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AL East Notes: Yankees, Sanchez, Sox, Kim

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There’s been plenty of ink dedicated to the idea of the Yankees parting with one of their left-handed bullpen aces, Aroldis Chapman or Andrew Miller, but the club’s top execs aren’t planning on trading anyone in the near future, reports Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports. Heyman cites “senior Yankees executives” in conveying that the team’s top decision-makers held a conference call last night and determined that there won’t be any action in the near term, though the club could reevaluate that line of thinking closer to the end of July. Many have speculated that the Yankees, in need of rotation depth as well as some help at the infield corners, could deal Chapman or Miller to add a younger big league piece elsewhere on the roster. Carlos Beltran’s name also crept up in speculation last month, but it would appear that the Yankees, currently 26-30 and 6.5 games back in the division, will stay the course for the time being.

Here’s more from the AL East…

  • Aaron Sanchez’s breakout season will leave the Blue Jays with some tough decisions in a couple of months, writes Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet. The Jays clearly made the right call by entrusting Sanchez with a spot in the rotation this spring, Nicholson-Smith points out, but the team also said back in March that he’d eventually transition to the bullpen later this season as a means of managing his innings total. Sanchez has been dominant in 2016, posting a 2.99 ERA with 8.0 K/9, 3.1 BB/9 and a lofty 58.5 percent ground-ball rate across 72 1/3 innings. Pitching coach Pete Walker tells Nicholson-Smith that the Jays typically map out their plans for the pitching staff a month in advance, so he’s taking the Sanchez debate on a month-to-month basis. The 23-year-old Sanchez totaled just 102 innings between the Majors and minors last season, so it’s understandable that Toronto isn’t thrilled with the notion of seeing one of its most valuable long-term pieces double his 2015 innings total with a full season of starts.
  • The struggles of Eduardo Rodriguez in yesterday’s loss underscores the Red Sox’ need to trade for rotation help, opines Michael Silverman of the Boston Herald. Silverman notes that the club has watched Rick Porcello slow down considerably since an explosive start to the season, while David Price has yet to hit the stride that most expect of the former Cy Young winner. Beyond that, Clay Buchholz and Joe Kelly have pitched themselves out of rotation jobs. Steven Wright has been a pleasant surprise, but his breakout alone won’t sustain a four-man rotation that already needs a fifth option. Boston has already seen one trade option come off the market, as the White Sox picked up James Shields from the Padres with a rare early-June trade of fairly significant magnitude.
  • Hyun Soo Kim’s turnaround since Spring Training has been remarkable, writes Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com, who spoke to a scout from outside the Orioles organization that said he’s had to tear up the March scouting report he’d compiled on Kim. Baltimore signed Kim to a two-year, $7MM contract this winter on the heels of an impressive run in the Korea Baseball Organization, but the man nicknamed the “Hitting Machine” in Korea looked overmatched (or “scared,” as the scout put it to Kubatko) at the plate in Spring Training. To say Kim, who is hitting .377/.449/.493 through an admittedly small sample of 78 plate appearances, has adjusted nicely would appear to be an understatement. Manager Buck Showalter praised Kim for his adjustments to harder velocity and said he routinely checks in with Kim and his interpreter to see if there’s anything the club can do to continue to ease the transition from Korea to America. Kim, however, tells Showalter that he’s “having the time of his life” now that he is getting a chance to contribute in the Majors.

Cafardo: Jays Could Move Bautista, Encarnacion

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  • The 30-27 Blue Jays are in the thick of the playoff race, but if they fall out of it, right fielder Jose Bautista and first baseman/designated hitter Edwin Encarnacion (both pending free agents) are prime trade candidates. The Cardinals, Cubs and Hunter Pence-less Giants would all have interest in Bautista, according to Cafardo.

    [SOURCE LINK]
  • The 30-27 Blue Jays are in the thick of the playoff race, but if they fall out of it, right fielder Jose Bautista and first baseman/designated hitter Edwin Encarnacion (both pending free agents) are prime trade candidates. The Cardinals, Cubs and Hunter Pence-less Giants would all have interest in Bautista, according to Cafardo.

