Headlines

Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Giants Rumors

Injury Notes: J. Ramirez, Hosmer, Stanton, A. Dickerson

By | at

Indians third baseman Jose Ramirez exited their win over the Royals on Monday with left thumb discomfort, Mandy Bell of MLB.com relays. The Indians replaced Ramirez, who Bell notes has been dealing with the issue for weeks, with Mike Freeman. Whether Ramirez will miss any more time remains to be seen, but the Indians can only hope he won’t, as he has played an important role in their 26-15 start. The 27-year-old Ramirez has followed up a so-so 2019 (by his standards) with a .248/.350/.478 start and nine home runs in 183 plate appearances this season.

  • Padres first baseman Eric Hosmer departed their game Monday against the Rockies with a left finger injury, AJ Cassavell of MLB.com tweets. San Diego plugged in the just-acquired Mitch Moreland in place of Hosmer, who’s in the third season of an eight-year, $144MM contract and has easily enjoyed his best campaign as a Padre. Thanks in part to an increase in fly balls, Hosmer has slashed .291/.346/.547 (a career-high 138 wRC+) with eight home runs in 127 plate appearances. Hosmer’s rebound from a couple of mediocre seasons has contributed to the Padres’ 25-17 start.
  • Yankees designated hitter Giancarlo Stanton “ran bases, hit off a machine and threw today,” Bryan Hoch of MLB.com tweets, but it remains unclear when or if he’ll return in 2020. Even if Stanton does play again this year, it will go in the books as the second straight injury-ruined season for the ex-NL MVP, as he missed almost all of 2019 with health issues and has been on the IL since Aug. 9 with a left hamstring strain. The Stanton-less Yankees have struggled over the past few weeks and are now fighting for their playoff lives.
  • Giants outfielder Alex Dickerson had to leave their game against the Diamondbacks on Monday after fouling a ball off his right leg (video via Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area). The Giants called on Darin Ruf to take over for Dickerson. There’s no word on Dickerson’s status, but he’s someone the Giants can ill afford to go without for an extended stretch. They’re surprisingly in playoff contention, and Dickerson has followed up last season’s solid showing with a .264/.342/.528 line and seven home runs this year, making him one of the Giants’ most valuable players [UPDATE: Dickerson’s X-Rays came back negative. He has a knee contusion, Andrew Baggarly of The Athletic relays].

Giants Release Abiatal Avelino; Latest On Drew Smyly

By | at

The Giants have released infielder Abiatal Avelino, John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle reports. He had been part of the Giants’ alternate training site.

The 25-year-old Avelino – whom San Francisco acquired from the Yankees in a 2018 trade centering on Andrew McCutchen – had brief stints with the Giants in each of the previous two seasons, during which he totaled five hits (all singles) in 19 plate appearances. Avelino has garnered far more experience in Triple-A, though he also hasn’t been a world-beater there, evidenced by his .266/.302/.402 slash with 15 home runs  across 873 trips to the plate.

In other Giants news, manager Gabe Kapler announced to Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area and other reporters that the team could activate left-hander Drew Smyly from the injured list on Wednesday or Thursday. Smyly, whom the Giants signed to a $4MM guarantee in the offseason, has only made three appearances this year and hasn’t pitched since Aug. 1 on account of a strained left index finger. Before that, the 31-year-old threw 8 1/3 innings of three-run ball with 11 strikeouts and four walks, and he averaged a career-best 93.4 mph on his fastball. Two of Smyly’s three outings this season have come as a starter, but it’s unclear whether he’ll return to the playoff-contending Giants’ rotation when he comes back.

Health Updates: Heyward, Semien, Giants, Verlander

By | at

Jason Heyward was removed from tonight’s game prior to the fifth inning due to illness, and Cubs manager David Ross told The Athletic’s Patrick Mooney (Twitter links) and other reporters that Heyward was sent to hospital for precautionary reasons.  “He’s not a guy that you ever have concerns about, so when he says he is having trouble breathing and (feeling) light-headed, I just want to make sure everything’s all right,” Ross said.

