Dodgers Acquire Ryan Madson
1:50pm: The Dodgers have announced the trade.
1:06pm: The Dodgers are sending minor league right-hander Andrew Istler to the Nationals in return, Joel Sherman of the New York Post reports (via Twitter).
12:54pm: The Dodgers and Nationals have agreed to a trade that’ll send right-hander Ryan Madson from D.C. to L.A., reports Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic (via Twitter). Madson was placed on revocable waivers earlier this week, per the Washington Post’s Jorge Castillo. Ken Gurnick of MLB.com had previously reported that the Dodgers placed a claim on the veteran setup man.
Though the Nats could have simply let Madson go to the Dodgers and shed the remainder of his $7.5MM salary, Fancred’s Jon Heyman tweets the Dodgers will indeed send a prospect to Washington in return for the right-hander. USA Today’s Bob Nightengale adds that the Dodgers are taking on all of the $1.24MM remaining on the 38-year-old Madson’s contract. He’s a free agent at season’s end, so Madson will be a rental piece for the Dodgers as they strive for a postseason berth in the competitive NL West.
Madson was only recently activated from the disabled list after missing time with a nerve issue in his back. He has a strong big league track record and has generally been a reliable late-inning arm in recent seasons since returning from Tommy John surgery in 2015, but he’s struggled with the Nats so far this season. Through 44 1/3 innings this year, Madson has posted an unsightly 5.28 ERA, though he’s averaged a healthy 95.8 mph on his heater and is still missing bats (8.3 K/9, 12.4 percent swinging-strike rate).
The Dodgers’ bullpen has been struggling to near unthinkable levels in the month of August, as manager Dave Roberts tried to use virtually every arm at his disposal in late-inning situations with star closer Kenley Jansen on the disabled list. The Dodger ‘pen blew leads in seven straight games at one point, and when the team welcomed Jansen back from the DL, he too struggled to uncharacteristic levels. Jansen has allowed runs in each of his four appearances since returning from a DL stint due to an irregular heartbeat. With the bullpen reeling, Madson and this weekend’s slate of September call-ups will give Roberts some additional options to mix and match as he tries to keep his club in the race.
As for Istler, he wasn’t considered to be among the Dodgers’ top prospects but has enjoyed a solid season across three minor league levels. A 23rd-round pick in 2015, Istler opened the 2018 season at Class-A Advanced but has steadily risen through the ranks to Triple-A. He’s pitched to a combined 2.37 ERA with 8.2 K/9, 2.1 BB/9 and a roughly 43 percent ground-ball rate through 79 2/3 innings. Istler, who has allowed just two homers on the season, could conceivably give the Nats a bullpen option as soon as next season given his 2018 ascension.
Dodgers Activate Josh Fields, Designate Rob Segedin
The Dodgers announced today that they have activated righty Josh Fields from the 60-day disabled list. To clear a 40-man roster spot, the organization designated corner infielder/outfielder Rob Segedin for assignment. Righty Yimi Garcia was optioned to open active roster space.
Fields has missed a lengthy stretch owing to shoulder issues. His return is most welcome for a Los Angeles organization that has had its share of bullpen woes. In 34 1/3 innings earlier this year, Fields worked to a 2.36 ERA with 7.3 K/9 and 2.4 BB/9.
The 29-year-old Segedin, meanwhile, received brief MLB action with L.A. in each of the prior two seasons, though he was not able to match his healthy Triple-A output at the game’s highest level. This year, he has fallen well short of his usual numbers at Oklahoma City, slashing just .211/.299/.325 in 134 plate appearances.
Dodgers Claim Ryan Madson On Revocable Waivers; No Agreement Reached Yet
6:18pm: Ken Gurnick of MLB.com reports that the Dodgers were the team that placed the claim on Madson (Twitter link).
5:53pm: Nationals right-hander Ryan Madson was claimed on revocable trade waivers by an unknown team earlier today, reports Robert Murray of The Athletic (on Twitter). The Nationals and the claiming team will have 48 hours to work out a trade, which would give the two sides until early afternoon Friday to work out a deal. The Nats, alternatively, could simply allow Madson and the roughly $1.36MM remaining on his salary go for no return other than full salary relief.
