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Cafardo On Samardzija, Blue Jays, Price, Rodriguez

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In today’s column, Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe looks at the 20 biggest disappointments of the 2014 season so far.  Near the top of the list: the Rangers unfortunate rash of injuries.  Texas will be without Prince Fielder for the rest of the season and Jurickson Profar’s status is up in the air as well.  In total, the Rangers have had 14 players land on the disabled list, twice as many as any other team.  More from Cafardo..

  • Cubs ace Jeff Samardzija is being watched more than any pitcher by major league scouts. Among those watching are the Blue Jays, who are more convinced than ever they can win the AL East if they obtain a top starter like Samardzija. Meanwhile, one major league scout tells Cafardo that Toronto is still insistent on not giving up Drew Hutchison.
  • There’s some concern about David Price’s performance this season when it comes to Price, including a 3-mile-per-hour dropoff in velocity in recent outings, but one AL GM doesn’t believe the Rays will have trouble getting what they want in a deal.  “Unless there’s a reason to believe he has something wrong with his shoulder, pitchers have ebbs and flows with velocity throughout a season,” said the GM. “Price will be fine.”
  • The Pirates designated Wandy Rodriguez for assignment last week and they won’t find a deal for him if the medicals are too bad, but the feeling is that some team will take a chance.
  • If new Diamondbacks chief baseball officer Tony La Russa starts hiring people in Arizona, Cardinals farm director Gary LaRocque could be brought aboard for a front office role.

Minor Moves: Zagurski, Carson, Rogers, Storey, Loe

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Here are today’s minor moves from around baseball.

  • The Indians have released lefty reliever Mike Zagurski, according to MiLB.com. Zagurski pitched well for Triple-A Columbus, posting a 2.76 ERA with 12.1 K/9 and 5.5 BB/9 in 16 1/3 innings, but his minor-league contract had a June 1 opt-out date, so Zagurski may be hoping to find work in the big leagues. (Zagurski did, in fact, opt out of his deal, as the Plain Dealer’s Paul Hoynes tweets.) Zagurski appeared with the Pirates and Yankees in 2013, and has also pitched for the Phillies and Diamondbacks.
  • The Dodgers have signed pitchers Robert Carson and Jhan Marinez to minor-league deals, Baseball America’s Matt Eddy tweets. The Angels recently released Carson after he walked 13 batters in 15 2/3 innings for Triple-A Salt Lake. He pitched a total of 33 innings of relief for the Mets in 2012 and 2013. The Tigers released Marinez last week after he struggled out of the bullpen at Triple-A Toledo. He appeared briefly with the Marlins in 2010 and the White Sox in 2012.
  • The Blue Jays have outrighted pitcher Esmil Rogers to Triple-A Buffalo, MLB.com’s Gregor Chisholm tweets. The Jays designated Rogers for assignment yesterday. Rogers had posted a 6.97 ERA with 9.1 K/9 and 3.0 BB/9 in 20 2/3 innings with the big-league club this season. He pitched 137 2/3 innings for Toronto in 2013.
  • The Jays have also re-signed pitcher Mickey Storey to a minor-league deal, MLB Daily Dish’s Chris Cotillo tweets. The Jays released Storey last month, clearing space on their 40-man roster. He’ll head back to Triple-A Buffalo, where he struggled in four outings early in the year. Storey posted a 2.56 ERA with 10.6 K/9 and 2.4 BB/9 for Buffalo in 2013.
  • The Phillies have announced that they have placed pitcher Luis Garcia on the 15-day DL with a right forearm strain and have selected David Buchanan’s contract from Triple-A Lehigh Valley. Buchanan, 25, had posted a 3.98 ERA with 6.9 K/9 and 3.8 BB/9 in 40 2/3 innings at Triple-A this season. He was a seventh-round pick in the 2010 draft. Buchanan will start today against the Dodgers.
  • The Royals have released pitcher Kameron Loe, Andy McCullough of the Kansas City Star tweets. The Royals had signed Loe to a minor-league deal in April, and he pitched in 11 innings for Triple-A Omaha, posting a 4.09 ERA while striking out four batters and walking seven. Last season, Loe pitched for the Mariners, Cubs and Braves, posting a 7.09 ERA with 5.1 K/9, 3.4 BB/9 over 26 2/3 innings. The 32-year-old has also pitched for the Rangers and Brewers in his nine-year big-league career.

AL East Notes: Red Sox, Pierzynski, Blue Jays

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The Red Sox, who are in the midst of an eight-game losing streak, look like a different team than last year’s edition, Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe writes. The team has lost players like Jacoby Ellsbury and Jarrod Saltalamacchia who contributed big hits this year, while some newer ones, like Jackie Bradley and Grady Sizemore, have struggled. In any case, Cafardo suggests, the 2014 edition doesn’t seem to have the same spark the 2013 team did. Here are more notes from the American League East.

