Silverman: Rays “Hellbent” On Return To Contention
The Rays are surely happy to put the 2016 season in the rearview mirror after ending up buried in the AL East basement. President of baseball operations Matt Silverman and manager Kevin Cash addressed the club’s situation heading into the offseason today, as Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.
First and foremost, Silverman stressed that the club is “hellbent” on a return to contention, suggesting that a broad-based sell-off should not be expected. Tampa Bay dealt Matt Moore and Steve Pearce at the trade deadline, but the former was shipped from a position of depth while the latter was on a one-year deal.
Plus, the Moore swap brought in Matt Duffy, who the club hopes will solidify things at shortstop. His presence also allows the organization to utilize Brad Miller at first (or in a broader utility role), which Silverman suggested could be positive in several regards (via Topkin, on Twitter).
Silverman suggested that the club will need to balance its commitment to its core with the need to infuse some new blood. “We have a lot of the guys in house, but we’re going to need to make some changes and we’re going to need to bring in some new players, too,” he said. “The core is intact, the core is talented, and if you listen to the players talk, if you listen to Kevin and the coaches, they will tell you, too. There is still a lot of confidence, there is still a lot of optimism within our clubhouse, and that bodes well for next year.”
The two key organizational figures didn’t cite any major needs, which is a good thing given the team’s resource restraints. Improving the bullpen is one obvious area, and Cash also cited a desire to do a better job running the bases. Then, there’s the catching position, which Silverman acknowledged has been a “sore spot,” as Topkin further tweets.
It’ll certainly be interesting to see whether Silverman and co. can come up with any other creative options over the winter. As I wrote in breaking down three key needs for the club, there’s not only room to improve behind the plate and in the pen, but also perhaps an opportunity to add some offensive firepower. Looking to players like Corey Dickerson and Steven Souza to improve is obviously the key, but that doesn’t mean more can’t be done. What remains to be seen is whether the rotation-rich Rays will be willing to dip into the reservoir of starters once again after dealing Moore at the deadline. It is clear, though, that there’ll be interest from other teams; Silverman says he has already received calls on starting pitching, as Topkin tweets.
Three Needs: Tampa Bay Rays
MLBTR will provide a broader view of each club’s winter plans when our annual Offseason Outlook series kicks off at the end of the regular season. Until then, the Rays are the latest team to be featured in our quick look at this season’s non-contenders. We’ve already covered the Angels, Brewers, and Twins.
Things fell apart this year for Tampa Bay, which entered with hopes that a deep rotation and bolstered offense would spur a return to the playoffs. Instead, the club vanished into the basement of the AL East — a place it hadn’t visited since 2007 — and ended up dealing away Matt Moore, Brandon Guyer, and Steve Pearce at the trade deadline.
Still, the most significant of those trades, the Moore swap, brought back a controllable major league asset in Matt Duffy — who, they hope, will fill a need at shortstop — and the organization continues to field a number of affordable players with reasonable promise. A full-blown rebuild seems unlikely for a team that has typically focused on remaining competitive even while hunting for value and exchanging increasingly expensive veterans for youthful talent.
Operating on the presumption that the Rays don’t intend to shop their best assets this winter, preferring instead to build around their core, here are three areas where the team has significant needs this winter:
AL East Notes: Yankees, Benintendi, Pomeranz, Beckham
The only locks for the Yankees‘ 2017 rotation right now are Masahiro Tanaka, Michael Pineda and CC Sabathia, but Joel Sherman of the New York Post writes that GM Brian Cashman won’t take a reactionary approach to plugging holes in his rotation. As Sherman points out, though, the quartet of Luis Severino, Chad Green, Luis Cessa and Bryan Mitchell has yet to prove that there’s a definitive starter among them, and any could end up in the ‘pen. The Yankees will add at least one arm this winter, he continues, though given the paucity of quality starters on the free agent market, a trade from the team’s suddenly top-ranked farm system might be the most rational expectation. Sherman lists speculative candidates ranging from Ervin Santana to Chris Sale, though the top-tier names like Sale are included more as a means of demonstrating the depth of New York’s farm than as a genuine indication of likelihood. Sherman rightly points out that with free agency looking so sparse, the asking prices in trades will be staggering — especially for the likes of Sale, Jose Quintana, Chris Archer and other top-tier arms.
