Indians Designate Juan Uribe For Assignment
The Indians designated third baseman Juan Uribe for assignment, according to an announcement from the team. The move clears a roster spot for new acquisition Brandon Guyer, acquired in a trade with the Rays today. Uribe, 37, posted a .206/.259/.332 line in 259 plate appearances for the Indians this year, tallying over 500 innings at the hot corner. The team had signed the beloved veteran to a $4MM free agent deal in February.
Indians Acquire Brandon Guyer
The Indians announced today that they’ve acquired outfielder Brandon Guyer from the Rays. Minor league outfielder Nathan Lukes is going to Tampa Bay, as is minor legaue right-hander Jhonleider Salinas.
Guyer, 30, will give the Rays a massive upgrade against left-handed pitching, as he’s crushed southpaws at a .344/.488/.594 clip in 82 plate appearances this season and has a career .283/.384/.464 slash when holding the platoon advantage. He can also provide manager Terry Francona with quite a bit of defensive versatility, as he’s capable of handling all three outfield positions. Guyer is earning $1.185MM this season and is arbitration eligible two more times before reaching the open market upon completion of the 2018 season.
Neither of the two names heading back to Tampa Bay in this deal cracked the midseason version of the Indians’ Top 30 prospects at MLB.com. Lukes, 22, recently moved up to Class-A Advanced after hitting .301/.375/.453 with five homers and 14 steals in 393 plate appearances in the Class-A Midwest League. The 20-year-old Salinas, meanwhile, has logged 30 innings in the Arizona Rookie League and compiled a 3.30 ERA with a 38-to-14 K/BB ratio in 30 innings of work.
Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times first reported that Guyer had been traded (via Twitter) and that Salinas was in the deal. FanRag’s Jon Heyman reported that Guyer was going to Cleveland and Lukes was part of the package.
Dodgers Acquire Josh Reddick, Rich Hill
The Dodges and A’s have officially struck a deal that will deliver Josh Reddick and Rich Hill to Los Angeles. In return, per reports, Oakland will pick up an appealing trio of young righties: Frankie Montas, Grant Holmes, and Jharel Cotton.
With the move, the Dodgers have filled two evident needs even as they seek to overtake the Giants in a tightly-contested NL West. With Andre Ethier a question mark and Clayton Kershaw still facing his own uncertainties, now was the time to strike. The move may also help free the team to deal away talented but struggling outfielder Yasiel Puig, who has increasingly seen his name churn through the rumor mill.
[Related: Updated Los Angeles Dodgers and Oakland Athletics Depth Charts]
Los Angeles chose to fill its desire for a left-handed-hitting corner outfielder and an added starter in a single stroke, and did it without paying for future years of control. Both Reddick and Hill are set to reach the open market after the season — which they’ll now do without any threat of a qualifying offer hanging over their heads. Neither is an expensive piece, but the Dodgers will presumably take over the rest of the contracts; Reddick is playing on a $6.575MM deal, while Hill’s free agent contract promises him $6MM for the season, leaving just over $4.3MM combined on the tab.
There’s an argument to be made that the Dodgers pulled in the two best pure rental pieces on the market. Reddick, 29, has improved upon already-strong results in the prior two seasons, running out a .296/.368/.449 slash over 272 plate appearances on the year. Though he doesn’t generally deliver huge counting stats, Reddick is usually good for double-digit home run and (occasionally) steal tallies, and is playing at that kind of pace again this year.
Reddick did miss time earlier in the year with a broken thumb, though that was suffered on a hit-by-pitch and he seems fully recovered. It should be noted that, while Reddick comes with a solid pedigree with the glove, defensive metrics aren’t as enamored of his work in right as they once were.
As for Hill, the injury concerns are slightly more present. He recovered from a groin strain, but is currently on the disabled list after a finger blister failed to recover as hoped. It is believed to be a minor issue, but Hill isn’t immediately available for the Dodgers — which possibly leaves added space for the team to chase another arm.
