Giants Rumors

Injury Notes: Pagan, Chirinos, Athletics, Mets

By Steve Adams | May 24, 2016 at 6:50pm CDT

The Giants announced today that left fielder Angel Pagan has been placed on the 15-day disabled list due to a left hamstring strain — the same issue which already cost him nearly two weeks of action earlier this season. In his place, the team has recalled outfielder Jarrett Parker from Triple-A. Pagan has had a productive start to the season, batting .275/.338/.383 with a pair of homers and five stolen bases. That’s a notable improvement over last year’s production in 133 games, though this also marks the fourth DL stint for Pagan since 2013 — the start of his current four-year, $40MM contract. The 27-year-old Parker is hitting .281/.366/.615 with 13 homers at the Triple-A level this season and slashed an impressive .347/.407/.755 in a brief 54-plate-appearance promotion last September, with the bulk of that damage coming in a three-homer game in Oakland on Sept. 26.

A few more notable injury updates from around the league…

Rangers catcher Robinson Chirinos is ahead of schedule in his rehab and could beat his initial timeline of 10-12 weeks, reports Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram (on Twitter). Chirinos, on the disabled list due to a fractured forearm, could return the first day that he is eligible, on June 9, according to Wilson. Of course, catcher has been a surprisingly productive position for Texas even in the absence of their starting backstop; the trio of Bryan Holaday, Bobby Wilson and the since-traded Chris Gimenez have batted .260/.323/.473 with six homers entering play tonight.
The Athletics received good news on a pair of injured players on Monday, as Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle writes. Right-hander Henderson Alvarez has been cleared to resume playing catch after previously giving the team a scare when some discomfort in his rehabbing right shoulder led the club to order an MRI. His timeline to return has certainly been slowed a bit by the setback, but it would appear that he’s avoided a more significant injury. Beyond that, right fielder Josh Reddick won’t require surgery to repair his fractured left thumb, meaning he’ll be able to return to the club within five to six weeks as opposed to seven or eight weeks.
ESPN New York’s Adam Rubin writes that Travis d’Arnaud began throwing yesterday at his home in California and is expected to report to the Mets’ Spring Training facility this week, where he’ll ramp up his rehab. The 27-year-old d’Arnaud has played in only 13 games this season, and Kevin Plawecki has struggled in his absence, batting .193/.287/.277. Mets catchers have been among the least productive in baseball this season, making d’Arnaud’s return to the club particularly important for the Mets. Rubin also writes that Zack Wheeler has resumed throwing off a mound and is targeting a July 1 return from Tommy John surgery.

NL Notes: Howard, Blanco, Urias, Peavy

By Steve Adams | May 23, 2016 at 11:02am CDT

In light of the Phillies’ surprising start to the season, Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports kicks off his latest 10 Degrees column by writing that the Phillies can ill afford to continue carrying Ryan Howard and his .161/.233/.381 batting line. The “loyalty-vs.-pragmatism” battle which the Phillies currently face would be easier to ignore if the Phillies were toiling in or near the cellar of the NL East as many anticipated, but the club has other options at first base and is no longer playing Howard regularly. Even against right-handed pitching, Howard is hitting just .163/.246/.385 in 118 plate appearances, making it fair to question his viability even as a platoon option. Passan also revisits the Phillies’ puzzling decision to sign Howard to a five-year, $125MM extension in the first place despite the fact that he was already under control for two more seasons (and his age-31 campaign).

