Brewers Acquire Gio Gonzalez
The Brewers have reached agreement on a trade with the Nationals to acquire lefty Gio Gonzalez, per a club announcement. $250K of international bonus capacity is also heading to the Brewers, who’ll send minor-leaguers KJ Harrison and Gilbert Lara to D.C. So far as is known at this point, the Brewers will take over all of Gonzalez’s salary despite the fact that he cleared waivers.
Gonzalez, who’ll soon turn 33, will be a free agent at season’s end after wrapping up a long-term deal that he signed with the Nats not long after being acquired before the 2012 season. He will wrap up his tenure with the club after nearly seven mostly excellent seasons. Gonzalez will appear in a Brewers uniform in Nationals Park tomorrow, though he won’t pitch in this series.
With a hefty $12MM contract, just under $2MM of which remains to be paid, Gonzalez had cleared revocable trade waivers earlier in the month. He got off to a strong start to the season but had encountered some struggles of late. Through 145 2/3 innings, he carries a 4.57 ERA — the same mark he posted in 2016, the only season since 2010 in which he has finished with more than 3.79 earned runs per nine on his record.
Unfortunately for the Nats, the club never really got off the ground this year and has been forced to dump some pending free agents this summer. While Gonzalez came into the month of August with a 3.78 ERA, he has coughed up 26 earned runs in his last 31 1/3 innings. Though he has turned in two excellent outings in that span of six starts, the run of difficulties clearly left the Nats convinced not to make him a qualifying offer at season’s end — and also reduced the team’s potential trade return.
Gonzalez no longer operates in the 94 mph range with his fastball, but in many other ways looks to be much the same pitcher he has been the past several years. He’s carrying a 9.2% swinging-strike rate that sits just under his career average. And he has continued to make start after start; since fully establishing himself in the majors in 2010, he has only once made less than 31 starts in a given season (2014, when he took the ball 27 times).
Of course, despite turning in 201 innings of 2.96 ERA ball last year, Gonzalez has clearly been in decline. He has been much more prone to the long ball of late after notably suppressing dingers for most of his career. As his velocity fell off a table before the 2017 season, ERA estimators have found increasing cause for worry in his peripherals. After posting a career-low 3.43 SIERA in 2014, for instance Gonzalez has turned in successive marks of 3.77, 3.96, 4.41, and 4.75.
While it would be optimistic to hope for Gonzalez to regain the magic of 2017, the Brewers can still probably expect he’ll give the club some good innings down the stretch. Perhaps the jolt of a return to a postseason race will help, and Gonzalez certainly has every incentive to show well in advance of his first trip onto the open market. While the long-awaited rotation boost may not be quite as significant as some fans might have hoped for, the acquisition ought to add depth to the club’s pitching staff and help the effort to reach and advance in the postseason.
On the D.C. side of this swap, it’s obviously not how the club wanted things to end. But they’ll get some compensation for the veteran lefty. Harrison, 22, has lined up behind the plate and at first base while also seeing action as a DH. A third-round pick in 2017, he has shown plenty of pop, but also struck out in 147 of his 466 trips to the plate this year. Astute readers will recall that Lara commanded a big bonus as an amateur player. Now twenty years of age, the infielder has not developed as hoped, with a marginal .237/.274/.324 slash as a professional.
Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reported the deal (Twitter link). Kyle Lobner of the Frosty Mug suggested the involvement of Harrison and Lara, on Twitter, with Jon Heyman of Fancred (via Twitter) reporting they were indeed involved. Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reported the bonus amount on Twitter.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Brewers Acquire Curtis Granderson
The Blue Jays have officially struck a deal that will send veteran outfielder Curtis Granderson to the Brewers. Outfield prospect Demi Orimoloye will go to the Jays, who will cover some of the remainder of Granderson’s $5MM salary.
