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September Rule 5 Roundup

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This year’s Rule 5 draft class has shown that the Winter Meeting-capping selection process still has meaning. As Baseball America’s J.J. Cooper explained recently, a remarkably high-quality group of players swapped hands last December, and odds are that few of them will end up returning to their original teams.

For reference, here are the season’s leaderboards for the players who have accrued major league statistics, for both Rule 5 hitters and pitchers. Let’s have a look at where things stand with the season all but over (at least so far as Rule 5 roster considerations are concerned).

Keepers With Immediate Function

Far from clogging roster space, Odubel Herrera (Phillies), Delino DeShields Jr. (Rangers), and Mark Canha have all been heavily-used, productive contributors to their respective teams. Herrera, in particular, has been a revelation, tallying over three wins above replacement at 23 years of age.

On the pitching side of the equation, Mets selection Sean Gilmartin has been nothing short of excellent in his 45 2/3 frames with the club. The lefty has worked to a 2.56 ERA and seeming to be quite a useful asset moving forward.

Twins right-hander J.R. Graham, meanwhile, has exceeded Gilmartin in usage — he’s nearing sixty innings for a contending club — but hasn’t matched the results. Graham owns just a 5.09 ERA, though there are some signs of hope for the future. He has a respectable 7.3 K/9 against 2.6 BB/9 to go with a 46.8% groundball rate, and SIERA values his contributions at a solid 3.76.

Needless to say, all of the above players will be retained by their new organizations. While many Rule 5ers who are successfully acquired end up back in the minors following their season of limbo, the odds seem good that all of these players will once again be significant pieces of their teams’ puzzles in 2016.

Little-Used, Future-Looking Assets

Of course, there are other Rule 5 selections who are now all but certain to be kept. But the road traveled by their teams involved much more difficult roster juggling. As with Adrian Nieto (White Sox) and Wei-Chung Wang (Brewers) last year, these players were not significant contributors at the major league level despite taking up active roster spots all season long.

25-year-old infielder Taylor Featherston has had at least some function given his valuable glove, but has slashed just .156/.210/.227 in only 141 plate appearances for the Angels. He makes for a nice analogue to Nieto, who similarly was considered a quality defender up the middle who wasn’t quite ready for MLB pitching, but managed to hold on all season long. Featherston could follow suit and return to the minors next year.

This year’s first overall Rule 5 pick Oscar Hernandez missed the beginning of the season for the Diamondbacks when he hit the DL with a broken hamate bone. He was activated in early July, just in time to spend the required ninety days on the active roster to complete a Rule 5 acquisition. He’s slashed just .107/.219/.143 in a meager 33 plate appearances since that time, so he’s all but certain to be sent down in 2016.

Orioles righty Jason Garcia has only thrown 27 innings, posting a 4.33 ERA with 6.7 K/9 against 4.7 BB/9. Like Wang last year, a mid-season injury eased the active roster burden in his case. It’s not yet clear what will happen with Garcia next year, but it’s likely that he’ll go on optional assignment to develop as a starter.

Also set to be retained upon the conclusion of the 2015 season are lefties Andrew McKirahan (Braves) and David Rollins (Mariners). The two southpaws have had startlingly similar paths: PED suspensions that actually made it easier for their clubs to retain them, followed by fairly ugly earned run averages but reasonably promising peripherals in limited action. Both will cross the 90-day threshold this year, so they can be retained without requiring time on the roster to start 2016.

Still In Limbo

It is possible for a player to remain with a selecting team but still remain in limbo. That’s because of the aforementioned 90-day rule. Players that haven’t spent that much time on the active roster due to DL or suspension stints must first accrue the remainder in the following season before they can be permanently acquired. If and when they do reach that point, such players can be freely optioned to the minors by their new teams.

This year there is one such multi-year player: righty Daniel Winkler, was a Tommy John patient who was only just activated recently by the Braves after missing most of the year. Hhe’s yet to appear in competitive action for the Atlanta organization — in the minors or the majors — and had never seen big league action before the year. He’ll pick up just under a month of time on the active roster late this year, and will need to be on the club’s 25-man for about two months at the start of next season for his rights to be kept.

