Blue Jays Rumors

Minor MLB Transactions: 8/28/16

By Connor Byrne | August 28, 2016 at 4:17pm CDT

Sunday’s minor moves from around baseball:

The Twins selected the contract of outfielder Logan Schafer. He’ll take the place of outfielder Danny Santana, who was placed on the 15-day DL with a shoulder sprain suffered in a collision with teammate Robbie Grossman during today’s game. After being released by the Nationals at the end of Spring Training and then spending some time in the independent Atlantic League, Schafer signed a minor league deal with Minnesota in June. Schafer has a .212/.286/.319 slash line over 646 career MLB plate appearances, all with the Brewers from 2011-15.
The Dodgers have outrighted catcher Shawn Zarraga off their 40-man roster, tweets Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times. LA called up Zarraga on Thursday, but he was only a temporary fill-in as the club awaited the arrival of the newly acquired Carlos Ruiz. Zarraga, 27, has never picked up a major league plate appearance, instead totaling 1,826 in the minors and hitting .282/.371/.367.
The Blue Jays have released right-hander Chris Leroux from their Triple-A affiliate in Buffalo, per a club announcement. Toronto acquired Leroux from the Phillies for cash considerations in early April, but he never took the mound for the Jays. Leroux, whose latest major league action came in two innings with the Yankees in 2014, posted a 4.28 ERA, 6.04 K/9 and 2.86 BB/9 in 138 2/3 frames with Buffalo this year. In 71 2/3 career big league innings, the 32-year-old has put up a 6.03 ERA, 8.29 K/9, 4.4 BB/9 and 48.9 percent ground-ball rate.

Blue Jays Designate Aaron Loup For Assignment

By charliewilmoth | August 27, 2016 at 9:56am CDT

The Blue Jays have designated lefty Aaron Loup for assignment, Sportsnet’s Ben Nicholson-Smith tweets. The move clears space on the Jays’ active roster for righty Bo Schultz, and it likely also creates room on the 40-man for Dioner Navarro, who was recently also acquired via trade.

Loup was once a fixture in the Jays’ bullpen, with a series of mostly successful seasons from 2012 through 2015, but he struggled with an elbow injury to start the 2016 season and hasn’t really made his way back, pitching just 9 2/3 innings in the big leagues this year and allowing eight runs while throwing markedly slower than he had in the past — his average fastball came in at 93.2 MPH last season, and this year it’s down all the way to 90.7 MPH. (He struck out 11 and walked only two in those 9 2/3 innings, however, and pitched very well for Triple-A Buffalo.) Loup was due to be eligible for arbitration after the season after making $1.05MM this year, and the Jays might have figured that if they didn’t plan to tender him, there would be little risk in designating him for assignment now.

Blue Jays Acquire Dioner Navarro

By Jeff Todd | August 26, 2016 at 6:05pm CDT

The Blue Jays have acquired catcher Dioner Navarro from the White Sox, both teams have announced. Lefty Colton Turner is headed back to Chicago in the deal.

Navarro, 32, will return to Toronto, where he had played over 2014-15 before joining the South Siders this winter on a one-year, $4MM deal. He’ll presumably function as both a reserve catcher and bench bat for the Jays, who utilize Russell Martin as their starter behind the dish and also have Josh Thole on hand as a receiver.

[RELATED: Updated White Sox & Blue Jays Depth Charts]

It’s not yet clear how the playing time will shake out, but the switch-hitting Navarro could nudge the left-handed-hitting Thole out of his role as the primary backup — if not off of the roster entirely. Thole owns a meager .151/.246/.198 slash line over his 124 plate appearances on the season. But he is also the personal catcher for knuckler R.A. Dickey, and with the Jays also in need of another bat off of the bench, it’s possible to imagine both players co-existing on Toronto’s 25-man.

While Navarro has been a solid hitter at times in the past — he put up a composite 107 OPS+ over 2013-15 — this hasn’t been his finest season. He is carrying only a .210/.267/.339 batting line with six home runs in his 298 plate appearances on the year for the White Sox.

