Indians Acquire Joe Smith
The Indians have acquired right-hander Joe Smith from the Blue Jays, The side-arming reliever, a free agent at season’s end, will return to Cleveland for his second stint with the Indians. Minor league lefty Thomas Pannone and shortstop Samad Taylor are going to the Jays to complete the deal. Righty Perci Garner has been designated for assignment by the Tribe to make roster space for Smith.
The 33-year-old Smith enjoyed five excellent seasons in Cleveland, pitching to a 2.76 ERA in 271 innings there from 2009-13. Since that time, he’s produced quality results in both Anaheim and in Toronto, although his 2017 campaign has been slowed by a roughly month-long stay on the disabled list due to inflammation in his right shoulder.
That said, Smith has been outstanding, when healthy, thus far in 2017. Through 35 2/3 innings, he’s averaged 12.9 K/9 against 2.5 BB/9 with a 43.2 percent ground-ball rate. The resulting 3.28 ERA looks solid in its own right but is buoyed by even more impressive FIP (2.31), xFIP (2.46) and SIERA (2.42) marks — suggesting that there’s yet room for improvement down the stretch.
Smith is earning a modest $3MM in 2017, and he’s owed the balance of that figure — roughly $1.03MM — through the end of the year. In the interim, he’ll slot into a formidable Indians relief corps that is anchored by Andrew Miller and Cody Allen but also features a number of strong right-handed options, including Zach McAllister, Nick Goody, Dan Otero and Bryan Shaw.
MLB Network’s Ken Rosenthal (on Twitter) reported the trade. Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer tweeted the return after Tim Brown of Yahoo Sports reports (on Twitter) that it involved two lower-level minor leaguers.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Orioles Acquire Tim Beckham
The Rays and Orioles slipped a small-scale, last-minute move in just prior to Monday’s non-waiver trade deadline, with infielder Tim Beckham heading from Tampa to Baltimore in exchange for minor league right-hander Tobias Myers. Both teams have announced the deal.
Beckham, 27, was the first overall pick of the 2008 draft but has yet to live up to that billing. He has, however, provided nearly league-average offense in a somewhat limited role with the Rays over the past three seasons, hitting a combined .245/.299/.421 with 26 homers in 783 plate appearances (96 OPS+).
After narrowly qualifying as a Super Two player this past offseason, Beckham agreed to a one-year deal worth $885K with the Rays to avoid arbitration for the first time. The O’s will now control him for another three seasons via that arbitration process, should they see fit.
[Related: Updated Tampa Bay Rays and Baltimore Orioles depth charts]
With J.J. Hardy on the shelf and a lack of quality internal options to replace him, Beckham will likely step into semi-regular playing time at shortstop with Baltimore — an opportunity that was not present for him with the Rays. Barring a huge surge in production over the season’s final two months, it doesn’t seem likely that he’ll be a consideration for the regular job next season, but Beckham does have experience at multiple infield positions and could be a utility piece for the O’s moving forward.
Myers, who turns 19 later this week, was the Orioles’ sixth-round pick just last year. He’s currently pitching against older competition in short-season Class-A and holding his own, with a 3.94 ERA and an excellent 35-to-6 K/BB ratio through 29 2/3 innings.
Tampa Bay’s acquisition of Lucas Duda pushed Brad Miller to shortstop, leaving Duda and Logan Morrison to share time at first base and DH. With midseason pickups Trevor Plouffe and Adeiny Hechavarrria both also in the mix for the Rays, Beckham’s path to playing time was cloudier than ever, which likely accelerated the Rays’ efforts to facilitate a move. While Myers won’t slot in near the team’s top-ranked prospects, he gives the Rays a fairly low-level lottery ticket with encouraging K/BB numbers — a reasonable return for a player likely viewed to have a limited ceiling at this point.
Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reported the agreement and the Rays’ return (Twitter links).