Already Returned

The ride was over months ago for a trio of hurlers: Jandel Gustave, Logan Verrett, and Andy Oliver. The first two were returned to their former teams, while Oliver hit free agency because he was a two-time Rule 5 pick. Interestingly, Verrett has played a reasonably significant role in the majors with his original team since being returned. He’s thrown 23 1/3 innings of 1.93 ERA ball, with 8.9 K/9 against 1.9 BB/9, for the soon-to-be NL East champs.

Cafardo On Chapman, Ausmus, Red Sox

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In today’s column, Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe looked at some potential options Red Sox president Dave Dombrowski can explore to help bolster the team’s bullpen.  Among the many names listed is Craig Kimbrel, who might not be made available.  San Diego didn’t deal Kimbrel at this year’s deadline, but the Padres likely want to reload with major league players, so Cafardo wonders aloud if the closer could be moved if it helps them  at third base, in the outfield, or the rotation. Here’s more from today’s column..

  • Will the Reds deal Aroldis Chapman this winter?  If they do, it would require a blockbuster package, as Reds exec Kevin Towers tells Cafardo.  Last month, Cafardo heard that the Reds were asking for an “incredibly unrealistic” return when the D’Backs and other clubs came calling for the closer at the deadline.
  • If the Tigers dismiss manager Brad Ausmus, he might not be unemployed for long.  Cafardo hears whispers in the industry that he would be a strong candidate to replace Padres’ interim skipper Pat Murphy to take the position.  Ausmus was a special assistant in San Diego before taking the Tigers job, so there’s certainly a familiarity there.
  • Speaking of Detroit, Dombrowski has a history with Ausmus, so Cafardo throws out the Red Sox possibility.  A report surfaced last week that the Tigers were planning on firing Ausmus, but GM Al Avila quickly issued a statement declaring that no decision would be made until the season was through.  Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports suspects that Ausmus will be dismissed.
  • Former Cubs manager Rick Renteria has had some “indirect feelers” from teams concerning managerial jobs, Cafardo writes. Renteria, of course, was displaced in Chicago last October when the club hired Joe Maddon.  Renteria is well-regarded around the game and the Cubs were effusive with praise for him when they let officially let him go on Halloween of last year.  The Tigers, Marlins, and Padres could all be possibilities for him, Cafardo writes.
  • Towers tells Cafardo that he has only heard about possible interest in him “through back channels” and has no idea if he’ll have a GM job next year. “I’m 53 and would love to get back in, but if it doesn’t happen I’m perfectly happy here with Walt [Jocketty]. It’s been fun going through our organization and evaluating our young talent.” Cafardo speculates that Towers, an Oregon native, could be a candidate with the Mariners.

AL West Notes: Melvin, A’s, Astros, Zunino

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At today’s press conference announcing his two-year extension with the Athletics, manager Bob Melvin acknowledged to reporters, including CSN Bay Area’s Joe Stiglich, that he recognizes the significance of being granted an extension despite the club’s last place standing. “It’s not lost on me that during a year like this, these are things that don’t typically happen, and I’m very fortunate and appreciative of that,” said Melvin. “The one thing the front office always has done for me here is given me good players. I believe we’ve underachieved this year, and I’m responsible for that.” Specifically, Melvin referenced the team’s struggles in one-run games, taking the blame for not using the right players to finish out such contests while preserving the lead. GM Billy Beane said that he closely examined his options when he initially hired Melvin and felt him the best person to guide the next generation of A’s players, and he feels that Melvin is still the best choice. As Beane explains, he didn’t want the question of Melvin’s contract status coming up next season, so he elected to proactively address the issue.

