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Rangers Trade Joey Gallo, Joely Rodriguez To Yankees

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11:00am: The Yankees have formally announced the trade.

7:55am: Texas is also paying Rodriguez’s salary, per Joel Sherman of the New York Post.

July 29, 7:20am: The Rangers are paying all of Gallo’s remaining contract, tweets Jim Bowden of The Athletic. MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand tweets that Texas will pay “most” of the deal. Either way, the Rangers’ inclusion of cash and the Yankees’ recent trade of Justin Wilson suggests they’re still angling to remain under the luxury tax. Getting financial help from Texas will free them to continue pursuing other additions.

July 28: The Rangers and Yankees are reportedly nearing agreement on a deal that would send Joey Gallo and Joely Rodríguez to the Bronx in exchange for a four-player prospect package. Once finalized, the expectation is that Texas will receive infielders Ezequiel Duran, Josh Smith, Trevor Hauver and right-handed pitcher Glenn Otto in return. (Initial reports had suggested outfielder Everson Pereira and righty Randy Vasquez might also be involved, but the expectation is now that those two players will remain with New York).

It’s a bold strike for the Yankees, who have hovered a bit above .500 for much of the season. New York entered play tonight 8.5 games back of the Red Sox in the American League East and three behind the Athletics for the final Wild Card spot (with the Mariners also ahead of them in the standings). That the Yankees aren’t leading the division — as many anticipated they would coming into the year — is largely a reflection of a lineup that has been more decent than great over the course of the season. The front office is looking to remedy that by adding another of the game’s most prodigious power bats to an order that already includes Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton.

Gallo deservedly earned his second career All-Star nod this summer amidst a tear between June and July. Overall, he’s hitting .223/.379/.490 with 25 home runs across 388 plate appearances. As he has throughout his career, Gallo has been prone to strikeouts and hit for a low batting average, but his power and plate discipline more than offset the swing-and-miss concerns.

The 27-year-old has always been a patient hitter, but he’s taken that aspect of his game to new heights in 2021. Gallo’s 19.1% walk rate is a career best, and it’s the highest such mark of any player with 250+ plate appearances this year. That abundance of free passes has allowed Gallo to reach base far more often than the .320 league average. The 27-year-old’s ISO (slugging minus batting average) is a whopping .268, and only five players top his home run total. Altogether, Gallo owns a 140 wRC+, indicating he’s been forty percentage points better than average at the plate this season.

Gallo’s low-contact, high-power approach resembles those of a lot of hitters in the Yankees lineup. That could lead to some concerns among fans about a lack of stylistic diversity. That said, Gallo’s lefty bat helps to balance a lineup that otherwise skews heavily right-handed. And Gallo’s production this season has neared or bettered that of anyone already on the New York roster. Only Judge (147) has a higher wRC+ than Gallo among Yankees with at least 100 plate appearances.

Unlike many sluggers, Gallo also offers quite a bit of value on the other side of the ball. Advanced defensive metrics have long pegged him as a plus right fielder, and he won a Gold Glove award last season. He’s best suited in the corner outfield, but Gallo also held his own during a run of center field play in 2019, and has plenty of experience at first base as well.

Throughout last offseason and this summer, the Yankees have worked to keep their payroll south of the $210MM luxury tax line. Gallo’s playing this season on a $6.2MM salary, about $2.2MM of which remains to be paid. Rodíguez, meanwhile, is making $2.5MM this year — about $900K of which is still owed — and has a $3MM club option for the 2022 campaign. If the Yankees assume the remainder of Gallo’s and Rodríguez’s salaries, their luxury tax figure would land at approximately $209.4MM, in the estimation of Roster Resource.

Gallo is controllable via arbitration for one additional campaign. He’ll pick up a nice raise given how well he’s played this season, but his 2022 salary will still be a bargain relative to the caliber of player he is. It’s not clear whether the luxury tax will be such a concern for Yankees brass next winter, if they can limbo under the threshold this season and reset their tax payor status. (The current CBA contains escalating penalties for teams exceeding the threshold in multiple consecutive seasons).

