Giants Rumors

Rays May Seek Compensation For Lucius Fox Injury

By Jeff Todd | August 5, 2016 at 10:09pm CDT

After weeks of build-up, the Rays shipped lefty Matt Moore to the Giants at the trade deadline for a package that included young infield prospect Lucius Fox. As it turns out, per Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times, Fox was dinged up at the time of the trade — which may lead Tampa Bay to seek added compensation from their trade partner.

The 19-year-old is said to have been playing through a bruised foot that was not disclosed to the Rays. While not a significant problem, it may prevent Fox from returning to action before the end of the minor league campaign. That wouldn’t seem to be a major long-term issue, but could take away some valuable developmental opportunities heading into the offseason.

The other two pieces of the pact — infielder Matt Duffy and minor league righty Michael Santos — were both on the DL at the time of the deal, with known injuries. But Fox’s malady was apparently not accounted for in striking the agreement.

It’s important to note that there’s no suggestion that Fox would be sent back to the Giants, who only signed him last summer; to the contrary, Topkin says that’s not on the table. For the Rays to achieve any recompense, they’ll have to “work through MLB,” according to the report.

Fox, a switch-hitting Bahamian shortstop, has not been overly impressive in game action in his brief professional career. He owns only a .207/.305/.277 slash over 331 plate appearances in the Sally League. That didn’t stop the Rays from ascribing rather significant value to him, though, and he certainly comes with an impressive prospect pedigree after receiving a $6MM bonus last year as an amateur.

Minor MLB Transactions: 8/5/16

By Jeff Todd | August 5, 2016 at 8:36pm CDT

Here are the day’s minor moves:

The Indians announced that outfielder Joey Butler has cleared waivers and accepted an outright assignment to Triple-A. Butler, 30, hasn’t seen the majors this year after posting a useful .276/.326/.416 batting line in 276 plate appearances last year for the Rays. Though he once seemingly represented a corner outfield option for Cleveland this year, he hadn’t yet earned a promotion and now loses his 40-man spot after running up a .238/.306/.360 slash at the highest level of the minors — well off of his .841 career OPS in extensive Triple-A action.
Likewise, Giants infielder Ramiro Pena has cleared waivers and is ticketed for Triple-A, Alex Pavlovic of CSN Bay Area tweets. The 31-year-old did excellent fill-in work for San Francisco, slashing .299/.330/.425 in his 91 plate appearances. But with the Giants welcoming back several players from the DL and re-aligning their infield mix, he was without a spot. Pena is a handy defender — he played at short, second, and third this year alone — but typically isn’t quite as productive at the plate as he has been in 2016. He carries a .636 OPS in his 701 trips to the plate as a big leaguer, though he has been swinging a good stick at Triple-A in each of the last two years.

Giants Sign Tony Sanchez; Grant Green Clears Waivers

By Jeff Todd | August 3, 2016 at 11:22pm CDT

Giants infielder Grant Green cleared outright waivers, Alex Pavlovic of CSN Bay Area tweets. Now 28, Green was once considered a quality prospect with the Halos but hasn’t managed to gain any traction at the major league level. He slashed .261/.300/.370 in his fifty plate appearances this year with the Giants.
The Giants have agreed to a minor league deal with catcher Tony Sanchez, per SB Nation’s Chris Cotillo (via Twitter). Recently released by the Blue Jays, Sanchez will help bolster San Francisco’s catching depth after the team dealt away Andrew Susac. Sanchez’s prospect star has faded over recent years, and was cut loose by Toronto after putting up a meager .201/.292/.309 slash in 168 Triple-A plate appearances this year.

Giants Move Jake Peavy To Bullpen

By Jeff Todd | August 2, 2016 at 11:16pm CDT

The Giants have moved veteran righty Jake Peavy to the bullpen to accommodate the acquisition of Matt Moore, as Andrew Baggarly of the Mercury News reports. Though Peavy has worked almost exclusively in the rotation over his long career, he seemingly took the news quite well. San Francisco has liked what it has seen of late from Matt Cain, who was the other candidate to move to a relief role, and thinks that Peavy will be better able to handle the transition, skipper Bruce Bochy explained.

Giants Acquire Matt Moore For Matt Duffy, Prospects

By Jeff Todd | August 1, 2016 at 3:45pm CDT

In their second significant deadline deal today, the Giants have acquired southpaw Matt Moore from the Rays. Tampa Bay has long been said to be pursuing trades involving its controllable starters, and this one comes in right at the wire.

