Pirates Acquire Adeiny Hechavarria
7:04pm: Pittsburgh will only pay Hechavarria a pro-rated portion of the league-minimum salary, per Ron Blum of the Associated Press (via the AP’s Will Graves, on Twitter).
3:15pm: The Pirates have acquired shortstop Adeiny Hechavarria from the Rays in exchange for right-hander Matt Seelinger, as per press releases from both teams. Tampa Bay will also send the Bucs some money in the trade.
Hechavarria was designated for assignment last Wednesday, after the Rays couldn’t find a taker for him (and the approximately $1.9MM still owed to him in salary this season) before the trade deadline. One would think the cash considerations headed from Tampa to Pittsburgh in the deal will cover most, if not all, of that remaining salary. The Tampa Bay Times’ Marc Topkin reported over the weekend that Hechavarria was thought to have cleared trade waivers, which appears to be the case.
Over 2920 career plate appearances with the Rays, Marlins, and Blue Jays, Hechavarria has only hit .255/.291/.344, only coming closest to being a league-average hitter when he posted a modest 92 OPS+ and 89 wRC+ during the 2015 season. He has still provided value, however, thanks to consistently strong glovework at shortstop. Hechavarria has declined a bit in this area in 2018 (+4 Defensive Runs Saved, 1.0 UZR/150), though he still boasts +23 DRS and a 2.7 UZR/150 over his career at short.
This represents an upgrade from longtime Pirates shortstop Jordy Mercer, who has below-average defensive numbers over his career and is only a marginally better hitter with a career .257/.318/.384 slash line. Mercer is also a free agent after the season, so this is the clearest sign yet that his long tenure in Pittsburgh is likely coming to an end.
The Pirates continue to be surprising buyers down the stretch, as the team has now acquired Hechavarria and Chris Archer in separate trades with the Rays, and also picked up reliever Keone Kela from the Rangers. At 57-55, the Bucs are still on the outskirts of the playoff race, entering today 7.5 games behind the Cubs in the NL Central and five games out of a wild card position. Archer and Kela are at least controlled beyond 2018, whereas Hechavarria is a free agent this winter and thus a pure rental for the Pirates. The team does rank near the bottom of the league in both DRS (-47) and UZR/150 (-3.1) this season, so the Bucs could see this deal as a low-cost way of patching up a hole on defense.
Seelinger was a 28th-round pick for the Pirates in the 2017 draft, and he has posted a 2.44 ERA, 12.8 K/9, and 4.45 K/BB rate over 62 2/3 minor league innings. Seelinger has pitched exclusively as a reliever in his pro career, and he’ll continue at the A-ball level with Tampa Bay’s affiliate in Bowling Green.
Tigers To Purchase Contract Of Jacob Turner
The Tigers will purchase the contract of righty Jacob Turner, Evan Woodberry of MLive.com tweets. He’s expected to start tomorrow in place of the just-traded Mike Fiers.
Turner, 27, has seen action in parts of seven seasons. But his career hasn’t gone as hoped when he debuted in Detroit at just twenty years of age. The former first-rounder has spent time with four other organizations since that time and owns only a 5.26 ERA over 368 career innings.
Most recently, Turner was knocked around in four outings with the Marlins earlier this season. The Tigers nabbed him on a minors deal and sent him to Triple-A Toledo. Turner has been effective there thus far, carrying a 4.01 ERA with 6.3 K/9 and 3.1 BB/9 in 58 1/3 frames over 11 starts.
Minor MLB Transactions: 8/6/18
Here are today’s minor league moves, with the newest transactions at the top of the post…
- The Mets outrighted Kevin Kaczmarski to Triple-A after the outfielder cleared waivers, according to MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo (Twitter link). New York designated Kaczmarski for assignment last Thursday. Kaczmarski, a ninth-round pick for the Mets in the 2015 draft, has an even .800 OPS (.301/.382/.418) over 1469 career PA in the minor leagues. He made his big league debut this season, appearing in four games for the Mets.
Astros To Place George Springer On 10-Day DL
The Astros will place outfielder George Springer on the 10-day disabled list due to a left thumb sprain, with MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart (Twitter link) and others reporting the news. Derek Fisher will be called up to take Springer’s spot on the 25-man roster, as The Athletic’s Robert Murray tweeted earlier today.