Granderson, who had cleared trade waivers earlier this month, becomes the third player acquired by the Milwaukee organization today, joining left-handed pitchers Gio Gonzalez and Xavier Cedeno. Multiple 40-man roster moves will still be required to accommodate the two most recent additions, who’ll help the club hold onto Wild Card position and try to chase down the division-leading Cubs.
Adding the 37-year-old Granderson will give the Brewers another bench bat to work with. He has been used almost exclusively against right-handed pitching this year, and for good reason. In 322 plate appearances with the platoon advantage, he’s slashing .250/.345/.443 with 11 home runs. In limited action against lefties, Granderson carries only a .518 OPS.
The Brewers will surely continue to put Granderson in the game only in advantageous situations. With fellow slugger Eric Thames also available, the club now has a pair of lefty power bats to spell outfielder Ryan Braun and first baseman Jesus Aguilar and/or to utilize in pinch-hitting situations.
Granderson, who also traded last August, featured at the #2 spot on our most recent list of the top 20 August trade candidates. That assessment was based upon his above-noted niche as well as his oft-lauded clubhouse presence, which made Granderson an obvious target for teams in need of infusing a lefty bat and some veteran gravitas.
The 21-year-old Orimoloye, a native of Nigeria who was drafted out of Canada, was selected by the Brewers in the fourth round of the 2015 draft. He earned his way to the High-A level after a solid run to open the year at Class A, but has struggled since. In 277 plate appearances with the Carolina Mudcats this season, he owns a .236/.303/.368 slash with seven home runs and seven steals in a dozen attempts.
Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.ca reported that Granderson was on the move (via Twitter) and Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic said he was going to the Brewers (via Twitter). Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet.ca tweeted that money was changing hands.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Josh Donaldson Out Of Lineup After Clearing Waivers
6:23pm: Toronto is advising other organizations that it expects to trade Donaldson this evening, per Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports (Twitter links), who adds the Indians and Astros as clubs that have recently “shown interest.”
The Braves, meanwhile, seem “unlikely” to land Donaldson, per MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand (via Twitter).
6:07pm: The Yankees are in on Donaldson but could only take on around half his remaining salary, Jon Heyman of Fancred tweets. MLB Network Radio’s Steve Phillips had connected the New York organization to Donaldson, via Twitter, while also listing the Cards, Phillies, and Braves as teams still engaged in discussions with Toronto.
4:58pm: Though he had been scheduled to play another rehab game tonight, Donaldson was pulled for reasons unrelated to his physical condition, Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.ca tweets. That seems to hint, at least, that the Jays are taking precautions in the event that an agreement is struck involving the veteran third baseman.
Meanwhile, Cardinals president of baseball operations John Mozeliak said this afternoon that he “would not anticipate” any deals coming together by tonight’s deadline. Of course, that doesn’t rule the team out on Donaldson or other possible targets.
12:17pm: Donaldson has indeed cleared waivers and is eligible to be traded to any team, tweets Fancred’s Jon Heyman. USA Today’s Bob Nightengale tweets the same, adding that Donaldson is likely to be traded before midnight tonight.
10:33am: The Cardinals have interest in acquiring Josh Donaldson in advance of tonight’s postseason-eligibility deadline, reports Jon Morosi of MLB.com. Morosi adds that the chances of Donaldson being dealt to the Indians are believed to be “slim.”
It’s logical to see St. Louis emerge as a viable suitor for Donaldson, with both Jedd Gyorko and Kolten Wong currently on the disabled list. Neither injury has been characterized as a season-ender, to this point, but with the Cards holding a two-game lead on an NL Wild Card spot and trailing the division-leading Cubs by a matter of 4.5 games, every win is critical. Donaldson is far from a surefire upgrade given that he’s spent three months on the shelf due to a calf injury, though, and Morosi notes that the Cards would need to deem the Blue Jays’ asking price “sufficiently low” in order to move forward on a trade.
Donaldson has played a pair of games on a minor league rehab assignment, homering for Toronto’s Class-A Advanced affiliate yesterday, and he spoke to the Toronto Sun’s Rob Longley about his frustration with his 2018 health issues while also alluding to some frustration with the organization.