Here’s more from the NL…

Matt Breen of the Philadelphia Inquirer spoke to Phillies manager Pete Mackanin about the importance of utility infielder Andres Blanco to the club. “There might be guys that are better, but as far as all-around defense, hitting, clubhouse character, this guy has been a special player for us,” said Mackanin. “It’s a tough role. It’s tough to find.” Blanco keeps four gloves — infield, outfield, first base mitt and catcher’s mitt — in his locker in order to be ready in any role and draws rave reviews from his teammates for his attitude and his production in his role. The 32-year-old has batted .286/.351/.491 in 372 plate appearances as a part-time player with the Phils dating back to 2014 and is earning his first seven-figure salary this season after agreeing to a $1.45MM deal this winter. As Breen notes, it’s a considerable bump up from the $3,000 signing bonus he took as a 16-year-old out of Venezuela when the Royals were the lone Major League club to make him an offer at all.
Dodgers GM Farhan Zaidi isn’t tipping his hand as to when lefty Julio Urias will be promoted to the Majors, writes Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register. Zaidi said the 19-year-old top prospect will be in a Dodgers uniform “at some point” but elected to leave it at that for the time being. Manager Dave Roberts tells Plunkett that despite Urias’ dominance of Triple-A hitters at such a young age, he hasn’t lobbied with the front office to have the left-hander added to what has been an inconsistent Major League bullpen. The Dodgers have reportedly been considering Urias as a bullpen option, which could help them continue to gradually increase his workload, Plunkett notes. To this point in his career, Urias has never thrown more than six innings in a start or more than 87 2/3 innings in a season, so his workload is understandably a concern. Urias has already thrown 41 innings this year, including a streak of 27 shutout innings that is still intact.
Giants manager Bruce Bochy tells Alex Pavlovic of CSN Bay Area that he doesn’t have a leash on Jake Peavy despite the right-hander’s considerable struggles in 2016. There was some hope that Peavy may have turned a corner after a solid start in Arizona last weekend, but he lasted just 1 2/3 innings and surrendered five runs on Friday, causing his ERA to balloon to 8.21. “I think he’s close,” said Bochy. “The stuff is fine. He’s healthy and he’s close. He’s just got to be a little more consistent with execution.” The Giants have maintained that stance on Peavy and fellow right-hander Matt Cain throughout the duo’s problems this year. Cain has indeed turned a corner over his past three starts, but it’s hard not to wonder how long the Giants will stick with Peavy if he cannot undergo a similar resurgence in the very near future.

AL East Notes: Gallardo, Erasmo, Hill, Miller

By Mark Polishuk | May 22, 2016 at 8:25pm CDT

Yovani Gallardo threw a bullpen session this morning, the first time he has thrown off a mound since hitting the DL a month ago with shoulder tendinitis. Gallardo and Orioles manager Buck Showalter told reporters (including MLB.com’s Fabian Ardaya) that the righty could toss another bullpen and then a simulated game later this week, though much will depend on how Gallardo is feeling in the wake of today’s session. Here’s more from around the AL East…

Erasmo Ramirez has been a boon to the Rays in an old-school “fireman” relief role, able to pitch multiple innings at any point late in a game. R.J. Anderson of CBSSports.com explores why Ramirez has been an ideal fit for this role and how the Rays’ usage of the righty could inspire other teams to turn their own relievers into firemen.
It looks like the Red Sox made a mistake in letting Rich Hill get away in free agent last winter given how the veteran has pitched since joining the A’s, Peter Gammons writes in his latest GammonsDaily.com piece. With the A’s struggling and Hill standing out as possible deadline trade bait, Gammons suggests the Sox could re-acquire Hill to bolster the back half of their rotation.
The Hill-to-Boston scenario is also explored by ESPN’s Buster Olney in his latest subscription-only column, and he also opines that Yankees setup man Andrew Miller would be a great fit for the Giants. Miller is signed through 2018 so San Francisco would gain a long-term bullpen piece to guard against any of all of their top relievers (Santiago Casilla, Javier Lopez, Sergio Romo) leaving in free agency this winter. Miller’s availability could depend on whether or not the Yankees are still in a pennant race themselves, though Olney notes that New York has enough elite bullpen depth to shop Miller or Aroldis Chapman even if the club is in contention.
In other AL East news from earlier today, the Blue Jays have made Drew Storen available and the Red Sox are prepared to spend on midseason upgrades if necessary.

Tim Lincecum Taking Physical For Angels Today

By Steve Adams | May 19, 2016 at 3:10pm CDT

MAY 19: Lincecum is taking a physical for the Angels today and, if and when he passes, his deal with the team will be complete, reports Passan (Twitter link). Lincecum will head to the minors to build up endurance, per Passan, and Joel Sherman of the New York Post adds that the expectation is that he’ll need about 25 days to do so (links to Twitter). Also, per Sherman, the deal will not be official for another 48 to 72 hours, which aligns well with the fact that he’s getting his medical work done now.

