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AL Notes: Dozier, Donaldson, Doubront, Fasola

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ESPN.com’s Jerry Crasnick has an interesting profile of Twins star second baseman Brian Dozier. The Mississippi native has proven adept at picking up a variety of games and activities. Last year, it seems, he took an interest in hitting lots of home runs. Now that he has established the ability to play at such a high level in the majors, says Dozier, “everything seems different now.” He goes on to explain: “I’ve found the longer you’re in the game, the slower it becomes. The learning curves are there each and every year, but you become wiser and you realize what you have to do in order to succeed.”

Here’s more from the American League:

  • If the Blue Jays can’t rebound, they’ll have no choice but to explore a trade of star third baseman Josh Donaldson, Richard Griffin of the Toronto Star argues. Toronto is in a tough spot because of the talent gap between the current MLB roster and the clubs best prospects, many of whom aren’t really that close to contributing in the majors. If this Jays outfit isn’t able to turn around an abysmal start, says Griffin, dealing Donaldson might be the only chance the organization has to add quality, near-MLB talent. Regardless, the team must hope that Donaldson is able to get past his current calf issues as soon as possible.
  • Lefty Felix Doubront is still rehabbing for the Athletics, but there are already plans to make a change when he returns. Doubront will return in a relief role, GM David Forst told reporters including MLB.com’s Jane Lee (via Twitter). The 29-year-old has mostly functioned as a starter in the bigs, though he does have experience working from the pen as well. Doubront could return from his Tommy John surgery by June, per the report.
  • Rangers righty John Fasola underwent Tommy John surgery today, Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News reports on Twitter. Fasola, 25, isn’t exactly a hyped prospect. But he did win the club’s award as the top reliever on the farm last year after throwing 51 innings of 3.18 ERA ball with 10.2 K/9 against 2.1 BB/9. Fasola went on to have a solid Arizona Fall League run and might soon have been a factor in the major league mix were it not for the injury.

Rangers Outright Tyler Wagner

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The Rangers have outrighted right-hander Tyler Wagner to Triple-A after he cleared waivers, Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News tweets. With the move, Texas has opened a second unclaimed spot on its 40-man roster.

Wagner, 26, was claimed off waivers last fall. He had reached the big leagues only briefly in each of the past two seasons, but had largely thrown well in the upper minors.

Thus far, however, Wagner has struggled at Triple-A Round Rock. Through 14 innings over three starts, he has allowed a dozen earned runs on 19 hits with as many walks as strikeouts (eight apiece). It seems he’ll continue to work from the rotation there.

Minor MLB Transactions: 4/19/17

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Here are the day’s minor moves from around baseball…

  • The Rangers announced on Wednesday that they’ve signed veteran infielder Josh Wilson to a minor league contract. He’ll head to Triple-A, though it’s not clear if he’ll first make a stop in extended Spring Training. The 36-year-old Wilson is no stranger to Texas, having spent 24 games with the Rangers back in 2014. The versatile journeyman has seen Major League time with nine teams across parts of eight big league seasons, most recently appearing with the 2015 Tigers. Wilson is a career .229/.280/.319 hitter in 430 Major League contests and a lifetime .263/.324/.395 hitter in parts of 11 Triple-A seasons. Wilson spent the 2016 campaign with the independent Atlantic League’s York Revolution, appearing in 120 games and batting .255/.299/.383 with eight homers and 14 steals.

Pitching Injury Notes: Graveman, Lugo, Tillman, Ross

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Athletics right-hander Kendall Graveman has been placed on the 10-day disabled list, retroactive to this past Saturday, due to a strained right shoulder, per a club announcement. Catcher Bruce Maxwell has been recalled from Triple-A to fill Graveman’s spot on the 25-man roster. While A’s fans are undoubtedly disheartened to see the 26-year-old Graveman land on the shelf, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle tweets that there are no indications that the injury is severe. Slusser notes that she’d be surprised to see Graveman miss more than one start, so it seems that Oakland is merely taking advantage of the shortened minimum stay on the DL to help keep the roster full while Graveman recovers.