For this season, the current luxury tax projections suggest the Yankees have almost no room for further additions unless ownership allows the front office to cross the threshold. That said, it’s possible the Yankees explore creative ways to clear funds off the books. New York offloaded the salaries of relievers Luis Cessa and Justin Wilson to the Reds last night, and they could look to make other similar moves before Friday afternoon’s trade deadline.

The Cessa/Wilson trade could’ve also been a precursor to this evening’s Rodríguez pickup. New York thinned out their bullpen depth yesterday but they’ll replenish that a bit by adding the 29-year-old southpaw. (Initial reports suggested the Yankees were likely to acquire John King alongside Gallo, but a last-minute shuffling will apparently result in Rodríguez landing in the Bronx instead).

Rodríguez has tossed 27 1/3 innings of 5.93 ERA ball this season, a disappointing follow-up to a brief but productive 2020 campaign. His peripherals, though, are far better. Rodríguez has a 3.40 SIERA, with average strikeout and walk numbers but a huge 63.9% grounder rate. Clay Holmes, whom the Yankees acquired from the Pirates earlier this week, has similarly strong groundball tendencies — as does King. Based on their pattern of acquisitions, it seems the the Yankees front office is particularly keen on relievers who are consistently able to keep the ball down.

Assuming the deal eventually gets across the finish line, it’ll mark the end of Gallo’s nine-year tenure in the Rangers organization. Texas selected Gallo 39th overall in the 2012 amateur draft, and he’s been a fixture on the major league roster since 2015. It’ll no doubt sting Rangers fans to see Gallo depart, although it’s hardly a surprise he wound up on the move this summer.

With Texas’ window of team control dwindling, the team’s last-place standing in the AL West, and recent reports that extension talks weren’t progressing, Gallo’s name was bandied about in plenty of trade rumors. He was also linked to the Padres, Blue Jays and Braves in recent days, but the Yankees ultimately put forth the offer that the Texas front office deemed the strongest.

Indeed, it seems the general opinion from public prospect evaluators is that the Rangers did well in this deal. Texas didn’t get a marquee headliner, per se, but they added a group of talented young players to an already-deep farm system.

All four prospects Texas is expected to acquire appeared on Baseball America’s midseason ranking of the top 30 prospects in the Yankees system, with Duran (6th) and Smith (8th) checking in among New York’s ten most promising farmhands. Eric Longenhagen and Kevin Goldstein of FanGraphs have already slotted the group among Rangers prospects. The aforementioned quartet all checks in among Texas’ top 40, with Duran and Smith again among the top ten.

FanGraphs pegs Duran as a 50 FV, the equivalent of a top 100 overall prospect. Ranking him third in the Rangers system, Longenhagen writes that the right-handed hitting second baseman has plus raw power and some chance to stick at the position. He’s mashing this season at High-A, hitting .290/.374/.533 with twelve homers as a 22-year-old.

Smith, meanwhile, was a second-round draft choice out of LSU in 2019. He’s also performed at an incredible level in the low minors and had an even better .320/.435/.583 mark in High-A this year. He’s not especially toolsy, and he’ll turn 24 years old next month, but Longenhagen writes that Smith has a chance to be a plus hitter and should at least develop into a high-end utility option.

There are similar stories for Hauver and Otto. Both are having stellar seasons in the low minors and project to be at least solid role players. It’s a well-regarded group of young talent, and it’s likely at least one or two will wind up important contributors when the Rangers are better positioned for contention a few years from now.

Levi Weaver of the Athletic was first to report that the Yankees were set to acquire Gallo. Jack Curry of YES Network was first to report the final terms of the deal. Jeff Passan of ESPN was first with the inclusion of the four prospects involved. Curry reported prior to the deal being agreed upon that the Yankees were making a push to land Gallo.