It seems probable that Heyward will miss at least a game or two due to this situation even if everything checks out with doctors, though obviously the chief concern is that Heyward is healthy and well.  The 31-year-old Heyward is enjoying by far the best of his five seasons in Chicago, entering tonight’s play with a superb .306/.421/.551 slash line and five home runs over 121 PA.

Some more items from around baseball…

  • A rib/side injury has kept Marcus Semien out of action since August 29, though the Athletics shortstop could take batting practice on the field tomorrow, manager Bob Melvin told MLB.com’s Martin Gallegos and other reporters.  That could be a precursor for an impending return for Semien, who can return whenever he is ready since he wasn’t placed on the injured list — the A’s had a team-wide break in the schedule due to a positive COVID-19 test.  Semien is still looking to get on track this season, hitting only .229/.285/.379 over his first 151 plate appearances.
  • Giants hurlers Jeff Samardzija and Drew Smyly each threw around 50 pitches in simulated game action on Saturday, manager Gabe Kapler told reporters (including Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle).  Smyly has been out of action since August 2 due to strained left index finger, while Samardzija hit the 10-day IL on August 8 with a shoulder impingement.  It isn’t yet clear when either pitcher could return, or in what roles they could be deployed in upon their returns.  Kapler’s mention of relief work as a possible route for Samardzija is notable, given that “The Shark” has worked exclusively as a starter since the start of the 2012 season.
  • Justin Verlander has begun throwing off a mound, Astros GM James Click said today during a pregame interview with Astros Radio (hat tip to The Athletic’s Jake Kaplan).  A forearm strain has kept Verlander sidelined for all but one start of the 2020 season, though his latest rehab update provides some hope that Verlander could potentially still return at some point in the regular season or postseason.

NL West Trade Deadline Recap

By | at

With the deadline in the rearview mirror, we’ll look back at each NL West team’s trade activity over the past month.

Arizona Diamondbacks

Colorado Rockies

Los Angeles Dodgers

San Diego Padres

San Francisco Giants

Tigers Claim Dereck Rodriguez

By | at

The Tigers announced Monday that they’ve claimed righty Dereck Rodriguez from the Giants, who’d designated him for assignment over the weekend. He’s been optioned to the team’s alternate training site.

Rodriguez, the son of Hall of Famer Ivan Rodriguez, will get a new opportunity with an organization for which his father starred from 2004-08. The right-hander went from minor league signee to breakout rotation member with San Francisco in 2018 when he turned in 118 1/3 frames of 2.81 ERA ball, but he’s gone considerably backwards since that excellent rookie effort. Dating back to the 2019 season, Rodriguez has pitched to an ugly 5.94 ERA with 23 home runs and 39 walks in 103 innings pitched.

Giants More Likely To Buy Than Sell

By | at

The San Francisco Giants are no longer viewed around the league as a team ripe for picking, per MLB Network’s Jon Heyman (via Twitter). In fact, it’s now more likely that the Giants will look to add to their club rather than subtract.

At 15-19 the Giants sit 9 games back from the Dodgers for the division, but they’re only 2 games out of a wild card spot. Powered by surprising production from the likes of Mike Yastrzemski (2.1 fWAR), Donovan Solano (0.8 fWAR), Kevin Gausman (0.9 fWAR), and Austin Slater (1.1 fWAR), the Giants have been a surprisingly potent offensive club. They’ve been competitive on a night-to-night basis, and less than two days away from the deadline, the Giants could still go either way depending on their play this weekend. As of right now, other clubs suspect they’ll be buyers.

The Giants certainly weren’t viewed as contenders entering the season, and most probably wouldn’t put them in that camp even after a surprisingly competitive start, but with an expanded playoff field, they are as viable a postseason contender as anyone outside of Pittsburgh in a crowded National League playoff race. If they do end up buying, it’s safe to assume the Giants will still have an eye towards contention in future seasons.