Springer suffered the injury yesterday, when his thumb was clipped by the glove of Dodgers shortstop Chris Taylor while Springer was attempting to steal second base. X-rays taken yesterday on Springer’s thumb were negative, and he is only expected to miss around two weeks, as he avoided a more serious UCL sprain.
[Updated Astros depth chart at Roster Resource]
Still, even two weeks without the star outfielder is an issue for an Astros team that is suddenly missing several of its most notable names due to injury. Springer joins Jose Altuve, Carlos Correa, Chris Devenski, Lance McCullers Jr. and Brian McCann on the disabled list, with only Correa potentially close to a return. Houston’s lead over the streaking Athletics in the AL West has shrunk to just four games, so the Astros could find themselves as active players in the August trade market to bolster themselves down the stretch. Outfield depth could be of particular concern, as some combination of Fisher, Tony Kemp, and Jake Marisnick will be handling center field and mostly left field duties for the time being. Utilityman Marwin Gonzalez could also see some action in left field (though he has been filling in for Altuve at second base), while Josh Reddick will hold the fort in right field.
Springer has 19 homers and a .250/.335/.436 slash line over 485 PA this season. While still solid numbers, they represent the lowest wRC+ (115) over Springer’s five-year career, and a marked step down from his .889 OPS in 2017. He was off to a strong start to the year before hitting a prolonged slump in mid-June, as Springer has hit just .175/.281/.312 over his last 180 plate appearances. Some bad luck has been involved, as Springer’s .353 xwOBA is notably higher than his .331 wOBA.
Athletics Acquire Mike Fiers
The A’s have acquired right-hander Mike Fiers from the Tigers in exchange for cash considerations or two players to be named later, the team has announced (Twitter link). Left-hander Jeremy Bleich has been designated for assignment to create room for Fiers on Oakland’s roster.
Fiers drew attention from multiple clubs prior to the trade deadline, with the Athletics reportedly making a strong bid to land the 33-year-old on deadline day itself. Less than a week later, the A’s finally landed the righty to help reinforce its injury-plagued starting staff, with Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reporting that Oakland put a claim on Fiers while he was on revocable trade waivers.
After being non-tendered by the Astros last winter, Fiers signed a one-year, $6MM deal with the Tigers and did a solid job of rebuilding his stock after a rough 2017 season. Fiers posted a 3.48 ERA, 6.58 K/9, and 3.35 K/BB rate over 119 innings (21 starts) for Detroit, and has been particularly effective after a slow start to the season, as Fiers has a 2.57 ERA over his last 70 frames.
There are some red flags about his performance, however, most notably the career-low (over a full season) strikeout rate and swinging strike rate (8.3 %). Fiers is getting away with allowing some hard contact, as evidenced by the gap between his .321 wOBA and his .345 xwOBA, and he has also benefited from an 83.1% strand rate and a .277 BABIP. Advanced metrics such as FIP (4.66), xFIP (4.82) and SIERA (4.54) all sit over a run higher than his real-world ERA.
Even if a bit of regression is in order, Fiers will likely still represent an upgrade for an A’s rotation that has posted middling numbers over the course of the season (though they have been dominant as of late). Fiers joins ace Sean Manaea and veterans Brett Anderson, Edwin Jackson, and Trevor Cahill in the Athletics’ starting five, and Fiers is also an option for the 2019 staff, as he is controlled via salary arbitration. It’s worth noting that Fiers left his last start after just two innings after being hit in the shin with a line drive, though the injury isn’t thought to be particularly serious, and obviously the A’s weren’t concerned enough to hold off on making the trade.
As per Slusser, the Tigers have the option of taking money back for Fiers, or selecting two names from a list of prospects. It’s safe to assume that none of Oakland’s top minor leaguers are on that list, though Detroit should still get some kind of decent return on their $6MM investment in Fiers in the offseason.