MAY 18: The sides are still moving toward a deal, but likely won’t finalize things today, according to Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register (Twitter link).

MAY 17, 3:46pm: The two sides are indeed moving closer to a deal, but they’re “still working through a few issues” and the deal isn’t quite finished, tweets Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times.

2:39pm: Right-hander Tim Lincecum is “leaning toward” signing with the Angels and could wrap up a deal today, tweets MLB Network’s Jon Heyman. Meanwhile, Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports reports that the two sides are “closing in” on a deal, adding that the White Sox and Giants are out of the mix (links to Twitter). Passan adds that the dollars remain unknown, but the deal being discussed is a Major League pact. Lincecum is represented by the Beverly Hills Sports Council.

Lincecum, 32 in a month, underwent season-ending hip surgery early last September and spent the offseason recovering from the procedure. Initial reports pegged his first showcase for teams in late January to early February, but the audition was ultimately pushed back until early May. More than 20 clubs were said to have watched Lincecum throw back on May 6, though the three clubs listed by Passan above were the primary clubs said to have interest. ESPN’s Eric Longenhagen wrote following the showcase that Lincecum sat in the upper 80s to low 90s with his fastball and displaying a slider that looked above-average at times, a “generally average” curveball and a more inconsistent changeup.

Whether Lincecum can succeed as a starter in the Majors following the operation remains to be seen. While he was, of course, one of the most dominant pitchers in baseball shortly after his arrival on the scene in the Majors (back-to-back Cy Young Awards in 2008-09 and a 2.81 ERA in 881 2/3 innings from 2008-11), his production has deteriorated since his velocity began to drop off in 2012. Since that time, Lincecum has a 4.68 ERA in 615 2/3 innings of work, and his most recent big league action, last season, came with a fastball that averaged 87.2 mph in his 76 1/3 innings of work. Lincecum did have a very successful 2011 season sitting at about 92 mph with his fastball, so he doesn’t necessarily need the heater that averaged 94+ mph when he first broke into the Majors in order to succeed. However, the upper 80s and low 90s have been where he’s struggled for much of the past four seasons, so it’d be nice for the Halos if the velocity he showed at his audition continued to tick upward as he gets into game action.

Lincecum was said to be throwing about 90 pitches per outing in simulated games, though I’d imagine that he’ll still require some time in the minor leagues to re-acclimate with a game setting at the professional level. His preference all along has seemingly been to return to a rotation, and of the listed clubs, the injury-ravaged Angels present the clearest opportunity for him to do just that. The Angels have lost ace Garrett Richards to a significant elbow issue, while left-hander Andrew Heaney is on the DL indefinitely and is said to have some damage to his own UCL. Fellow left-hander C.J. Wilson has yet to pitch in 2016 and isn’t expected back for another month or so, and former ace Jered Weaver is sporting a 6.10 ERA with a fastball that is averaging just north of 82 mph this season. Meanwhile, rehabbing southpaw Tyler Skaggs has seen his return from Tommy John surgery slowed by other arm difficulties and hasn’t been pitching in game settings recently.

Suffice it to say, the Halos could use all the rotation depth they can get. A trade for Jhoulys Chacin last week helped to address the need to some extent, but with what figures to be a fairly reasonable price tag and an enormously attractive pedigree, Lincecum makes sense for the Angels as an upside play. Even in the event that he simply pitches more like a capable fourth starter than the ace he once was, Lincecum would be a dramatic improvement to the club’s rotation picture. And, if he continues to exhibit the same struggles he’s had in recent seasons, it’ll be easier for the Halos to move on than it would have been for a club like the Giants, with whom Lincecum has a storied history that could make a split between the two sides difficult from a public relations standpoiint.

