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AL Notes: Holland, Uehara, Bedrosian, Maybin

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Rangers lefty Derek Holland has a lot at stake in his final month of the season — and, likely, the postseason to follow — as Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News explains. Holland, 29, is not only battling for a spot in the club’s playoff rotation, but also will be auditioning as the team considers whether to pick up his $11MM option for 2017. He has exceeded his limited inning tallies of the prior two campaigns, but still owns only a 4.68 ERA across 84 2/3 frames on the year. But his two outings since returning from his latest DL stint have been quite good — Holland has allowed just two earned runs over 12 innings on eight total hits and one walk, against ten strikeouts — and a continuation of that could make the option desirable once again. As Grant notes, Texas will need to weigh the lack of likely alternatives in free agency. Plus, parting ways with the southpaw would mean paying a $1.5MM buyout for 2017 while also passing on the rights to a $11.5MM option for the 2018 season (while coughing up another $1MM buyout).

Here’s more from the American League:

  • The Red Sox could welcome Koji Uehara back to their bullpen as soon as next Monday, as Tim Britton of the Providence Journal reports. At one point, it seemed that the veteran righty could miss the rest of the season with a pectoral strain, but he’ll instead look to provide a boost to the Sox relief corps down the stretch. While there’s now optimism, Uehara says he won’t push too hard. “It makes no sense to rush at this point in time so I’ll try to be ready when I’m ready,” he said. “The biggest hurdle is getting over the injury mentally. I think I feel pretty good with where I am physically.” It hasn’t quite been a typical campaign for the 41-year-old, who sports an uncharacteristic 4.50 ERA, but he’s still carrying 12.8 K/9 against just 2.3 BB/9 and will be an interesting factor in the free agent market — particularly if he can show that he’s healthy in the final month of the season.
  • Angels righty Cam Bedrosian is still assessing whether to undergo surgery to address a blood clot in his pitching arm, as Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times writes. The procedure would end his season, but the alternative — rest and medication — likely will as well at this point. Either way, it doesn’t appear to be a significant long-term concern, and doesn’t take much away from a breakout season from the 24-year-old. After posting ugly earned run totals in his first two efforts to conquer the big leagues, Bedrosian has tallied 40 1/3 frames of 1.12 ERA ball in 2016 with a strong 11.4 K/9 against 3.1 BB/9 and a 49.5% groundball rate.
  • The Tigers are holding their breath yet again with regard to outfielder Cameron Maybin, who left tonight’s action with another thumb injury. As Evan Woodberry of MLive.com tweets, X-rays on his left thumb were negative, but an MRI has been scheduled for a closer look tomorrow. The 29-year-old has been a key cog for Detroit, slashing .328/.398/.415 with 14 steals over 286 plate appearances, but has already spent two stints on the DL — including one for an injury to the same digit that is causing the new trouble. Regardless of the prognosis, it seems fairly likely that the Tigers will end up seeing value in exercising a $9MM option to retain Maybin for 2017 rather than paying him a $1MM buyout.

Drew Stubbs Rejects Outright Assignment From Rangers

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The Rangers announced this afternoon that outfielder Drew Stubbs has rejected an outright assignment to Triple-A following his recent DFA. The 31-year-old has been placed on irrevocable waivers and will be a free agent if he clears. The timing of the move should give Stubbs the opportunity to latch on with a team in advance of Sept. 1, so he could potentially sign with a new team and remain postseason-eligible.

Stubbs has seen limited action with the Rangers and Braves this season but fairly well in that time, batting .259/.343/.414 with three homers in 67 plate appearances. While that’s a marked improvement over 2015’s ugly .195/.283/.382 slash in 140 plate appearances between the Rockies and Rangers, Stubbs’ 27 strikeouts in 2016 (40 percent of his plate appearances) remain concerning. Making consistent contact has never been his strong suit, and it’s led to some unsightly numbers at the plate throughout his career. Stubbs did enjoy an outstanding 2014 campaign, during which he batted .289/.339/.482 with 15 homers and 20 steals, but a great deal of that production looks to have been aided by Coors Field (.999 OPS at home, .616 on the road that year).

All told, Stubbs is a career .244/.314/.396 hitter that can play all three outfield positions and handles left-handed pitching quite well (.275/.349/.449). With a bit of speed and power as well as the capability of playing center field, he could make an attractive fourth or fifth outfielder for a club over the final month of the season.

