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Cardinals Release Luke Gregerson

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The Cardinals announced Monday that they’ve requested unconditional release waivers on right-hander Luke Gregerson. He’ll become a free agent once he (presumably) clears waivers in 48 hours. Gregerson was previously designated for assignment Friday evening.

Gregerson, 35, signed a two-year, $11MM contract with the Cardinals in a 2017-18 offseason during which the bullpen was a major focus. Gregerson joined Greg Holland and Dominic Leone as fresh faces brought into the St. Louis relief corps that winter, but none of the three proved to be a viable contributor for the Cards.

Gregerson is being paid $5MM in 2019 and is still owed about $3.575MM of that sum plus a $1MM buyout on an option for the 2020 season. Given that salary and his struggles since signing in St. Louis, he’ll almost certainly go unclaimed and then become a free agent who can sign with any club for the prorated league minimum through season’s end. The Cardinals would then see that sum subtracted from their own obligation to Gregerson through season’s end.

A hamstring strain and a shoulder impingement limited Gregerson to just 12 2/3 innings in 2018, and those shoulder troubles lingered into the 2019 campaign. He missed the first month-plus of the season due to that shoulder, and the effects may well have impacted him upon his return. While he’s never been a hard thrower, Gregerson found success with the Padres and Astros with a fastball that averaged around 89.5 mph; however, his heater averaged just 87.8 mph in 2018 and 86.7 mph in this season’s even more limited sample.

Gregerson was designated for assignment just 13 days after being activated from the injured list. In all, Gregerson will throw only 18 1/3 innings at the MLB level as a Cardinal. In that time, he posted a 7.36 ERA with a 14-to-7 K/BB ratio and 25 hits allowed (including a pair of homers). That said, he has a solid track record as a setup man and occasional closer. In 599 career innings prior to signing with the Cardinals, Gregerson owned a 3.02 ERA with 9.1 K/9, 2.6 BB/9, 0.8 HR/9 and a 51 percent ground-ball rate.

Cardinals Designate Luke Gregerson, Option Dominic Leone

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The Cardinals have designated veteran reliever Luke Gregerson for assignment, per a club announcement. Fellow right-hander Dominic Leone was optioned down to create another active roster spot.

Those moves will clear the way for two other hurlers. The club has activated righty Carlos Martinez, who was expected to be brought back in a relief capacity this weekend after opening the year on the injured list due to shoulder issues. It has also called up righty Ryan Helsley.

Gregerson, who recently turned 35, is one of several recent free-agent bullpen additions that hasn’t worked out for the Cards. He has allowed 7.36 earned runs per nine in his 18 1/3 innings with the club since the start of 2018, a disappointing turn for a long-excellent hurler.

Injuries have taken a toll, with Gregerson’s stuff suffering. Since returning this year after undergoing knee surgery in 2018, he has shown a notable velocity decline and managed only a 4.8% swinging-strike rate — less than a third his career average of 15.0%.

The Cards will eat the remainder of the money owed to Gregerson, including the balance of his $5MM salary this season and a $1MM buyout. The deal included a club/vesting option for 2020.

Leone has also been a frustrating piece for the Cards since coming over via trade in advance of the ’18 campaign. He’s carrying 11.4 K/9 in the early going but has also dished out 4.6 free passes and surrendered 2.1 home runs per nine innings. Through 21 1/3 frames, Leone has been tagged for 19 earned runs.

The Cardinals will continue to pay Leon’s $1.26MM salary. He only just tallied enough MLB service to push into the 4+ service class, so the timing of his (hopeful) return to the majors won’t impact his arb status. But it certainly will play a significant role in what he can command via arbitration and whether he’s tendered a contract this fall.

Cardinals Expected To Activate Carlos Martinez

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May 17: Martinez is likely to be activated before tomorrow’s game, per MLB.com’s Jenifer Langosch.