[Related: Updated San Francisco Giants and Tampa Bay Rays Depth Charts]

Currently injured third baseman Matt Duffy headlines the package going to Tampa Bay. Infield prospect Lucius Fox is also included, with righty Michael Santos is heading to the Rays to round things out. There are some complicating factors in this pact that seem likely to cause a delay in an announcement, per reports. Duffy’s DL placement and Fox’s relatively recent international bonus appear to be two possible causes. Sherman tweets that Tampa Bay will cover a portion of that sum, which may require league approval.

The 27-year-old Moore brings plenty of talent, but also a good deal of risk, with him to San Francisco. Entering the 2014 season, Moore was considered one of the best young pitchers in baseball, but he popped his UCL after just two starts.

Since returning from Tommy John surgery in the middle of 2015, Moore has pitched to a 4.52 ERA with 7.2 K/9 against 2.9 BB/9 over 193 innings. Those numbers are trending up this year, generally, and Moore has regained much of the fastball velocity that he showed earlier in his career, so clearly the Giants’ scouts saw plenty to hang their hats on. And Moore has run up seven consecutive quality starts, allowing just nine runners to cross the plate in 40 2/3 frames.

That being said, it’s not all rosy for the lefty. Even in his recent string of nice starts, he has managed only 25 strikeouts against 14 walks. And he currently owns a 4.50 FIP, 4.67 xFIP, and 4.41 SIERA on the year, with Moore benefiting a bit from a .280 BABIP against. Still, he should provide a nice boost to a rotation that has two questionable pieces at the back end in veterans Jake Peavy and Matt Cain, and there’s upside aplenty in this contract.

Indeed, the early-career extension that Tampa Bay signed with Moore has proven to be an asset, even if it’s not quite as valuable as it once seemed destined to be. He’s only owed the balance of a $5MM salary this year, and is under control for three more years through club options. San Francisco can keep him through 2019 at a grand total of only $26MM, a pittance in the current market.

For the Giants, Moore is the second significant left-handed pitcher acquired today, as the club also landed reliever Will Smith. The pair came at a steep cost. In this particular deal San Francisco was forced to give up a player in Duffy who entered the year as the club’s regular third baseman.

Duffy certainly hasn’t matched his productivity from a year ago, when he ran up a surprising .295/.334/.428 batting line with a dozen home runs and a dozen stolen bases in his rookie campaign. Thus far in 2016, he has not only battled through injuries, but owns a much less useful .253/.313/.358 slash.

Tampa Bay obviously sees something in Duffy, though, as reports have suggested the team held out for his inclusion before striking the deal. Critically, he delivers a top-quality glove at third. Despite his struggles at the plate, Baseball-Reference credits him with 1.6 WAR on the year due almost entirely to the leather. Plus, he won’t qualify for arbitration until after next season, so there’s plenty of cheap control remaining.

The other two pieces of this deal are of the more speculative prospect variety. Fox signed on with San Francisco for a $6MM bonus as an international free agent last summer, he’s considered a quality prospect despite his struggles this year in A ball, and only just turned 19. Meanwhile, the 21-year-old Santos has a big frame and big arm, and has featured on organizational top prospect lists with the Giants. Pitching this year in the Sally League, he has a 2.91 ERA over 58 2/3 innings (ten starts) with 6.8 K/9 and a sparkling 0.8 BB/9.

Joel Sherman of the New York Post first reported that Moore was going to the Giants (Twitter links). Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle (via Twitter), ESPN.com’s Buster Olney (Twitter link), and Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports (via Twitter) reported the package returning to Tampa Bay.

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Giants Acquire Will Smith

By Tim Dierkes | August 1, 2016 at 3:37pm CDT

The Giants acquired left-handed reliever Will Smith from the Brewers, tweets Yahoo’s Jeff Passan. The Brewers will receive minor league pitcher Phil Bickford and catcher Andrew Susac, tweets Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports. The trade is now official, according to the Brewers.

Smith, 27, has a 3.68 ERA, 9.0 K/9, 3.7 BB/9, 1.23 HR/9, and a 33.3% groundball rate in 22 innings for the Brewers this year. He dealt with a torn LCL in his knee in March, making his season debut on June 2nd after rehabbing the injury. Notably, the southpaw is exhibiting nearly a two-tick decline in his average fastball as against his prior numbers, and that remains a concern. The knee is an obvious question mark in that regard, though certainly it’s possible that Smith will just need to continue building back full body strength after the injury.