A few more injury notes from around the game…

  • Mets righty Seth Lugo is set to begin a throwing program after taking two weeks off, per The Record’s Matt Ehalt (Twitter link). Lugo, who is hoping to avoid surgery after being diagnosed with a partial tear in his ulnar collateral ligament, will begin his program by throwing from 60 feet. Ehalt adds. Lugo and southpaw Steven Matz are both presently on the DL for the Mets, which has considerably thinned out the club’s rotation depth.
  • Chris Tillman was able to make his first rehab start yesterday, appearing with the Orioles’ Double-A affiliate, as Jon Meoli of the Baltimore Sun reports. Though he says he is still having trouble getting his problematic shoulder loose, he says he’s “good to go” once he’s able to do so. Tillman suggested he is learning to deal with the constraints of the balky joint, though how that’ll work out at the game’s highest level is anyone’s guess. The righty sat in the upper eighties with his fastball yesterday, though he did top out at 91 — which is where he typically works. So long as he’s able to rebound from this first outing, Tillman will continue to increase his pitch count in further rehab starts.
  • The back issues that have slowed the rehab progress of Rangers’ righty Tyson Ross are still hanging around, Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News reports on Twitter. Since he has yet to return to the mound, it now seems that his early-May target to return to the majors will move back by at least a week or two. Ross had seemed to be nearing a full recovery from thoracic outlet surgery when the seemingly minor back issue cropped up.

Rangers Place Sam Dyson On 10-Day DL, Recall Keone Kela; Matt Bush To Close

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6:39pm: Bush will get the first shot at the closing role, skipper Jeff Banister tells reporters including Stefan Stevenson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram (via Twitter). But the team will spread the opportunities around somewhat. As Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News tweets, that’s due in large part to the need to avoid over-straining Bush’s shoulder.

5:54pm: The Rangers have placed struggling closer Sam Dyson on the 10-day DL with a hand contusion, TR.. Sullivan of MLB.com was among those to report on Twitter. Texas will recall fellow right-hander Keone Kela to take his place on the active roster.

Specifics of the injury haven’t been reported, but the club was no doubt interested in finding a way to give Dyson a respite. He has been tagged for 13 earned runs on 14 hits and 5 walks over 4 1/3 innings, while recording only a pair of strikeouts.

It’s unclear as yet who will take over for Dyson in the ninth inning. In fact, that was the subject of a poll earlier today; you can head here to participate. The likeliest options appear to be Matt Bush and Jeremy Jeffress.

Kela might have been one of the names considered to function as the closer, but he was optioned to start the season in something of a disciplinary move. He’ll be looking to improve upon a disappointing 2016 season and regain his standing in the MLB locker room.

Poll: The Rangers’ Closer

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After a catastrophic start to the season for Rangers right-hander Sam Dyson, the team’s ninth-inning scene is now among the biggest question marks facing the club’s decision-makers. Like predecessor Shawn Tolleson, Dyson transitioned from largely unheralded setup man to unlikely closer in 2016, racking up 38 saves with a 2.43 ERA, 7.0 K/9, 2.9 BB/9 and a 65.2 percent ground-ball rate. However, Dyson has also seemingly followed Tolleson’s footsteps by imploding early in his second season as a closer; in just 4 1/3 innings this year, the 28-year-old has yielded a staggering 13 earned runs on 14 hits (two homers) and five walks with just two strikeouts. He’s blown three saves and been saddled with three losses for a Rangers team that current sits last in the AL West with a 4-8 record.

A closer change in Arlington seems like a virtual lock, though manager Jeff Banister wouldn’t firmly commit to a new closer yesterday, telling reporters, “We’ll have those discussions,” when asked about a possible change but neglecting to elaborate beyond that (via MLB.com’s Doug Miller). The Rangers do possess several alternative options, so let’s run down the possibilities with a change seeming likely on the horizon…

  • Matt Bush: The resurgence of the former No. 1 overall pick as a shutdown reliever is among the most improbable comebacks in recent MLB history. Bush has been dominant in 66 1/3 innings since making his MLB debut at the age of 30 last season, which came after spending more than three years in prison. With the Rangers, he’s posted a 2.58 ERA with a 69-to-15 K/BB ratio, a ground-ball rate of 42 percent and a fastball that has averaged 97 mph. There’s at least some level of trepidation when it comes to Bush’s shoulder, however, as the right-hander received a cortisone injection in his ailing AC joint last week, though he hasn’t demonstrated any ill effects since returning.
  • Jeremy Jeffress: The former Brewers closer has been generally excellent since establishing himself as a big league bullpen arm back in 2014. Across his past 164 Major League innings, Jeffress has a 2.58 ERA with 7.7 K/9, 2.8 BB/9 and a ground-ball rate approaching 60 percent. He’s typically averaged about 95 mph on his heater, and he racked up 27 saves in 2016 for the Brewers before being shipped to the Rangers alongside Jonathan Lucroy in a summer blockbuster. Like Bush, Jeffress has had his share of off-field issues and spent a month in a rehab facility for alcohol abuse late last season. Looking solely at his on-field performance, he’s a perfectly serviceable option for the Rangers in the ninth inning and comes with the most experience of the team’s internal candidates. Piling up some additional saves would likely inflate Jeffress’ arbitration earnings next year, though the team likely wouldn’t be deterred by that if it kept them in games in 2017.
  • Tony Barnette: A former Diamondbacks minor leaguer that broke out in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball, Barnette inked a two-year, $3.5MM deal with the Rangers on the heels of a dominant six-year run with NPB’s Yakult Swallows. The 33-year-old has had a slightly rocky start to his 2017 season but was a terrific low-cost addition to the relief corps last season, logging 60 1/3 innings of 2.09 ERA ball with 7.3 K/9, 2.4 BB/9 and a 46.3 percent ground-ball rate. Installing Barnette as the closer comes with immediate financial implications as well, as his modest $1.75MM salary can rise by as much as $550K based on games finished. He can also see the value of his $4MM club option for the 2017 season increase significantly based on games finished.