Minor MLB Transactions: 5/16/16

By Steve Adams and Jeff Todd | May 16, 2016 at 6:06pm CDT

Here are today’s minor moves from around the league…

The Astros have released lefty Edwar Cabrera, Matt Eddy of Baseball America reports. He cracked the majors briefly back in 2012, and has consistently posted solid earned run averages throughout his minor league career, but was struggling at Triple-A in 2016. Over 11 1/3 frames, exclusively as a reliever, Cabrera has allowed ten earned runs and racked up a dozen walks to go with his 13 strikeouts.
Southpaw Dustin Richardson was cut loose by the Dodgers, also via Eddy. He had permitted six earned in 8 1/3 frames, with a 12:6 K/BB ratio. Richardson saw 29 total MLB appearances in 2009-10 with the Red Sox.
Among the Padres’ moves, per Eddy, the organization has released righty Greg Reynolds, who was the second overall selection of the 2006 draft. He struggled in three brief cracks at the big leagues, and was hit hard in his five starts this year at Triple-A, allowing twenty earned runs while recording just five strikeouts. Meanwhile, fellow right-hander Cory Mazzoni was re-signed to a minor league deal after being released, and was then shifted to the 60-day DL while he works his way back from shoulder surgery. The 26-year-old, a former second-round pick, briefly reached the majors last year.
The Giants added righty Preston Claiborne on a minor league deal, Eddy further notes. Claiborne, 28, has provided the Yankees with some useful innings, but hasn’t pitched competitively since 2014. He’s battled shoulder issues and was cut loose by the Marlins this spring.
The Angels have outrighted first baseman/Rule 5 pick Ji-Man Choi to Triple-A Salt Lake after he cleared waivers, and he accepted the assignment, tweets Adam Chodzko of the Angels’ media relations department. (Having been previously outrighted, Choi could have refused and elected free agency.) Choi, 24, saw just 24 plate appearances with the Halos this season and went 1-for-18, though he did draw six walks as well. That he cleared waivers means that all 29 other clubs, including the Orioles (from whom he was selected in last December’s Rule 5 Draft), passed on the opportunity to add him. With Trey Mancini and Christian Walker, two of the Orioles’ more highly regarded prospects, each present on the Triple-A Norfolk roster, it seems that Baltimore felt comfortable with its first base depth. Choi had only just signed a minors deal with the Orioles a couple of weeks prior to being taken in the Rule 5, so his history with the organization wasn’t particularly lengthy. He’ll now hope to build on his career .280/.379/.401 batting line at the Triple-A level and work his way back onto the Angels’ Major League roster.

Latest On Interest In Tim Lincecum

By Steve Adams | May 12, 2016 at 12:44pm CDT

Tim Lincecum has yet to sign following last Friday’s showcase, which was attended by roughly two-thirds of the league, but a handful of reports today has at least eliminated a few teams from consideration. Per Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (on Twitter), both the Padres and Mariners are out of the mix on Lincecum at this point. While some San Diego fans speculated that the Friars’ claim of Hector Sanchez, who caught Lincecum during the pair’s San Francisco days, could be related, Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune squashed that notion in relatively short order last night, tweeting that the Sanchez claim was unrelated to any pursuit of Lincecum and was instead merely about adding catching depth to the organization.

Beyond all of that, MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro tweets that the Marlins, too, are unlikely to make a play for the right-hander at this time. Those reports join previous word out of Baltimore and Arizona that the Orioles and D-backs, respectively, aren’t expected to pursue Lincecum, either.

Rosenthal adds (Twitter link) that the Angels, Giants and White Sox currently have the most interest in Lincecum, which is the same list of clubs reported to be most intrigued this past weekend, with the notable exclusion of the D-backs. Per Rosenthal, no decision is close. Any of the three make sense as a landing spot, though Giants manager Bruce Bochy said last week that the club was only interested in a relief role for Lincecum, and fallen ace Matt Cain delivered a strong showing in his most recent start, by dominating the Blue Jays over eight innings. The Angels, meanwhile, picked up one arm yesterday by acquiring Jhoulys Chacin from the Braves, and while it’s hard to imagine that lone pickup leaving the Halos feeling like they have sufficient depth in the rotation in the wake of all the injuries they’ve incurred, it probably does curb some of the urgency to seek further rotation help.