Latest On Rangers’ Jeremy Jeffress

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One day after his DWI arrest, the Rangers were set to reinstate reliever Jeremy Jeffress from the restricted list Saturday, but Major League Baseball blocked the move, reports Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News. The league took action because it’s concerned that drugs may have been involved, per Grant, who adds that it’s awaiting the results of a blood test administered to Jeffress after his arrest.

Jeffress had a blood alcohol content of .115 at the time of the arrest, and police found a clear plastic bag with a “green leafy substance believed to be marijuana or a synthetic cannabinoid” in his car’s glove box, the arrest warrant states. Jeffress denied that the substance was his, but he was hit with multiple suspensions for marijuana usage during his minor league career. Notably, positive tests for marijuana do not result in suspensions in the majors.

In a recent interview with T.R. Sullivan of MLB.com, Jeffress attributed his past marijuana dependence to epilepsy, which he has dealt with since his teenage years.

“I was self-medicating … doing it with marijuana. It would help, but at the same time, the rules and regulations of baseball wouldn’t allow it. I had to find out other ways to deal with it,” said Jeffress, who was one marijuana suspension away from a lifetime ban in the minors.

FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal reported in May that the Brewers helped Jeffress overcome his marijuana issues, but they traded the 28-year-old to the Rangers in advance of the Aug. 1 non-waiver trade deadline. Prior to his arrest, Jeffress tossed nine innings with Texas and allowed four earned runs on seven hits and five walks. He won’t return to the Rangers’ bullpen until the league consults with the players’ association and declares him eligible, according to Grant.

AL Notes: Sox, Rangers, Choo, Girardi

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After dealing away Dioner Navarro on Friday, the White Sox may have further moves to make before the end of the month. As Dan Hayes of CSN Chicago tweets, GM Rick Hahn says that there are some other irons in the fire as contenders move to add players to their organization before the August 31 deadline to bring in postseason-eligible outsiders. “We were having dialogue with a lot of different clubs on a handful of different players,” says Hahn.

More from the American League:

  • Rangers right fielder Shin-Soo Choo’s chances of playing again this year are ostensibly poor after suffering a fractured left forearm Aug. 15, but he’s aiming to return in October. “I want to try for the postseason,” he said (via Ryan Posner of MLB.com). “I have a plan, I have a goal, I have the confidence.” Choo underwent forearm surgery Aug. 17, and the Rangers’ physician told him then that he’d need eight weeks to recover. That would set Choo up for a mid-October comeback, though the first-place Rangers might not be alive at that point. In the event they are, Choo could have difficulty working back into game shape if he’s unable to embark on a minor league rehab assignment sometime in September. Choo’s injury opened the door for the signing of Carlos Gomez, who has taken over as the Rangers’ everyday left fielder.
  • Red Sox setup man Koji Uehara hasn’t looked like a sure bet to return this season since landing on the shelf with a strained pectoral in late July, but there is progress on that front, per Scott Lauber of ESPN.com. Uehara threw 53 pitches off a mound “with good intensity” Friday, said manager John Farrell. Uehara will throw again Monday and is “making some pretty good strides,” Farrell added. With a 4.50 ERA to accompany a bloated home run to fly ball rate (16.3 percent) and a minuscule ground-ball percentage (19.0), the battle-tested Uehara hasn’t been nearly as effective in 2016 as he was in previous seasons. On the positive side, the 41-year-old has posted outstanding strikeout and walk numbers (12.75 K/9 and 2.25 BB/9) across 36 innings.
  • Yankees manager Joe Girardi spoke out Saturday against September roster expansion, telling reporters (including Brendan Kuty of NJ.com), “I think during the most important time of the year you look for advantages for matchups. You do that for five months and all of a sudden some of those advantages are gone because of all the call-ups.” Girardi also offered a year-round alternative to the 25-man roster, which is in effect from April through August, as well as the 40-man edition. “I think you should have to designate maybe 27 players to a roster, 28 players to a roster that day,” he said.

Rangers Place Jeremy Jeffress On Restricted List After DWI Arrest

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3:06pm: Club GM Jon Daniels says that Jeffress will go to the restricted list, as Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News was among those to report (Twitter links). That will likely only be a one-day placement, however, and is intended to ensure that the team has a full bullpen.