More from the division…
- The injury from which Andrew Benintendi recently returned was a bit more significant than originally reported, according to Evan Drellich of the Boston Herald, who reports that in addition to a sprain in his left knee, Benintendi also suffered an avulsion fracture just below the knee. The Red Sox have fitted Benintendi with a custom brace that he’ll wear on his left leg for the remainder of the season, but the 22-year-old tells Drellich that he’s already accustomed to the brace and no longer notices that he’s wearing it.
- Red Sox lefty Drew Pomeranz could be feeling the effects of a career-high workload of innings, writes Brian MacPherson of the Providence Journal. Manager John Farrell explained to MacPherson that while Pomeranz’s velocity remains strong, his pitch-to-pitch command hasn’t been present of late, which has cost him. Pomeranz, acquired in exchange for top pitching prospect Anderson Espinoza in July, has lasted a combined 5 2/3 innings across his past two starts. He’s currently slated to make his next start (Friday against the Rays), but MacPherson notes that his fading results could land him in the bullpen once the postseason rolls around. Pomeranz is up to 164 1/3 innings this season, and his previous career-high (147 1/3 innings) came all the way back in 2013.
- MLB.com’s Bill Chastain writes in his latest Rays Inbox column that he wouldn’t be surprised if Tim Beckham‘s time with the Rays organization is coming to a close. Adding Matt Duffy to play shortstop and moving Brad Miller to first base to pair with Evan Longoria and Logan Forsythe at third and second has solidified the starting infield mix. And, he notes, the heightened play of Nick Franklin in 2016 gives him a leg up on the utility job. The Rays demoted Beckham on Aug. 31 right before rosters expanded due to some perceived carelessness on the basepaths, and they doubled down on that harsh message by electing not to bring him back up later in September. The former No. 1 overall pick, set to turn 27 in January, hit .247/.300/.434 with five homers in 215 PAs for the Rays this season.
Steven Souza To Undergo Hip Surgery
Rays right fielder Steven Souza will undergo surgery to repair an impingement in his left hip on Wednesday, reports Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times (Twitter link). Souza visited a specialist to have his hip looked at today and told Topkin recently that he’s been playing through discomfort since June.
The 27-year-old Souza had a solid season at the plate and in the field even in spite of the ailment, hitting .247/.303/.409 with 17 homers, 17 doubles and six stolen bases in a career-high 468 plate appearances. He graded out as an above-average defender even in spite of a hip impingement that one would assume impacted his mobility to some extent in the field.
From a big picture standpoint, the surgery doesn’t change too much for the Rays. Topkin notes that Souza is expected to be ready for Spring Training, so he’ll presumably be penciled in as the team’s primary right fielder once again, barring some form of significant setback in his offseason recovery. The Rays will undoubtedly hope that a healthier hip can lead Souza to capitalize more effectively on the combination of power, speed and defense that makes him such a tantalizing talent.
As it stands, the Rays have the least to show at the big league level for the three-team blockbuster that brought Souza to St. Petersburg in the first place, as Trea Turner and Joe Ross look like cornerstone pieces for the Nationals while Wil Myers has enjoyed an excellent breakout season in San Diego. However, they also have Class-A lefty Travis Ott and Double-A first baseman/right fielder Jake Bauers making their way through the minor league ranks. And, of course, Souza won’t even be arbitration-eligible this winter and has an additional four years of club control remaining, so there’s ample opportunity for the Rays to receive more Major League value from that swap.
Minor MLB Transactions: 9/19/16
Here are the day’s minor moves, each coming courtesy of Baseball America’s Matt Eddy unless otherwise noted…
- The Rays have outrighted Tyler Sturdevant to Triple-A Durham. The right-handed reliever was designated for assignment last week despite a solid 3.93 earned run average and a 14-to-6 K/BB ratio in 18 1/3 innings. That small sample represented the first Major League work of the 30-year-old Sturdevant’s career. The former Indians farmhand signed a minors pact with the Rays last offseason and had a nice run with Tampa Bay’s Triple-A affiliate, posting a 3.66 ERA with 11.2 K/9 against 2.7 BB/9 in 39 1/3 frames. Set to turn 31 this December, Sturdevant can again opt for minor league free agency this winter.
