Brewers Designate Ariel Hernandez, Select Aaron Brooks
The Brewers announced Thursday that they’ve selected the contract of right-hander Aaron Brooks from Triple-A Colorado Springs and designated fellow righty Ariel Hernandez for assignment to open a space on the 40-man roster. Milwaukee also recalled Jacob Barnes from Triple-A and optioned right-handers Freddy Peralta and Taylor Williams.
The series of roster moves comes on the heels of a 10-inning, 13-12 slugfest last night, during which the Brewers burned through six pitchers, including both Peralta (the game’s starter) and Williams (who has now pitched on consecutive days). Both Peralta and Williams figure to be back with the club in the very near future.
Hernandez, 26, has bounced from the Reds to the Dodgers to the Brewers so far in 2018, showing a definitive knack for missing bats but also the same alarming control problems that have prevented the flamethrowing righty from making an impact at the big league level. Hernandez averaged 98 mph on his fastball last season in a 24-inning cup of coffee with the Reds, during which he racked up 29 punchouts but also issued 22 walks.
It’s been much of the same this year in the minors, as he has a 54-to-40 K/BB ratio in 55 1/3 innings of work across three organizations and two minor league levels. He’d only landed in Milwaukee via waivers about three weeks ago and appeared in just five games with their Triple-A affiliate before being designated once again today.
As for Brooks, the 28-year-old will be returning to the big leagues for the first time since the 2015 season with today’s promotion. Back in 2015, he was traded alongside Sean Manaea as the second piece traded sent from the Royals to the A’s in exchange for Ben Zobrist. Brooks spent a season-plus with the Cubs before the Brewers picked him up, and he’s enjoyed a solid 2018 campaign despite pitching in an enormously hitter-friendly environment. Through 99 1/3 frames in Colorado Springs, he’s notched a 3.35 ERA with 6.7 K/9, 2.5 BB/9, 0.72 HR/9 and a 55.1 percent ground-ball rate.
Giants Place Steven Duggar On DL, Select Gregor Blanco
The Giants announced Wednesday that they’ve placed rookie outfielder Steven Duggar on the 10-day disabled list due to a shoulder injury and selected the contract of veteran outfielder Gregor Blanco in his place. Buster Posey, who underwent season-ending hip surgery earlier this week, was moved to the 60-day DL to open roster space for Blanco.
The exact nature of Duggar’s injury isn’t yet clear, as he’s headed for an MRI for further evaluation, per Andrew Baggarly of The Athletic (Twitter links). The 24-year-old sustained the injury while diving back into second base in yesterday’s game and appearing to dislocate the shoulder (before having it popped back into place). Baggarly notes that it could be a subluxation — an injury that could put an end to the young outfielder’s debut season.
Through 152 plate appearances on the season, Duggar has batted .255/.303/.390 with a pair of homers, 11 doubles, a triple and five steals (in six tries). Though the Giants are all but eliminated from postseason contention, a season-ending injury to Duggar would sting all the same. San Francisco’s hope is that the former sixth-round pick (2015) can be its center fielder of the future, and the month of September would’ve been an important evaluation period for the promising prospect.
In Blanco, the Giants will welcome a familiar face back to the roster. The 34-year-old spent time with the Giants earlier this season and was also a mainstay on their roster from 2012-16. In all, he’s strode to the plate 2183 times as a Giant (excluding postseason play), hitting a combined .258/.335/.359 along the way.
Kendrys Morales, Marco Estrada Clear Revocable Trade Waivers
Blue Jays designated hitter Kendrys Morales and right-hander Marco Estrada have both gone unclaimed on revocable trade waivers and are now eligible to be traded to any team, Jon Heyman of Fancred reports (on Twitter). It’s not a surprise to see either player clear, given the relatively sizable amounts remaining on each player’s contract.
Morales is in the second season of a three-year, $33MM contract in Toronto. While he’s recently gone through a near-historic hot streak at the plate, homering in seven consecutive games to boost his overall batting line to a strong .261/.342/.480 with 21 long balls, he’s still a 35-year-old DH owed about $13MM through the end of the 2019 season.
As for Estrada, he’s struggled through back issues and performed poorly of late, pitching to a 6.53 ERA with a 19-to-15 K/BB ratio across eight starts (30 1/3 innings). He’s on a one-year, $13MM contract and is owed about $2.36MM of that total through the end of the year — a hefty sum for perhaps six starts from an ailing 35-year-old.
