announced the move, adding that Sardinas has been optioned to Triple-A El Paso, and right-hander Erik Johnson has been moved to the 60-day disabled list in order to create a spot on the 40-man roster.

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Quick Hits: Rivera, Orioles, Lackey, Fernandez, Myers, Rays

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The Yankees unveiled a Monument Park plaque in Mariano Rivera’s honor, yet as Dave Dombrowski told reporters (including Fangraphs’ David Laurila) this weekend, Rivera could have become Florida Marlins property via the 1992 expansion draft.  Dombrowski, then the Marlins GM, would’ve chosen Rivera if the Rockies hadn’t taken Yankees farmhand Brad Ausmus with the previous selection.  Since the rules prevented a team from losing more than one player in an expansion draft, that took Rivera and any other unprotected Yankees off the board.  Here’s some more news from around baseball as we wrap up the weekend…

  • With Darren O’Day back on the DL, BaltimoreBaseball.com’s Dan Connolly opines that the Orioles should try to acquire a veteran southpaw reliever to fill the void.  Connolly reports that the O’s looked into the Rockies’ Boone Logan and the Padres’ Brad Hand and Ryan Buchter prior to the trade deadline, so it’s possible the Orioles could revisit those talks, though it will be much harder to complete a deal through August trade waivers.
  • John Lackey spoke last season of signing one more two-year contract and then retiring, though ESPN’s Buster Olney reports that the right-hander could continue past the 2017 season if the desire and ability is still there.  Lackey is enjoying another solid season, and Olney notes that the veteran is actually posting a career high in fastball velocity at age 37 (though this velocity is a rather modest 91.8 mph, after six seasons in the 91.5-91.7 mph range).  Lackey would be 39 on Opening Day 2018, so if he is still pitching well, I would suspect he’d explore another contract with a contending team.  Staying with the Cubs may well be at the top of Lackey’s list given how the team seems to be entering a long-term contention window.
  • It’s no surprise that the big-market Cubs and Phillies are prepared to be big spenders in the coming years, though Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe notes that the traditionally low-payroll Marlins could also potentially become more open to big salaries.  With a new local TV contract on the horizon, the revenue increase could make the Marlins more likely to re-sign Jose Fernandez, who has long been considered a good bet to leave Miami in free agency after the 2018 season.
  • As the Padres are about to begin a series with the Rays, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times revisits the three-team blockbuster between San Diego, Tampa and Washington in December 2014.  Right now, the deal doesn’t look like a good one for the Rays — Steven Souza has yet to become a consistently productive player, while three of the players Tampa flipped in the deal (Wil Myers, Joe Ross and Trea Turner) are all enjoying success in 2016.  It could be years, of course, before we can really judge the trade as a win or loss for any of the three clubs.  Topkin also notes that Myers was the source of some clubhouse issues in Tampa Bay, so it’s possible he would never have had his breakout season without a change of scenery.

Minor MLB Transactions: 8/7/16

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Here are today’s minor moves from around the game:

  • The Orioles have released left-hander Tom Gorzelanny, according to Rich Dubroff of CSN Mid-Atlantic (on Twitter). Gorzelanny’s tenure with Baltimore, which signed him to a minor league deal on July 24, was a short one. The 34-year-old worked six innings for their Triple-A affiliate in Norfolk and allowed seven earned runs on 11 hits and five walks. Gorzelanny, who spent some time with Cleveland this year before it designated him for assignment in June, tossed 39 1/3  frames of 5.95 ERA ball last season in Detroit.

Earlier updates:

  • The Twins will select the contract of lefty Ryan O’Rourke, 1500ESPN’s Darren Wolfson tweets. The 28-year-old O’Rourke has reestablished himself nicely since being outrighted in May, posting a 1.93 ERA, 9.3 K/9 and 1.9 BB/9 in 28 innings for Triple-A Rochester. As Seth Stohs of TwinsDaily.com points out (on Twitter), O’Rourke has been brilliant since the beginning of July, allowing just one walk and no runs over that time frame. The Twins cleared space for O’Rourke yesterday when they designated fellow southpaw Andrew Albers for assignment.
  • The Padres have selected the contract of hard-throwing righty Brandon Morrow, tweets Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune. To clear space, they’ve optioned lefty Buddy Baumann to Triple-A El Paso and placed infielder Cory Spangenberg (quadriceps) on the 60-day DL. The 32-year-old Morrow has pitched more than 80% of his 768 2/3 career big-league innings as a starter, but he’s set to relieve for the Padres after being out of the big leagues for over a year due to shoulder trouble. He had a 6.43 ERA, 9.0 K/9 and 3.9 BB/9 in 21 innings for El Paso, although he fared significantly better than that in five starts in the big leagues last season.