Madson, who turned 38 yesterday, is in the final season of a three-year deal and will reach free agency at season’s end. He’s struggled to a 5.28 ERA in 44 1/3 innings this season and missed time on the DL due to chest and back injuries. However, he’s also averaging a career-best 95.8 mph on his fastball this season and has posted solid marks of 8.3 K/9 and 3.1 BB/9. Much of the damage done against Madson has come in a trio of meltdowns this season, as he’s had a pair of outings in which he yielded four earned runs and another in which he was clobbered for six runs.
For all of his struggles in 2018, Madson has a lengthy track record of quality results as a late-game reliever and has been highly effective in recent seasons. From 2015-17, Madson notched a 2.55 ERA (3.08 FIP) with 8.4 K/9 against 2.1 BB/9 in 187 innings for the Royals, Athletics and Nationals. If a deal is ultimately reached, he’d join his new team in advance of the Sept. 1 deadline for postseason eligibility and have a month to get back on track following a change of scenery.
Dodgers Sign Zach McAllister To Minor League Deal
The Dodgers have signed veteran right-hander Zach McAllister to a minor league contract and assigned him to Triple-A Oklahoma City, as announced by the team’s Triple-A director of communications, Alex Freedman (Twitter link).
McAllister, 30, has struggled through a disastrous season split between the Indians and Tigers, working to a combined 6.20 ERA in 45 innings of work. However, he has a solid big league track record and has posted a quality 39-to-10 K/BB ratio so far in spite of the poor results. McAllister’s 95.3 mph average fastball velocity is as strong as ever, and he’s actually made some gains in swinging-strike rate and his opponents’ chase rate on out-of-zone pitches.
From 2015-17, McAllister served in a setup capacity for the Indians and pitched to a pristine 2.99 ERA with 10.0 K/9 against 3.3 BB/9 through 183 1/3 innings of work. Given the Dodgers’ extreme bullpen struggles of late, it’s understandable that the organization is speculating on some depth additions in an effort to solidify the group in the season’s final month. With rosters set to expand on Sept. 1, McAllister could be in line for a quick return to the big leagues.
Nationals Notes: Herrera, Harper, Trades
Kelvin Herrera had to be removed from the field on a cart after suffering a potentially serious left foot injury in the ninth inning of the Nationals’ 15-0 win over the Mets today. Herrera took a bad step while fielding a ground ball, and fell down on the ground after completing the out at first base. Manager Davey Martinez told MASNsports.com’s Mark Zuckerman and other reporters that Herrera’s foot was the issue, not the right-hander’s Achilles. Results aren’t yet known from x-rays taken on Herrera after the game, though he was seen in the clubhouse on crutches and wearing a protective boot. Herrera ranked sixth on MLBTR’s recent list of the top 20 August trade candidates, though today’s unfortunate news may make it unlikely that Herrera returns to the field at all this season. [UPDATE: X-rays were negative, Jorge Castillo of the Washington Post reports. Herrera will undergo further tests tomorrow to check for any ligament damage.)
Here’s more D.C. baseball chatter…
- Reports indicated that the Dodgers‘ claim of Bryce Harper was meant to block other NL contenders from obtaining the star outfielder, though ESPN’s Buster Olney reports that the Dodgers “also placed some expensive veterans on the waiver wire” when they put in their claim for Harper. Clearly, L.A. had to prepare itself for the possibility, however remote, that the Nationals might’ve simply let Harper go on waivers without a trade, which would’ve left the Dodgers over the luxury tax threshold. Since the Nats seemingly had no intention of parting ways with Harper, though, it ended up being a moot point. While it isn’t unusual for teams to put most, or even all, of their players on waivers as a matter of procedure in August, it is interesting to speculate who the Dodgers could’ve tried to deal or simply let walk on a waiver claim if they had been forced to make room for Harper — Yasiel Puig or the slumping Matt Kemp come to mind, given that Harper would’ve stepped into an everyday outfield role.