The Blue Jays could always add some cash in order to help facilitate a trade involving either player, though it’d require a rather sizable sum in the case of Morales — recent hot streak notwithstanding. The Brewers and Mariners are among the teams that have been connected to rotation upgrades in recent weeks, though it’s not clear whether either organization will ultimately find a deal to their liking. It’s tougher to see any sort of market for Morales developing, though the Jays certainly figure to gauge interest over the next couple of days.
Dodgers Claim Ryan Madson On Revocable Waivers; No Agreement Reached Yet
6:18pm: Ken Gurnick of MLB.com reports that the Dodgers were the team that placed the claim on Madson (Twitter link).
5:53pm: Nationals right-hander Ryan Madson was claimed on revocable trade waivers by an unknown team earlier today, reports Robert Murray of The Athletic (on Twitter). The Nationals and the claiming team will have 48 hours to work out a trade, which would give the two sides until early afternoon Friday to work out a deal. The Nats, alternatively, could simply allow Madson and the roughly $1.36MM remaining on his salary go for no return other than full salary relief.
Madson, who turned 38 yesterday, is in the final season of a three-year deal and will reach free agency at season’s end. He’s struggled to a 5.28 ERA in 44 1/3 innings this season and missed time on the DL due to chest and back injuries. However, he’s also averaging a career-best 95.8 mph on his fastball this season and has posted solid marks of 8.3 K/9 and 3.1 BB/9. Much of the damage done against Madson has come in a trio of meltdowns this season, as he’s had a pair of outings in which he yielded four earned runs and another in which he was clobbered for six runs.
For all of his struggles in 2018, Madson has a lengthy track record of quality results as a late-game reliever and has been highly effective in recent seasons. From 2015-17, Madson notched a 2.55 ERA (3.08 FIP) with 8.4 K/9 against 2.1 BB/9 in 187 innings for the Royals, Athletics and Nationals. If a deal is ultimately reached, he’d join his new team in advance of the Sept. 1 deadline for postseason eligibility and have a month to get back on track following a change of scenery.
Braves Acquire Lucas Duda
5:28pm: The Royals are covering about half of Duda’s remaining salary, tweets David O’Brien of The Athletic.
4:45pm: The Royals and Braves have both announced the move.
4:19pm: The Royals have traded first baseman Lucas Duda to the Braves in exchange for cash, reports Jeffrey Flanagan of MLB.com (via Twitter). He reportedly cleared revocable trade waivers earlier this month and recently ranked 17th on MLBTR’s list of the top 20 remaining August trade candidates. The teams have not yet formally announced the move.
Duda, 32, will give the Braves some left-handed punch off the bench over the final five weeks of the regular season and, the team hopes, into the playoffs. While he hasn’t had a strong overall season, hitting just .242/.311/.415 on the year, those pedestrian numbers are in some part due to the fact that the Royals have played him against left-handed pitching far more than his track record against southpaws should dictate. Duda has taken 30 percent of his plate appearances against left-handed opponents in 2018 and, unsurprisingly, struggled at a .180/.255/.258 clip.
However, in 239 plate appearances while holding the platoon advantage, Duda has been a vastly superior hitter. He’s hit righties at a .267/.335/.479 clip, swatting 11 of his 13 homers and 11 of his 12 doubles in those matchups. Atlanta had reportedly already attempted to claim Matt Adams from the Nationals to fill a similar role, but the Cardinals had waiver priority over Atlanta and wound up acquiring him instead.
Duda signed a one-year deal with Kansas City this past offseason and is playing the year on a $3.5MM base salary. He earned a $100K bonus for taking his 300th and 325th plate appearance this season, and he’ll take home an additional $100K for every 25th plate appearance he takes in 2018. Because of those incentives, that base salary has risen to $3.7MM and will soon be bumped to $3.8MM, but with a presumably limited role on the horizon in Atlanta, he’s not likely to unlock much more of that incentives package.
[Related: Updated Kansas City Royals depth chart and Atlanta Braves depth chart]
Atlanta has been a middle-of-the-pack offense against right-handed pitching to this point in the season, hitting .256/.321/.413 — good for a 96 wRC+ that is tied for the 16th-best mark in baseball. Duda will give them some additional thump to use in those matchups in late-game settings and will instantly become the team’s best left-handed option off the bench. Prior to the trade, Rio Ruiz was the team’s lone lefty on the bench.