Phillies Acquire Jimmy Paredes

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The Phillies have acquired utilityman Jimmy Paredes from the Blue Jays, Philadelphia announced. Toronto will receive cash considerations in return for Paredes, who had been designated for assignment recently by the Jays.

The 27-year-old Paredes is capable of playing second, third, and the corner outfield. Plus, he swings from both sides of the plate, making him a flexible addition for a Phillies club that’s struggled to score runs. Clearly, the Phillies are intrigued by Paredes, as the club reportedly placed a waiver claim on him after he was designated for assignment and waived by the Orioles. However, the Blue Jays had waiver priority over the Phils at that point. This time around, the Phillies circumvented the waiver process by simply acquiring him in a trade.

Paredes certainly could help in the offensive department if he can keep up or improve upon his recent results. Since the start of 2014, he owns a roughly league-average .277/.311/.424 batting line with 13 home run and eight steals over 466 plate appearances.

Of course, Paredes isn’t very highly regarded with the glove, and he’s generally been much more successful against right-handed pitching. That limits his function for Philadelphia, but it’s not hard to see how he could be deployed to add some punch to a lineup that has received sub-par production from second base (Cesar Hernandez) and the corner outfield (Peter Bourjos, Tyler Goeddel, David Lough).

Bautista On Toronto: "I'd Be Stupid To Leave"

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Jose Bautista’s future with the Blue Jays has been up in the air since Spring Training, when reports of an asking price north of $150MM emerged, but the right fielder tells Sports Illustrated’s Tom Verducci that his preference is to remain in Toronto. “I love the city. I’d be stupid to leave,” said Bautista. While that comment will garner plenty of attention, it’s hardly uncommon for stars to voice a preference to remain with the club with which they’ve broken out. Bautista implied that the ball is in the court of first-year president of baseball operations Mark Shapiro and first-year GM Ross Atkins. “I will explore every single option, whether it happens or not with the new regime, to continue to try to stay here,” he added. “That being said, I think teams utilize that a lot against players, [seeking] a discount or bargain price, and I think that’s extremely unfair, especially to have your biggest contributors on the field and try to take advantage of the fact that they like it there and negotiate a tougher deal.” Despite today’s comments, it seems difficult to envision Bautista significantly dropping his asking price — especially when he’s again on pace to top 30 homers.

  • Blue Jays GM Ross Atkins spoke to reporters tonight about his club’s acquisition of Jason Grilli (video link via Sportsnet.ca). Atkins said that he’s been on the lookout for bullpen help since the day he arrived in Toronto, and Grilli’s penchant for missing bats made him an attractive option. “There’s a lot that we like about Jason and how he complements this team,” said Atkins. “The first thing that comes to mind is experience. He’s been on winning teams, [in] very high-leverage situations and gets a ton of swing-and-miss — has gotten a lot of swing-and-miss throughout his career.” Atkins expected Grilli to join the club on Wednesday.

Blue Jays Acquire Jason Grilli

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5:47pm: The Blue Jays and Braves have both announced the trade.

4:02pm: The Blue Jays and Braves have agreed to a deal that will send right-hander Jason Grilli from Atlanta to Toronto in exchange for right-hander Sean Ratcliffe, reports Baseball Essential’s Robert Murray (links to Murray on Twitter). Additionally, he tweets that the Jays will pay Grilli the pro-rated portion of the league minimum for the remainder of the season, with the Braves paying the rest of his salary. Grilli has a base salary of $3.5MM, meaning Atlanta will still pay him $2.37MM, while the Jays are now on the hook for $344K plus a $250K buyout on his $3MM club option for the 2017 season.