- Lefty reliever Jack Leathersich will forgo minor league free agency and re-up with the Cubs on a minors pact for the 2017 season. The former Mets reliever had a successful debut in 2015 when he posted a 2.31 ERA in 11 2/3 innings, but Tommy John surgery derailed his rookie campaign. The Cubs picked him up on waivers this past November, but he wound up being removed from the 40-man roster and re-signing a minors deal with Chicago. The 26-year-old Leathersich made it back to a minor league mound this year and tossed 23 1/3 innings of 1.93 ERA ball with a hefty 34 strikeouts, though he also issued 13 walks and hit a batter as well. Control has never been a strong point for Leathersich, but he’ll work on reining in the walks as he hopes to bring his career 15.0 K/9 rate back to the Majors at some point next season.
- Eddy’s post contains several players from teams all throughout the league that elected to skip minor league free agency and sign 2017 deals with their 2016 organizations, though Leathersich is the only one of the bunch with MLB experience under his belt.
AL East Notes: Teixeira, Souza, Hanley
With his career winding down, Yankees first baseman Mark Teixeira took some time to sit down with Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports and reflect on his 14 seasons in the Majors. In an excellent Q&A, Teixeira discusses with Rosenthal the feeling of being traded on two different occasions, including an amusing story of a ruined cell phone on a fishing trip with former teammate David Dellucci that prevented him from learning about his trade to the Braves as quickly as he otherwise might have. The switch-hitting slugger candidly discussed his lone trip through free agency, stating that he “didn’t enjoy it at all” and also explaining how he very nearly signed with the division-rival Red Sox that winter before agreeing to terms with the Yankees. He also discusses the differences of being in a pennant race as an expected contributor and as a veteran role player. I’d highly recommend checking out Rosenthal’s piece, as it pulls back the curtain a bit on free agency and trades and also contains a number of interesting anecdotes from Teixeira.
Here’s more from the AL East…
- Rays right fielder Steven Souza Jr. is seeing a specialist in Nashville to have his hip evaluated today, per Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. Souza has been playing through lingering discomfort in his left hip that has limited him in the weight room and other non-baseball activities. Souza describes the feeling as a pinching sensation that is stemming from an irregular bone growth in his hip. The possibility of surgery is on the table for the 27-year-old, who has batted .247/.303/.409 with 17 homers and six steals while playing above-average defense in spite of the hip troubles this year.
- Hanley Ramirez has redeemed himself in Boston after a dreadful first year with the Red Sox, and Alex Speier of the Boston Globe spoke to the slugger about his transformation at the plate. Ramirez feels that a shoulder injury sustained when crashing into the left field wall early last season hindered his ability to catch up with fastballs “a lot,” and Speier examines Ramirez’s complete rebound against heaters in 2016. Ramirez hit just .236 against fastballs last season, with only eight of his 19 homers coming against them. He didn’t hit a single homer off a pitch that was thrown 94 mph or greater, but he’s done so four times in the past three weeks alone, including last Thursday’s walk-off blast against Dellin Betances. Ramirez, whose batting line rests at a magnificent .294/.364/.517 (28 homers), discussed the various changes he’s made to his approach at the plate, specifically a lowered hand position that shortens his swing and increases the power. Manager John Farrell raved about Ramirez to reporters following last night’s two-homer performance (via MLB.com’s Ian Browne). “His comeback, his resurgence, it has been a major factor for where we stand today,” said Farrell.
Rays’ Chaim Bloom Among Twins’ Front Office Candidates
Rays vice president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom is one of the Twins’ candidates for their newly created president of baseball operations position, reports Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (via Twitter).
Bloom, 33, is a Yale graduate who has been with the Rays organization since 2005 and rose to the position of VP of baseball ops following Andrew Friedman’s departure for the Dodgers organization in 2014. Bloom’s background with the Rays is multi-faceted but involves working with the team’s player development department, contract negotiations, player evaluation and international scouting.