May 12: Cardinals right-hander Carlos Martinez, who has yet to appear in an MLB game this season, could rejoin the Cardinals as early as this weekend, per Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Martinez has been dealing with shoulder issues for the last couple of months, holding him out of action for the first quarter of the season. He recently began rehabbing in the minor leagues, making one appearance at Class-A and three more at the Triple-A level, all out of the bullpen. It would be a welcome sight for the Cardinals to add Martinez, who has an impressive history both as a starter and a reliever, to the existing bullpen mix. He offers a high-leverage option, as well as a potential multi-inning threat to bridge the gap to closer Jordan Hicks.

Goold notes that Martinez is scheduled to pitch for Memphis on Sunday and Springfield, the Cards’ Double-A affiliate, on Wednesday, at which point the Cardinals will evaluate whether he is able to join the Major League team for its weekend series in Arlington against the Rangers. If the team is indeed comfortable adding Martinez to the roster, he will slot into a bullpen role, bolstering a unit that has enjoyed stellar performances from Hicks, John Gant, and John Brebbia. On the other hand, the club could decide that Martinez needs more rehab time and revisit the issue at a later date.

Of course, Martinez returning would require a corresponding roster move. In that case, Luke Gregerson is perhaps the most obvious candidate to be replaced, though Dominic Leone could also be fit for a demotion, with his ERA ballooning to an unsightly 8.20 after an impressive start to the season. Gregerson, who is owed $5MM this season, has made just three appearances for the Cardinals in 2019, but has allowed 3 runs in those games and doesn’t have a history of success with the Cardinals; the veteran righty posted a 7.11 ERA last season, his first in St. Louis.

Marcell Ozuna Hires MDR Sports Management

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Cardinals outfielder Marcell Ozuna has hired MDR Sports Management to represent him, the agency announced. He’s preparing for free agency after earning $12.25MM this season, his final arbitration campaign.

Ozuna’s new reps have a clear focus on Latin American ballplayers. Their lengthy client list includes one player of particular note: Ozuna’s teammate and Cardinals fixture Yadier Molina.

With the season well underway, and the Cardinals having recently committed future dollars to several other veteran players, the focus for Ozuna and company will likely be on the open market. After a flurry of extensions and a strong start to the season for Ozuna, he checked in at the number three position on MLBTR’s Free Agent Power Rankings.

But it’s at least theoretically possible that extension talks could still take place. MDR has negotiated three extensions with the Cards on Molina’s behalf. Before he was dealt to St. Louis, Ozuna was approached by the Marlins about a long-term deal. He reportedly rebuffed the Miami organization’s advance due in part to the advice of previous agent Scott Boras.

As always, check out MLBTR’s Agency Database for representation information.

Details On Madison Bumgarner’s No Trade List

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The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal has the details on Giants lefty Madison Bumgarner’s limited no-trade list, which, per the five-year, $35MM extension (plus 2018 and ’19 option years) he signed prior to the 2013 season, may contain up to eight teams. The four-time all-star may reportedly block trades to the Braves, Red Sox, Cubs, Astros, Brewers, Yankees, Phillies, and Cardinals at the upcoming trade deadline.

If the list seems curious for its contender bent, it’s by design: Bumgarner’s reps seem to have carefully selected the teams most apt to pursue the lefty for a pennant push later this season. High-profile players can often negotiate some sort of compensatory bonus if they’re moved to a team on their restricted list at any point during that contract, and the former World Series hero seems no exception.

Atlanta, it seems, is the dead giveaway here – Bumgarner grew up deep in the North Carolina hills, the nether regions of the far-reaching heart of Braves country, and was raised a die-hard Atlanta devotee. He’d surely jump at the opportunity to join a pennant-chasing Braves team, one that will likely have rising stars Mike Soroka and Max Fried on a strict innings limit as the season progresses, though whether the suddenly stingy Atlanta front office will have interest is an altogether different conversation.

As Alex Pavlovic of NBC Bay Area explains, there’s been no indication that Bumgarner will block deals to any of the teams included on his list, though explicit comments from the hurler on the matter are as yet in the dark. SNY’s Andy Martino tweets that the Yankees, Bumgarner’s most-connected suitor, are “not particularly high” on the lefty, an impression that could certainly shift with another couple months’ strong performance, coupled with a continued depletion of the team’s starting staff.