  • A.J. Pierzynski symbolizes the Red Sox’ problems so far this season, John Tomase of the Boston Herald writes. Many players dislike Pierzynski, and Tomase wonders what it might mean that, when the Red Sox signed Pierzynski, one rarely heard that his teammates disputed his notorious reputation throughout the game. Even in his short time with the Red Sox, there has been “tension” between Pierzynski and Red Sox pitchers. Pierzynski is also hitting just .258/.291/.356 in his first 142 plate appearances. The Red Sox signed him to a one-year, $8.25MM deal last offseason.
  • With Esmil Rogers now gone, and Jeremy Jeffress and Moises Sierra gone as well, the Blue Jays’ roster is now based on “merit rather than asset management,” SportsNet.ca’s Shi Davidi writes. With the Blue Jays now in first place in the AL East, the team can no longer wait for players like Rogers to harness their potential. “It’s fun being on a winning team,” says infielder Steven Tolleson. “All of us want to be in the lineup every day, but all of us understand how we contribute to this team.”

Blue Jays Designate Esmil Rogers For Assignment

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The Blue Jays have designated right-hander Esmil Rogers for assignment, manager John Gibbons announced in a radio appearance on The Fan 590 (via Sportsnet’s Jeff Simmons on Twitter). The move clears room on the 40-man roster for tonight’s starter, Liam Hendriks, whose contract has been selected from Triple-A Buffalo.

The DFA brings to end a tenure that will leave Toronto fans wondering what might’ve been. The Blue Jays’ acquisition of Rogers is directly tied to the compensation they received for allowing John Farrell to return to Boston; Toronto acquired Mike Aviles as compensation for Farrell and right-hander David Carpenter (who has emerged as a bullpen ace with the Braves). Before Aviles ever played a game in Toronto, he was flipped to the Indians along with Yan Gomes in exchange for Rogers.

Rogers has gone on to total a 5.06 ERA with 6.7 K/9 and 2.9 BB/9 in 158 1/3 innings with the Jays. He’s been hurt by a bloated homer-to-flyball ratio that is outlandish enough for sabermetric ERA estimator xFIP to project an ERA just over 4.00 based on his work with the Blue Jays, but the results didn’t line up with that favorable projection in either of his two seasons north of the border.

Gomes, meanwhile, has emerged as a breakout catching star for the Indians, having slashed .289/.340/.479 with 17 homers in 477 PA for Cleveland. Gomes has gunned down 38 percent of opposing base stealers while with the Indians — good for 12 percent above the league average — and he’s also regarded as one of the game’s best pitch-framers behind the plate. His contributions to this point have been worth 4.8 WAR (per Fangraphs), and he’s been impressive enough to have earned a six-year, $23MM extension, supplanting Carlos Santana as the team’s everyday catcher.

The 25-year-old Hendriks has excelled in 48 2/3 innings for Buffalo this season, pitching to a sparkling 1.48 ERA with a 36-to-3 K/BB ratio. The former Twins hurler hasn’t had much success in the big leagues to date, however, as he’s been incredibly homer-prone.

AL Notes: Dozier, Sizemore, Jays, Rangers, Moustakas, Morales

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The title of the game’s most underrated player has gone to the Rays’ Ben Zobrist in the past, writes Dave Cameron for FOX Sports, but now belongs to Brian Dozier of the Twins, who has exhibited a similar career trajectory to the late-blooming Zobrist. Showing power that he never carried in the minors, Dozier emerged last year. He has only upped his performance in 2014, with an increasing walk rate, strong defense, and good baserunning combining with that newfound pop to make Dozier one of the game’s most valuable second basemen over the last calendar year. Even better for Minnesota, the 27-year-old will not even be eligible for arbitration until 2016. Certainly, he increasingly appears to be an extension candidate — a possibility that the team has previously explored.