Bloom has been a frequent candidate for GM openings around the league, as he interviewed with the Brewers last winter before their hiring of David Stearns and was also one of three reported finalists for the Phillies’ general manager vacancy prior to Philadelphia’s hiring of Matt Klentak. He joins a growing list of known Twins candidates, including Indians assistant general manager Derek Falvey, Cubs senior vice president of player development/amateur scouting Jason McLeod and Royals assistant general manager J.J. Picollo. Reports have indicated that the Twins’ list of candidates has a fairly analytical bend to it, and Bloom’s inclusion in the list lines up well with that information. It’s not yet clear, based on Rosenthal’s report, whether the Twins have conducted an interview with Bloom, though the team has already interviewed multiple candidates, including Falvey and Picollo.
After a lengthy quiet spell regarding the Twins’ executive search, rumors have begun to pick up with increasing frequency in recent weeks. However, Minnesota’s search has hit some roadblocks, as well-known execs like Alex Anthopoulos, Ben Cherington and David Forst have reportedly passed on the opportunity to interview for the newly created position atop the Twins’ baseball operations hierarchy.
Logan Morrison To Undergo Surgery For Wrist Injury
SEPT. 16: Yahoo’s Jeff Passan reports that Morrison will indeed undergo surgery to repair the tear in his wrist, though it seems that even with that disheartening news, Morrison has caught somewhat of a break (links to Twitter). The extent of Morrison’s tear is relatively minimal, according to Passan, meaning that the slugger can begin swinging a bat in about 12 weeks and should be ready to go for Spring Training. A more significant tear, Passan adds, could have sidelined LoMo entirely for the next six months.
SEPT. 15: Rays first baseman Logan Morrison has been diagnosed with a torn left wrist sheath, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports on Twitter. Though he’ll receive a second opinion, it seems that surgery will likely be required.
The injury was already believed to be season-ending, but Morrison hoped that he wouldn’t need to go under the knife. While some form of rehab was already inevitable, this certainly doesn’t appear to be the best-case scenario.
Without question, the news will impact Morrison’s market, as it’s a reasonably significant surgery. For instance, Jose Bautista missed the second half of 2012 after an operation to repair his wrist sheath in mid-July. Plus, Morrison lost the chance to finish out the season and pad his batting line.
At first glance, the 29-year-old Morrison had an underwhelming season for Tampa Bay, which acquired him over the winter. But his overall results are weighed down by an unbelievably slow start. Prospective suitors for Morrison got their last looks at him during a 303 plate appearance run to end the year. In that span, he put up a .275/.350/.498 slash and has knocked 14 long balls.
All told, there ought to be plenty of pursuers for a fairly youthful slugger who has had success in the majors in the past. But it’s tough now to imagine him generating the kind of multi-year interest that might have been hoped for with a healthy finish to the year.
Wrist Injury Ends Logan Morrison’s Season
3:20pm: Morrison now confirms to Topkin (Twitter link) that he’s done for the season. He’ll have an MRI performed on his wrist this Wednesday, which will determine whether he requires surgery. Even if only rehab is required, though, Morrison won’t play again this year.
8:46am: Rays first baseman/designated hitter Logan Morrison believes he’s done for the season after incurring a left wrist injury while taking a swing in yesterday’s game, he tells Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. Morrison explains that he heard a “pop” in his left wrist, which had previously given him no issues. He’ll undergo an MRI to determine if surgery is needed to correct an injury that, according to manager Kevin Cash, pertains to Morrison’s tendon sheath, according to Topkin. “More than likely, I’m probably done for the year,” Morrison said. “I’m just hoping everything is all right.”
The injury comes with the worst of timing for Morrison, who is slated to hit the open market following the 2016 season. He’d gone a long way toward rebuilding his stock after enduring one of the slowest starts of any player in recent history, but season-ending wrist surgery certainly won’t do him any favors as he looks for a new contract this offseason.
Morrison, who recently turned 29, was acquired by the Rays along with Brad Miller and Danny Farquhar in the offseason trade that sent Nate Karns, Boog Powell and C.J. Riefenhauser to the Mariners. He opened the season in dreadful fashion, collecting just two hits through his first 44 plate appearances and didn’t collect a multi-hit game until May 17. Morrison’s overall batting line sat at just .119/.221/.143 through his first 95 plate appearances, and it was questioned in mid-May how long he could hang onto his roster spot.