It appears that Jeffress was found to be intoxicated after drinking at a nightclub when he was stopped, with Chris Siron and Naheed Rajwani of the Dallas Morning News providing further detail on the charges. Though alcohol does not fall within the parameters of the Joint Drug Agreement, the league is investigating the matter, according to Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram (via Twitter).

11:04am: Rangers reliever Jeremy Jeffress was arrested in Dallas overnight for DWI, reports Rebecca Lopez of WFAA 8 News in Dallas. Per Lopez, Dallas County Jail records show that Jeffress was booked at 5:13am. It’s unclear if he’ll face any sort of disciplinary action from the team or the league (though there’s little in the way precedent for league-mandated punishment following a DWI or DUI charge). The Rangers issued the following statement to WFAA: “The Texas Rangers are aware of the situation involving Jeremy Jeffress that took place early this morning. At this time, we are in the process of the gathering information and have no further comment.”

Details surrounding this incident remain unclear, though Jeffress has been disciplined for substance abuse in the past. Jeffress was suspended on multiple occasions in his minor league career for marijuana usage, though the last such suspension came all the way back in 2009. In a recent interview with MLB.com’s T.R. Sullivan, Jeffress attributed that usage to treatment for epilepsy, which has plagued him since his teen years.

Texas acquired the 28-year-old Jeffress alongside catcher Jonathan Lucroy in the Aug. 1 trade that sent minor leaguers Lewis Brinson, Luis Ortiz and a player to be named later to the Brewers. Jeffress has a 4.00 ERA in nine innings since the trade and a 2.52 ERA with 6.9 K/9, 2.7 BB/9, a 58.9 percent ground-ball rate and 27 saves on the season as a whole. He’ll be eligible for arbitration for the first time this winter and can be controlled by the Rangers through the 2019 season.

Rangers Designate Drew Stubbs, Activate Carlos Gomez

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The Rangers have designated outfielder Drew Stubbs for assignment, according to Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News (via Twitter). His roster spot will go to the just-signed Carlos Gomez, who has been activated.

[RELATED: Updated Rangers Roster]

Gomez will go right onto action for Texas, playing left field and slotting into the eighth spot in the lineup. He is moving across the state after a hugely disappointing run with the Astros, who cut him loose recently. The Rangers are only on the hook for a pro-rated portion of the league minimum, and will surely hope that Gomez can provide a quality glove and at least begin to turn things around somewhat at the plate.

As for the 31-year-old Stubbs, this represents his second trip through DFA limbo this year. He joined the Rangers after being cut loose earlier by the Braves, playing at Triple-A until his recent promotion. Stubbs has been hitting well in his very brief major league stint with the Rangers, putting up an unusual .300/.400/.600 slash in 25 plate appearances.

Marlins Acquire Jeff Francoeur In Three-Team Deal With Braves, Rangers

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The Marlins announced tonight that they have acquired outfielder Jeff Francoeur and cash considerations from the Braves in a three-team deal that also involves the Rangers. The Braves will acquire minor league shortstop Dylan Moore from the Rangers and minor league catcher/first baseman Matt Foley from the Marlins. The Rangers, meanwhile, will receive three international bonus slots — two from the Marlins and one from the Braves — that total $860K in value.

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Francoeur will give the Marlins a right-handed bat to play in right field in the wake of Giancarlo Stanton’s injury, possibly sharing time with the left-handed-hitting Oswaldo Arcia (whom Miami claimed off waivers from the Rays earlier this week) and veteran Ichiro Suzuki.

While the veteran Francoeur’s overall .249/.290/.381 batting line isn’t especially impressive, his .273/.313/.431 line against lefties is much more palatable, and he regularly draws positive reviews for his presence in the clubhouse. Any alignment featuring regular time from Francoeur and/or Arcia figures to be sub-par from a defensive standpoint, but the pair’s platoon stats (Arcia is a .244/.317/.468 hitter vs. righties) complement each other nicely, and Ichiro still profiles as a useful defender in right even at 42 years of age.

The 32-year-old Francoeur is a free agent at season’s end, making this is a short-term pickup for the Fish. Francoeur inked a minor league pact with Atlanta this offseason that came with a $1MM base salary and another $1MM available via incentives. Presumably, the cash considerations headed to Miami will help cover the remaining $213K on Francoeur’s deal plus any incentives he may have already reached. (The specific nature of his performance bonuses was not reported at the time of his signing.)

As Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News points out (Twitter link), the $860K total value of the international slots in this deal, when paired with the $210K the Rangers acquired in the trade that sent outfielder Ryan Strausborger to the Mariners, mean that Texas has acquired the maximum $1.07MM they were allowed to add to their international signing pool. Per the league’s stipulations, a team can only acquire up to 50 percent of its original bonus pool, and Texas entered the current signing period with a pool of $2,157,400 (per Baseball America).

Neither Moore nor Foley ranked within the top 30 prospects of their respective organizations. The 24-year-old Moore, though, has enjoyed a nice season split between Class-A and Class-A Advanced, hitting .263/.377/.440 with 14 homers and 40 stolen bases. While it should be pointed out that the 2015 seventh-round pick spent most of the season playing at Class-A, where he was a good bit older than the average player in the league, his production didn’t really take off until he was moved up to High-A, where he has slashed .351/.400/.649 with five homers in just 17 games. He’s a bit old for that level as well, but his quick adaptation could prompt further promotion. Beyond that, he’s a jack of all trades in the field, as pointed out by David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (Twitter link). Moore has played every position on the field except catcher, and that includes pitcher (though the seven hits he allowed in his lone inning of work probably mean he won’t be spending much time on the mound in the future).

Foley, meanwhile, has spent the season with the Marlins’ Rookie-level affiliate in Arizona before recently being bumped up to short-season Class-A. The 2015 40th-rounder has totaled just 44 plate appearances and batted .257/.386/.257 and caught one of four runners that have attempted to steal against him.

Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports first reported that a trade between the Braves and Rangers had been agreed to (via Twitter). Joel Sherman of the New York Post added that it was a three-team deal that would send Francoeur to Miami (links to Twitter). Rosenthal tweeted that international bonus money would go to Texas, and Sherman tweeted that the Braves would send one slot while the Marlins would send two. MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro tweeted that Foley was in the trade, and 

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

AL Notes: Encarnacion, Bautista, Angels Stadium, Holland

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Star Blue Jays first  baseman/DH Edwin Encarnacion is facing a civil suit from a woman who claims that he knowingly infected her with sexually transmitted diseases, as TMZ recently reported. The unsettling allegations can be found here, courtesy of the Toronto Star. Encarnacion’s representatives have strongly denied any wrongdoing, with agent Paul Kinzer calling the lawsuit “frivolous,” as Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reports. At this time, there is no indication either that a criminal investigation relating to the claims is being pursued, or that Major League Baseball will undertake its own investigation into the matter. One of the game’s best hitters, the 33-year-old Encarnacion is slated to become a heavily-pursued free agent at the end of the season.

More from the American League:

  • There was some good news on the injury front for the Blue Jays, as Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.ca reports. Second baseman Devon Travis needed a cortisone shot to address a hand injury, but is expected to be ready to go today. And slugger Jose Bautista may return from his knee sprain tomorrow, which is the first date he’d be eligible to come off of the 15-day DL. That’s great news for the Jays and the veteran outfielder, who ought to have a nice stretch of time available to burnish his free agent credentials. Bautista is putting up an above-average .222/.349/.444 batting line in his 355 plate appearances on the year, but that’s well off of his usual production levels and this is his second stint on the disabled list.
  • Renewed talks between the Angels and the city of Anaheim on a new lease arrangement for Angels Stadium are off to something of a rocky start, Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times reports. While the Halos organization had objected to the construction of a 15-acre, multi-use development project that will be raised next to the ballpark’s parking lot. Despite the team’s claim that the complex would compete with the stadium’s own concessions — and, therefore, “fundamentally undermine the Angels’ negotiations to remain in Anaheim over the long term” — the Anaheim Planning Commission voted unanimously to approve it. Final approval still must be obtained from city council, and it’s still unclear just how much of an impediment this matter will prove to be, but it seems that the Angels and the city still have some differences to smooth out.
  • While the Rangers lost their third straight ballgame yesterday, Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News finds a ray of hope: the performance of starter Derek Holland. In his first outing since June 20, the southpaw allowed just one earned run on four hits and a walk, striking out five over six solid frames that required only 73 pitches. When Texas ended up foregoing a starting staff upgrade at the trade deadline, it left the middle and back of its rotation somewhat exposed. But Grant wonders whether Holland might be able not only to solidify things down the stretch, but also win the third spot in a hypothetical but hopeful playoff rotation.