As for the White Sox, they have some options to replace the recently released John Danks (former Oriole Miguel Gonzalez is getting the first crack at the fifth spot), but the rotation is suspect beyond Chris Sale, Jose Quintana and Carlos Rodon. Mat Latos started the year strong, but his lack of strikeouts and considerable fortune on balls in play made him a clear regression candidate through his first several starts, and the wheels have begun to come off as of late.

Amid the considerable Lincecum chatter, it seems worth addressing that it’s been five years since he posted an ERA south of 4.00 in a season, making it likelier that he stabilizes the back end of a rotation than emerges as a revitalized top-of-the-rotation force. Lincecum did post a 4.37 ERA and come within arm’s reach of 200 innings as recently as 2013 even while averaging 90.4 mph on his fastball, so there’s certainly reason to express optimism that he can help a club in 2016 with the aid of improved health. However, fans hoping for a return to the levels displayed in his Cy Young heyday are probably overreaching.

NL West Notes: Bloomquist, Rodney, Rockies, Giants

By Steve Adams | May 10, 2016 at 11:17pm CDT

The Diamondbacks announced on Tuesday that they’ve hired Willie Bloomquist as a special assistant to president and CEO Derrick Hall, where he’ll contribute both to the business and baseball operations side of the organization. In his new role, Bloomquist, who announced his retirement as a player earlier this spring, will attend community events, meeti with corporate partners, interact with season ticket-holders, assist in Spring Training workouts and visit with the club’s Minor League affiliates over the course of the season. Bloomquist expressed excitement over once again being part of the D-backs organization, stating in a press release: “In my 14 seasons in MLB, this is where I feel I played my best baseball and made some of my fondest memories as a player. With the leadership this organization has in place, I am excited for what the future holds and am eager to do my part in helping make this a championship caliber organization and fulfill the goal of being World Series champions.” In parts of 14 MLB seasons, Bloomquist batted .269/.316/.342 and logged at least 200 innings at every position except catcher and pitcher.

Elsewhere in the NL West…

Padres bullpen coach Doug Bochtler, who helped former teammate Trevor Hoffman and former AL Cy Young winner Johan Santana refine their changeups, calls Fernando Rodney’s changeup one of the best he’s ever seen, writes Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union Tribune. While Rodney struggled tremendously in 2015, he’s off to an excellent start in 2016, displaying the same 96 mph heat he’s long been known for and showing renewed dominance with his changeup, yielding just a .080 average and generating a career-best 28.7 percent swinging-strike rate with the pitch. Rodney’s deal comes with just a $1.6MM base salary but allows him to earn up to $5MM this season based on appearances and games finished, Lin writes, and whatever incentives he earns in 2016 are tacked onto the value of next season’s club option (which has a $2MM base).
Nick Groke of the Denver Post spoke to Rockies farm director Zach Wilson, who said that the club doesn’t have a timeline for the promotion of some of its most promising young arms. As Groke writes, the club has, in the past, rushed pitchers such as Eddie Butler to the Majors out of necessity, but there’s no plan to repeat that mistake with the likes of right-hander Jeff Hoffman, left-hander Kyle Freeland and others. Groke provides a rundown of seven of the organization’s top minor league arms, with quotes from Wilson on many of them.
The Giants aren’t close to shaking up their rotation yet, writes Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle. While both Matt Cain and Jake Peavy have struggled tremendously this season, Schulman writes that club officials believe the experience of Peavy and Cain still gives them the best chance to win. However, Schulman also notes that there are some internal steps being taken that could eventually lead to rotation shuffling if neither starter can prove to be competitive on a regular basis; right-hander Joan Gregorio and left-hander Andrew Suarez have each been promoted (to Triple-A and Double-A, respectively), while 2014 first-rounder Tyler Beede has impressed thus far at Double-A. The Giants would like to see Chris Heston, who made 95 pitches in his latest outing, deliver consecutive starts in the vicinity of 100 pitches before considering him as a rotation option, Schulman adds. It’s worth noting, too, that while Peavy was again hit hard last night, Cain just minutes ago completed the eighth inning of an excellent start (two runs, six hits, no walks, seven strikeouts) against a very strong Blue Jays lineup.