Morrison answered naysayers emphatically with a brilliant finish to the month of May, though, and continued to hit for the remainder of the season when healthy. (Notably, a forearm strain did cost him more than two weeks of action in late July/early August.) Over his final 303 plate appearances this season, Morrison slashed .275/.350/.498 with 14 homers, 16 doubles and a triple, raising his OPS nearly 400 points in the process.
While Morrison was never going to rank as one of the top 10 free agents of the offseason (in terms of earning capacity), another three strong weeks would’ve helped to further distance himself from that disastrous start to the season. Now, Morrison will simply hope that surgery isn’t required to alleviate the newfound pain in his wrist, as a lengthy rehab would presumably create some hesitation on behalf of interested teams. All of the first base options on the market, of course, will be playing second fiddle to Edwin Encarnacion, but Morrison will join a crop of first basemen that also includes Brandon Moss, Mike Napoli, Mitch Moreland and Steve Pearce this coming winter.
Minor MLB Transactions: 9/11/16
Here are the latest minor moves from around the game, all from Matt Eddy of Baseball America unless otherwise credited. Check out Roster Resource for updated roster information for the teams cited here and every other team in the majors.
- The Rays have outrighted Hank Conger to Triple-A Durham, after the catcher was designated for assignment earlier this week. Conger managed just a .194/.265/.306 slash line and three homers over 137 plate appearances for Tampa this season. Perhaps even most ominously, Conger’s struggles worsened after he was optioned to Triple-A in July, as he has managed just a .503 OPS over 116 PA for Durham.
- The Rays have selected the contract of veteran southpaw Dana Eveland, the team announced. He’ll take the 40-man roster spot of Tyler Sturdevant, who was DFA’ed earlier today. Eveland has himself been designated for assignment twice this season by the Rays (accepting outright assignments both times), and the lefty has an 8.55 ERA, 8.1 K/9 and 6.8 BB/9 over 20 relief innings out of Tampa Bay’s bullpen this season.
- The Blue Jays outrighted third baseman Matt Dominguez to Triple-A, the club announced last week. Dominguez was designated for assignment on September 2. He owns a .269/.315/.421 slash line and 18 homers over 514 PA for Triple-A Buffalo this season, plus he also appeared in five games for the Jays to clock his first big league action since 2014. Once a well-regarded prospect, Dominguez enjoyed a 21-homer season with Houston in 2013 but has hit only .231/.273/.371 in 1369 career PA in the majors.
- The Blue Jays released outfielder Quintin Berry. The base-stealing specialist just signed a minor league pact with the Jays on August 31, potentially putting him in line for a reprise of his past role (with the Tigers and Red Sox) as postseason pinch-running depth. Berry appeared in just 31 MLB games in 2013-15 and he hasn’t played in the bigs in 2016, spending much of the year with the Angels’ Triple-A affiliate.
- The Braves released right-hander Wilfredo Boscan. The 26-year-old made his Major League debut this season, tossing 15 1/3 innings over six games (one of them a start) for the Pirates and posting a 6.46 ERA. Atlanta claimed Boscan off waivers in August and then outrighted him off the 40-man roster to make room for September call-ups.
- The Braves have selected the contract of catcher Blake Lalli from Triple-A, the team announced. Lalli will replace A.J. Pierzynski, who hit the 15-day disabled list earlier today. Lalli, who has 22 big league games under his belt, will be looking for his first taste of MLB action since 2013 when he was a member of the Brewers. He has since played in the Diamondbacks and Braves farm systems.
- The Marlins released right-hander Andre Rienzo. The Brazilian hurler posted a 2.85 ERA, 10.1 K/9 and 2.3 K/BB rate over 41 innings split between four levels of the Miami farm system, though 32 1/3 IP came at the Triple-A level. Control was again an issue for Rienzo, as it was during his 140 1/3 career MLB innings with the White Sox and Marlins from 2013-15 when he had a 4.7 BB/9 (not to mention a 1.6 HR/9 that contributed to his 5.90 ERA).