Here’s more from around the American League:

  • The Red Sox are considering how to proceed with outfielder Grady Sizemore, who ended the evening with a .218/.293/.336 slash in 133 plate appearances, reports Joon Lee of WEEI.com. Manager John Farrell indicated that a move was not out of the question. “There’s ongoing discussion,” he said, “not just today but for some time. We’re trying to get the best read we can on our guys here. That doesn’t suggest there’s any change imminent.” While Sizemore is set to earn just $750K in base salary on his comeback deal, he does get $250K bonuses for every 25th plate appearance between 225 and 500 as well as for his 60th, 90th, 120th, and 150th day on the roster. As those milestones begin to approach, the team will have increasing incentives to consider alternatives.
  • For the division-rival Blue Jays, a move up in the standings only highlights the need to add starting pitching, writes Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.ca. While the results from the rotation have actually been pretty solid, Davidi notes that the staff has failed to go deep into games and still lacks a solid, established group of five starters.
  • The struggling Rangers should consider marketing star infielders Adrian Beltre and Elvis Andrus over the summer, opines Jon Morosi of FOX Sports. While the club has attractive infield prospects rising through the ranks, its rotation looks thin after its recent run of devastating injuries. Adding some young pitching and temporarily shedding salary in advance of a pitching-rich free agent market could better align the club’s resources for a run in 2015, says Morosi.
  • In the midst of a difficult stretch at the plate, Royals third baseman Mike Moustakas has been optioned to Triple-A in favor of Jimmy Paredes. As Andy McCullough of the Kansas City Star writes, the move was not surprising at this point, with the 25-year-old sporting a 152/.223/.320 line. Needless to say, Kansas City will hope that the former top prospect can regain his form with some time in the minors; as Cameron writes on Fangraphs, Moustakas has shown serious contact issues.
  • Notably, the demotion comes not long before Moustakas would have passed the key threshold of three years of MLB service (he entered the season with 2.111 to his credit). As occurred last year with Danny Espinosa of the Nationals, Moustakas could see his arbitration and free agent eligibility delayed by a year apiece if he does not make it back to the bigs. The same holds true for Hector Santiago of the Angels, who was recently optioned to the minors after beginning 2014 with 2.024 years of service in the bag.
  • With the recent example of Stephen Drew’s re-signing with the Red Sox, it is time for the Mariners to seriously consider a move to bring back Kendrys Morales, writes Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times. The need is now there with Corey Hart joining Logan Morrison on the disabled list, he says, and the club should have the financial flexibility to make it work. Obviously, it is also important to note that the team now has little chance of acquiring a compensatory draft choice arising out of Morales’s decision to decline a qualifying offer. With no obvious alternative suitors for Morales, Seattle should be in a fairly solid position to make a win-win offer.

Quick Hits: Trades, Coffey, Holland, Draft

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While we’re a ways off from seeing trades of major significance come in bulk, ESPN’s Jim Bowden lists five summer deals that he think should happen to improve some fringe contenders (ESPN Insider required and recommended). Among his scenarios are the Blue Jays acquiring Jeff Samardzija, the Orioles acquiring Kurt Suzuki and the Braves acquiring Nick Franklin. Here are some more links from around the baseball world…

  • Free agent right-hander Todd Coffey is deciding between offers from two teams and could choose a destination as soon as tonight, reports Chris Cotillo of MLB Daily Dish (Twitter link). The Phillies are said to be one team in on Coffey, Cotillo reported over the weekend.
  • Fangraphs’ Jason Collette wonders if the emergence of Wade Davis as a dominant reliever in the back of the Royals’ bullpen will lead them to explore trades of Greg Holland. Davis is striking out batters at a higher clip than anyone in baseball, and he’s cost-controlled over the next two seasons, while Holland is a lock to get expensive via arbitration. Holland is already earning $4.68MM, and as Collette notes, his agent would likely use Craig Kimbrel’s contract as a comp in extension talks. A trade of Holland could address other needs on the budget-conscious Royals’ roster.
  • While some have talked about a perceived drop in draft prospect Jacob Gatewood’s stock, MLB.com’s Jonathan Mayo writes that the industry was “probably a little too over-zealous” with him last summer. Mayo has spoken with several scouts and cross-checkers who believe the powerful prep shortstop should go in the mid-to-late first round. Gatewood’s mix of power and swings/misses is reminiscent of sluggers Joey Gallo, Kris Bryant and Giancarlo Stanton, Mayo adds.
  • Mayo also profiles prep right-hander Touki Toussaint, noting that his affable personality is an excellent complement to his three-pitch arsenal — each of which has the potential to be above average down the line. Toussaint, who is of Haitian descent but was born in Florida, nearly gave up on baseball at the age of 9 to focus on soccer because of his difficulty hitting. However, he gave it another shot three years later and has been focused entirely on baseball — as both a closer and a starter — ever since. MLB.com ranked Toussaint 16th among draft prospects.

Blue Jays Acquire Raul Valdes

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The Astros announced (on Twitter) that they have traded left-handed reliever Raul Valdes to the Blue Jays in exchange for a player to be named later or cash considerations.