Pirates Designate Sean Rodriguez For Assignment
The Pirates have designated infielder/outfielder Sean Rodriguez for assignment, manager Clint Hurdle told reporters (Twitter link via MLB.com’s Adam Berry). His roster spot will go to shortstop Jordy Mercer, who has been activated from the disabled list.
Rodriguez, 33, has been unable to regain his footing in his second stint with the Pirates. The versatile utilityman had a career year in Pittsburgh back in 2016 and inked a two-year contract with the Braves in free agency that winter, only to suffer a major shoulder injury in an offseason car accident. Rodriguez required surgery to repair the rotator cuff in his left shoulder following the crash, and while he returned ahead of schedule in 2017, the results simply haven’t been there.
In 326 plate appearances between Atlanta and Pittsburgh across the past two seasons, Rodriguez has managed just a .167/.277/.305 slash. That’s a far cry from the hefty .270/.349/.510 line he authored in the aforementioned 2016 campaign. Pittsburgh will have a week to trade, outright or release Rodriguez, who’ll likely be on the hunt for a minor league contract this offseason as he looks to rebuild some stock following a pair of injury-ruined seasons.
Braves To Acquire Rene Rivera
The Braves have acquired catcher Rene Rivera from the Angels, per an announcement from the Los Angeles organization (h/t Jon Morosi of MLB.com, via Twitter). The Halos allowed Rivera to depart via a straight waiver claim.
With the move, the Atlanta organization will take over Rivera’s contract. Just under $500K remains on his $2.8MM salary for the year. The veteran receiver will be a free agent at season’s end.
Rivera, 35, is best known for his excellent work behind the dish. He has typically graded as an excellent framer, though he has been more in range of average over the past two seasons. Rivera has also traditionally been quite effective at limiting the running game.
While he missed a big chunk of time this year due to injury, limiting him to 30 games of action on the season, Rivera has also been reasonably productive with the bat. He carries a .244/.287/.439 slash with four home runs over 87 plate appearances, though he has drawn only four walks to go with 32 strikeouts.
In Kurt Suzuki and the just-extended Tyler Flowers, the Braves already have two catchers who have combined to form a strong overall duo. The organization did just drop veteran depth receiver Chris Stewart from its 40-man roster, so perhaps it sees this as an opportunity to ensure there’s a reliable player in place in the event of injury. He’ll also help spread the burden down the stretch for a club that now has the inside track to winning the NL East.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Padres Promote Luis Urias
Aug. 28: The Padres have formally announced Urias’ promotion to the Majors. Asuaje has been optioned to Triple-A to open a spot on the active roster. San Diego has also placed lefty Clayton Richard on the 10-day disabled due to inflammation in his left knee and activated right-hander Colten Brewer from the disabled list in his place.
Aug. 27: The Padres are set to promote highly regarded infield prospect Luis Urias, according to Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune. He is expected to debut tomorrow.
Urias, 21, is widely considered one of the crown jewels of a Padres system that, the organization has long hoped, will usher in a golden age of baseball in San Diego. There’s a clear consensus that he’s one of the most promising young players in baseball, with outlets such as Fangraphs (#22), MLB.com (#22), and Baseball America (#29) rating him among the game’s thirty or so best prospects.
There’s a lot to like about Urias’s potential as a hitter. He features a rare combination of plate discipline and contact ability that has allowed him to hit over .300 while carrying nearly a .400 OBP over his five minor-league seasons. Power isn’t a strong suit, though Urias has increased his home-run output over recent campaigns and this year has put the ball over the fence eight times in 533 plate appearances.
It seems fair to note, too, that Urias has the kind of underlying skills that could allow him to come into more power at the game’s highest level. In recent years, we’ve seen several players — Jose Altuve, Francisco Lindor, and Jose Ramirez among them, to take a few famous examples — develop surprising pop after reaching the bigs. Whether or not Urias is destined for that kind of outcome obviously isn’t yet known, but it seems notable that MLB.com credits him with more raw power than his outcomes indicate while BA cites Urias’s impressive exit velocity.