There were indications late yesterday that the A’s could be looking into a late-breaking extension with Hill to avoid trading him at a reduced rate. Instead, the team managed to create a package arrangement to maximize his value. In addition to the minor injury questions at present, Hill has dealt with durability issues in the past. And most notably, he hadn’t been a useful pitcher for quite some time before his sudden breakout at the tail end of 2015 with the Red Sox.
Oakland clearly made out well on the calculated gamble to sign Hill over the winter. Over his 76 frames on the year, he carries a 2.25 ERA with 10.7 K/9 and 3.3 BB/9 to go with a 50% groundball rate. Hill has allowed just 55 hits and two home runs in that span. He has obviously been quite difficult to square up despite relying most heavily on just two pitches — a four-seam fastball and curve, with a slider and change also mixed in.
That duo didn’t come cheaply, of course. Montas, Holmes, and Cotton have all been considered quality young hurlers for quite some time. While it’s not entirely clear that any or all will stick as starters in the majors, they possess quality arms and gobs of control that should serve Oakland for many years to come.
As things stand at present, Holmes probably rates at the top of the group at present. A first-round pick from the 2014 draft, Holmes has shown some swing and miss stuff and currently owns a 4.02 ERA with 8.5 K/9 vs. 3.7 BB/9 over 105 1/3 frames at the High-A level. He sits within the recent mid-season top-100 prospect rankings of Baseball America (#60) and MLB.com (#82).
Montas may well be rated even higher — BA has him at 82nd — but he has been limited by a rib problem for much of the season. He came over in the three-team Todd Frazier deal over the winter after briefly reaching the majors last year, and was impressive in his 16 frames on the year, but remains a bit of an injury question.
As for Cotton, it had seemed he was knocking on the door after streaking up the ranks of the Dodgers’ farm last year. But he has put up only a 4.90 ERA in his first full run at Triple-A. Still, he has racked up 11.0 K/9 against 3.0 BB/9 while allowing only 80 hits. Trouble is, 17 of those have gone for homers in the hitter-friendly PCL, but there’s good reason to believe that Cotton will be a major league contributor.
Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reported the swap via Twitter. Rosenthal (Twitter links) and Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports (in a tweet) detailed the prospect package.
Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Marlins Trade Colin Rea Back To Padres Following Elbow Injury
12:57pm: The Marlins announced that Rea has indeed been traded back to San Diego in exchange for Castillo. In essence, then, last Friday’s swap boils down to Miami acquiring Cashner and Guerrero in exchange for Cosart, Naylor and Capps.
12:52pm: The Marlins will be getting Castillo back from the Padres, tweets Rosenthal.
12:49pm: In a fairly stunning bit of news, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reports that the Marlins will send right-hander Colin Rea back to the Padres (links to Twitter). Rea left his Marlins debut with an elbow injury and was quickly placed on the 15-day disabled list with an elbow sprain. Yahoo’s Jeff Passan tweets that the Marlins were “absolutely livid” and felt as though they were traded damaged goods by the Padres. Rosenthal notes that the exact structuring of the deal isn’t exactly clear, but the Padres will effectively trade Rea back to San Diego in a separate deal and keep Andrew Cashner, who came to Miami along with Rea in Friday’s seven-player trade.
Rea fired off 3 1/3 shutout innings in his Marlins debut, allowing just a lone hit and no walks with four strikeouts before departing with the aforementioned elbow injury. It’s not clear precisely how Miami will be compensated in this instance, as the swap is virtually unprecedented in nature. The Marlins sent first base prospect Josh Naylor, hard-throwing Class-A righty Luis Castillo, injured reliever Carter Capps and right-hander Jarred Cosart to the Padres in that deal in exchange for Rea, Cashner and right-hander Tayron Guerrero.
Red Sox Acquire Fernando Abad
The Red Sox have struck a deal with the Twins to acquire left-handed reliever Fernando Abad in exchange for hard-throwing right-handed relief prospect Pat Light, the teams announced.