Earlier tonight the Giants were reported to have interest in Jackie Bradley Jr.. Bradley isn’t the ideal candidate because he’s a free agent after the season, but San Francisco has need enough in the grass that they could look to add multiple outfielders. With limited options coming from so few non-contenders, the Giants may also simply see value in competing this season and exploring the cost of an upgrade even for this season alone. Besides, a defensive outfielder who could slide Yastrzemski back to the corner would seem to benefit the club on the whole. Alex Dickerson has struggled in left field with a triple slash of .195/.284/.351, and since Hunter Pence was DFA’ed, they have no clear everyday option in right.

On the roster, Solano has played a little in left and Mauricio Dubon also added an outfielder’s glove to his locker this winter, but both are natural infielders. Chris Shaw and Jaylin Davis are another pair of potential outfielders in the pool, though Shaw is a more natural first baseman and neither have proven track records at the major league level. San Francisco did recently add Luis Alexander Basabe and Daniel Robertson to their player pool, but neither have joined the active roster as of yet. Even so, Basabe fits the second camp as an unproven entity, while Robertson fits the first as a natural infielder.

San Francisco could also look to add to their pitching corps, which has been less successful than the offense, broadly speaking. Most of the rotation outside of Logan Webb and Tyler Anderson are heading towards free agency – another reason most expected the Giants to sell – but they could use another rotation arm regardless. Tyler Beede, Jeff Samardzija, and Drew Smyly are all on the injured list at present, while Gausman and Johnny Cueto have injury histories and Trevor Cahill left his start early today with left hip discomfort, per Maria I. Guardado of MLB.com.

Jackie Bradley Jr. Drawing Trade Interest

By | at

Jackie Bradley Jr. of the Boston Red Sox is eliciting trade interest from teams around the league ahead of Monday’s trade deadline. There’s no clear indication whether the Red Sox are offering their centerfielder up in trade discussions, but both the Giants and Indians are curious, per MLB Network’s Jon Heyman.

Bradley has long been considered a standout defensive outfielder. He’s lost a step in the outfield by metrics like Defensive Runs Saved (2 DRS this season, -2.0 UZR), but he nonetheless remains a viable option to man the middle of the grass. Just last season, Bradley Jr. was worth 6 Outs Above Average by the Statcast metric, ranking as the very best in majors in reaction time. On his defensive prowess alone, Bradley Jr. could easily carve out a role on any number of contenders.

The offensive end tells a different tale. He’s long been a confounding presence at the plate, and this season hasn’t been Bradley’s finest with the stick. A triple slash of .253/.317/.363 still holds value when paired with his glove, however. It would be a little surprising for the Red Sox to hold onto him given that Bradley is a free agent at year’s end, and they’re one of the few teams in the majors all but guaranteed to miss the playoffs. Still, the Red Sox might see value in having his veteran voice in the clubhouse. Before prorating for the shortened season, JBJ was owed $11MM for the season, his last before free agency.

The Indians probably have enough bodies to man the corners of the outfield, but they’re thin in the middle after Oscar Mercado’s somewhat shocking sophomore season (-29 wRC+). Delino DeShields (84 wRC+) is their primary option in center with Greg Allen (48 wRC+) backing him up. The need is clear, but frankly, Bradley Jr. (82 WRC+) fits the mold of the players already on the roster. The Giants, meanwhile, would be surprising buyers, but their offense has kept them within striking distance of the wild card. Mike Yastrzemski has done an admirable job in center, but the Giants must prefer to keep him in a corner if possible. Steven Duggar has returned to the roster, but he’s struggled in limited action thus far (-7 wRC+).

Speculatively speaking, the Cubs or Brewers would be another pair of contenders that could potentially seek outfield help. The Brewers have been forced to play Avisail Garcia in center after Lorenzo Cain opted out for the season. The Brewers have been a disappointment this season on the whole, but they’re a perfect fit should Boston decide to deal Bradley. The Cubs are fairly well stocked in the outfield, and Albert Almora Jr. offers a similar option in terms of skillset, but they still have room for another outfielder on the roster and will definitely look for ways to upgrade. Team President Theo Epstein obviously has a history with Boston and should have no trouble getting his former club on the line, should they have interest.