- Also from Olney’s column, he takes a broader look at the Nationals’ disappointing season, and speculates about the club’s unusual transaction strategy over the last month. If the Nats weren’t going to sell at the trade deadline, it would’ve made more sense for Washington to buy, particularly to address a bullpen that has been a season-long issue. When the team did decide to sell (i.e. the trades of Daniel Murphy and Matt Adams), rival executives were reportedly curious about the timing, since there’s still time before August 31 and the Nationals aren’t totally out of the race. Beyond the past month, however, Olney also believes the Nats have a bigger-picture issue to solve, as “it would be helpful if they work to figure out why so many players have left the organization speaking of an unusual and sometimes counterproductive clubhouse culture.”
Minor MLB Transactions: 8/25/18
Here are some minor transactions from today…
- The Dodgers have reinstated lefty Julio Urias from the 60-day DL and optioned him to Single-A Rancho Cucamonga. In a corresponding move, Los Angeles transferred reliever Josh Fields to the 60-day DL. The promising Urias, 21, is yet another step closer to returning from June 2017 shoulder surgery, and manager Dave Roberts said Saturday (via Ken Gurnick of MLB.com) that he’s on track to rejoin the Dodgers in September. Fields has been on the shelf since June 28 with shoulder inflammation, so moving to the 60-day DL won’t affect his timeline. He’ll also be back in September, according to Roberts (via Gurnick).
Earlier updates:
- Phillies righty Jose Taveras cleared waivers today and has been outrighted to Double-A Reading, per a club announcement. The 6’4″ 24-year-old had been designated for assignment earlier this week in order to make room for the recently-acquired Luis Avilan. Taveras has a 6.28 ERA in 14 1/3 innings so far this season. Though he pitched at the Triple-A level in 2017, he hasn’t seen time there during the current campaign.
- The Pirates activated righty A.J. Schugel from the 60-day disabled list today and sent him outright to Triple-A. Schugel has been out with a shoulder injury for the past two months, and indeed has only managed to toss 11 1/3 innings all season for the Indianapolis Indians, during which time he’s been tagged for seven earned runs, including three homers. Schugel was a 25th-round pick of the Angels back in 2010, and has also spend time with the Diamondbacks organization during his career.
Nationals Notes In Wake Of Murphy & Adams Trades
Yesterday provided a notable turning point for the Nationals, who’ve struggled to build momentum all season long. The organization shipped out a pair of big lefty bats — Daniel Murphy to the Cubs and Matt Adams to the Cardinals — though it decided to keep another in Bryce Harper. While it’s still not impossible to imagine a late-season run, the organization obviously decided it would no longer forego cost savings and prospects in order to maximize its chances.
Here are some notes on the disappointing ballclub:
- Principal owner Mark Lerner penned a letter to fans in which he characterized August 21st as the point at which the time came for the organization “to make decisions that will bolster our roster for next season and beyond.” With an eye to the future, he says, the Nats moved Murphy and Adams to achieve “roster flexibility” and audition younger players. Still, Lerner emphasized, “this is not a rebuilding effort.”
- It’s not surprising to hear that the D.C. organization intends to re-tool and make another run in 2019, of course. The roster is still loaded with high-end talent, with some promising players rising up through the system. But there are many needs to be accounted for in the coming winter, and Barry Svrluga of the Washington Post takes an early look. It’s not a short list, though the club will have plenty of payroll space to work with. As Svrluga notes, Nationals president of baseball ops Mike Rizzo emphasized that the club would reinvest the money it has saved through its dealing into baseball ops, saying: “The money that we are making from the cash considerations goes directly into procuring talent for us to compete in the future.”