[Related: Updated Boston Red Sox Depth Chart]
Abad, 30, joined the Twins on a minor league deal this offseason and has performed quite well with Minnesota, pitching to a 2.65 ERA with 7.7 K/9, 3.7 BB/9 and a 45.2 percent ground-ball rate in 34 innings of work. He’s admitted to having been bothered by a minor back issue in early July/late June, but the medicals clearly checked out in this case. That’s perhaps not surprising, as Abad never landed on the disabled list and has been used frequently by the Twins as of late, suggesting that any such troubles are behind him.
Left-handers are batting a woeful .163/.192/.265 against Abad this season, so he’ll provide manager John Farrell with a legitimate weapon against lefty bats in late-game settings. And, while he’s been markedly worse against righties, Abad has held his own against opponents that hold the platoon advantage, limiting them to a .257/.360/.351 batting line. While the OBP is a concern there, he hasn’t allowed right-handed hitters to generate much power against him. Abad is earning $1.25MM this season and is under club control through the 2017 campaign via arbitration, so he represents more than just a rental pickup for president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski, who has now bolstered his roster with summer pickups of Aaron Hill, Drew Pomeranz, Brad Ziegler and Abad.
Light, 25, was the 37th overall pick in the 2012 draft and made his big league debut with Boston this season, tossing just 2 2/3 innings in a pair of relief appearances. Light was rocked for seven earned runs in that time but is a fairly well-regarded prospect within the Red Sox ranks, rating 10th on Baseball America’s midseason rankings and 14th on MLB.com’s same version of that list. Light’s fastball reaches triple digits on occasion and sits in the 94-98 mph range, per MLB.com’s report, and BA calls his fastball a “special” pitch. His control remains a work in progress, but MLB.com notes that the addition of an above-average splitter has helped his results take off in the minors. Light has a 2.32 ERA with 36 strikeouts in 31 innings at Triple-A this season but has also walked 17 hitters (one unintentional) in that time.
Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports first reported that the Red Sox were getting Abad. (Twitter link). Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer Press reported that the Twins were receiving Light in return (via Twitter).
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Minor MLB Transactions: 8/1/16
Let’s catch up on a few recent minor moves:
- Kyle Lohse is back on the free agent market after refusing an outright assignment with the Rangers, per a team announcement. Lohse, 37, did not look good in his two outings for Texas, and was also struggling at Triple-A — albeit not nearly to the same extent — before his promotion. He nevertheless remains a plausible depth addition for teams needing innings over the next few months.
- Recently claimed and then designated infielder Matt Duffy has been outrighted to Triple-A by the Rangers, the club also announced. The 27-year-old has had a rough year at the Triple-A level, posting a cumulative .222/.299/.344 slash over 301 plate appearances with the Rangers’ and Astros’ top affiliates.
- The Marlins released veteran righty Jeremy Guthrie in the wake of its pitching overhaul, as the club’s Triple-A broadcaster, Tim Grubbs, reports in a tweet. Now 37 years of age, Guthrie has long provided plenty of innings to teams in need of them, but hasn’t seen the majors since he was cut loose by the Royals last year. He had caught on with Miami after opting out of his minor league deal with the Padres.
- Utilityman Don Kelly has been outrighted by the Marlins, per a club announcement. The 36-year-old didn’t hit much in a limited sample in the majors this year, and owns only a .223/.288/.273 slash in his 153 Triple-A plate appearances on the season.
- Joining the Tigers on a minor league deal is veteran lefty Cesar Ramos, the club announced. Ramos was just released by the Rangers. The 32-year-old put up a nice 2.75 ERA in 52 1/3 relief innings last year, but was touched for 32 earned runs in his 47 2/3 frames this season with Texas, posting 5.1 K/9 against 3.8 BB/9 in four starts and a dozen relief appearances.
- The Blue Jays recently released catcher Tony Sanchez, as Sportsnet.ca duo Ben Nicholson-Smith and Shi Davidi report. He lost his spot at the Triple-A level when the club signed Erik Kratz. Once considered a quality prospect with the Pirates, Sanchez has scuffled to a .201/.292/.309 batting line this year in 168 trips to the plate at Triple-A.