The Astros claimed the 36-year-old Valdes off waivers from the Phillies this past offseason and opened the season with him in their bullpen, but the results were less than favorable. Valdes yielded five runs in 3 2/3 innings with the Astros before being designated for assignment and outrighted to Triple-A Oklahoma City (he accepted the assignment rather than electing free agency).

Valdes didn’t reach the Majors until the age of 32 back in 2010, and since that time he’s posted a 5.13 ERA with 9.4 K/9, 3.1 BB/9 and a 30.2 percent ground-ball rate in 140 1/3 innings for the Phillies, Mets, Yankees, Astros and Cardinals. His best season came in  2012, when he posted an outstanding 2.90 ERA with 10.2 K/9 and 1.5 BB/9 in 31 innings for Philadelphia.

Toronto’s bullpen has been an issue for the team all season, posting the third-highest combined ERA in the Majors (5.26) and totaling the sixth-most innings of any Major League team (145 1/3). Valdes provides the team with depth and has looked strong since reporting to Triple-A, posting a 3.48 ERA with 13 strikeouts against zero walks in 10 1/3 innings.

While opposing left-handers have a career .265/.315/.465 batting line against Valdes, he’s also had quite a bit of misfortune against them. Left-handed hitters have a career .370 BABIP against Valdes, which has offset his outstanding 11.8 K/9 and 1.8 BB/9 (6.8 K/BB) against same-handed opposition.

Minor Moves: Nanita, Wilson, Marinez, Robertson, Meek

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Today’s minor moves …

  • The Blue Jays have loaned veteran minor-leaguer Ricardo Nanita to Los Tigres de Quintana Roo of the Mexican League, according to the International League transactions page. The 32-year-old outfielder has seen time at or above the Double-A level in every season since 2006, but has yet to crack the bigs in spite of a .315/.364/.463 line through 1,133 plate appearances at Triple-A. Richard Griffin of the Toronto Star profiled Nanita and his dreams of making the Show this spring, but he received only 17 opportunities to swing the bat this year for Buffalo.
  • Outfielder Mike Wilson has been released by the Reds, according to the International League transactions page. Wilson was slashing .205/.293/.364 in 99 plate appearances at Triple-A. The 30-year-old, who received a brief call-up in 2011 with the Mariners, has (like Nanita) spent parts of six seasons at the highest level of the minors.
  • Jhan Marinez, a 25-year-old righty, was released by the Tigers (also via the International League transactions page). Marinez, who has tossed 5 1/3 MLB innings in two brief stints, had worked to a disappointing 8.84 ERA in 18 1/3 frames at Triple-A Toledo, racking up 21 strikeouts but also 21 free passes on the year.
  • The Tigers have granted Nate Robertson his release, a team official told James Schmehl of MLive.com.   Robertson signed a minor league deal with Detroit a little over two months ago. Even though he was a mainstay in the Tigers’ rotation from 2004-2008, Robertson has been out of the major leagues since 2010. There was some hope that the 36-year-old, who has reinvented himself as a sidearming reliever, could fill the second lefty role in the Tigers’ pen.  However, he struggled with command for much of the season in Triple-A Toledo.
  • The Orioles announced that right-hander Evan Meek has cleared optional waivers and been optioned to Triple-A Norfolk.  Meek was designated off of the 25-man roster yesterday but kept on the 40-man, but he could not be sent down without passing through revocable optional waivers first.  Through 11 2/3 big league innings, he has allowed nine earned runs and struck out nine against six free passes. Over 184 1/3 career innings, most of them with the Pirates, Meek has a 3.56 ERA with 7.5 K/9 against 4.7 BB/9.

Jeff Todd contributed to this post.

Quick Hits: TJ, Martinez, Dodgers, Cubs, Amateur

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Pitching injuries are the big topic around the league, so let’s catch up on some of the latest commentary. Writing for GammonsDaily.com, Neil Weinberg offers a hypothesis (which, as he notes, may not really be testable) on the seeming Tommy John epidemic: what if the reason that more high-end professional pitchers are experiencing UCL tears is simply because better management at younger ages has actually prevented them from blowing their arms out at an earlier age? Meanwhile, pointing to the contractual effects of the injury bug, a GM tells Peter Gammons (Twitter link) that, “with all these injuries, I think pitchers will be reluctant to turn down extensions.” At Fangraphs, Wendy Thurm explores the costs to pitchers who lose time to TJ recovery, providing a bevy of salary information on past and current pitchers who have experienced the career-saving procedure.