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Astros Acquire Francisco Liriano For Nori Aoki, Teoscar Hernandez
The Astros have added lefty Francisco Liriano from the Blue Jays in exchange for veteran outfielder Nori Aoki and younger outfielder Teoscar Hernandez.
Houston is said to view Liriano as a reliever for the remainder of the season. While the 33-year-old Liriano has had a poor season in the Toronto rotation, he’s maintained his velocity and his effectiveness against left-handed opponents. That’s led to plenty of speculation, both here and elsewhere, that the veteran southpaw could emerge as a possible bullpen option for teams unwilling to meet the asking prices on the market’s top relievers.
[Related: Updated Toronto Blue Jays and Houston Astros depth charts]
Through 63 plate appearances this season, left-handed opponents are batting just .230/.254/.361 against Liriano. The lefty has a 17-to-1 K/BB ratio in those matchups and has averaged nearly 93 mph on his fastball this season. One would imagine that in moving to a short relief role, that velocity could tick upward a couple of notches.
Liriano is a free agent at season’s end and is earning $13MM in the final campaign of a three-year, $39MM contract. He’s still owed about $4.48MM of that sum.
Aoki, 35, is earning $5.5MM in 2017 and is owed $1.89MM of that sum through the end of the year. It’s not clear if there’s additional cash in the deal, but as it stands, the Jays will be saving about $2.59MM this this swap. Considering Houston is sending a minor leaguer as well, though, it wouldn’t at all be a surprise for Toronto to pick up some of all of the remaining tab on Liriano.
Aoki has batted .272/.323/.371 through 224 plate appearances this season. While he’s under club control through the 2018 campaign via arbitration, his age and lack of offensive output make him a non-tender candidate after the season, as he’d likely be in line for a raise that would send his salary north of $6MM.
The 24-year-old Hernandez ranked ninth among Houston farmhands on MLB.com’s midseason top 30 list and is a more or less MLB-ready commodity. He’s hitting .279/.369/.485 with a dozen homers and a dozen steals through 347 Triple-A plate appearances this year.
Hernandez hasn’t exactly thrived in a small sample of 113 MLB plate appearances, but he’s held his own with a .230/.304/.420 slash. The Astros likely deemed Hernandez somewhat superfluous, however, with George Springer, Josh Reddick and Derek Fisher all in the Majors, to say nothing of top prospect Kyle Tucker lurking in the upper minors.
MLB Network’s Ken Rosenthal reported that the two sides were in talks (via Twitter). USA Today’s Bob Nightengale said the two sides were close to a deal (on Twitter). Shi Davidi of Sportsnet reported the agreement (on Twitter). Brian McTaggart of MLB.com reported that Aoki and a minor leaguer were going to Houston (Twitter link). Sportsnet’s Shi Davidi (on Twitter) had Hernandez’s inclusion.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Diamondbacks Acquire David Hernandez
The D-backs and Angels have struck a trade that sends righty David Hernandez from Anaheim back to the familiar environs of Arizona. Young right-hander Luis Madero is going to the Angels in the deal.
After struggling to find a job this spring, Hernandez has quietly turned in an excellent 2.23 ERA with 9.2 K/9, 2.0 BB/9 and a 47.3 percent ground-ball rate through 36 1/3 innings of work. He’s a free agent at season’s end and is earning an $850K base salary in 2017, so he’s owed an affordable $293K the rest of the way.
Hernandez will deepen the Arizona pen as the club looks to solidify its hold on a Wild Card spot down the stretch. He has provided the team with plenty of good innings in the past, pitching to a 3.54 ERA over 233 2/3 innings from 2011 through 2015.
The 20-year-old Madero has struggled through 49 1/3 innings between Rookie ball and Class-A this season, limping to a 5.69 ERA while working as a starter. He has been hit especially hard since moving up a level. That said, the peripherals look much more promising for the young Venezuelan. He currently carries 8.3 K/9, 2.0 BB/9 and a 47.8 percent ground-ball rate on the year.