Still, Navarro brings a sturdy veteran presence to a familiar clubhouse, and won’t cost much in terms of cash to add to the mix. The remainder of his contract will only cost Toronto around $850K. Plus, with roster set to expand within the week, he won’t clog things up too badly and can add flexibility.

In Turner, the Sox will land a 25-year-old southpaw who has shown some promise at times this year. He was dominant at the High-A level, allowing just two earned runs on 19 hits over 31 2/3 innings while generating 13.4 K/9 against 2.6 BB/9. But he has stalled since moving up to Double-A for the first time, where he has been tagged for six earned in 10 1/3 frames with a less-than-stellar 10:8 K/BB ratio.

Heyman’s Latest: Puig, Turner, Braun, Votto, Weaver, Holliday, Howard, Crawford, Victorino

By Jeff Todd | August 25, 2016 at 8:45pm CDT

Jon Heyman of Fan Rag’s latest notes column begins with a lengthy examination of a resilient Dodgers team. He also drops a note on the demoted Yasiel Puig, who is not only demolishing Triple-A pitching, but is drawing great reviews for his attitude. Heyman reported further on Puig earlier today, explaining that the Dodgers have fielded interest in trade talks, but mostly have been spurning efforts by rival organizations to get him on the cheap.

Speaking of Puig, the division-rival Diamondbacks are said to have engaged in “some brief talks” on the talented 25-year-old. That engagement doesn’t seem to have resulted in any traction, however, so it doesn’t sound as if there’s any reason to believe that there could be a match between the organizations.
The Dodgers are expected to attempt to bring back third baseman Justin Turner, who has been an incredibly productive player since coming to the organization on a minor league deal in 2014. Heyman does note that Turner’s age (he’ll turn 32 in November) could limit L.A.’s interest in a long-term deal with the pending free agent.
After Ryan Braun’s no-trade protection seemingly gummed up any inclination the Brewers may have had to trade him this summer, Heyman writes that the team is expected to explore trade scenarios this winter. Age, cost, injury history, a PED past, and the no-trade rights will make that a complicated proposition, but Braun’s .317/.380/.562 slash line holds obvious appeal.
The Blue Jays’ previously reported effort to land Reds first baseman Joey Votto at the 2015 trade deadline may have petered out with the changes in the team’s baseball operations department. But the talks likely would’ve continued had Alex Anthopoulos remained at the helm, says Heyman, and the organization had been prepared to add Votto even after paying big to land Troy Tulowitzki and David Price. Per the report, though, the teams never got terribly far down the line in hashing out a deal.
Angels righty Jered Weaver has already made clear that he isn’t ready to discuss his plans for 2017, when he’ll be a free agent, but Heyman says that some in the organization believe he may retire. The 33-year-old is struggling through his worst season in the majors, with a 5.47 ERA over 138 1/3 innings.
While the Cardinals and outfielder Matt Holliday seemingly have good cause to continue their productive relationship, it’s far from clear whether the team will be willing to cough up $17MM to exercise its 2017 option. That said, Heyman notes that it’s possible to imagine the sides coming to an alternative arrangement to keep Holliday in St. Louis.
Heyman also provides some updates on some of the game’s other elder statesmen. Phillies first baseman Ryan Howard is said to be “determined” to continue his career after the all-but-inevitable decision by the Phils to decline the club’s option. Free agent outfielders Carl Crawford and Shane Victorino appear to be eyeing comeback efforts in 2017.

AL Notes: Encarnacion, Bautista, Angels Stadium, Holland

By Jeff Todd | August 24, 2016 at 9:36am CDT

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.

Blue Jays Pursued Joey Votto Trade Last Summer

By Jeff Todd | August 23, 2016 at 9:52am CDT

The Blue Jays opened “serious discussions” with the Reds last summer about a possible deal to add star first baseman Joey Votto, according to Richard Griffin of the Toronto Star. But those talks “never gained momentum,” per the report.