Health is always an important factor, but never more than when making an investment in a player that goes into the future. While San Francisco won’t be promising any future salary to Smith, they were buying into his control rights and paid to do so. He is under team control through 2019 as an arbitration eligible player. That contract status also conveys some real upside, especially if Smith can get back to his former trajectory. He was particularly tough in 2015, with a 2.70 ERA and 12.9 K/9.

The first-place Giants have received a middling 3.76 ERA from their relievers, and paid a trade deadline premium to acquire the controllable Smith. Drafted in the seventh round by the Angels in 2008, Smith was dealt to the Royals in the 2010 Alberto Callaspo trade. Later, after the 2013 campaign, the Brewers acquired him for Nori Aoki.

Now, Milwaukee has cashed in on the southpaw — in addition to moving late-inning righty Jeremy Jeffress in a separate trade. The haul seems to be rather promising, and swaps out the valuable-but-risky seasons remaining on Smith’s control rights for many more years of control on two solid young assets.

Bickford, 21, was drafted 18th overall by the Giants last year and is currently working at High-A. In their midseason prospect rankings, Baseball America had Bickford 50th overall, while MLB.com ranked him 65th. BA says Bickford’s fastball is known for its movement, and he throws a plus slider. The jury is out on whether he’ll wind up a reliever. Bickford had been drafted tenth overall by the Blue Jays in 2013, but did not sign.

Susac, 26, could take over as the Brewers’ starting catcher if Jonathan Lucroy is traded today. Since being drafted in the second round in 2011, Susac has been blocked by Buster Posey. He did get some Major League experience in 2014 and ’15, but has spent all of this year at Triple-A. He’s hitting .273/.343/.455 in 239 plate appearances at that level.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Deadline Day Rotation Rumors

By Jeff Todd | August 1, 2016 at 2:31pm CDT

While we’ll certainly break out any stories that seem to have some helium, we’ll use this post to keep tabs on less pressing developments in the market for starting pitching:

The Pirates are talking to the Yankees about Ivan Nova, tweets Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports.
The Marlins are now looking for another starter after sending Colin Rea back to the Padres, Jon Morosi of MLB.com tweets.
Angels lefty Hector Santiago is still on the Tigers’ radar, along with Hellickson, per Morosi (via Twitter). Santiago has been talked about a decent bit in recent weeks, but we haven’t heard very many strong connections. Los Angeles is likely willing to deal him in the right situation, but surely puts a high value on a useful starter who is controllable beyond the year.
The Astros are mostly just “dabbling” in the market for starters, ESPN.com’s Jerry Crasnick tweets. Edinson Volquez of the Royals represents one possible target, though Houston is said not to be terribly interested in the veteran righty.
While we haven’t heard much in the way of specifics, the Cubs are said to be eyeing an impactful rotation addition, and Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports tweets that’s still the case. (He adds that the team prefers not to overpay for a left-handed-hitting outfielder, which is also on their wish list.)
The Phillies may well hold onto righty Jeremy Hellickson, ESPN.com’s Jayson Stark tweets. Philly hasn’t changed its asking price — last we heard, at least one quality prospect — but the market is changing. The Giants and Tigers aren’t in the bidding, per Stark, while the Rangers and Blue Jays have other names higher on their priority lists. With that being said, Jon Morosi of MLB.com tweets that Detroit is still looking at Hellickson, among other starters, as they seek to add to their rotation.

Latest On Rays’ Starting Pitchers

By Jeff Todd | August 1, 2016 at 2:26pm CDT

Here’s the latest on the Rays’ starting pitching trade candidates, several of whom have been discussed quite a bit in the run-up to the deadline. There’s nothing firm as of yet, but the Rays seem to be weighing offers on several arms.

In addition to the Giants and Pirates, the Dodgers have interest in Moore, per Rosenthal (via Twitter). Other teams, too, may be after the southpaw.
The Giants are still working on a deal involving Moore, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (via Twitter).
The Dodgers remain in pursuit of Tampa Bay’s hurlers after adding Rich Hill, Jayson Stark of ESPN.com tweets. Of course, L.A. may have less willingness to move its own young arms after giving up three in that swap.
The Pirates are still looking at Rays starters, with lefty Matt Moore the primary target and righty Jake Odorizzi also of interest, per Stephen Nesbitt of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (via Twitter). Pittsburgh has dealt away closer Mark Melancon, but landed a strong major league relief arm in that trade and is evidently serious about upgrading its rotation now and in the future. It certainly looks to be an interesting deadline strategy from GM Neal Huntington, but it remains to be seen whether anything else will get done over the next two hours.
Also checking in with Tampa Bay on arms are the Astros, as Chris Cotillo of SB Nation and MLB.com’s Jon Morosi have noted (Twitter links). As things stand, though, it doesn’t seem as if there’s much momentum toward any kind of agreement between the teams.