After two injury-riddled seasons, in which Bumgarner’s peripherals slumped considerably, the one-time ace has rekindled some of his mid-decade mojo: his 84 xFIP- and 91.8 average fastball velocity are his best marks in the categories since the 2015 season, and his 11.5% swinging strike rate has jumped to above his career average. He’s again striking out over a batter per nine, and his BB rate has swung back to barely-traceable levels, with the 1.45 mark actually the lowest of his career.

If there’s an area of concern, it’s the ground-ball rate, which has plummeted to a career-low 36.8%, leaving the 10-year vet more vulnerable than ever to the longball. There’s also, of course, his status as a rental: teams are more loath than ever to give up high quality talent for just two-plus months of even a star player, and Bumgarner, even during his heyday, was always closer to third starter than ace.

His postseason reputation precedes – no, surrounds – him, though modern front offices won’t fall prey to the blue ox beside his Paul Bunyan October lore, and are now much more likely to consider the sample in which it was done. Indeed, Bumgarner’s 93 career xFIP- in the postseason – interestingly a mark considerably worse than late-season whipping boy Clayton Kershaw’s 82 figure – is a fact which, if ever relevant at the outset, almost certainly won’t be dismissed in considerations.

There’s also the matter of Giants majority owner Charles Johnson, of whom Bumgarner is said to be a favorite, and an ownership group that’s always willing to shell out for hometown stars of seasons past. The Bumgarner saga may drag on well into the summer, but it’s still a distinct possibility the lefty will stay in San Fran for the long haul.

Rehab Updates: Ohtani, Gennett, Reed, Sano, Martinez

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The Angels are slated to welcome back reigning Rookie of the Year Shohei Ohtani, an exciting development for a team that could use a jolt. He’s not going anywhere near the pitching mound this season, which limits his value, but it’s intriguing to wonder whether that’ll actually open the door to even greater offensive output from the two-way performer. You might anticipate just that if you peruse Fabian Ardaya’s profile of Ohtani at The Athletic (subscription link), which paints a picture of a player with immense physical abilities, learning capacity, and competitiveness.

  • The progress has been steady for Reds second baseman Scooter Gennett, as MLB.com’s Mark Sheldon reports. He’s still at least a week or two away from on-field activities; there’s good reason not to rush his return from a significant groin strain. Gennett indicates that he’s doing well with walking and jogging, but feels weakness and is still avoiding quick directional changes to avoid aggravating the injury.
  • Righty Addison Reed is launching a rehab assignment as he returns from a left thumb strain, as LaVelle E. Neal III of the Star Tribune was among those to report. Given the nature of the injury it would stand to reason that Reed could work back quickly, but it doesn’t sound as if the team is in a particular rush. GM Thad Levine explained that the club assigned Reed straight to Triple-A in order to give him a long look at advanced competition. Beyond the injury, the veteran reliever is looking to regain his form after a subpar 2018 season.
  • In another update from the Twins organization, it doesn’t sound as if there’s a huge rush to move slugger Miguel Sano back up the ladder. He’s currently working at Double-A. In that case, though, there’s a May 20th deadline to wrap up the rehab assignment.
  • Cardinals righty Carlos Martinez is moving his rehab assignment up to Triple-A, as MLB.com’s Jenifer Langosch tweeted. It seems promising that he’s heading right to Memphis after one game at the class A level. Martinez could be a MLB option rather soon; given that he’s returning in a relief capacity, he won’t need to build up his pitch count.

Cardinals Planning To Activate Luke Gregerson, Send Tyler O’Neill To Triple-A,

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The Cardinals plan to send Tyler O’Neill to Triple-A where he can get more regular playing time. Luke Gregerson – whose rehab time ended on Friday – will join the big league club, per MLB.com’s Jenifer Langosch (via Twitter).