To be sure, Urias would likely generate even greater excitement if he was considered a future shortstop. Still, he is also valued for his defensive potential. Most evaluators indicate that he’ll likely be a high-quality defender at second base. It doesn’t hurt that he’s considered at least capable of playing shortstop as well; indeed, Acee says that Urias will get some time there upon his arrival.
For the Padres, this promotion offers an opportunity to get a look at a player who’s expected to hold down an important role for years to come. Urias will not accrue enough service time this year to put himself on track for future Super Two status. If he stays in the majors from here on out, he won’t be eligible for free agency until at least 2025. Picking up thirty-plus days of MLB action will make it a bit harder for the Friars to hold Urias down to open the 2019 season in hopes of extending the team’s control rights.
If he shows well upon his arrival, Urias will likely enter camp next year as the odds-on favorite to open the season as the regular second baseman. San Diego has not received much production from its options at the position thus far in 2018, after all, so the organization is no doubt anxious to plug in a permanent piece. Jose Pirela, Carlos Asuaje, and Cory Spangenberg have all failed to take advantage of opportunities at second this season.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Mariners Select Shawn Armstrong
The Mariners announced Tuesday that they’ve selected the contract of right-hander Shawn Armstrong from Triple-A Tacoma and optioned fellow right-hander Nick Rumbelow to Double-A Arkansas to open a spot on the active roster. Seattle already had an open spot on the 40-man roster, so no further moves were necessary to accommodate Armstrong’s return to the big leagues.
Armstrong, 27, saw time in the Majors with the Indians across the 2015-17 seasons but was traded to Seattle in exchange for international bonus pool space this past offseason. The Mariners exposed Armstrong to outright waivers just three months later when a need for roster space arose in Spring Training. He’d go on to clear and remain in the organization, which could prove fortuitous for the Mariners.
Through 56 innings out of the Rainiers’ bullpen in Triple-A, Armstrong has been nothing short of overpowering. He’s posted a sterling 1.77 ERA while averaging 13.2 strikeouts, 4.2 walks and 0.48 homers per nine innings pitched, collecting 15 saves along the way. It should be noted that Armstrong is no stranger to gaudy Triple-A numbers, but he’s done a better job of limiting walks this year than in recent seasons while still maintaining a hefty strikeout rate.
Armstrong will join the Mariners with 43 1/3 innings of Major League experience already under his belt from his time with the Cleveland organization. In that time, he’s pitched to a 3.53 ERA but hasn’t matched his minor league strikeout tendencies, averaging 7.9 K/9 against 3.5 BB/9 with a 41.6 percent ground-ball rate.
Cardinals Extend Mike Schildt
4:08pm: The three-year term on Shildt’s contract includes the current season, as Shildt’s new contract runs through the 2020 campaign, per Jen Langosch of MLB.com (on Twitter). The Cardinals have formally announced that Shildt has shed the “interim” label on his title and is now the full-time manager.
2:35pm: The Cardinals will make official today what had increasingly become obvious: interim manager Mike Shildt is going to stay in the job beyond the present season. He’s slated to receive a three-year contract in addition to having the interim label removed. Bob Nightengale of USA Today (via Twitter) and Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch (Twitter link) had the news.
Since taking the helm of a club that was sitting just one game over .500 just past the season’s halfway point, Shildt has guided the Cards to a 26-12 record. The club is now firmly back in contention. Of course, numerous roster moves came along with the firing of Mike Matheny, and it’s always hard to allocate praise and blame for managerial performance, but the organization obviously had cause to be pleased with the early returns on the new skipper.
Shildt opened the year as the Cards’ bench coach, which in and of itself represented a remarkable rise in the game. He never played professionally and was first came to the St. Louis organization as a scout. Shildt rose steadily from there, ultimately becoming a manager in the lower minors and climbing the ranks to run the team’s top affiliate. He came to the MLB staff in 2017 as a quality control and then third base coach.
The Cardinals know Shildt well and are clearly impressed with his work to this point, though it’s nonetheless a bit surprising to see them remove the “interim” label from Shildt after just 38 games. Typically, even when organization have hired an interim manager on a full-time basis, he’s but one of many candidates amid a larger search at season’s end. That won’t be the case with Shildt, who has already overwhelmingly captured the hearts of many Cardinals fans and drawn praise from both his players and fellow coaches.