- In his other comments yesterday, Rizzo struck a tone suggesting confidence in the future but disappointment in the present, as Mark Zuckerman of MASNsports.com reports. Unsurprisingly, that seems to be the prevailing sentiment around the organization. In terms of the nuts and bolts of the deals that were and weren’t made, Rizzo explained that the financial savings won’t necessarily allow the club to dip below the luxury-tax line. (Additional moves later this month could do so, perhaps, though there’s no clear indication as of yet whether any will occur.) Dealing Harper would have helped, to be sure, but Rizzo says “you have to get a deal that makes sense to trade one of the elite players in the game.” Evidently, that was not forthcoming. (Indeed, as Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register tweets, the Dodgers placed the claim to block other NL contenders from possibly working out a swap.)
- Most of the above discussion is forward-looking, but there’s certainly cause and opportunity to look back at what went wrong. Injuries were unquestionably a factor, as Lerner noted in his letter, but that hardly explains the disappointment in full. Notably, the Nats have drastically underperformed their expected outcomes by measure of Pythagorean W/L and BaseRuns. Failing to capture wins is a complicated area to address, but the Nationals’ bullpen woes surely are a prime factor. Before yesterday’s roster reckoning, Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post documented the collapse of that unit over the course of the season. It’s a fascinating read that includes a detailed explication of the team’s decisionmaking and colorful accounts of the recent departures of Brandon Kintzler and Shawn Kelley. The piece is highly recommended, particularly for Nats fans.
Nationals Pull Back Bryce Harper From Revocable Waivers Following Claim By Dodgers
8:10pm: Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register tweets that the Dodgers did indeed claim Harper, but they did so purely as a means of blocking other contenders from landing him. Los Angeles had “no expectation” of completing a trade when it claimed Harper, per Plunkett.
2:03pm: Despite moving other pending free agents today, the Nationals have pulled back superstar Bryce Harper from revocable waivers. Mark Zuckerman of MASNsports.com tweeted that the Nationals had not reached any further agreements after their two earlier swaps, meaning Harper’s previously reported trip onto the waiver wire would not result in an agreement. More specifically, Fancred’s Jon Heyman tweets that Harper’s waiver period has expired, and no deal has been announced.
Harper, who’ll qualify for the open market at season’s end, had evidently been claimed by the Dodgers, per Grant Paulsen of MLB Network Radio (via Twitter). But he won’t be following Manny Machado in making a mid-season, pre-free agency move from the Mid-Atlantic to Los Angeles.
Having failed to work out a deal with the Dodgers, the Nationals revoked the waiver request rather than letting Harper walk for nothing. That means that the Nats will still be on the hook for nearly $5MM of salary between now and the end of the season.
To be sure, Harper could in theory be placed on waivers again later this month. But that’d almost certainly mean losing a franchise player for no compensation other than salary relief — an outcome the team just rejected by pulling him back today. Instead, the Nationals surely plan to issue Harper a qualifying offer, setting the stage for draft compensation if he does not end up reaching a new deal to remain in D.C.
International Signings: Orioles, Dodgers
Here are a few recent international signings of note:
- The Orioles announced today that they’ve signed outfielder Isaac Bellony. He’ll receive a $220K bonus, per Steve Melewski of MASNsports.com (via Twitter). Bellony, originally born in the U.S. Virgin Islands, was signed out of the Dominican Republic. Baltimore GM Dan Duquette describes him as “a young, switch-hitting center fielder with power, speed, and a strong arm, who was recruited by several clubs.” Bellony didn’t rank among the top 50 international prospects from Baseball America, though the very fact that the Orioles are signing him at all is of note. Baltimore has refrained from participating in international free agency for years, reportedly as a directive under owner Peter Angelos, but Duquette plainly stated last month that the organization plans to change that philosophy as it embarks upon a lengthy rebuild.
- Indeed, the Orioles have even added additional spending capacity via trades. That has allowed them to make a volume of signings while also perhaps lining up bigger targets. (Rumors have focused on Cuban prospect Victor Victor Mesa.) Per Eduardo Encina of the Baltimore Sun (via Twitter), the Baltimore organization has also recently inked infielder Moises Ramirez ($225K) and outfielders Damien Valdez ($200K) and J’Rudjeanon Isenia ($125K) to notable contracts.