Instead, Toronto shifted its attention to adding Troy Tulowitzki and David Price in a pair of blockbusters that helped push the club into the post-season. While the dialogue with the Reds seemingly did not get very far down the line, Griffin says that the expectation was that Cincinnati would hold onto some of the large financial commitments to Votto, who is owed $179MM after the end of the 2016 season. (Ultimately, the Blue Jays took on Tulowitzki’s own lengthy deal, but sent Jose Reyes back to the Rockies to help offset the cost.)

Of course, it must be emphasized that those moves — as well as the chatter with Cincinnati — all took place under former general manager Alex Anthopoulos. He left over the offseason after the team hired Mark Shapiro as club president, with Shapiro ultimately bringing in Ross Atkins to step into the GM role.

It’s not clear whether or not the new front office leadership would share the interest of its predecessors in adding Votto. A native of Ontario, Votto would surely be desirable to any organization, as he continues to put up stellar offensive numbers (.309/.433/.522 with 20 home runs thus far in 2016). But the monster contract is another matter, especially for a player who will soon turn 33 years of age.

We’ve yet to hear of any current interest in such a maneuver from the Shapiro/Atkins front office group, so for now it’s all hypothetical, but Griffin goes on to argue that Votto still makes sense as a target for the Jays. It seems likely that Votto will clear waivers, and perhaps he’d be amenable to waiving his no-trade clause for a chance to return to his native land. In the near-term, he’d represent a major boost to a team that has seen its best left-handed hitters fade of late, and then he’d step into the void left when Edwin Encarnacion and Jose Bautista reach the open market after the season.

There’s certainly some facial appeal to the suggestion, but it bears noting that there are plenty of hurdles even if Toronto were to pursue Votto. Among other things, the Reds would presumably want to minimize their ongoing salary obligations while also reaping a nice package of young talent to part with their best player.

AL Notes: Weaver, Gray, Storen, Jays

By Jeff Todd | August 22, 2016 at 11:32pm CDT

Angels righty Jered Weaver isn’t ready to decide whether or not he’ll be back in 2017, as Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times reports. “There’s still a lot of season left,” said the veteran hurler. “When the time comes to answer those questions, I will.” Though Weaver has been hit hard this year, there are some positives, including a steadily rising average fastball velocity (albeit one that still sits in the mid-eighties). Both Angels GM Billy Eppler and Weaver’s agent Scott Boras note that the 33-year-old has been durable this year, though he is now two seasons removed from being a high-quality major league starter. It’s not yet clear whether the Halos will have interest in continuing their longstanding relationship with Weaver, who has spent all 11 years of his career with the organization and is finishing out a five-year, $85MM contract.

Here’s more from the American League:

The Athletics seem unlikely at this point to receive another start from righty Sonny Gray in the 2016 season, as John Hickey of the Bay Area News Group writes. Oakland’s medical staff still hasn’t cleared Gray to begin throwing. Without much time in the minor league season to permit a rehab assignment, the road back to the big league hill may not pick up again in earnest until the spring. Manager Bob Melvin suggests that the best outcome at this point may be for Gray to “just throw off a mound and throw a bullpen” to give the 26-year-old “peace of mind about how he feels going into the offseason.”
Mariners righty Drew Storen is headed to the 15-day DL with right shoulder inflammation, per a club announcement. His active roster spot will go to outfielder Guillermo Heredia. While the Seattle pen has several injured hurlers filtering back to the majors and remains a solid overall unit, it’s another blow for the 29-year-old Storen. Since coming to the M’s a few weeks back after being designated by the Blue Jays, Storen has thrown 10 1/3 innings of 4.35 ERA ball. That’s an improvement in the results department over his poor half-season in Toronto, but Storen has recorded only six strikeouts in Seattle and hasn’t reversed his pronounced velocity decline. He’ll be a free agent after the year, and will surely end up seeking an opportunity to bounce back and return to being the quality late-inning arm he was during most of his six seasons with the Nationals. [Related: Updated Mariners Depth Chart]
Adding to several firings in the upper reaches of their scouting and player development departments, the Blue Jays have decided to part ways with minor league pitching coordinator Sal Fasano, as Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.ca reports. The long-time MLB catcher has been with the Toronto organization in various capacities since 2010. GM Ross Atkins recently discussed the team’s changes and plans for finding replacements.