Rockies Acquire Ashton Goudeau

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The Rockies announced Thursday that they’ve acquired right-hander Ashton Goudeau from the Reds in exchange for cash. Cincinnati had designated Goudeau for assignment earlier in the week.

The 29-year-old Goudeau’s transaction log reads like something from a video game. Originally a Royals draft selection, Goudeau went to the Mariners in exchange for cash in 2018. He elected free agency at season’s end, signed with the Rockies and has since been claimed off waivers an astonishing six times. Goudeau has gone from Colorado, to Pittsburgh, to Baltimore, to San Francisco, to Los Angeles, back to Colorado and then to Cincinnati. He’s now back with the Rockies for a third time in exchange for what figures to be a nominal amount of cash. It’s been a tumultuous couple of years for him, but on the plus side, Goudeau has continued to accumulate MLB service and MLB pay throughout his many stops in DFA limbo.

Despite that staggering amount of waiver activity, Goudeau has only actually pitched for two of those teams in the Majors: the Reds and Rockies. He’s allowed 11 runs in 17 1/3 innings at the MLB level, but teams continue to be intrigued by his raw stuff despite the lack of success either in the Majors or in Triple-A (where he has a 6.59 ERA in 68 1/3 innings).

Mariners Sign Asher Wojciechowski

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The Mariners have signed right-hander Asher Wojciechowski to a minor league deal, reports Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times (Twitter link). He’ll be assigned to Triple-A Tacoma.

Seattle will be Wojciechowski’s second organization of the 2021 season. He signed a minor league deal with the Yankees over the winter but spent much of the year on the injured list. New York selected Wojciechowski to make a spot start against the Phillies last week. He tossed four innings of two-run ball but was designated for assignment the following day.

New York passed Wojciechowski through outright waivers, but he rejected a new minor league assignment and elected free agency. He’ll now add some depth to a Mariners starting staff that’s still pretty thin, even after yesterday’s acquisition of Tyler Anderson from the Pirates. Over 12 2/3 innings with the Yankees’ top affiliate in Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, Wojciechowski allowed eight runs but struck out seventeen and issued only five walks.

Rockies Select Jesus Tinoco

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The Rockies announced they’ve placed right-hander Chi Chi González on the COVID-19 injured list. To take his spot on the active and 40-man rosters, Colorado selected righty Jesús Tinoco. Colorado also reinstated Jhoulys Chacín from the COVID list and optioned Justin Lawrence.

Tinoco tossed 44 2/3 innings of relief from 2019-20 between Colorado and Miami. Over that time, he worked to a 4.03 ERA but didn’t manage especially promising peripherals. Tinoco has struck out just 17.6% of opposing hitters at the highest level while walking a too-high 15% of batters faced.

Colorado passed Tinoco through outright waivers last offseason. He’s spent the entire year with Triple-A Albuquerque, tossing 33 2/3 frames of 7.75 ERA ball. Because Tinoco was selected as a COVID replacement, he can be returned to Triple-A without being placed on waivers upon another player’s reinstatement from the COVID IL.

Brewers Acquire Eduardo Escobar

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After picking up shortstop Willy Adames and first baseman Rowdy Tellez in earlier trades, the Brewers have made another addition to the infield. Milwaukee announced the acquisition of All-Star Eduardo Escobar from the Diamondbacks this evening. Catcher Cooper Hummel and infielder Alberto Ciprian are going to the D-Backs in return.

Escobar has been one of the game’s most obvious trade candidates for months now. The 32-year-old was an impending free agent on the league’s worst team, making him a virtual lock to be moved so long as he performed reasonably well. Escobar has done so, hitting .246/.300/.478 with 22 home runs over an even 400 plate appearances this season. Escobar is making $7.5MM in the final year of his deal, with around $2.8MM still to be paid out. The Brewers are reportedly picking up the entirety of that remaining salary.