Here are more notes from around the game:

  • One player coming off of surger (on his shoulder) is righty Cristhian Martinez, who Chris Cotillo of MLBDailyDish.com says (Twitter link) is expected to throw for teams by the end of May. The 31-year-old, who was non-tendered by the Braves, was good for a 3.63 ERA in 151 1/3 innings over 2011-12.
  • The Dodgers need to make some moves if they want to get back on trajectory, opines Anthony Castrovince of MLB.com. While the team is among the most well-rounded in baseball, that does not mean it is without its faults; one scout tells Castrovince that “the bench is awful, the bullpen is fringy at best, maybe below average, and there’s no situational hitting.” Though Castrovince says that the stats don’t really bear out the latter concern, he says the team should take the much-discussed step of shipping out one of its highly-paid outfielders.
  • Trading away players is an expectation for the Cubs, of course, and Jesse Rogers of ESPNChicago.com discusses the team’s most likely pieces (after ace Jeff Samardzija). Though Jason Hammel just suffered his worst start of the year, Rogers says he still looks to be on track to bring back a strong prospect return. Nate Schierholtz and Jose Veras still look like trade chips to Rogers, though both will need to improve rather substantially to maximize their trade value to their current club.
  • The latest amateur draft mocks are out, with MLB.com offering a first-round projection and Baseball America putting out its second version. The BA staff now sees a shake-up in the early portion: their board has the Marlins going with catcher/outfielder Alex Jackson at second overall, the Cubs choosing lefty collegiate Kyle Freeland in the fourth slot, and big-armed high schooler Tyler Kolek falling to the Phillies at number seven. Both MLB.com and BA like the Jays to take N.C. State shortstop Trea Turner and prep righty Touki Toussaint. Meanwhile, the Twins have interest in Jackson with their fifth-overall pick — if he lasts that long — tweets Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN, though he notes that there is still no consensus as to whether he can stick behind the dish.
  • Turning to the international market, there has of course been much discussion over whether — and, if so, how — a draft might be implemented. Writing for the Hardball Times, Alex Remington argues against a draft. Among his reasons are the concern that less young international players would have a chance to play professionally; various deleterious consequences that could occur in Latin America (without solving the issues that currently persist); and that implementation could pose a “logistical nightmare.”

Quick Hits: Draft, Coffey, Hill, Bradley, Rockies, Gomes

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Baseball America has released its list of the top 100 amateur prospects for this year’s draft. Interestingly, both Jeff Hoffman and Erick Fedde are still listed in the top ten, despite the fact that the pair of collegiate righties will enter the draft fresh off of Tommy John surgery. Here are some notes from around the game:

  • Free agent reliever Todd Coffey impressed in a workout today, throwing his fastball consistently in the low-90s, reports Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports (Twitter links). He could sign by the weekend, according to Passan. Twelve to fifteen clubs were represented at the showcase today, tweets Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. Chris Cotillo of MLBDailyDish lists some of the clubs in attendance. From the American League, the Tigers, Mariners, Astros, Athletics, and Orioles sent scouts, while the Braves and Diamondbacks were among the NL clubs on hand.
  • Reliever Rich Hill of the Red Sox has an opt-out date from his minor league deal tomorrow, tweets Cotillo. The nine-year MLB veteran has been strong at Triple-A, throwing to a 2.84 ERA through 19 innings pitched with 10.4 K/9 against 4.7 BB/9.
  • Diamondbacks top prospect Archie Bradley is set to begin throwing and move towards a return to the rubber, reports Jack Magruder of FOX Sports Arizona (via Twitter). GM Kevin Towers said that the club does not have any further medical tests planned at present for the young hurler. Given his current situation, it seems that the club will exercise plenty of caution in promoting the 21-year-old.
  • With the Rockies off to a hot start, Mark Kiszla of the Denver Post opines that the club should act decisively to seize the momentum by exploring a trade for Cubs pitcher Jeff Samardzija. While the price will surely be steep, Kiszla sas that the team should be willing to deal either of the team’s two prized young prospect arms — Jonathan Gray and Eddie Butler — to make a deal.
  • The Blue Jays never saw in Yan Gomes the potential that has been unleashed since he was dealt to the Indians, writes Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.ca. In some part, says Davidi, that could be due to the fact that Gomes was buried in the minor league depth charts, such that he never caught more than 58 games in a single season. “Ultimately you wonder if we didn’t have other prospects that were so talented, if Yan had played more, would the development path have changed, would we have had a better feel for him?” Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos said. “We were finding places for him to play, but he was never the everyday catcher because there was always someone else who was there.” Gomes, of course, has excelled (and been rewarded with an extension) in Cleveland after coming over with Mike Aviles in exchange for reliever Esmil Rogers. “We always liked Yan,” said Anthopoulos. “Clearly he’s become a better player sooner than we would have expected. That’s not a slight against him, that’s a full credit to him.”
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