“I can’t control what the team wants to do with me,” Donaldson said, though he declined to further delve into his current relationship with the club. “…There’s a lot I can say about that, but I choose not to say anything about it right now. I don’t feel now is the time or the place. It’s one of those things that, as an athlete, I can only control what I can control.”
Donaldson was reportedly placed on revocable trade waivers Tuesday, when he was first eligible for waiver placement. (Major League rules stipulate that injured players must be healthy enough to take the field when run through revocable waivers.) It’s not known yet whether he cleared, though it seems unlikely that a team would place a claim on him when he hasn’t played in a big league game since late May and still has nearly $4MM remaining to be paid out on this season’s $23MM salary.
Donaldson’s very placement on waivers, though, is at least somewhat shrouded in mystery. Sportsnet’s Shi Davidi tweets that there is “some grey” regarding whether he was actually eligible to go through waivers. Donaldson’s would-be rehab game was rained out Wednesday, but he wasn’t slated to be in the lineup that night due to reported soreness in his calf following Tuesday’s rehab appearance. Certainly, some soreness following a player’s first game action in three months could be expected, but it’s presently unclear whether that would prevent him from meeting the league’s standards as pertains to the health of player being put through the August waiver process.
If the Blue Jays aren’t able to work out a trade of Donaldson (for whatever reason), he’ll return to the club to finish out what has generally been a successful four-year tenure. Donaldson took home American League MVP honors in his first season with the Jays back in 2015 and has batted .281/.383/.548 in 2066 plate appearances since being traded to Toronto in a lopsided deal back in the 2014-15 offseason.
Should Donaldson remain on the roster into September, the Jays will have to weigh whether to issue him a qualifying offer following the year. Doing so would entitle them to draft pick compensation in the event that Donaldson rejects and sign elsewhere. But the organization also runs the risk of the third baseman accepting that one-year offer, which should be for around $18MM, which would create some roster issues for the 2019 season. Toronto is set to turn third base over to uber-prospect Vladimir Guerrero Jr. next season, and a return from Donaldson would complicate matters. Players who accept the qualifying offer can’t be traded before June 15 the following season without their consent, so it’s not as simple as just trading him this winter in the event that accepts a QO. The Jays could try to make things work by having Donaldson and Guerrero play multiple positions — Donaldson has had cameos at shortstop and first base for the Jays in the past, and either could serve as a DH — but there’s certainly some degree of incentive for the team to work out a trade before tonight’s midnight deadline.
Brewers Outright Nate Orf & Ariel Hernandez, Sign Emilio Bonifacio
The Brewers announced that utilityman Nate Orf and righty Ariel Hernandez were each outrighted to Triple-A after clearing wavers. The move on Orf will open a 40-man spot for today’s acquisition of Xavier Cedeno; Hernandez had recently been designated for assignment.
In other news, the Milwaukee organization has added veteran utilityman Emilio Bonifacio. He had been playing on the indy ball circuit after failing to land with an affiliated organization this spring and will now head to Triple-A Colorado Springs.
Orf, 28, earned a brief first look at the majors this year after two consecutive quality seasons at the Triple-A level. He’s a .305/.389/.447 hitter in 1,344 career plate appearances at the highest level of the minors, with only 17 home runs but a healthy combination of 134 walks against 190 strikeouts. Clearly, though — given that he cleared waivers — there are some questions as to whether Orf will really ever be able to carry that sort of output into the show.
As for Bonifacio, the signing offers a chance for him to extend his streak of eleven-straight seasons with at least some MLB action. He hasn’t seen much time in any of the past three campaigns, producing a cringeworthy .169/.204/.201 batting line in the 169 plate appearances he has received in that span. But Bonifacio has been at least a passable hitter at times in the past and was producing a strong .842 OPS in the Atlantic League. More importantly, he has long rated as an outstanding baserunner and can play just about anywhere on the diamond. That makes him a flexible asset for the Brewers to have on hand in case a need arises.