ESPN’s Buster Olney reported the trade on Twitter, with MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand tweeting the return.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Brewers Acquire Jeremy Jeffress
The Brewers have struck a deal to acquire righty Jeremy Jeffress from the Rangers, as ESPN.com’s Jerry Crasnick first reported (via Twitter). The move reverses the reliever’s move this time last year, when he headed to Texas from Milwaukee along with Jonathan Lucroy. The New York Post’s Joel Sherman tweets that the Rangers will receive righty Tayler Scott in return.
The 29-year-old Jeffress returns to the organization that drafted him in the first round in 2006, and for whom he played in 2010 and 2014-16. (He saved 27 games for the Brewers last season, although he doesn’t seem likely to now supplant Corey Knebel as the Brewers’ closer this year.) Jeffress hasn’t been the pitcher this season that he was in that second Brewers stint, however — in 40 2/3 innings with Texas this year, he’s posted a 5.31 ERA, 6.4 K/9 and an ugly 4.2 BB/9. He has, however, maintained mid-90s velocity, and the Brewers likely hope he returns to some version of his prior self as he gets a change of scenery. If he does, they can control him for two more years after this one through the arbitration process.
Scott, 25, had a 2.34 ERA with a strong 9.2 K/9 but a too-high 5.1 BB/9 in 61 2/3 innings of relief this season at Double-A Biloxi. He was a fifth-round pick of the Cubs in 2011, but Chicago released him last year, then signed a minor-league deal with the Brewers after a brief stint in independent ball. He did not rank in MLB.com’s list of the Brewers’ top 30 prospects.
Dodgers Acquire Tony Cingrani
The Dodgers have added another lefty, picking up Tony Cingrani from the Reds. In return, Cincinnati has acquired outfielder Scott Van Slyke and catcher Hendrik Clementina.
Cingrani joins Tony Watson as southpaw bullpen additions for Los Angeles, which came into the deadline looking to bolster that facet of the relief corps. The 28-year-old Cingrani has posted a mediocre 5.40 ERA on the year, but he’s carrying 9.3 K/9 with 2.3 BB/9 to go with it. The real issue thus far has been a monumental home run problem: Cingrani is allowing 3.47 per nine, with 29% of the fly balls he permits leaving the yard.
Oddly, Cingrani has struggled badly against same-handed hitters, allowing six long balls from just 43 lefties he has squared off against. That figures to balance back out somewhat, though, as he has limited lefty hitters to a .218/.305/.407 slash over his career (including this year’s ugly results).
Assuming those issues can be brought under control, Cingrani will add a power arm to the L.A. pen. He carries a 12.4% swinging-strike rate and is averaging a healthy 94.6 mph with his fastball. Cingrani represents an affordable option with some future value, too. He is earning just $1.825MM this year and can be offered arbitration over the next two seasons.
Van Slyke, 31, is another powerful corner outfield option that the Reds have added from the NL West. It’s not immediately clear whether he’ll have much function on the roster, though, and he’ll mostly offset Cingrani’s remaining salary obligations. The real motivation for Cincinnati was surely to add the twenty-year-old Clementina. He’s a Curacaoan backstop who has turned it up at the plate this year in Rookie ball, slashing .370/.439/.554 in a limited 108 plate appearance sample.
Zach Buchanan of the Cincinnati Enquirer reported that Cingrani was on the move (via Twitter). Ken Rosenthal of MLB Network (Twitter link) connected him to the Dodgers, while Joel Sherman of the New York Post tweeted the return.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Diamondbacks Acquire Adam Rosales
The Athletics announced that they have traded veteran infielder Adam Rosales to the Diamondbacks in exchange for minor league right-hander Jeferson Mejia. The minor move coincides with the D’Backs placing shortstop Chris Owings on the 60-day DL due to yesterday’s fractured finger, according to Nick Piecoro of AZ Central.