Minor MLB Transactions: 5/10/16

By Jeff Todd | May 10, 2016 at 10:50am CDT

Here are the day’s minor moves:

Righty Vin Mazzaro has accepted an outright assignment with the Giants after clearing waivers, Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle reports on Twitter. Mazzaro, who was recently designated for assignment after a dreadful outing, would have had the option of declining the assignment given his prior outrights and service time. Instead, the 29-year-old will head to Triple-A, where he’ll wait for another major league opportunity. He was solid there in the early going this season, allowing just one earned run in 14 1/3 innings prior to his brief call-up.

Angels, ChiSox, D’Backs, Giants Showing Early Interest In Tim Lincecum

By Mark Polishuk | May 8, 2016 at 9:59pm CDT

The Angels, Diamondbacks, Giants and White Sox are the four teams who have been the quickest to show interest in Tim Lincecum, MLB Network’s Jon Heyman reports. The Padres are also expected to join the hunt to sign the two-time Cy Young Award winner. Given that the majority of MLB teams had scouts in attendance at Lincecum’s showcase on Friday, it wouldn’t be surprising to see more clubs emerge.

Lincecum has long been considered as a possibility to return to the Giants and there is mutual interest between the two sides, though it’s still unclear whether the club is adamant about using Lincecum only as a reliever or (as he prefers) as a starting pitcher. The Padres and Angels have also been linked to Lincecum, and given how both teams have been plagued by rotation injuries this season, they seem likely to be more open to using Lincecum as a starter.

The White Sox are a logical suitor for Lincecum given the club’s desire for rotation depth in the wake of John Danks’ release. Erik Johnson, Miguel Gonzalez, Jacob Turner and Chris Beck are all on hand as fifth starter options for Chicago, though Lincecum offers much more upside if he can even partially resemble his old Cy Young form. While Lincecum could be intrigued by the idea of joining the first-place Pale Hose, geography could be an issue if (as the Orioles’ Dan Duquette noted this morning) Lincecum indeed prefers to pitch for a team “west of the Mississippi.”

The D’Backs are a new name in the Lincecum sweepstakes. Arizona starters entered today’s action with a 5.41 ERA, the second-highest rotation ERA of any club in baseball. Zack Greinke sports a 5.15 ERA (though advanced metrics indicate that he has been unlucky), Shelby Miller has pitched very poorly and none of Patrick Corbin, Rubby De La Rosa and Robbie Ray have looked much more than average. Pitching at Chase Field could be something of a hard sell for Lincecum given that he would likely prefer to rebuild his value in a less hitter-friendly ballpark; he has a 4.72 ERA in 76 1/3 career innings at Chase Field against the Diamondbacks.

NL Notes: Cardinals, Belt, Bucs, Lincecum

By Connor Byrne | May 8, 2016 at 4:37pm CDT

In 2012, before shortstop Aledmys Diaz had left Cuba, Cardinals general manager John Mozeliak wondered why the Redbirds hadn’t been active in the Cuban market and pushed for organizational changes, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch details. “I was trying to find different ways to look at the future, and we were hearing a lot about Cubans signing, all the time, and not hearing much from us,” Mozeliak said. He added that the Cardinals “needed boots on the ground wherever a Cuban team played. We needed more information. We needed to learn more about the market so we could make better decisions.” The organization’s newfound focus on Cuba eventually led it to Diaz, whom it signed to a four-year, $8MM deal in March 2014. The Cardinals were patient with Diaz (now 25) – as evidenced by the fact that he didn’t make his major league debut until this year – which was a factor in his decision to sign with them. “I think in the end you’re looking for a good bonus, a good contract, but you also want a good reason (to sign),” Diaz said. “They showed me a lot. They gave me a lot of time.” Diaz has repaid the Cardinals’ patience with an astounding .400/.436/.695 batting line, five home runs and nearly as many walks (six) as strikeouts (eight) through his first 101 major league plate appearances.

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