Brewers Acquire Xavier Cedeno
The Brewers and White Sox have announced to a trade that will send left-handed reliever Xavier Cedeno from Chicago to Milwaukee, as first reported by Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic (via Twitter). A pair of minor-leaguers — outfielder Bryan Connell and righty Johan Dominguez — will head to the White Sox in the swap.
Cedeno, who celebrated his 32nd birthday earlier this week, signed a minor league deal with the ChiSox this offseason after being non-tendered by the Rays. He worked his way onto the big league roster and has had a solid season on the South Side, working to a 2.84 ERA with 28 strikeouts against 13 walks along with a 55.4% groundball rate in 25 1/3 innings.
Notably, Cedeno has allowed just one homer this season despite the hitter-friendly nature of Chicago’s Guaranteed Rate Field, thanks in part to a robust 55.4 percent ground-ball rate. Interestingly, too, he has not just been effective against opposing lefties — who are hitting just .209/.277/.326 against him — but also against righties, who have managed only a .200/.322/.300 line.
That’s a rather impressive showing for a pitcher who sat out almost all of the 2017 season due to arm issues. He had been rather effective in the prior two seasons as well, though he had also been utilized mostly in a specialist capacity (throwing only 87 1/3 total innings in 120 appearances).
Just how sustainable Cedeno’s 2018 output is can certainly be debated, particularly as regards right-handed hitters. But while he’s only averaging 86.6 mph on his heavily-used cutter, the offering has shown greater horizontal movement and has allowed him to generate a 13.0% swinging-strike rate. And Statcast figures support the idea that Cedeno has been legitimately hard to square up (.273 wOBA; .282 xwOBA).
If things go well the rest of the way, Milwaukee will have the added bonus of retaining Cedeno beyond the 2018 season. He entered the season with four-plus of big league service and will finish with just enough service time to reach five full years. That’ll leave him with one offseason of arbitration eligibility remaining. He’s playing out the year on a $1.05MM base salary, so his 2019 salary would be modest even after a potential arbitration raise.
In exchanging for parting with Cedeno, the White Sox come away with a pair of youngsters. Connell, 19, had an impressive showing in his third attempt at the Dominican Summer League but hasn’t hit as much since being promoted to the Rookie-level Pioneer League. The 22-year-old Dominguez, meanwhile, has been a teammate of Connell quite a bit over the past three seasons. His longest stint at a single spot this year, though, came at another Rookie level, the Arizona League. He threw 19 1/3 scoreless innings there, allowing only five hits while recording 21 strikeouts against seven walks.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Orioles Designate Craig Gentry, Outright Jhan Marinez
The Orioles have designated outfielder Craig Gentry, per MLB.com’s Britt Ghiroli (via Twitter). He’ll be replaced on the active roster by fellow outfielder Joey Rickard.
Meanwhile, the club also outrighted right-hander Jhan Marinez after activating him from the 10-day DL. He has been assigned to Triple-A after clearing waivers.
Gentry, 34, has seen a decent amount of action in a reserve role for the Baltimore organization over the past two seasons. All told, he carries a .265/.326/.362 batting line in 286 plate appearances with the O’s.
That output falls right in line with Gentry’s career numbers at the plate. In parts of ten seasons in the majors, he’s an 85 wRC+ hitter. That’s not really enough bat to warrant the playing time he has received (602 games). But Gentry has long graded as a high-quality defender and baserunner.
As for Marinez, 30, he has bounced around quite a bit in recent seasons. He struggled mightily in eight MLB appearances this year, but was better when pitching at the club’s top affiliate. In 47 2/3 innings for Norfolk, he owns a 3.21 ERA with 9.6 K/9 and 3.0 BB/9.