Here’s more from the AL West…

  • Beane also said today that he’s not planning on trading away the team’s best prospects this offseason, tweets Stiglich. Rather, the GM hopes to see his top talent develop into pieces that can contribute in the near future. If he holds to that approach, it’ll be slightly different than the one Beane has taken over the past 14 months or so. The A’s have traded many prospects since last July — most notably Addison Russell — although Beane has also added quite a bit of young talent, including Marcus Semien, Franklin Barreto, Kendall Graveman, Sean Nolin and Brett Lawrie (though Lawrie, of course, was not a prospect at the time of his acquisition).
  • Evan Drellich of the Houston Chronicle examines the way in which the Astros came to acquire prospects David Paulino and Francis Martes. The primary reason, Drellich writes, is a scouting system set up by director Kevin Goldstein in which he placed a greater-than-normal focus on scouting low-level minor leaguers due to the team’s standing when he assumed the role in 2013. GM Jeff Luhnow explained the idea behind the team’s scouting efforts. “We were, we knew we were in a position where we had a lot of already interesting prospects at the upper levels and we could afford to take some fliers on some guys that were further away,” said Luhnow. “…And as a result of (Goldstein’s system), we had good reports on players that maybe another organization might not have even seen, or might have had only one report on. Whenever you’re asking for the third player in the trade, and he’s a rookie ball player or a Low A ball player, those guys are far away. They’re — it’s like rolling the dice. But in the case of both Paulino and Martes, Kevin and his scouts did a tremendous job of identifying those guys.”
  • Although Mike Zunino won’t be called up to the Mariners this September and will instead report to the instructional league, Seattle is not giving up on the young catcher by any means, writes Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times. “Mike is still very much in our future,” manager Lloyd McClendon told Divish. “Going into spring training next year, I will consider him my everyday catcher. We thought this was the best path moving forward for his career.” Zunino is part of a Mariners catching contingent, which, as noted by Fangraphs’ Jeff Sullivan, is on pace for a historically bad offensive campaign. However, the former No. 3 overall pick has shown plenty of pop in his career and is a strong defender, so the Mariners are being patient in their hopes that he could yet turn into a strong all-around option at the plate.

Front Office Notes: Jennings, Brooks, Eppler, Nationals

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Dan Jennings has a standing offer from the Marlins to return to the GM seat, but has not yet informed the team whether he will accept, Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald reports. Miami seemingly expects that Jennings will slot back in at that role, unless he is able to land a job elsewhere with more conclusive decisionmaking authority. As the Fish continue their front office maneuvering, the club has hired Marc DelPiano as VP of player development, MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro reports on Twitter.

Here’s more on some front office and managerial situations around the league …

  • The Brewers are set to interview Pirates director of player personnel Tyrone Brooks for the open GM position in Milwaukee, Bob Nightengale of USA Today reports on Twitter. We have heard some chatter about possible names to watch for the Brewers, but it appears that Brooks is the first reported candidate to receive an interview. Brooks has held his current role in Pittsburgh for about four years, overseeing an impressive delivery of young talent onto the big league roster. He gave an interesting interview with MLB.com’s Jenifer Langosch back when he received that promotion, acknowledging at the time that he ultimately hoped to keep climbing the front office ladder.
  • Both the Mariners and Angels have been given permission to interview Yankees assistant GM Billy Eppler, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports tweets. Eppler has long been considered a top general manager candidate, and interviewed with several teams in the past, so it’s no surprise to hear his name linked to multiple openings.
  • The Nationals have dropped two straight to the Mets in hard-to-believe fashion, squandering an opportunity to re-start the division race in the season’s final weeks. Barry Svrluga of the Washington Post encapsulates the situation well in his piece on the frustrating turn of events. Despite the obvious cause for disappointment, GM Mike Rizzo says there is no consideration to making a late-season change at manager. “Matt Williams is our manager,” said Rizzo, “and he’s going to lead us through this stretch. I’ve always supported him. We’re not going to talk about 2016 while 2015 is ongoing.” Rizzo himself is not believed to have any job security issues, says Svrluga, though he adds that the team’s ownership can be “opaque” in its decisionmaking.

AL West Notes: Dipoto, Zunino, Skaggs, Paulino

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Former Angels GM Jerry Dipoto is expected to be the first external candidate to interview for the Mariners’ GM vacancy, reports Bob Nightengale of USA Today (Twitter link). Dipoto resigned this summer after a highly publicized feud with Halos skipper Mike Scioscia and has since taken an advisory role with the Red Sox. The Mariners fired Jack Zduriencik in late August and are said to prefer an experienced general manager to step into the GM’s chair.