The switch-hitting Escobar was a productive player throughout the majority of his time in the desert. He’s been an above-average bat in three of the past four years, doing a surprising amount of damage at the dish. In addition to his strong power numbers this season, he popped 35 home runs and slugged .511 back in 2019. Escobar doesn’t draw many walks, leading to generally low on-base percentages, but he’s also fairly tough to strike out — particularly for a player with a power-focused profile.

While Escobar saw some time at shortstop earlier in his career, he’s mostly been limited to third and second base since he’s entered his 30’s. Advanced defensive metrics have generally pegged him around average at both positions, so he gives the Brew Crew some cover at a couple spots on the infield. He has never played first base in the majors, although it doesn’t seem unreasonable to think he could also handle that position given his other experience around the diamond.

Kolten Wong figures to handle most of the workload at second base. He’s had a few stints on the injured list this year, though, so it’s certainly reasonable for the front office to look to build depth at the position. Luis Urías has played fairly well at third base, but Escobar could also work in there and at first. There’s not necessarily a clear need on the Milwaukee infield, but there’s enough broad opportunity around Adames that manager Craig Counsell should have no trouble finding at-bats for Escobar.

In addition to salary relief, the D-Backs add a pair of young players to the organization, one of whom could be a big league option this season. Hummel has spent the entire campaign with Triple-A Nashville, hitting .254/.435/.508 with six home runs and a massive 24.4% walk rate against a solid 15.5% strikeout percentage.

A former 18th-round pick, Hummel has mashed throughout his entire minor league tenure. Nevertheless, the 26-year-old was left unprotected for and went unselected in last winter’s Rule 5 draft. That seems largely due to trepidation about his receiving ability behind the plate. Hummel has seen a good bit of time at first base and in the corner outfield throughout his professional career, and Kiley McDaniel of ESPN suggests he’s unlikely to be a viable regular defensive catcher unless MLB adopts an automatic strike zone (thereby negating the value of a catcher’s pitch framing ability).

Even if Hummel isn’t a future regular catcher, he seems likely to get a shot as an offense-first utility option before long. He’ll be eligible for the Rule 5 draft again this winter if not selected to the 40-man roster. He doesn’t have much more to prove against minor league pitching, so the D-Backs front office seems likely to give him a look soon enough.

While Hummel could be at Chase Field in 2021, Ciprian’s years away from the big leagues. The 18-year-old has made his professional debut in the Dominican Summer League this season. Ciprian signed with Milwaukee during the 2019-20 international signing period for $500K. Ben Badler of Baseball America wrote at the time that above-average raw power was the right-handed hitting third baseman’s most impressive tool.

Robert Murray of FanSided was first to report the Diamondbacks and Brewers had agreed upon a trade. Jon Heyman of MLB Network reported Escobar was involved. Steve Gilbert of MLB.com reported the D-Backs were receiving two players. Jeff Passan of ESPN reported Hummel’s inclusion, while Zach Buchanan of the Athletic was first to report Ciprian’s involvement. Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic reported the Brewers were assuming all of Escobar’s remaining salary.

Garrett Cooper To Undergo Season-Ending Surgery

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Marlins first baseman/corner outfielder Garrett Cooper has been diagnosed with a torn UCL in his left elbow, reports Craig Mish of the Miami Herald (Twitter link). He’ll undergo season-ending surgery to correct the issue. Mish suggests it’s the same procedure Phillies first baseman Rhys Hoskins underwent last October. Hoskins was ready for the start of the 2021 season, so Cooper (who’ll go under the knife two months earlier in the year) should have no trouble being at full health for 2022.

That said, losing Cooper for the rest of this season is still a difficult blow. While Miami isn’t going to the postseason this year, the right-handed hitting Cooper had played well enough to be a plausible trade candidate. He’ll wrap up the campaign with a .284/.380/.465 line over 250 plate appearances. Cooper has always performed well when healthy, but he’s been plagued by a series of injuries over the course of his career.