As Gregerson’s rehab time ran out, the Cardinals had to either add him to the major league roster or risk losing him. Giovanny Gallegos has an option remaining, but he has proven a valuable piece in the Cards pen, per Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Through ten appearances, Gallegos, 27, struck out a whopping 15.4 batters per nine innings with a 3.86 ERA. The bullpen only figures to get more crowded moving forward as Carlos Martinez prepares to begin a rehab stint with Low-A Peoria on Sunday.

Gregerson, who turns 35-years-old on May 14th, was a stud pen arm from 2009-2016 with an even 33-33 record and 2.84 ERA across 558 games for the Padres, A’s, and Astros. But he was lit up to the tune of a 7.11 ERA over 17 appearances for the Cards in 2018 before hitting the injured list in May and undergoing arthroscopic knee surgery in June. Prior to 2018, the Cardinals signed Gregerson to a two-year, $10MM contract with a vesting option for 2020 that is all but moot at this point. He would need to appear in 60 games from here on out for his $6MM option to vest.

O’Neill, 23, has shown significant power potential, but playing time has been sparse. He has seen only five starts despite appearing in 21 games overall. Serving mostly as a pinch-hitter, O’Neill has slashed .263/.282/.395. He hasn’t yet displayed the power that is a hallmark of his game, but he also has yet to play a full game on back-to-back days. Marcell Ozuna, Harrison Bader, and Jose Martinez are off to great starts this year, as is veteran Dexter Fowler, reducing O’Neill’s role to that of fifth outfielder/pinch-hitter.

Cardinals Trade Francisco Pena To Giants

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The Giants announced Thursday that they’ve acquired catcher Francisco Pena from the Cardinals in exchange for cash. Pena, who was not on the St. Louis 40-man roster, will report to Triple-A Sacramento.

San Francisco recently brought veteran backstop Stephen Vogt from Sacramento up to the big leagues, so Pena will step into the spot that had previously been occupied by Vogt. In six games for Triple-A Memphis so far in 2019, Pena has batted .333/.429/.611 with a homer in 21 plate appearances, although that type of production shouldn’t be expected moving forward. Pena is a career .216/.249/.311 hitter at the MLB level and owns a .253/.298/.455 slash in just under 1400 PAs at the Triple-A level. Pena, 29, has caught 32 percent of would-be base thieves at the Triple-A level in his career and has generally received positive marks for pitch framing, though he did struggle in that regard both in the Majors and the minors with the Cards last season.

Stockpiling depth behind the plate has been a clear priority for new Giants president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi in the first year of his tenure with his new organization. Under Zaidi, the Giants have signed or acquired Vogt, Pena, Erik Kratz, Tom Murphy and Rene Rivera, although the latter two are no longer in the organization. (Murphy was traded to the Mariners, while Rivera was released and signed with the Mets on a minor league deal.)

Quick Hits: Cards, Martinez, Reyes, Royals, Goodwin, Yanks, Ellsbury

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Cardinals right-hander Carlos Martinez, whose injured shoulder has kept him out of action this year, is “expected” to return at some point next month, Rick Hummel of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch writes. “I feel so much better. Right now I’m 85 percent, 90 percent,” Martinez declared. “In two weeks … I think I’m going to be great. When I come back to the major leagues, I’m going to be 100 percent.” The electrifying 27-year-old has flashed front-line starter potential during his career, but thanks in part to his own wishes, he’ll work out of the Cardinals’ bullpen when he comes back. However, Martinez’s goal is to rejoin the Redbirds’ rotation after the All-Star break, Hummel relays. Meanwhile, though there’s no official timetable for fellow banged-up Cardinals righty Mike Mayers’ return, he’s aiming for July. The reliever went to the injured list April 16 with a strained lat.