Rangers Place Josh Hamilton On Release Waivers

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The Rangers announced that they have activated outfielder Josh Hamilton from the 60-day disabled list and placed him on unconditional release waivers. Per Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News (links to Twitter), the move is somewhat procedural in nature, as the club could look to sign him to a minor league deal after the season, and Hamilton has previously expressed a willingness to return in such an arrangement. Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star Telegram, in fact, tweets that Hamilton said last month that he expected to be released and sign a minor league pact this winter.

Hamilton missed the entire 2016 season due to a knee injury that proved to be more serious than initially believed. Hamilton was originally diagnosed with a torn meniscus but ultimately underwent an ACL reconstruction as well. He appeared in 50 games with Texas last season, batting .253/.291/.441 with eight homers in 182 plate appearances.

“We plan to monitor Josh’s progress as he continues his rehab process and is medically cleared this winter,” GM Jon Daniels explained to reporters (Twitter link via Grant). “Given the rules in place, releasing him before the end of this month allows us to keep the door open to extending the relationship in the future.” Had the Rangers waited until the offseason to release him, Hamilton wouldn’t have been eligible to return to the Major Leagues with Texas until May 15 of next season.

Cafardo’s Latest: Moreland, Leon, Red Sox, Gomez, Puig

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The latest news and notes from Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe…

  • The Astros have a lot of interest in Rangers first baseman Mitch Moreland, though Cafardo doubts a trade is likely given Texas’ lack of first base depth in the wake of Prince Fielder’s retirement.  (It would also be very unusual to see a trade between two division rivals in a pennant race, even if Houston has fallen well behind Texas in the AL West.)  The Astros already have a left-handed hitting first baseman in rookie A.J. Reed, though Reed is still a work in progress despite some improved hitting over the last couple of weeks.  While it doesn’t seem like Texas would deal Moreland, he has cleared trade waivers, so he can freely moved to any other club.
  • The Nationals’ trade of Sandy Leon to the Red Sox for cash considerations in March 2015 drew little attention at the time, though it has become an unexpectedly important deal given how Leon has blossomed in Boston.  Leon entered the day with a stunning 1.088 OPS over 158 plate appearances this season, completely dwarfing anything he’d done at the major or minor league levels.  “I personally signed Sandy Leon when he was 16½ years old…My name is on that one,” Nats GM Mike Rizzo said.  “He was a good catch-and-throw kid, and what a kid.  He’s one of the greatest young men I’ve ever been around.  I’m so happy he’s doing well especially offensively, but I never saw it coming.”
  • The Red Sox could fill David Ortiz’s big shoes by DH at pursuing free agents Edwin Encarnacion, Jose Bautista, Carlos Beltran, Mike Napoli or Mark Trumbo this winter, as Cafardo feels the team will look for an external solution.  The simplest move would be to move Hanley Ramirez to DH, though that leaves both corner infield spots up in the air given the uncertainty around Pablo Sandoval’s weight, Travis Shaw’s ability to play every day and the development of prospects Yoan Moncada and Sam Travis.
  • Carlos Gomez drew interest from several teams before signing with the Rangers, with Cafardo adding the Indians and Blue Jays to the list of clubs already known to have been looking at the veteran outfielder.  Gomez likely would’ve served as platoon partner for Tyler Naquin in center for the Tribe, though despite Michael Brantley missing virtually the entire season, Cleveland’s outfield has actually been pretty solid thanks to unexpected contributions from Naquin, Rajai Davis and (when he hasn’t been at third) Jose Ramirez.  Gomez could’ve filled in the Jays outfield while Bautista and Kevin Pillar are on the DL, though his role would’ve been rather unclear once both returned.
  • Yasiel Puig “is considered toxic at the moment” and it seems unlikely that another team will take him off the Dodgers’ hands.  One Dodgers official isn’t entirely closing the door on Puig remaining in L.A., saying “At some point, the talent, the maturity is going to take hold.  Someone will benefit from it.  We hope it’s us, but it’s hard to envision it right now.”
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