With Cooper on the 60-day IL, Miami selected the contracts of outfielder Corey Bird and reliever Preston Guilmet, relays Christina de Nicola of MLB.com (Twitter link). Guilmet has been on and off the Miami roster a few times this season but didn’t get into a game until tonight. He tossed a scoreless inning of relief in Miami’s loss to the Orioles.

Bird is in line to make his major league debut. The 25-year-old has hit a productive .270/.362/.444 with six homers over 224 plate appearances with Triple-A Jacksonville this season. Miami’s seventh-round draft choice in 2016 out of Marshall, the lefty-hitting Bird has a .253/.325/.328 line across five minor league seasons and can cover all three outfield positions.

With Starling Marte traded to the A’s this afternoon, Bird could see some time in center field over the coming weeks. Miami’s known to be looking for a longer-term answer at the position, though, and general manager Kim Ng and her front office figure to continue to be active before Friday afternoon’s trade deadline.

Lefty reliever Richard Bleier is generating interest, Mish hears, and could wind up on the move. Corner outfielder Adam Duvall and first baseman Jesús Aguilar are other potential trade candidates. The Braves, who employed Duvall last season, made a push for him to address their corner outfield issues but were rebuffed, reports Jon Heyman of MLB Network (Twitter link).

Aguilar has drawn some attention from contenders as well. He’s controllable through 2022 via arbitration, though, and the front office has given some consideration to offering him an extension that could tack on an additional year of control, Mish reports (Twitter link).

Astros Acquire Yimi Garcia From Marlins For Austin Pruitt, Bryan De La Cruz

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The Astros have bolstered their bullpen, acquiring right-hander Yimi Garcia from the Marlins. In exchange, Houston is sending outfield prospect Bryan De La Cruz and swingman Austin Pruitt to Miami. The Astros had designated Pruitt for assignment earlier today, so he’ll step right onto the Miami 40-man roster.

Yimi Garcia | Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports

Garcia, 32 next month, was non-tendered by the Dodgers after the 2019 season. The Marlins signed him to a low-risk Major League deal worth $1.1MM — an investment that proved to be well worthwhile. Garcia, whom the Fish retained into the 2021 season via arbitration, has pitched 51 1/3 innings since signing in Miami, working to a strong 2.63 ERA with a 25.6 percent strikeout rate and a solid 8.5 percent walk rate.

It should be noted that Garcia hasn’t been as effective in 36 1/3 innings this season as he was in 15 frames last summer, but he has a 3.47 ERA with roughly average strikeout and walk rates. He’s had a pair of rough outings so far in July, but his overall body of work in Miami has been sound.

Importantly for the Astros, who are trying to remain south of the luxury-tax line, Garcia is playing the 2021 season on a modest $1.9MM salary. He’s still owed about $694K of that sum through season’s end, and the luxury-tax hit on contract will match that amount (as with all one-year deals). Houston is less than $2MM from the $210MM luxury barrier, per Roster Resource’s Jason Martinez, so Garcia’s budget-friendly contract is a notable perk.

While Houston general manager James Click recently went on record to say there’s no ownership mandate to stay under the tax line, the past 24 hours worth of transactions strongly indicates that is indeed owner Jim Crane’s preference. The Astros targeted closer Kendall Graveman and his $1.25MM base salary and added other pieces to structure a largely cash-neutral, four-player trade with the division-rival Mariners; today’s focus on Garcia brings in another affordable option that won’t add much to the luxury ledger.

Turning to the Marlins’ side of the swap, they’ll add a 24-year-old outfielder who isn’t far from the big leagues. De La Cruz, who signed as a 16-year-old out of the Dominican Republic back in 2013, has spent the season with Triple-A Sugar Land, hitting .324/.362/.518 with a dozen homers and 17 doubles. It’s certainly an impressive-looking stat line, though the supercharged offensive environments in Triple-A need to be kept in mind; after weighting for league and home park, De La Cruz’s bat has been about 12 percent better than league average, by measure of wRC+.