More from St. Louis and a couple other big league cities…

  • Martinez and Mayers certainly aren’t dealing with embarrassing injuries, but the same isn’t true for teammate Alex Reyes. The prized 24-year-old suffered a fractured left pinky after punching a wall following his most recent Triple-A start, general manager Michael Girsch told Derrick Goold of the Post-Dispatch and other reporters Sunday. Reyes will now head to the Cardinals’ facility in Jupiter, Fla., to continue building his arm up, though this injury likely leaves the righty at least a month from returning to St. Louis, per Goold.
  • Outfielder Brian Goodwin was on release waivers a month ago, when the Royals cut him in favor of Lucas Duda. All Goodwin has done since then is slash .333/.430/.556 in 87 plate appearances as a member of the Angels, making him one of the game’s elite hitters in the early going. The Royals could end up ruing their decision to part with Goodwin, but manager Ned Yost and GM Dayton Moore explained to Lynn Worthy of the Kansas City Star that they don’t regret the choice. Yost noted that Goodwin has struggled as a pinch hitter, which played a part in the Royals’ decision to release him, and observed that “it just made more sense” to have the lefty-swinging Duda and the righty-batting Frank Schwindel (who’s now in the minors) as pinch-hitting options and Terrance Gore as another bench choice. The Royals also had plenty of other outfield possibilities, notes Worthy, who points out Goodwin didn’t exactly make a case for a roster spot during an unproductive spring with KC.  “There probably wouldn’t have been a lot of at-bats for him,” said Moore, who suggested he’s happy Goodwin found a better opportunity elsewhere.
  • Injuries continue to haunt forgotten but well-compensated Yankees outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury, who last appeared in a game Oct. 17, 2017. Manager Aaron Boone said Saturday (via George A. King III of the New York Post) that Ellsbury is “dealing with different things,” “a number of little things that continue to pop up,” and “certainly” won’t return in the near term. The 35-year-old Ellsbury has battled a litany of health problems over the past couple seasons, including plantar fasciitis in 2019. The Yankees owe Ellsbury $21MM salaries through 2020 and can then cut the cord on him with a $5MM buyout.

Carlos Martinez To Return As Reliever

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Cardinals righty Carlos Martinez is planning to work back from the injured list in a relief role, manager Mike Shildt told reporters including Mark Saxon of The Athletic (Twitter link). He’s working back to full health after experiencing shoulder weakness during camp.

This is a notable decision for an organization that has a good bit of cash invested in the 27-year-old hurler. ($11.5MM this year and at least $24MM thereafter.) But it was driven not by the club’s own preferences so much as Martinez’s feelings, according to Shildt.

That’s an interesting shift, as Martinez had made clear previously that he wished to return to the rotation. While there’s little question that Martinez’s greatest upside would be in a starting capacity, that hasn’t seemed to be a priority for the club. Even before the shoulder problems arose, there were suggestions from within the coaching staff that it may be desirable to have him in the bullpen.

Martinez has thrived in both roles for the most part, with a lifetime 3.36 ERA as a starter and 3.46 mark as a reliever. He was more effective last year from the pen, though it’s tough to draw any conclusions from such a small sample. Suffice to say that the power righty is capable of providing excellent output in any situation so long as he’s at full health.

Injury concerns have trailed Martinez of late, but he has mostly been available. He made 92 starts between 2015 and 2018 and even managed to throw 118 2/3 frames despite facing a variety of health issues last year. It seems the decision — at least for now — is that he’s likelier to be of use to the club in the near term if he limits himself to shorter outings.

It still isn’t known just when Martinez will be ready for activation, though it’ll likely come sooner given the decision to utilize him in relief. He has yet to embark upon a rehab assignment and that does not seem imminent, though the latest update on his condition was generally quite positive.

For the Cards, there’s certainly greater need in the rotation based upon the early results. Every member of the rotation is averaging over 4.5 earned runs per nine, while several pitchers are generating strong results in the relief corps. That picture could still change, of course, and there’s no doubt that Martinez will improve the relief unit quite a bit. It’ll be interesting to see just how he’s utilized — as a late-inning hurler, floating high-leverage arm, and/or multi-inning asset — once he’s back to full speed.

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