The Rangers also have hard-throwing rookie Jose Leclerc, though he comes with just 21 1/3 innings of Major League experience to date. Young right-hander Keone Kela would’ve conceivably been an option to close games in the event of a Dyson meltdown, but he was optioned to Triple-A Round Rock at the end of Spring Training for disciplinary reasons following a clash with some of the team’s more veteran players. Either righty could seemingly be a high-leverage/ninth-inning option down the line, but neither stands out as a likely option at present.

As I did with the Phillies last week, I’ll turn this one over to the general public to weigh in (link to poll for Trade Rumors app users)…

AL West Notes: Davis, Rangers, Haniger

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Khris Davis has only been with the Athletics since a trade in the 2015-16 offseason, but the outfielder has fully embraced the organization and tells Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports that he’d love to stay there long term. “It’s been something I could make my own, and I saw it as an opportunity to build something,” says Davis. “There’s a lot to do there, and I feel like I can be a piece of this organization for a long time. … The Coliseum isn’t pretty. But I love going there. I love playing there. I love Oakland.” Passan’s profile of Davis kicks off his latest 10 Degrees column an provides an intriguing look inside a player that describes himself as “a little weird” and “a little quirky.” A’s fans will definitely want to check it out, and the full column, which examines the increasing power numbers throughout the league, holds more widespread appeal and is well worth a look.

  • The Rangers have no choice but to remove Sam Dyson from the closer’s role after yet another blown save on Sunday, writes Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News. However, while that decision seems like an easy one — Dyson has a ghastly 27.00 ERA with five walks against two strikeouts in 4 1/3 innings — replacing him isn’t as easy as one would think. Matt Bush is the favorite to step into the ninth inning but received an injection to address pain in his right shoulder (the AC joint, specifically) last week. Jeremy Jeffress represents another option, but he’s already pitched in eight of the first 12 games and will need to see that workload lightened as the season wears on. Demoting Dyson for either Bush or Jeffress also opens a hole in the setup roles they’re currently occupying, and Grant notes that promoting Keone Kela to claim that spot just two weeks after his demotion that appears to have been for disciplinary purposes may send a conflicting message. Carrying a Rule 5 long reliever, Mike Hauschild, only further complicates the matter
  • In a second column on the matter, Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram writes that there’s no chance the Rangers will part ways with Dyson after his rocky start to the season. Wilson also adds that it “doesn’t sound like” Kela will be joining the Rangers as part of a solution to the team’s bullpen woes, as there’s no room for him without running the risk of losing Hauschild, who would have to be placed on waivers and offered back to the Astros even if he clears.
  • Mariners manager Scott Servais heaped praise onto offseason trade acquisition Mitch Haniger following yesterday’s huge performance (both in the field and at the plate), as MLB.com’s Greg Johns writes. “We’ve liked everything we’ve seen from Mitch since the first day we got him to Spring Training,” said Servais of Haniger, who hit his fourth home run, robbed a homer from Joey Gallo and drew a bases-loaded walk to score the game-tying run in the ninth in yesterday’s game. “How he’s gone about his business, and obviously he’s been very productive for us. He does his homework, he’s as prepared as anybody we have, and he’s got a lot of confidence.” While Jean Segura grabbed the most attention as the headliner going to Seattle in the trade that sent Taijuan Walker and Ketel Marte to Arizona, Haniger’s early play has solidified him as the everyday right fielder in Seattle. He’s currently hitting .294/.410/.588 through his first 61 plate appearances.

Rangers Acquire Clayton Blackburn From Giants

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The Rangers have acquired right-hander Clayton Blackburn from the Giants for minor league infielder Frandy De La Rosa, per announcements from both teams.

It’s no surprise that San Francisco found a taker for the 24-year-old Blackburn, who began generating interest after the Giants designated him for assignment Tuesday. Baseball America ranked Blackburn among the Giants’ 10 best prospects from 2012-15, including sixth in 2014, but his stock dropped with a disappointing 2016. In 136 1/3 innings, Blackburn logged a 4.36 ERA, 6.67 K/9 and 2.31 BB/9. That came after a far better showing in 2015, when he pitched to a 2.85 ERA – with 7.24 K/9 and 2.34 BB/9 – in 123 frames. The optionable Blackburn figures to provide starting depth for Texas, which has already sent him to Triple-A.