Rosales, who has played for the A’s in parts of five seasons, was a candidate to be designated for assignment as Chad Pinder approaches his return from a hamstring injury, according to Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle. The 34-year-old Rosales is hitting .234/.273/.346 in 223 plate appearances for the A’s this year, appearing mainly at shortstop. Arizona’s acquisition was likely influenced by a tragedy, as shortstop Ketel Marte left the team after the loss of his mother in a car accident.
Mejia, a 22-year-old reliever who was recently demoted to short-season ball, has struggled with his control and posted a 5.90 ERA in 21 relief appearances this year. The D’Backs acquired him from the Cubs in 2014 as part of the Miguel Montero deal.
Orioles Acquire Yefry Ramirez From Yankees For International Bonus Money
The Orioles announced that they’ve acquired Double-A right-hander Yefry Ramirez from the Yankees in exchange for international bonus pool money. Ramirez’s departure opens a move on the Yankees’ 40-man roster.
Ramirez, 23, has worked as a starter with the Yankees’ Trenton affiliate this season, pitching to a 3.41 ERA with 8.9 K/9, 3.7 BB/9 and a 36.4 percent ground-ball rate. Baseball America rated him 23rd among Yankees prospects this past offseason, though he didn’t crack MLB.com’s midseason list of the top 30 Yankees prospects. Per BA’s report, he works with a low-90s fastball and a changeup and curve that both grade out as average pitches.
The Orioles have made a habit of trading their international bonus allocations rather than spending them to sign amateur free agents in recent years, so this swap represents a continuation of that tendency. However, Ramirez’s solid results in Double-A, presence on the 40-man roster and proximity to the Majors seem to suggest more upside than some of the others that Baltimore has received in exchange for previous international considerations.
Astros, Jumbo Diaz Agree To Minors Deal
The Astros have agreed to a minor league deal with right-handed reliever Jumbo Diaz, tweets Jake Kaplan of the Houston Chronicle.
While the Astros are obviously on the hunt for more impactful names with the non-waiver deadline just under two hours away, the veteran Diaz will provide Houston with a depth option to stash in Triple-A, at the least.
Diaz, 33, struggled to a 5.70 ERA in 30 innings with Tampa Bay this season, averaging 8.4 K/9 against 4.5 BB/9 with a 30.7 percent ground-ball rate. While those numbers are hardly encouraging, he did average nearly 97 mph on his heater and does carry a career 4.02 ERA with 9.2 K/9 against 3.5 K/9 in 168 innings at the Major League level.
Jeremy Guthrie Announces Retirement
Veteran righty Jeremy Guthrie has announced his retirement from the game in a piece for the Player’s Tribune. The 38-year-old will hang up his spikes after parts of 13 years in the majors.
It’s hardly surprising to learn that Guthrie will formally end his career, as he had indicated back in May that he would not be pursuing another contract. But the sturdy righty waited until the trade deadline to make it official. This marks the first time that Guthrie has featured so prominently on deadline day itself, though he was twice traded — first in the offseason and later just in advance of the 2012 deadline.
It was that second swap that brought Guthrie to the Royals, where he enjoyed his second lengthy run with a single organization. During parts of four seasons in Kansas City, Guthrie compiled 653 2/3 innings of 4.38 ERA ball. He did much the same during his prior five-year stint with the Orioles, over which he maintained a 4.12 ERA in 983 1/3 frames.
Shorter terms with the Indians (where he started), the Rockies, and most recently the Nationals weren’t as fruitful, but all told it was a successful career for the former first-rounder out of Stanford. Guthrie averaged better than 200 frames annually from 2008 through 2014 and compiled 20.4 RA9-WAR over his career.
Beyond his steady contributions on the field, Guthrie has always been a positive and engaging figure in the game, and no doubt will continue to be in his future ventures. We at MLBTR wish him nothing but the best moving forward — and preemptively pardon him for upstaging today’s deadline news with his announcement.