Earlier Notes

Continuing their prior dialogue, the Rays and Dodgers are in talks on Tampa Bay’s starters, Jon Morosi of MLB.com tweets. While most of the Rays’ starters have been chatted about in one way or another over recent weeks, staff ace Chris Archer has been most closely tied to Los Angeles, though it’s not clear at this stage whether he’s the focus.
The Rays and Giants are still discussing lefty Matt Moore, per ESPN.com’s Jerry Crasnick (via Twitter). We covered that story last night — check here for details. Tampa Bay is requesting two top prospects, per Crasnick’s report.

Relief Pitching Deadline Day Rumors

By Jeff Todd and Tim Dierkes | August 1, 2016 at 2:10pm CDT

The market for relievers is always moving on deadline day, as teams look to add pen pieces that will bolster their depth down the stretch. Fernando Abad is off the board, having been traded to the Red Sox today. We’ll keep tabs on the remaining relievers here:

The Orioles and Marlins are shopping for a low-end left-handed reliever, tweets Joel Sherman of the New York Post. Sherman feels the Braves’ Hunter Cervenka could be one such candidate, while ESPN’s Jayson Stark names Cervenka as a last-minute target for the Fish.
Sherman also notes that the Rangers are among the teams looking at Braves righty Jim Johnson. The Braves have kicked around Johnson as well, tweets Marc Carig of Newsday, but nothing appears close.
While they are also pursuing larger targets, the Giants have perused the second tier of the relief market, per ESPN.com’s Jerry Crasnick (Twitter link). While the top targets have perhaps mostly already been traded, San Francisco has scouted the Brewers’ strong group of relievers as well as increasingly valuable Rockies southpaw Boone Logan — though last we heard he may not be traded. Jeanmar Gomez of the Phillies is another name the Giants have checked, though he too isn’t sure to be dealt. And even as the Giants talk with the Rays on starter Matt Moore, the club has also watched right-handed swingman Erasmo Ramirez, per Crasnick.
The Astros are kicking around some left-handed reliever options, ESPN.com’s Jerry Crasnick reports (Twitter links). That’s arguably the team’s biggest area of need. Some of the names mentioned include Logan and Jake McGee of the Rockies and the Brewers’ Will Smith — all of whom are at or near the remaining market for relief southpaws. It’s not immediately clear whether any are real options at this stage, as Crasnick notes that nothing has “materialized” to this point.

Mets The Favorites For Jay Bruce

By Steve Adams | August 1, 2016 at 9:17am CDT

The non-waiver trade deadline is just under nine hours away, and rumors/transactions figure to be flying around quickly today. Reds outfielder Jay Bruce remains one of the likeliest candidates to be dealt between now and the 4pm ET deadline. As of Sunday, the Giants were said to be making a “strong push” for Bruce, who is also said to be a prime target of the Mets. Bruce has also drawn interest from the Indians, Dodgers and Rangers, among others, over the past few days, and the Rays have at times been mentioned as a possible factor in three-team trade scenarios involving Bruce.

We’ll keep track of all the day’s Bruce rumors here in this post…

Morosi now tweets that the Mets and Reds have made progress on a deal involving Bruce.
Yahoo’s Jeff Passan tweets that the Mets are the favorites to land Bruce, but the Rangers and Giants are still in. Talks could stretch into the afternoon, he notes.

Earlier Updates

Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports/MLB.com tweets that the Mets remain in active talks with the Reds as of Monday morning. ESPN’s Jayson Stark also tweets that conversations with the Mets remain active, while talks with the Giants and Dodgers are currently in “slow mo.”
Heyman tweets that the Mets don’t seem to have heard anything on Bruce this morning (Twitter link). He also tweets that the Giants haven’t heard anything about Bruce being dealt this morning.
USA Today’s Bob Nightengale tweets that the Reds have “found a match” for a Bruce trade and expects Cincinnati to trade Bruce to a National League club this morning. That team is not the Dodgers, according to Nightengale. The Giants and Mets are the two non-Dodgers NL clubs that have been most heavily linked to Bruce in the past day or two.
Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports tweets the Giants, Mets, Indians and others have been in on Bruce recently. Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports, meanwhile, lists the Giants, Dodgers, Mets, Rangers and Blue Jays all as teams that still have some interest in Bruce as of Monday morning.

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