De La Rosa, meanwhile, has now been part of two deals since signing with the Cubs as an international free agent from the Dominican Republic in 2013 (Chicago shipped him to the Rangers for righty Spencer Patton in 2015). At the time of the first swap involving De La Rosa, Baseball America’s Vince Lara-Cinisomo noted that he has “plus speed and decent hands but lacks the consistency to play shortstop, profiling as an offensive second baseman.” The 21-year-old switch-hitter has batted .253/.317/.352 in the minors, primarily at the Single-A level.

AL West Notes: A’s, Rangers, Astros

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The Athletics’ promising stable of starters could make right-hander Sonny Gray expendable this year, posits FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal (video link). Major leaguers Kendall Graveman, Jharel Cotton, Sean Manaea and Andrew Triggs all look like viable building blocks, while prospects Grant Holmes and last year’s sixth overall pick, A.J. Puk, are among potential future starters within the organization. Gray endured a nightmarish 2016 and is currently on the mend from a lat strain, so his stock surely isn’t where it was when he performed like an ace from 2013-15. Still, Gray’s fairly young (27), affordable ($3.575MM) and controllable via arbitration through the 2019 campaign. If Oakland does place Gray on the block, it could seek outfield help in return, Rosenthal says.

Here’s more from the AL West:

  • The Rangers aren’t inclined to trade corner infielder/outfielder Joey Gallo, whom they view as an important long-term piece, according to Rosenthal. The powerful Gallo has been strong at third base this year in place of the injured Adrian Beltre, who’s 38 and only signed through next season. Even if Gallo exits the lineup when Beltre returns, the 23-year-old could become an everyday player at first base or in the outfield by next season, Rosenthal notes. At that point, free agents-to-be Mike Napoli and Carlos Gomez might be in other uniforms, thus creating room for Gallo. The former big-time prospect has slashed a productive .235/.350/.529 in 40 PAs this year, and while he’s still striking out too much, his 35 percent K rate is a vast improvement over the unsightly 63.3 percent mark he put up in 30 PAs last season.
  • The Astros faced a scary situation in Oakland on Saturday when shortstop Carlos Correa left early after taking a 96 mph fastball from Frankie Montas to the left hand. Fortunately for the Astros and Correa, X-rays only revealed a contusion. “Good news, obviously,” Correa told Brian McTaggart of MLB.com. “I thought it was going to be a lot worse. Obviously, it was a hard-throwing guy and it was a fastball inside. He didn’t give me a chance to get out of the way and I got hit in the hand. Thank God no fracture.” Correa, who’s day-to-day, hopes to return to Houston’s lineup Sunday.
  • Athletics shortstop Marcus Semien has a bone contusion in his right wrist and will undergo an MRI on Monday, tweets Joe Stiglich of NBC Sports California. Semien’s wrist has been an issue since late in the spring, adds Stiglich, and that could at least partially explain his early season power outage. After swatting 27 long balls and posting a .197 ISO last season, Semien has gone homer-less and managed a paltry .057 ISO in 46 plate trips this year.
  • Rangers reliever Keone Kela, demoted to Triple-A on March 31 as a disciplinary measure, is a candidate to rejoin Texas’ bullpen next time the team needs help from the minors, writes Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. “Kela’s never not been an option,” said manager Jeff Banister. “They’ve all been possibilities. It just depends on what you need.” The 23-year-old Kela was excellent as a rookie in 2015, but he took significant steps backward last season and then earned a ticket to Triple-A by showing a lack of effort in a minor league intrasquad game this spring.

Rangers Outright Tanner Scheppers

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The Rangers have announced that they’ve activated righty Andrew Cashner (triceps) from the 10-day DL. To clear roster space, they’ve optioned righty Nick Martinez to Triple-A Round Rock and outrighted righty Tanner Scheppers to Triple-A Round Rock, removing him from their 40-man roster. Cashner is set to make his Rangers debut tonight against the Mariners.

The 30-year-old Scheppers was a first-round pick in 2009 and showed glimpses of potential with the Rangers, routinely throwing in the mid-90s and generally performing well in his first two years in the big leagues, 2012 and 2013. He was the Rangers’ Opening Day starter in 2014, but he ended up missing portions of 2014 and 2015 with elbow and knee injuries. Since then, he’s struggled to reestablish himself in the Rangers’ bullpen, and his peripherals haven’t been nearly as impressive as his velocity. Injuries continued to bother him, as well — he missed much of the 2016 season after having surgery on his left knee. He had begun this season on the 10-day DL with abdominal discomfort and had made two rehab appearances with Round Rock.

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