He’s never been ranked among Houston’s top 30 prospects at Baseball America or MLB.com, but De La Cruz ranked 38th on FanGraphs’ midseason rankings in 2020. Prior to the 2021 season, Eric Longenhagen called him a potential role player, suggesting he’s fringe-y in center field and a bit lighter on power than most corner types. He’s only walked at a 5.8 percent clip in Triple-A as well, so his OBP isn’t likely to carry his offense without some improvements in that area.

The Marlins will need to add De La Cruz to their 40-man roster this offseason or else expose him to the Rule 5 Draft, so there’s a chance he’ll get a look in the big leagues later this season. The Marlins have seeking long-term pieces at catcher and in the outfield, but while De La Cruz technically fits that bill, it seems fair to assume that the Fish will continue to set their sights higher and acquire a more clear-cut everyday option in the outfield.

Pruitt, meanwhile, is likely to step right onto the active roster. The 31-year-old is out of minor league option years, meaning Miami needs to keep him the big leagues or offer him to other clubs. He’ll be eligible for arbitration for the first time this winter and remains under club control through 2025, so Pruitt could stick in Miami for a few seasons if he impresses his new club.

The Astros acquired Pruitt from the Rays over the 2019-20 offseason, but a series of injuries limited the righty to just two appearances (both within the past few weeks) with Houston. Between 2017-19, he’d served as a frequently used multi-inning reliever and occasional starting option for manager Kevin Cash. All in all, Pruitt has a 4.89 ERA in 202 1/3 Major League innings with sub-par strikeout rates but strong walk numbers and an above-average grounder rate.

Ken Rosenthal and Dennis Lin of the Athletic were first to report the Astros were nearing a deal to acquire Garcia. Mark Feinsand of MLB.com reported the deal had been agreed upon, while Jon Heyman of MLB Network reported De La Cruz’s involvement in the deal.

Mets Select Akeem Bostick

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4:42 pm: New York has officially selected Bostick and designated Eickhoff for assignment to open active and 40-man roster space.

3:39 pm: The Mets are planning to select the contract of right-hander Akeem Bostick prior to this evening’s game against the Braves, reports Anthony DiComo of MLB.com (Twitter link). The 26-year-old will be making his major league debut if he gets into a game.

Bostick was a second-round pick of the Rangers back in 2013. The Astros acquired him in January 2015, and he spent the next few seasons in the Houston farm system. Bostick never made the majors with the Astros, though, and was let go in 2019. He signed with the Cardinals but didn’t make an official appearance with the St. Louis organization because of last year’s cancelled minor league season.

New York signed Bostick to a minor league deal in May. He’s spent the year with Triple-A Syracuse, tossing 37 2/3 innings of 6.21 ERA ball across ten appearances (eight starts). Bostick’s peripherals aren’t much better, as he’s struck out a below average 16.8% of batters faced while walking an elevated 13.3% of opponents.

It hasn’t been a banner season for Bostick, but he is at least stretched out. He’s worked up to five innings in a few starts for Syracuse. With the Mets pitching staff hit hard by injuries, New York has tried to patch things together on the mound in recent days. Jerad Eickhoff was re-signed to start last night’s ballgame but didn’t fare well, allowing ten runs in 3 1/3 innings.

Astros Designate Austin Pruitt For Assignment

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The Astros have designated right-hander Austin Pruitt for assignment, tweets Jake Kaplan of The Athletic. Last night’s trade of Abraham Toro and Joe Smith to the Mariners in exchange for Kendall Graveman and Rafael Montero led to some roster shuffling, with infielder Robel Garcia being called up in Toro’s place and Graveman formally being activated in place of Smith. But the Astros needed another spot to activate Montero, and they’ll do so at the expense of Pruitt’s spot on both the 26- and 40-man rosters.