Athletics Acquire Cory Gearrin From Rangers
The Rangers announced that they’ve traded right-hander Cory Gearrin to the Athletics in exchange for minor league right-handers Abdiel Mendoza and Teodoro Ortega. Oakland also announced the move, adding that righty Paul Blackburn will go from the 10-day DL to the 60-day DL to clear 40-man roster space.
Gearrin, 32, had spent the past several seasons in the bay area with the cross-town Giants. But he landed with the Rangers after being included in a mid-season move in which the San Francisco organization shed some salary obligations, including the remainder of Gearrin’s $1.675MM salary.
The remainder of that money will now be paid by the A’s, who have added several bullpen pieces over the course of the summer as they have flown up the standings. The Oakland ballclub currently sits 2.5 games back of the division-leading Astros, but still has time to make up that ground and also enjoys a healthy 4.5 game pad over the Mariners for the final Wild Card spot.
Gearrin will not only help the A’s by bolstering their middle-relief mix, but will perhaps also help reduce the load on several of the team’s other bullpen arms down the stretch. He has never really functioned as a late-inning arm, but that’s not really something the Oakland organization is much in need of at the moment.
[Related: Oakland Athletics depth chart]
Since landing with the Rangers, Gearrin has turned in 21 1/3 effective innings. He carries a 2.53 ERA in that span, leaving him with a 3.51 mark on the season, and has been more effective at limiting the long balls that plagued him earlier in the year in San Francisco. At times in the past, Gearrin has produced quite a few groundballs, but he’s getting them on less than forty percent of the balls put in play against him in 2018.
While this move is no doubt mostly intended to boost the team’s immediate outlook the A’s will also gain some potential future considerations in the swap. Gearrin can be controlled for one final season via arbitration.
On the other side of the bargain, the Rangers will lose the chance to hang onto Gearrin at a fairly cheap rate for 2019. Instead, they’ll pick up a pair of lower-level arms. Mendoza, who’ll soon turn 20, owns a 3.32 ERA with 6.5 K/9 and 3.5 BB/9 in 57 innings at the low-A level. Ortega is just 18 and is in his first professional season in the Dominican Summer League. He impressed there, however, with a 2.11 ERA and 10.1 K/9 against 2.3 BB/9 over his 42 2/3 frames, which have come over six starts and eight relief appearances.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Giants Promote Chris Shaw
2:42pm: The Giants have formally announced Shaw’s promotion to the Majors.
1:24pm: The Giants are set to select the contract of outfielder Chris Shaw, reports Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area (via Twitter). The 2015 first-round pick ranks as the Giants’ No. 4 prospect on MLB.com’s midseason rankings and fifth on Baseball America’s midseason update.
Shaw, 24, has played both first base and left field in the minors but has played the outfield exclusively in 2018. He’s displayed strong power marks to this point in his career but also demonstrated some concerning trends in terms of plate discipline. Thus far in 2018, he’s hit .259/.308/.505 with 24 homers and 21 doubles in 422 plate appearances, but he’s also drawn walks at just a five percent clip while striking out in 34.1 percent of his trips to the plate.
Scouting reports on Shaw generally indicate that he has significant raw power but limited speed that makes him a questionable fit in left field. But, with Brandon Belt entrenched at first base (Shaw’s best defensive position), the Giants will continue to work on the slugger’s outfield defense.
[Related: San Francisco Giants depth chart]
Shaw’s promotion comes on the heels of San Francisco’s trade of Andrew McCutchen to the Yankees earlier this morning. Between that and the season-ending injury to young center fielder Steven Duggar, there should be sufficient playing time available for Shaw in left field. The Giants will get their first look at how Shaw handles big league pitching while they also evaluate young corner outfield options in the form of Austin Slater and Mac Williamson.
Looking ahead, it’s possible that an arrangement of Shaw, Duggar, Slater and Williamson could see the bulk of the outfield work at AT&T Park down the line, though the uncertainty that comes with that mix makes the Giants a logical fit to explore the market for outfield additions this winter.