Here’s more from the AL West…

  • Mike Zunino won’t return to the Mariners in 2015, writes Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times. Instead of being recalled to the big league roster in September, he will report to the instructional league to “overhaul” his swing with hitting coach Cory Snyder and Edgar Martinez. The 24-year-old Zunino, formerly the No. 3 overall pick in the draft, batted just .174/.230/.300 in 386 plate appearances this season. Zunino unquestionably has power — he hit 22 homers in 2015 — and is considered a very strong defender, but he’s highly strikeout prone and has a career .193 average/.252 OBP. Many feel that he was rushed to the Majors, and for what it’s worth, he obliterated Triple-A pitching in a small sample after being demoted the day Zduriencik was fired.
  • Angels left-hander Tyler Skaggs — a player for whom Dipoto traded on two separate occasions — tells Mike DiGiovanna of the L.A. Times the he, his agent, his doctor and the Angels will discuss an innings limit for 2016 this offseason. Skaggs will enter the 2016 campaign about 18 months removed from Tommy John surgery. The story, of course, comes in the wake of the Matt Harvey controversy — a scenario which Skaggs says he wants to avoid.
  • David Paulino, whom the Astros acquired in the 2013 trade that sent Jose Veras to the Tigers, has shown very serious big league potential and emerged as a “steal” for Houston, opines Fangraphs scribe James Chipman. Paulino has battled injuries throughout his pro career but has made huge strides with his fastball and curveball over the past nine months, writes Chipman. If he can hone his changeup, he’s a potential mid-rotation arm, but if not, he could still be a high-leverage reliever. Chipman’s piece includes video and a full scouting report.

Added To 40-Man Rosters: O’Brien, Stauffer, Hill, Baron, Ramirez

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With Triple-A seasons coming to a close, there’s been another wave of players whose contracts of have been selected to their respective teams’ 40-man rosters. Here’s a list of today’s 40-man moves…

  • The D-Backs announced that they’ve selected the contract of slugging prospect Peter O’Brien. The catcher-turned-outfielder was the key piece that Arizona picked up from the Yankees in last summer’s Martin Prado swap. The 25-year-old O’Brien batted .284/.332/.551 and belted 26 homers this season for Triple-A Reno. The knock on O’Brien has long been his lack of a true position. Arizona seemed to be of the belief that he could remain behind the plate, but that’s no longer the case, as he’s been shifted to the outfield. That thinking led the D-Backs to leave their catching vacancy largely unaddressed this winter, although the midseason acquisition of Welington Castillo has certainly shored things up on that front. Evan Marshall was moved to the 60-day DL to accommodate O’Brien’s addition.
  • The Mets have selected Tim Stauffer’s contract, tweets Adam Rubin of ESPN New York. Stauffer, who can serve in a long relief capacity for manager Terry Collins, began the season with the Twins after signing a one-year, $2.2MM contract as a free agent. The longtime Padres hurler got off to a dreadful start in Minneapolis, though, posting a 6.60 ERA in 15 innings before being released. Stauffer went to indy ball, pitching 16 innings for the Sugar Land Skeeters before the Mets signed him to a minor league deal. He notched a 2.48 ERA in eight Triple-A starts for the Mets.
  • The Red Sox have selected Rich Hill’s contract, as first reported by Brian MacPherson of the Providence Journal (Twitter link). The 35-year-old spent parts of three seasons in Boston from 2010-12 and had a 2.83 ERA in 54 innings between the Triple-A affiliates for the Red Sox and Yankees. He also had a brief stop in indy ball this season, pitching well in 11 frames for the Long Island Ducks.
  • The Mariners announced that they’ve selected the contracts of catcher Steven Baron and right-hander J.C. Ramirez. Baron, 24, hit .265/.334/.361 between Double-A and Triple-A this season, catching 28 percent of opposing base stealers. As for Ramirez, the 27-year-old has a strong 2.72 ERA at the Triple-A level this season and also worked to a 4.11 ERA in 15 1/3 innings with the Diamondbacks. Seattle picked him up from the D-Backs in exchange for cash considerations in late July. Charlie Furbush was transferred to the 60-day DL in order to clear room for one of the two additions.