- The Dodgers have signed Korean right-hander Hyun-Il Choi to a $300K bonus, according to a report from Ilgan Sports (Korean language link; h/t Dan Kurtz of MyKBO.net, on Twitter). Choi, 18, will reportedly receive a $300K bonus to join the Los Angeles organization. It seems the young hurler was viewed as a top amateur draft target for KBO organizations before the Dodgers wooed him across the Pacific. This isn’t the first time that an MLB club has snatched a top Korean talent before he entered the professional ranks in his home country. The Braves recently inked infielder Ji-Hwan Bae in similar circumstances. (Of course, that signing also included some off-the-books funds and was part of the Braves’ international scandal. Bae ended up being made a free agent and signing with the Pirates.)
Injury Notes: Jansen, Nimmo, Trumbo, Twins, Giants
It seems the Dodgers will activate closer Kenley Jansen for tonight’s game, the relief ace tells reporters including MLB.com’s Ken Gurnick (Twitter links). That’s certainly good news for a club that has struggled to wrap up games in the late innings without him. More importantly, it seems as if there’s ongoing cause for optimism that Jansen will not be limited by the irregular heartbeat that forced him to the hospital earlier this month.
More injury news from around the league…
- The Mets announced this afternoon that they’ve placed outfielder Brandon Nimmo on the 10-day disabled list due to a bruised left index finger. With Nimmo out for at least the next week-plus, the Mets will keep Dominic Smith on the 25-man roster for the time being. Smith had been with the club on Sunday as the 26th man in New York’s doubleheader, and while he’d been slated to return to Triple-A Las Vegas, he’ll now remain in the bigs. It seems likely that he’ll stay up long enough for rosters to expand on Sept. 1.
- Likewise, the Orioles say that they’ve placed Mark Trumbo on the disabled list due to inflammation in his right knee. In a pair of corresponding moves, Baltimore reinstated Adam Jones from the bereavement list and also recalled outfielder John Andreoli from Triple-A Norfolk after claiming him off outright waivers from the Mariners organization over the weekend. The rebuilding O’s owe Trumbo another $13.5MM next year and they’d no doubt like to find a way to trim back that commitment. This injury could take him out of any consideration for a late-August swap — not that a deal ever seemed particularly likely in the first place. While the 32-year-old is posting a solid .261/.313/.452 slash with 17 homers in 358 plate appearances, his defensive limitations will severely limit interest from contenders (whether now or in the offseason to come).
- While Logan Morrison was originally diagnosed with a hip impingement that necessitated season-ending surgery, Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer Press tweets that the Twins first baseman/designated hitter actually had a torn labrum repaired and a bone spur removed from the ailing hip. Meanwhile, right-hander Ervin Santana is seeing a hand specialist to examine the surgically repaired middle finger on his right hand (also via Berardino, on Twitter). Initially projected to require a 12-month recovery that would’ve had Santana back in early May, the issue has proven to be considerably more problematic. Santana didn’t pitch until late July and has made just five starts with an 8.03 ERA in 2018.
- Giants righty Jeff Samardzija is still hoping to make it back from shoulder issues this season. As Kerry Crowley of the Bay Area News Group tweets, Samardzija is set for his first of two rehab starts this Wednesday. That would put the veteran hurler on track to start on the first day of September, when active rosters expand. Whether or not he’ll do so remains to be seen. For the Giants, any contribution will likely be too little, too late. But there is still time for the 33-year-old to put a more positive spin on his 2018 season. When he has been available to pitch this year, Samardzija has produced an ugly 6.25 ERA with an even more concerning 30:26 K/BB ratio in 44 2/3 innings over ten starts.
- Meanwhile, the Giants will welcome back emerging hurler Dereck Rodriguez, as John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle tweets, to take the ball on Friday. Clearly, Rodriguez’s hamstring issues weren’t serious at all, as he only just hit the DL. That’s certainly good news for an organization that has been in need of future bright spots. Rodriguez came out of nowhere to throw 80 innings of 2.25 ERA pitching.