Bleich made his Major League debut this season, appearing in two games for the A’s though getting through just one-third of an inning. A supplemental first-round pick (44th overall) for the Yankees in the 2008 draft, Bleich has pitched for five different organizations over 10 professional seasons and he also played for Team Israel in the 2017 World Baseball Classic. Bleich has a 3.92 ERA, 7.2 K/9, and 2.06 K/BB rate over 601 1/3 career minor league innings.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Cardinals Place Tyler O’Neill On 10-Day DL, Promote Adolis Garcia
The Cardinals will place outfielder Tyler O’Neill on the 10-day disabled list due to inflammation of the groin area, as the team announced on Twitter. The placement was retroactive to August 4. In a corresponding move, the Cards have selected the contract of outfielder Adolis Garcia.
Ranked as a top-100 prospect by both Baseball America and MLB.com in each of the last two seasons, O’Neill was acquired by St. Louis from Seattle in exchange for southpaw Marco Gonzales in July 2017. O’Neill made his Major League debut this season, and has hit .309/.333/.491 with three home runs over his first 60 plate appearances in the Show. In between a few different stints on the big league roster, O’Neill has been crushing Triple-A pitching, hitting .311/.388/.711 with 26 homers over 260 PA. That slash line is impressive by any measure, though the high on-base percentage is a particularly encouraging sign for O’Neill, who had struggled with plate discipline in his pro career. (Though the problem is far from solved, as 24 of O’Neill’s 60 MLB plate appearances have resulted in strikeouts.)
With Tommy Pham dealt to Tampa and Dexter Fowler on the disabled list, it looked as if O’Neill was in line for more playing time in the Cards’ outfield. This injury opens the door for another young outfield prospect in Garcia, who was recently named the Cardinals’ minor league player of the month for July. Garcia is hitting .269/.296/.531 with 21 homers over 372 Triple-A plate appearances this season, displaying some on-base issues himself.
The younger brother of former Braves third baseman Adonis Garcia, the 25-year-old Adolis signed with St. Louis as an international free agent in the 2016-17 offseason, landing a $2.5MM bonus. The 2018 Baseball America Prospect Handbook ranked Garcia as the ninth-best minor leaguer in the Cardinals’ farm system prior to the season, citing his good hitting potential as well as plus baserunning skills and an elite throwing arm (earning “a borderline 80,” or the top scouting grade available) from right field.
Minor MLB Transactions: 8/5/18
The latest minor moves from around baseball…
Latest Moves
- The Phillies announced (Twitter link) that infielder Trevor Plouffe has been outrighted to Triple-A after clearing waivers. Plouffe was designated for assignment on Tuesday to create roster room for newly-acquired southpaw Aaron Loup. After signing a minors contract with the Phils in April, Plouffe cracked the 25-man roster and appeared in seven games (12 PA) for the team. The clear highlight of this brief stint was Plouffe’s three-run walkoff homer to end a 16-inning marathon against the Dodgers on July 24.
Earlier Today
- The Padres have selected right-hander Trey Wingenter‘s contract from Triple-A El Paso, the club announced. The 24-year-old reliever, a 17th-round pick in 2015, is now in line to make his major league debut. Wingenter, who has also garnered his first Triple-A experience this season, pitched to a 3.45 ERA/4.58 FIP with 10.76 K/9, 4.87 BB/9 and a 46.5 percent groundball rate in 44 1/3 innings prior to his promotion.
- The Mets have signed infielder Dylan Tice and left-hander Matt Gage to minor league deals, Anthony DiComo of MLB.com tweets. Both Tice and Gage had been playing independent ball before catching on with the Mets. The 25-year-old Tice was most recently in affiliated ball from 2015-16 with the Cardinals, who chose him in the 36th round of the 2015 draft. Gage, a 10th-round selection of the Giants in 2014, had been with the San Francisco organization until earlier this season. Also 25, Gage opened 2018 with a 3.18 ERA and 6.0 K/9 against 1.2 BB/9 in 22 2/3 innings at the Double-A level.
Athletics Acquire Shawn Kelley
4:52pm: The Athletics announced that they’ve acquired Kelley for international slot money. To clear room for him, they placed outfielder Jake Smolinski on the 60-day disabled list with a blood clot in his left calf.
4:46pm: The Athletics have acquired reliever Shawn Kelley from the Nationals, Jerry Crasnick of ESPN reports. There’s no word yet on what the Nationals received in exchange, but given that they designated Kelley for assignment earlier this week, it’s likely to be an insubstantial return.