West Notes: International, Leake, Morneau

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Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times breaks down the international bonus pool game undertaken each year by major league clubs. The Mariners, for instance, were able to free some extra spending capacity in the recent Austin Jackson deal, taking a slot from a team (the Cubs) that had already committed to exceed its own limit and take on the resulting penalties. It’s a good breakdown of a somewhat convoluted system for those who wonder how it works.

Here are a few notes from out west to end the evening:

  • There appears to be some mutual interest in a continued relationship between the Giants and recently-acquired righty Mike Leake, as Andrew Baggarly of the Mercury News reports on Twitter. Manager Bruce Bochy likes what he’s seen from the 27-year-old workhorse, who has pitched to a 3.16 in his 25 2/3 frames with his new club. And it appears that Leake is pleased thus far with his new environs. Of course, he figures to receive a wide range of interest on the coming free agent market. Though he’s never been a dominant pitcher, Leake offers a nice package of youth, health, and consistently solid production.
  • Rockies first baseman Justin Morneau discusses his latest comeback effort with MLB.com’s Tracy Ringolsby, saying that he understands the need to careful given his history of concussions. Those unfortunate injuries changed his career trajectory, of course, but he’s still a useful big league player at age 34. Morneau says he’s increasingly worked to take excellent care of his body as he’s gotten older, but like most regulars has always played through typical bumps and bruises. He will return to the open market after the season unless both he and Colorado exercise a $9MM mutual option.

AL West Notes: Zych, Zito, A’s, Astros

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Mariners right-hander Tony Zych made his Major League debut on Friday night and gained an unusual distinction in the process.  Of the thousands of players who have appeared in an MLB game, Zych is now alphabetically last on the list, replacing past Dutch Zwilling (who last played in 1916).  “Breaking a record is pretty cool. I really didn’t have to do much for that one,” Zych tells Bob Dutton of the Tacoma News Tribune.  As Dutton notes, the Mariners have also previously employed the first player alphabetically in baseball history (David Aardsma) and the first player with a hyphenated name (Ryan Rowland-Smith).  Here’s more from around the AL West…

  • Barry Zito has heard from the Athletics that he won’t be called up this month, the veteran southpaw tells Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle.  Zito last pitched in the majors in 2013 and sat out 2014 before signing a minor league deal with the A’s last February.  He’s posted a 3.48 ERA, 5.9 K/9 and 1.50 K/BB rate over 137 innings this season though he hasn’t pitched in over a month due to shoulder tendinitis.  Zito will complete his recovery throwing program to give himself the option of continuing his career, though this could well be it for the former Cy Young Award winner.
  • Also from Slusser, she notes that a number of scouts were in attendance to specifically watch A’s righty Jesse Chavez in his most recent start.  Chavez is “coveted by many teams for his versatility” and is “unlikely to be in next year’s rotation,” Slusser writes.  Chavez drew some trade buzz prior to this year’s deadline and eligible for free agency after the 2016 season, so it makes sense that the A’s could explore dealing him now with so much interest in his services.
  • The Astros’ run to the top of the AL West has produced only a modest increase in attendance, Evan Drellich of the Houston Chronicle writes.  A number of factors are cited, perhaps chiefly that Houston fans may simply be a bit slow to jump back on the bandwagon since the Astros had been so terrible in recent seasons.  Drellich also looks at some of the ways in which all MLB teams share marketing and ticketing strategies with the rest of the league.
  • Astros closer Luke Gregerson finished his 45th game of the season today, earning him an extra $250K in salary for 2016, as noted by Drellich (Twitter link).  Gregerson has pitched very well in the first year of his three-year, $18.5MM deal with Houston and with the bonus, his 2016 salary now jumps to $6.5MM.  More bonus money is still available, as he’ll earn another $250K at each of the 50-, 55- and 57-finish thresholds.
  • Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times breaks down the pros and cons of four candidates for the Mariners’ GM job.  Of the names listed, Divish thinks former Angels GM Jerry Dipoto could be the favorite, as Dipoto was a finalist for the Seattle job before Jack Zduriencik was hired.
  • Shane Victorino has embraced his platoon role since joining the Angels in the name of helping the club, he tells MLB.com’s Alden Gonzalez.  Still, the veteran outfielder says he hopes to return to full-time action next season and is planning to retrain himself to switch-hit after injuries forced him to become a full-time righty bat in 2013.