Blue Jays Notes: Sanchez, Payroll, Front Office

By Mark Polishuk | August 21, 2016 at 10:04pm CDT

Here’s the latest from Toronto…

The Blue Jays made their latest move to conserve Aaron Sanchez’s innings when they optioned the young righty to Single-A Dunedin today, a move Sanchez and GM Ross Atkins discussed with reporters (including Sportsnet’s Shi Davidi). The plan to send Sanchez to Dunedin came up a few weeks ago, and Atkins said it hinged on Sanchez’s agreement. The right-hander had no issue, noting that “if I’m just going to be sitting here knowing that they’re going to skip my start, why don’t we bring somebody up to help continue to win ballgames.” The ten-day demotion will cost Sanchez some salary, which Davidi figures the club will make up when renewing Sanchez’s contract for the 2017 season.
With so many key players owed raises in 2017 or headed to free agency, Ken Fidlin of the Toronto Sun opines that Jays ownership should raise payroll into the $165-$170MM range in order to keep the team competitive. This would represent a sizable increase in spending (the Jays’ Opening Day payroll stood just over $136.7MM, according to Cot’s Baseball Contracts) though it’s an increase the club should be able to afford, given that TV ratings and attendance have risen so sharply over the last year.
In another piece from Davidi, Atkins discussed the Jays’ changes in the scouting and player development departments from earlier this week. The club hopes to have a new scouting director and “someone in a similar capacity to” the national crosschecker job in place within the next month, according to Atkins. Several names from the MLB Scouting Bureau and from the front offices of the Pirates, Indians, Mets and Athletics are reportedly under consideration for the two jobs, according to Davidi.

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

By Mark Polishuk | August 21, 2016 at 8:46pm CDT

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.”

Blue Jays Option Aaron Sanchez To Minors

By Connor Byrne | August 21, 2016 at 10:21am CDT

In a surprise move, the Blue Jays have optioned one of the American League’s best starters, right-hander Aaron Sanchez, to Single-A Dunedin, reports Shi Davidi of Sportsnet (Twitter link). To take Sanchez’s roster spot, the club recalled left-handed reliever Aaron Loup from Triple-A Buffalo.

Manager John Gibbons said Friday that the Jays were considering skipping a Sanchez start to limit his workload, notes Davidi (Twitter link), so the fact that he’s headed to the minors isn’t a total shock. As long as he’s down for fewer than 20 days, Sanchez will still accrue a full year of service time, tweets Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet. That will indeed be the case, as Sanchez expects to rejoin the Jays for an Aug. 31 start against the Orioles, per Davidi (Twitter link).

The hard-throwing Sanchez was previously scheduled to make his 25th start of the year next Saturday against the Twins. In his 24th outing, Sanchez yielded five runs (four earned) on four hits and a walk in four innings of a 6-5 win over the Indians on Saturday. Despite that less-than-stellar showing, Sanchez has fared brilliantly this season. In his first full year as a starter, Sanchez has emerged as a high-end option while logging a 2.99 ERA, 7.60 K/9, 2.65 BB/9 and 57.1 percent ground-ball rate in 156 1/3 frames. There has been much discussion along the way about an innings limit for Sanchez, who tossed just over 100 last season in the majors and minors. His previous high since joining the Blue Jays organization as a first-round pick in the 2010 draft came in 2014, when he amassed a combined 133 1/3 innings at three levels. When the Jays switched to a six-man rotation earlier this month to help preserve Sanchez, president of baseball operations Mark Shapiro told the media “no scenario” exists in which the 24-year-old will throw 220-plus innings this season.

At 70-53 and in first place in the American League East, the Blue Jays look as though they’ll play into October, which further complicates the Sanchez situation. If Toronto does clinch a playoff berth, the expectation is that Sanchez will factor heavily into the team’s plans as it attempts to win a World Series. For now, though, Sanchez will go down a few levels to help ensure his place in a potential playoff run. His departure will leave the Jays with a capable rotation featuring AL Cy Young hopeful JA Happ, Marco Estrada, Marcus Stroman, RA Dickey and Francisco Liriano.

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