Pruitt, 31, is a Texas native whom the Astros acquired from the Rays in Jan. 2020. At the time, he was viewed as a potential fifth starter or swingman, having pitched to a 4.55 ERA with below-average strikeout rates but excellent control and an above-average 49.9 percent ground-ball rate in his past 116 innings with Tampa Bay. Like many Astros acquisitions, Pruitt stood out for top-of-the-scale spin rate on his curveball, even though it hadn’t translated into a breakout at the MLB level.

Unfortunately for both Pruitt and the organization, what was initially diagnosed as a bone bruise instead proved to be a hairline fracture in his pitching elbow. Pruitt eventually required surgery for the injury — a procedure that sidelined him well into the 2021 season. Pruitt made his Astros debut not two weeks ago and ultimately only appeared in a pair of games, yielding a pair of solo homers in 2 2/3 innings with one strikeout and no walks.

All in all, Pruitt has a 4.89 ERA in 202 1/3 Major League innings with sub-par strikeout rates but strong walk numbers and an above-average grounder rate. He’s out of minor league options, however, so any club that acquires him will need to carry him on the big league roster. If he does land with another club and stick, he’d be controllable three more years via arbitration. The Astros can trade him between now and Friday’s deadline, otherwise he’ll likely head to outright waivers and be available for any team to claim.

Houston’s 40-man roster is now at 39 players.

Marlins Trade Starling Marte To Athletics For Jesus Luzardo

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In a deadline-season stunner, the Athletics and Marlins have agreed to a straight-up, one-for-one swap sending outfielder Starling Marte to Oakland in exchange for left-hander Jesus Luzardo. The teams have announced the move. The Marlins are reportedly paying the entirety of the $4.57MM remaining on Marte’s $12.5MM salary for the 2021 season. Marte will be a free agent at season’s end.

Starling Marte | Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports

The A’s haven’t been mentioned as a primary suitor for Marte, who’s previously been linked to the Giants, Astros and Yankees. That said, Marte is capable of playing all three outfield spots and would improve just about any team’s outfield mix. The 32-year-old is hitting .305/.405/.451 with four home runs, 22 steals and a career-high 11.6 percent walk rate in 275 plate appearances so far in 2021.

Marte missed time this season with a fractured rib he sustained on a diving catch in center field, but he’s been excellent when healthy, continuing what has been a generally underrated career to date. He’s a former All-Star and two-time Gold Glove winner with a pair of 20-homer seasons under his belt and an overall .288/.345/.450 batting line through parts of ten Major League seasons between Pittsburgh, Arizona and Miami.

Acquiring Marte allows the A’s to trot out a regular outfield of Marte, Mark Canha and Ramon Laureano. The trade likely cuts into Stephen Piscotty’s playing time, though his right-handed bat will still be utilized against left-handed pitching. Any of Piscotty or the other three outfielders could get a turn at designated hitter against left-handed starters, given Mitch Moreland’s longstanding struggles against southpaws and generally underwhelming results so far in 2021.

More broadly, the move speaks to the fact that the Athletics view themselves as legitimate contenders with an immediate window to make a deep postseason run. Parting with Luzardo is an extraordinarily steep price to pay, but he’s struggled both in the Majors and in Triple-A this season. It’s possible the willingness to trade him is a reflection that the A’s are now questioning whether he’ll ever fulfill the potential that made him one of the top ten overall prospects in baseball a few years back. However, it’s also likely that Oakland views the forthcoming postseason run as something of a do-or-die moment.

The A’s are a perennially low-payroll club, and they’re set to have one of their largest and most expensive arbitration classes in recent memory. They’ll see each of Sean Manaea, Chris Bassitt, Matt Chapman, Matt Olson, Frankie Montas and the aforementioned Laureano reach arbitration this winter — to say nothing of more complementary players like Chad Pinder, Tony Kemp, Burch Smith and J.B. Wendelken.  It’s a sizable group that the Athletics have to at least wonder about retaining, from a financial standpoint, so it makes good sense that Oakland is pushing strongly to surround that core with the best talent possible when they’re in possession of a Wild Card spot and a manageable six games back in the division.