Jason Grilli

Grilli, 39, is off to a rough start to his 2016 campaign but gives Toronto an experienced arm to add to the back of its bullpen. In 17 innings this year, he’s posted a 5.29 ERA with 23 strikeouts against 13 walks (one intentional). That control (or lack thereof) has been Grilli’s primary undoing, but he enjoyed plenty of success in the Atlanta bullpen as recently as last year, when he logged a 2.94 ERA and 24 saves in 33 2/3 innings before an Achilles injury prematurely ended his season. Grilli’s club option for the 2017 season is for $3MM, so if he’s able to right the ship with the Jays as he nears his 40th birthday, he’ll be an affordable piece for next season.

While he’s struggled for much of the 2016 season, Grilli worked to a strong 3.07 ERA with 11.9 K/9, 3.2 BB/9 and 72 saves from 2011-15 with the Pirates, Angels and Braves, so there’s some reason to believe that he could rebound with a change of scenery. Then again, his velocity is down more than two miles per hour from last season, and his ground-ball rate is at an all-time-low 18.9 percent this year — a bad trend to exhibit for any player, let alone one that is moving to the homer-friendly Rogers Centre in Toronto. The prospect price, though, isn’t exactly steep in this deal, and the Jays are taking on a just a small portion of Grilli’s salary, so the risk they’re assuming is rather minimal.

The 21-year-old Ratcliffe has yet to climb higher than Low-A ball in his career. Toronto selected him in the 18th round of the 2013 draft, and he’s posted a 4.91 ERA with 6.5 K/9 against 5.3 BB/9 in 62 1/3 professional innings. Baseball America’s Vince Lara-Cinisomo writes that Ratcliffe has a fastball that will touch 93 mph and a “decent” slider with plenty of room for projection as a converted catcher with a 6’4″, 200-pound frame.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Blue Jays Designate Jimmy Paredes For Assignment

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The Blue Jays have designated Jimmy Paredes for assignment, the Toronto Star’s Brendan Kennedy reports (Twitter link).  In a corresponding move, righty reliever Ryan Tepera was called up from Triple-A.

Toronto claimed Paredes off waivers from the Orioles two weeks ago.  He hit quite well (.267/.353/.533) over 17 plate appearances and also filled in around the diamond for the Jays, making one start each at second, third and DH while also appearing in right field for a game.  As MLB.com’s Gregor Chisholm tweets, however, the Jays needed an extra reliever for their struggling bullpen and other infield bench candidates like Ryan Goins or Darwin Barney are needed with Troy Tulowitzki on the DL.

Paredes has never exhibited much defensive value despite his versatility over his six years in the majors, and he owns a .257/.294/.373 slash line over 862 PA with Toronto, Baltimore, Kansas City and Houston.  The 27-year-old was originally signed by the Yankees in 2006, and notably dealt along with Mark Melancon to the Astros in the July 2010 trade deadline deal that brought Lance Berkman to New York.

Blue Jays Place Troy Tulowitzki On DL

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The Blue Jays have placed shortstop Troy Tulowitzki on the 15-day DL with a quad strain, Brendan Kennedy of the Toronto Star tweets. Taking his place on the active roster will be lefty Aaron Loup, who’s returning from an elbow injury.

Tulowitzki played yesterday against Boston (striking out four times) but missed the previous two games due to quad tightness, during which time the Jays used Ryan Goins and Darwin Barney at shortstop. The injury occurred when he was stealing a base against the Yankees on Tuesday. It’s been a somewhat disappointing season thus far for Tulowitzki, who’s batted just .204/.289/.383 in 190 plate appearances this year. It’s been a slow start to Tulo’s Blue Jays career in general, in fact — he hit .239/.317/.380 down the stretch in 2015 after arriving in a high-profile trade with Colorado.

Loup has been a regular in the Toronto bullpen the last four seasons, with a 3.11 ERA, 7.5 K/9 and 2.2 BB/9 in a big-league career spent entirely with the Jays. The team had been using a six-man bullpen, and Loup’s addition gives the team its usual complement of seven relievers. The move also gives the team a second lefty to go with Chad Girodo.