NL Notes: Puig, Padres, Howard

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While much of the narrative surrounding Yasiel Puig’s demotion focuses on his personality, clubhouse demeanor and off-field/social media antics, ESPN’s Keith Law writes (Insider subscription required and recommended) that the largest factor in Puig’s demotion by the Dodgers is that he simply isn’t a good hitter right now. Law breaks down Puig’s approach at the plate, noting that he’s getting killed on inside fastballs that he once handled with aplomb and has become shockingly susceptible to offspeed and breaking pitches on the outer edge of the plate. Puig has swung and missed at nearly 29 percent of sliders, curveballs, and changeups on the outer third of the plate or just off the outer edge — a rate that is four times higher than his ability to put said pitches in play, Law notes. He surmises that Puig’s demotion isn’t about subtracting his personality from the clubhouse or even getting him back on track. Rather, Law concludes that a team in a tightly contested division race simply can’t afford to carry a hitter as poor as Puig currently is. Here’s more from the NL.

  • Padres lead investor Peter Seidler says the team’s seemingly ill-fated bid at contention last season was “probably pretty close to neutral” from a financial perspective, FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal writes. The team’s acquisitions of Justin Upton, Matt Kemp, James Shields, Wil Myers, Craig Kimbrel and others only resulted in a disappointing season, although Seidler says they produced a “big pop” in revenue. Now, of course, the Padres have chosen a different direction, aiming to rebuild around young talent. “We’re taking all of our poker chips and putting it in the center of the table on this strategy,” says Seidler, although he does note that the Padres won’t be “intentionally bad” as they reset, deliberately putting a weak team on the field in the hopes of landing top draft picks.
  • Phillies manager Pete Mackanin says teams looking for offensive upgrades should pay attention to what Ryan Howard has done lately, Corey Seidman of CSNPhilly.com writes. “If I were a playoff team, I’d take notice,” says Mackanin. “What [Howard] did tonight is something he’s capable of doing, either as a DH or a pinch-hitter off the bench. He’s just swinging the bat, coming up with big hits.” That sounds like just a bit of salesmanship regarding a player who’s still hitting just .195/.244/.435, although Howard hit fairly well in July and is 10-for-20 with three home runs so far in August. The Phillies would also presumably be willing to take on some of the approximately $16MM remaining on Howard’s contract (including his $10MM 2017 buyout). As Seidman notes, though, there aren’t many obvious fits for Howard on contenders’ rosters.

Padres Request Release Waivers On Hector Olivera

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The Padres have requested release waivers on infielder Hector Olivera, per a club announcement. He had been formally designated for assignment back on Aug. 2, and his release will become official in 48 hours once he clears said waivers.

San Diego acquired Olivera’s contract from the Braves in exchange for Matt Kemp prior to the Aug. 1 non-waiver trade deadline, but the acquisition was a formality. The Padres very clearly wanted nothing to do with Olivera, who was finishing up an 82-game suspension under Major League Baseball’s domestic violence policy at the time, and only agreed to take on his contract as a means of off-setting some of the money they were sending to Atlanta in the form of Kemp’s salary. Ultimately, the trade will save San Diego about $25.5MM, and Olivera will never suit up in a Padres uniform.

The 31-year-old Olivera’s future in Major League Baseball is questionable at best, from this point forth. Neither Atlanta nor San Diego even feigned interest in having Olivera join their active rosters following his suspension, and it stands to reason that others throughout the league will take a similar approach. Olivera was arrested at a Washington D.C.-area hotel back in April and charged with misdemeanor assault and battery of a woman who was reportedly hospitalized and had visible bruising.

While the 2016 season has seen both Aroldis Chapman and Jose Reyes land new jobs after serving suspensions under the same policy, neither wound up going to trial — Chapman was never even arrested — which very likely helped their cases. Furthermore, Olivera has never been a productive player at the minor league or Major League level. And while on-field success would in no way excuse the heinous actions for which he was arrested and charged, his chances of finding additional employment within a Major League organization would be greater had he in any way justified the ill-fated six-year, $62.5MM contract to which he was signed by the Dodgers.

If, for some reason, another club does decide to take a chance on Olivera with what would assuredly be a minor league contract, that club would be responsible only for the pro-rated portion of the league minimum for any time he spends in the Majors. (That sum would be subtracted from the remainder of what he is owed by San Diego.) However, it also seems possible that Olivera’s career in Major League Baseball has come to an abrupt end.

Padres Designate Matt Thornton For Assignment

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The Padres have designated lefty Matt Thornton for assignment, Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune tweets. The move clears space for new addition Clayton Richard.

[Related: San Diego Padres Depth Chart]

The 39-year-old Thornton signed a minor league deal with the Padres last offseason. He missed most of the first two months of the year with Achilles tendinitis, then struggled in 17 innings with San Diego, posting a 5.82 ERA, 4.8 K/9 and 3.2 BB/9. His velocity has dropped from the mid- to high 90s as a member of the White Sox several years ago to 91.4 MPH this year, likely a key factor to his steadily declining strikeout rate over the past few seasons. He has a 3.41 ERA, 8.7 K/9 and 3.4 BB/9 in parts of 13 years in the big leagues.

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