Mariners Outright Lucas Luetge

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The Mariners have announced that they’ve outrighted lefty Lucas Luetge to Triple-A Tacoma. The Mariners’ 40-man roster now contains 39 players.

The 28-year-old Luetge was a relatively productive part of the Mariners’ bullpen in 2012 after they took him from the Brewers in the Rule 5 Draft. He also made 35 big-league appearances in 2013. Since then, though, he’s played sparingly at the Major League level and has struggled with walks in his infrequent appearances. He’s spent most of this season with Tacoma and hasn’t gotten great results, posting a 5.69 ERA, 6.8 K/9 and 4.2 BB/9 in 49 innings there. For his big-league career, Luetge has a 4.35 ERA, 7.5 K/9 and 4.8 BB/9 in 74 innings.

Heyman’s Latest: Williams, Collins, ChiSox, Keuchel, Halos, Dietrich

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In today’s edition of his weekly Inside Baseball column, Jon Heyman of CBS Sports begins by highlighting the fact that the NL East division title race will determine the fate of Nationals manager Matt Williams and Mets manager Terry Collins. Heyman writes that while Nats GM Mike Rizzo has repeatedly backed Williams, Rizzo is something of a “chorus of one” — publicly, at least. Ownership is extremely frustrated with the team’s recent play, and Heyman points out that it may also be telling that amid multiple reports of players disliking his rigid demeanor, not one player from the Nats has stepped forward to defend Williams. Ownership has already discussed dismissing Williams, Heyman adds. Collins, on the other hand, is in line for a new contract if and when the Mets reach the postseason. Falling behind the Nats and missing the playoffs, though, would harken back to 2007’s epic collapse and almost certainly cost Collins his job. Then again, the Mets have remaining series against the Reds, Braves, Phillies and Marlins, as Heyman points out, so a collapse seems particularly unlikely.

Some other highlights from the column…

  • Jeff Samardzija and another unknown White Sox player were both claimed on the same day that the Yankees claimed David Robertson, Heyman reports. However, the Samardzija claim was, like the Robertson claim, primarily a blocking tactic. Heyman notes that while Samardzija has had a very poor contract season, scouts still love his build, athleticism and competitiveness.
  • Dallas Keuchel and the Astros have tabled extension talks until after the season, per Heyman. Houston hopes to lock its ace up on at least a four-year deal — that’d cover his arbitration years and one free agent season — though as I noted when word of discussions between the two sides broke, Keuchel’s currently slated to hit the open market heading into his age-31 season. Delaying his free agency by even one year would probably put a five-year max on the free-agent deal Keuchel could secure, as teams rarely guarantee pitchers’ age-37 seasons in long-term deals.
  • Regarding the Angels’ GM vacancy, Heyman characterizes recent interviews of internal candidates Matt Klentak and Scott Servais (both assistant GMs) as “perfunctory,” believing an outside hire to be the probably outcome. Klentak could stay on in a role similar to his own, whereas Servais is said by Heyman to be more at odds with manager Mike Scioscia. Kevin Towers, Ned Colletti and Yankees AGM Billy Eppler are all listed as speculative candidates by Heyman.
  • The Dodgers took on about $150K of the remaining $450K on Justin Ruggiano’s salary when they acquired him from the Mariners.
  • The Marlins are coming around on the idea of Derek Dietrich as a Ben Zobrist/Josh Harrison type of player that can play everyday in part due to his versatility. While Dietrich’s defense isn’t on the same level as that highly valuable duo, the Marlins see him as an athletic bat with 25-homer upside. The 26-year-old Dietrich is hitting .263/.359/.514 in spite of a cavernous home park (138 OPS+) and has smashed 10 homers in 64 games while seeing time at first base, third base and in the corner outfield. None of those are even his natural position, but he’s blocked at second base by Dee Gordon, of course.
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