Even though it’s competing for a playoff spot in the National League, Washington elected to move on from Kelley after he admitted he “acted like a baby” in a 25-4 rout over the Mets on Tuesday. Kelley slammed his glove after allowing a home run in that game, which offended general manager Mike Rizzo and others in the Nationals organization.
“If you’re not in, you’re in the way,” Rizzo said (via Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post).
It’s clear Kelley’s actions didn’t turn off Oakland, which is pushing for a playoff berth in the AL. If his results to this point of the campaign are any indication, the 34-year-old Kelley should help the Athletics break their three-year playoff drought. Kelley logged a 3.34 ERA with 8.91 K/9 and 1.39 BB/9 in 32 1/3 innings with the Nats this year, though that came with a 27 percent groundball rate and a 4.56 FIP. He’s in the final season of a three-year, $15MM contract and is making $5.5MM.
Astros Reinstate Roberto Osuna, Place Lance McCullers On DL
2:30pm: Houston issued a statement Sunday in regards to acquiring Osuna, all of which is available here via the team’s Twitter account. Here’s a portion of it: “Our decision to acquire Roberto was based on the entirety of information that we gathered during our extensive evaluation. That included as much information as we could gather about the specific incident and the charges that were filed but it also included as much information as we could gather about his actions before and after the incident, as well as his personal reputation among his former teammates and coaches. The information regarding this specific incident weighed heavily on our decision but when evaluating the entirety of the information, we felt that Roberto deserved a second chance.”
12:12pm: The Astros have reinstated reliever Roberto Osuna from the restricted list and sent starter Lance McCullers Jr. to the 10-day DL with right elbow discomfort, per a team announcement.
Osuna is now in position to make his debut with Houston, which acquired him in a headline-grabbing deal on the eve of the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline. To land Osuna, the Astros gave up three players – including their former closer, Ken Giles – in a move that hasn’t been received all that well from Houston’s point of view. While Osuna has been an excellent reliever since debuting in 2015, the 23-year-old’s career may be forever tarnished by an early May arrest on a domestic assault charge. Major League Baseball then issued Osuna a 75-game suspension, which he’s just returning from now.
Although Osuna has served MLB’s punishment, he’s not out of legal hot water in Canada. Osuna had a court date on Aug. 1, though there was no resolution at that hearing and he has another one scheduled for Sept. 5, Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet reported earlier this week. It’s not clear, then, whether Osuna will even be available toward the end of the season as the playoff-bound Astros vie for their second straight World Series title.
From solely an on-field standpoint, the Osuna addition figures to help the Astros’ cause. Osuna was a lights-out closer during his 223-inning Toronto tenure, saving 104 games on 124 tries and logging a 2.87 ERA.
Brewers Claim Jordan Lyles
The Brewers have claimed right-hander Jordan Lyles off waivers from the Padres, Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune tweets. San Diego has decided to let Lyles go for no compensation, Acee adds.
The 27-year-old Lyles, a first-round pick of the Astros in 2008, has generally struggled since debuting in the majors in 2011. However, Lyles was decent this year as a member of the Padres, with whom he logged a 4.29 ERA/4.45 FIP with 7.82 K/9, 2.4 BB/9 and a 46.7 percent groundball rate in 71 1/3 innings. He worked primarily out of San Diego’s bullpen before it said goodbye to him, totaling eight starts in 24 appearances.
Lyles will presumably begin his Brewers tenure in relief, and his presence could help a Milwaukee club whose pitching depth has recently taken multiple hits in the form of serious injuries to Brent Suter and Zach Davies. Judging by the work he has done as a reliever this year, Lyles looks capable of serving as an asset for the Brewers, who own a 65-49 record and are 2 1/2 games up on a wild-card spot. In 24 1/3 frames out of the bullpen this season, Lyles has pitched to a 3.33 ERA/3.53 FIP with 8.14 K/9 and 2.96 BB/9, and limited opposing hitters to a .200/.276/.330 line.
Should the Lyles experiment go well for the Brewers this year, they’ll have a chance to keep him in 2019 on a $3.5MM club option (or they could buy him out for $250K). In the meantime, he’s on an ultra-affordable $750K salary this season.