Player Pool Additions: Giants, Mets, Rays, Nats

By and | at

Teams have been tinkering with their 60-man player pools throughout the 2020 season, at times cutting veterans to make room for prospects and at times cutting bait on some lower-tier organizational pieces in order to make room for more experienced additions (be they via waiver claim, free-agent signing, etc.). There have been several clubs to announce additions to their player pools already Friday, and while such moves seem innocuous, it’s of course worth pointing out that adding a player to the 60-man pool makes him eligible to be traded.

That doesn’t mean all of the players added to pools today are on the trading block — far from it. We’ve also already seen the Marlins (in the Richard Bleier trade) and the Blue Jays (in the Taijuan Walker trade) take advantage of using players to be named later to get around the rule that only players in a 60-man pool are eligible to be traded. Both sent a PTBNL to their trade partner, each of whom is expected to be a non-60-man player that will be announced after the season.

So while not all of today’s additions will change hands, it’s still notable that some of these players now could change hands without needing to be listed as a PTBNL. In that scenario, a new club could get a look at said player at its alternate training site and, if close enough to the Majors, perhaps even promote them in September.

Here’s a quick rundown…

  • The Giants announced that first baseman/outfielder Chris Shaw and righty Melvin Adon were added to the 60-man player pool. Shaw, 26, was San Francisco’s first-round pick (No. 31 overall) back in 2015 and rated among the club’s best prospects for several years. His shine has worn off, however, after some shaky showings in the upper minors and the Majors. Shaw carries a .280/.328/.538 slash in 1092 Triple-A plate appearances but has struck out at a 30 percent clip there. He’s hit .153/.244/.222 in 82 big league PAs. Speculatively, he seems like a change-of-scenery candidate. Adon, also 26, received an 80 grade on his heater at FanGraphs this offseason and was called the hardest thrower in the minors by Eric Longenhagen and Kiley McDaniel. However, they also gave him just 30 command on the 20-80 scale and called his chances of realizing his ceiling low due to his inability to locate. Adon walked 34 batters, hit another and threw 11 wild pitches in 55 1/3 innings last year.
  • The Mets added third baseman Brett Baty, tweets Anthony DiComo of MLB.com. Baty, 20, was the No. 12 pick in the 2019 draft and is considered to be among the organization’s top prospects. He divided last year between rookie and Low-A ball, where he batted .234/.368/.452 with seven home runs in 228 plate appearances. Now that Baty’s in the fold, the Mets have all of their top five prospects in the player pool — including Andres Gimenez in the Majors — as DiComo points out.
  • Right-hander Brent Honeywell has been added to the Rays’ pool and reported to their alternate site in Port Charlotte, tweets MLB.com’s Juan Toribio. The highly touted Honeywell underwent Tommy John surgery in February 2018, hasn’t pitched since and may not take the mound for the Rays this season. By adding Honeywell to their pool, though, the Rays will give the 25-year-old an opportunity to rehab while facing professional hitters, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times notes. For now, though, “there are still plenty of boxes” for Honeywell to check before he makes his MLB debut, according to manager Kevin Cash.
  • The Nationals already added righty Sterling Sharp and outfielder Jeremy De La Rosa earlier today (as covered here), and this afternoon they announced two more additions: infielders Jackson Cluff and Drew Mendoza. Both have reported to the alternate site in Fredricksburg. Cluff was a 2019 sixth-rounder who spent his first pro season in Single-A, where he batted .229/.320/.367 with five homers and 11 steals in 280 trips to the plate. The 23-year-old is now generally regarded as one of the Nationals’ top 20 prospects. Mendoza, another 2019 draft choice (third round, No. 94), hovers around Washington’s top 10 farmhands at multiple outlets. The 22-year-old also spent 2019 at Single-A, slashing .264/.377/.383 with four HRs and three steals in 239 plate appearances.