That said, it’s still a legitimate stunner to see the 23-year-old Luzardo traded in a rental deal — even for a player as good as Marte. Luzardo was regarded as one of the five to ten best prospects in all of baseball from 2019-20, and he did little to sway that thinking when he debuted as a 21-year-old and pitched to a 3.68 ERA with a 25.5 percent strikeout rate and a 6.8 walk rate through his first 71 innings.

Jesus Luzardo | Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports

Entering the 2021 season, Luzardo was a popular breakout pick and was viewed clear member of the A’s rotation, but it’s instead been a nightmarish season for him. The lefty posted uneven results through his first five starts of the season, looking excellent at times but also yielding five runs in two different outings. He then fractured his pinkie finger in what he called an “immature” mistake, hitting his hand on a table while playing video games just hours before a scheduled start. Luzardo spent nearly a month on the shelf and pitched poorly upon his return, serving up 11 runs in 10 innings — this time out of the bullpen.

Luzardo was optioned to Triple-A Las Vegas on June 21, where he’s been stretching back out as a starter. The results have not been pretty, however. He’s pitched in eight games, tallying just 29 innings while limping to a 6.87 ERA with uncharacteristically poor strikeout (19.3) and walk (11.1) percentages. Las Vegas is an extremely hitter-friendly setting, but it’s impossible to simply chalk struggles of that magnitude up to a difficult environment.

The trade brings Luzardo a perhaps needed change of scenery and represents a homecoming, as the lefty attended high school in the Miami area. It’s fair to view him as something of a project, given this year’s struggles, but even a few months ago the notion of trading Luzardo for a rental player would have seemed utterly preposterous. It’s easy to see why the Marlins jumped at the chance to acquire him, even if they already have an impressive stockpile of young pitching.

In fact, that could well be part of a broader overall gambit. The Marlins have reportedly been eyeing long-term options in center field and at catcher, and adding Luzardo to a core group that already includes Sandy Alcantara, Pablo Lopez, Trevor Rogers, Sixto Sanchez, Elieser Hernandez, Max Meyer, Edward Cabrera, Braxton Garrett and several other intriguing arms gives the Fish one of the deepest stocks of controllable, near-MLB pitching talent in all of baseball. The Marlins could well look to parlay some of that wealth of pitching depth into a new, controllable option at a position of need — as they did a couple years back when they surprisingly shipped then-rookie right-hander Zac Gallen to the D-backs in exchange for infielder Jazz Chisholm.

Setting aside the initial, jarring reaction to a low-budget club acquiring a premium rental in exchange for a pitcher who entered the year as a top 10 prospect in all of MLB — there’s some sense to both sides of the equation. The A’s are fortifying their roster in what could be their last run at the postseason with this iteration of their core. Luzardo has struggled badly in 2021, but acquiring a player with his raw talent in a rental swap is too tantalizing to pass up for a club in their position. Not only does Luzardo possess a front-of-the-rotation ceiling, but his demotion to Triple-A has pushed his free agency back to the 2026-27 offseason, at the earliest.

Today’s trade sets the stage for additional acquisitions by both parties. The A’s aren’t spending any money on Marte, meaning they should still have some resources with which to work. The Marlins’ crop of arms is even deeper now, and that allows GM Kim Ng and her team to more aggressively explore the market for controllable young hitters. It’s as close to a blockbuster swap as you’ll see in a straight one-for-one flip, but it’s unlikely this is the final piece of the deadline puzzle for either team.

Craig Mish of the Miami Herald broke the news (via Twitter) that the A’s were close to a deal for Marte. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic first reported a deal had been reached. MLB Network’s Jon Heyman reported that Luzardo would go the Marlins in the deal (Twitter link). ESPN’s Jeff Passan reported on the financial component of the swap (Twitter links).

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