Dodgers Designate Adam Liberatore For Assignment
The Dodgers announced Friday that they’ve designated left-hander Adam Liberatore for assignment. His roster spot will go to the newly acquired Ryan Madson, whose trade to the Dodgers is now official.
Liberatore, 31, enjoyed a terrific season with the 2016 Dodgers, working to a 3.38 ERA with 9.9 K/9, 3.6 BB/9, 0.42 HR/9 and a 38.9 percent ground-ball rate. Lefties hit just .169/.250/.244 against him that season. However, Liberatore missed the bulk of the 2017 season with a forearm strain and has been injured in Triple-A this season as well. The southpaw does have a 2.77 ERA in 13 big league innings this year, but he’s issued eight walks and a hit a batter in that small sample and has yielded 16 runs (10 earned) and a whopping 29 hits in 17 Triple-A frames.
Though he hasn’t had a great season and was injured for most of 2017, Liberatore could yet appeal to other clubs. He’s held opposing left-handed hitters to a .204/.294/.311 slash in his Major League career and even held righties to a fairly tame .242/.318/.388 slash. Teams will have to weigh those results against the fact that his fastball is down nearly three miles per hour from his 2015 debut, though, as well as the fact that he’ll be out of minor league options in 2019.
Dodgers Acquire Ryan Madson
1:50pm: The Dodgers have announced the trade.
1:06pm: The Dodgers are sending minor league right-hander Andrew Istler to the Nationals in return, Joel Sherman of the New York Post reports (via Twitter).
12:54pm: The Dodgers and Nationals have agreed to a trade that’ll send right-hander Ryan Madson from D.C. to L.A., reports Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic (via Twitter). Madson was placed on revocable waivers earlier this week, per the Washington Post’s Jorge Castillo. Ken Gurnick of MLB.com had previously reported that the Dodgers placed a claim on the veteran setup man.
Though the Nats could have simply let Madson go to the Dodgers and shed the remainder of his $7.5MM salary, Fancred’s Jon Heyman tweets the Dodgers will indeed send a prospect to Washington in return for the right-hander. USA Today’s Bob Nightengale adds that the Dodgers are taking on all of the $1.24MM remaining on the 38-year-old Madson’s contract. He’s a free agent at season’s end, so Madson will be a rental piece for the Dodgers as they strive for a postseason berth in the competitive NL West.
Madson was only recently activated from the disabled list after missing time with a nerve issue in his back. He has a strong big league track record and has generally been a reliable late-inning arm in recent seasons since returning from Tommy John surgery in 2015, but he’s struggled with the Nats so far this season. Through 44 1/3 innings this year, Madson has posted an unsightly 5.28 ERA, though he’s averaged a healthy 95.8 mph on his heater and is still missing bats (8.3 K/9, 12.4 percent swinging-strike rate).
The Dodgers’ bullpen has been struggling to near unthinkable levels in the month of August, as manager Dave Roberts tried to use virtually every arm at his disposal in late-inning situations with star closer Kenley Jansen on the disabled list. The Dodger ‘pen blew leads in seven straight games at one point, and when the team welcomed Jansen back from the DL, he too struggled to uncharacteristic levels. Jansen has allowed runs in each of his four appearances since returning from a DL stint due to an irregular heartbeat. With the bullpen reeling, Madson and this weekend’s slate of September call-ups will give Roberts some additional options to mix and match as he tries to keep his club in the race.
As for Istler, he wasn’t considered to be among the Dodgers’ top prospects but has enjoyed a solid season across three minor league levels. A 23rd-round pick in 2015, Istler opened the 2018 season at Class-A Advanced but has steadily risen through the ranks to Triple-A. He’s pitched to a combined 2.37 ERA with 8.2 K/9, 2.1 BB/9 and a roughly 43 percent ground-ball rate through 79 2/3 innings. Istler, who has allowed just two homers on the season, could conceivably give the Nats a bullpen option as soon as next season given his 2018 ascension.