NL Notes: Mozeliak, Cards, Pina, Gausman, Bumgarner

By | at

While the Cardinals are still going to explore trade deadline opportunities, president of baseball operations John Mozeliak told The Athletic’s Mark Saxon and other reporters that his club faces something of a unique roster crunch due to the coronavirus outbreak that ravaged the Cards earlier this month.  “I think that’s the biggest issue at hand for us, sort of navigating the health of the club vs. what potentially we could do in a trade,” Mozeliak said.  “Candidly, the timing of it [the deadline] is not ideal for us, as we start to unwind people coming off of COVID back onto the roster….What it is to say is we haven’t been a team together, with the exception of the first five days together.”

With a whopping seven players still to be activated from the COVID-19 injured list, 40-man roster considerations will start to become a mounting concern for the Cardinals in the coming days, and certainly not everyone will be back before Monday’s trade deadline.  One potential wrinkle, Mozeliak said, is that “other teams might be dealing with roster crunches, too, as they navigate Aug. 31,” and thus these rivals might not be as eager to make claims on any players the Cards might be forced to expose to waivers.

More from around the National League…

  • Manny Pina left tonight’s game with a right knee injury, the Brewers announced.  Pina suffered the injury while getting back to first base on a pickoff attempt during the second inning, and was replaced by Omar Narvaez.  The initial outlook isn’t good, as manager Craig Counsell told Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and other reporters that Pina is on crutches and is having trouble putting weight on his right leg.  Pina is in his fifth year in Milwaukee and has been hitting respectably well, bringing a .231/.318/.410 slash line (roughly his career average) over 44 plate appearances coming into today’s doubleheader with the Reds.  Pina’s steady production has been helpful given Narvaez’s struggles this season, so Milwaukee would be particularly hampered behind the plate if Pina has to go on the injured list.  Jacob Nottingham and David Freitas are the only catchers with MLB experience at the Brewers’ alternate training site.
  • Kevin Gausman allowed two runs on three hits and two walks over 4 2/3 innings in the Giants’ 2-0 loss to the Dodgers today, and with the trade deadline looming on Monday, Gausman might well have thrown his last pitch in the black and orange…at least in 2020.  Gausman told Kerry Crowley of the Bay Area News Group and other reporters that he would be open to re-signing with the Giants in free agency this winter, even if the club moves him prior to the deadline.  His preference, of course, is to not be dealt at all, though the right-hander’s overall quality work this season and rental player status makes him one of the trade deadline’s top candidates to be sent elsewhere.
  • Madison Bumgarner will throw a simulated game Saturday in the next step of his rehab plan, though Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo told reporters (including the Arizona Republic’s Mark Faller) that the southpaw is still over a week away from returning to action.  Assuming all goes well in the sim game, Lovullo said Bumgarner would still need another 7-10 days to ramp up for activation from the 10-day injured list.  Bumgarner has been out of action since August 10 due to a back strain.

Giants Designate Dereck Rodriguez, Select Joey Rickard

By | at

The Giants have designated right-hander Dereck Rodriguez for assignment, Kerry Crowley of the Mercury News was among those to report. They also selected outfielder Joey Rickard and optioned righty Shaun Anderson.

Rodriguez, the son of legendary catcher Ivan Rodriguez, made an immediate mark on the Giants when they first promoted him in May 2018. The former outfield prospect improbably emerged as one of the majors’ most effective rookies that year, in which he threw 118 1/3 innings of 2.81 ERA/3.74 FIP ball and notched 6.77 K/9 against 2.74 BB/9.

After Rodriguez’s first-year success, the Giants were no doubt hoping they had a long-term rotation cog on their hand. Instead, though, Rodriguez has failed to justify a roster spot dating back to last season. Since 2019, the 28-year-old has recorded a 5.94 ERA/5.89 FIP with 6.38 K/9 and 3.41 BB/9 across 103 innings and 30 appearances (16 starts). However, as someone who has a pair of minor league options remaining and isn’t on track to reach arbitration until after 2021, Rodriguez could be attractive to some teams as a reclamation project.

Rickard, 29, is now in line to appear in the majors for a fifth straight season, though the ex-Oriole has never offered much on the offensive side. He’s just a .247/.301/.373 hitter with 20 home runs and 20 stolen bases in 978 plate appearances between Baltimore and San Francisco.

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