Blue Jays To Sign Ryan Lavarnway

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  • Catcher Ryan Lavarnway has signed with the Blue Jays, per Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.ca (via Twitter). He’ll head to the organization’s Double-A affiliate. The 28-year-old had been playing at Triple-A with the Braves before he was released, putting up a .276/.336/.357 slash in his first 107 plate appearances on the season. In 407 trips to the plate at the major league level over the last five years, the one-time top Red Sox prospect has compiled a .198/.258/.316 batting line.

MLB Issues Suspensions For Rangers-Blue Jays Brawl

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MAY 26: Odor’s suspension has been reduced to seven games, tweets Jon Heyman of MLB Network. MLB.com’s T.R. Sullivan first reported that Odor’s suspension would be reduced by a slight margin (Twitter link).

MAY 17: 3:37pm: Bautista will be suspended for one game, tweets SB Nation’s Chris Cotillo.

3:20pm: Right-hander Jesse Chavez, who hit Prince Fielder in the thigh with a pitch following the initial skirmish, will receive a three-game suspension, reports Sportsnet’s Shi Davidi (Twitter link).

2:56pm: Elvis Andrus will get a one-game suspension for throwing a punch, according to Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram (via Twitter). That appears to round out the bans on the Texas side of the equation.

2:24pm: Toronto skipper John Gibbons will be hit with a three-game suspension, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports tweets. He’s being punished for returning to the field after previously being ejected.

2:04pm: Rangers second baseman Rougned Odor is set to receive an eight-game suspension for his role in the recent brawl with the Blue Jays, Jon Heyman of MLB Network reports (Twitter links). Odor is expected to appeal the ban, which will at least delay its application and could theoretically result in some reduction.

Additional suspensions are expected for players involved in the fracas, but it’s hard to imagine that anyone will get anything approaching Odor’s level of punishment. The youngster pushed and then punched Jays’ star Jose Bautista after a rough slide into second base, precipitating a large melee. Of course, there was more to it than that, as Bautista had previously been plunked by Matt Bush — a move interpreted by some as retaliation for the slugger’s dramatic bat flip in last year’s postseason.

All told, the move isn’t of major consequence for the Rangers. Odor can play while his appeal is considered, and the organization has plenty of options to fill in for whatever stretch he ends up missing. Hanser Alberto would represent the most obvious replacement who is currently on the active roster, but Jurickson Profar might also be an option. As Jamey Newberg noted earlier today on Twitter, Profar has shifted over to second base for his game today at Triple-A.

AL East Notes: Travis, Sox Pen, Sanchez

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Second baseman Devon Travis is on his way back up to the Blue Jays, according to Jon Morosi of FOX Sports (via Twitter). He’ll finally make it back from shoulder issues that have kept him away from the club since late last July. Travis impressed in his first 239 big league plate appearances, putting up a .304/.361/.498 slash with eight home runs. Even if he can’t keep up that pace, there’s every hope that he’ll significantly upgrade a unit that owns one of the league’s least productive batting lines.

Here are a few more notes from the AL East:

  • The loss of Carson Smith leaves the Red Sox in need of an additional quality pen arm, Evan Drellich of the Boston Herald writes. That’s not to say there’s any particular rush to the trade market, which president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski made clear would not be the case. But Drellich argues that the organization needs to begin lining up targets for the summer. Meanwhile, WEEI.com’s Rob Bradford takes a look at a few possibilities who could be available.
  • Yankees catcher Gary Sanchez suffered what GM Brian Cashman is calling a “cracked thumb” in last night’s action, Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre beat writer Shane Hennigan tweets. The 23-year-old is one of the game’s most highly-regarded backstop prospects, and seemed ready for a full shot at the majors after opening the year with a .290/.333/.529 slash in 147 plate appearances. Of course, the Yankees are all set at the big league level for the time being. The club will hope that the injury won’t take too big a chunk out of Sanchez’s season, but his outlook remains unclear at present.
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