- Meanwhile, the Blue Jays announced that outfielder Junior Lake has been outrighted to Triple-A. Lake has seen action in each of the last four major league campaigns, putting up a .236/.279/.377 overall batting line in 702 plate appearances. He was producing right at that rate during his limited time in Toronto.
Orioles Acquire Wade Miley
After weeks of searching for an additional arm for their rotation — specifically a left-handed one — the Orioles have landed the southpaw they sought by acquiring Wade Miley from the Mariners. Minor league left-hander Ariel Miranda will head back to Seattle in exchange. Both teams have announced the trade.
[Related: Updated Baltimore Orioles and Seattle Mariners Depth Charts]
Miley gives Baltimore a desperately needed arm that can help to stabilize what has been an extremely top-heavy rotation. While Miley struggled quite a bit earlier this season, he’s righted the ship to an extent as of late, pitching to a 3.80 ERA with a 33-to-15 K/BB ratio across his past 47 1/3 innings of work (eight starts). His most recent outing was his most impressive with the Mariners, holding a potent Cubs lineup to a run on hit and a walk with nine strikeouts in seven innings.
Overall, Miley is sporting an unsightly 4.98 ERA in 112 innings, though that figure is accompanied by more palatable marks: 6.6 K/9, 2.7 BB/9 and a 46.6 percent ground-ball rate. While the earned run average isn’t impressive, even that modest production represents an upgrade over the contributions that Baltimore has received from the third, fourth and fifth spots in its rotation. Beyond Chris Tillman and Kevin Gausman, the Orioles have seen right-handers Ubaldo Jimenez, Yovani Gallardo, Mike Wright, Tyler Wilson, Vance Worley and Dylan Bundy combine for a 5.93 ERA in 323 1/3 innings of work. As such, Miley only needs to provide a steady source of reliable innings to help stabilize the Orioles’ starting staff. And, Miley’s recent uptick in production could be an indicator that he could return to the form that saw him compile a lifetime 3.95 ERA in 832 1/3 innings prior to the 2016 campaign. He’ll also give manager Buck Showalter a left-handed option in his rotation — something that Baltimore has lacked all season.
The Orioles have been on the hunt for a rotation upgrade for more than a month, though they’ve been somewhat hamstrung in their efforts to add an arm due to the fact that their farm system is lacking in top-tier prospects. Miley, though, doesn’t figure to command an overwhelming return given his 2016 struggles and the fact that he’s owed a not-insignificant $8.75MM in 2017 plus at least a $500K buyout of a $12MM option for the 2018 season. Adding in the remaining $2.13MM on his 2016 salary, Miley is owed at least $11.38MM through the end of the 2017 campaign, though Baltimore could control him through 2018 for a total of $22.88MM if he is able to continue his recent success and prove worth of that $12MM option over the next 14 months.
The O’s signed Miranda, 27, to a minor league contract last May after he defected from Cuba. He’s on the 40-man roster by virtue of having his contract selected and making his big league debut earlier this year (he allowed three runs in a two-inning relief appearance) and has had fair success in the minors since signing with Baltimore. Miranda has a career 3.80 ERA across four minor league levels and has pitched to a 3.93 mark with 7.8 K/9, 2.8 BB/9 and a 38.6 percent ground-ball rate in 100 2/3 innings (19 starts) out of the rotation in Norfolk.
Miranda will add some depth to the upper levels of the Mariners’ system and could even present them with an immediate rotation replacement for Miley or an option in the big league bullpen. The subtraction of Miley from the 2016-17 roster creates more of an opening for the Mariners to insert both Taijuan Walker and James Paxton into the rotation, health permitting. (Walker is currently on the disabled list with a foot injury.)
Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports first reported that the two teams reached an agreement on a Miley deal, pending physicals (Twitter link). Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports added that Miranda would go to Seattle (Twitter link). Joel Sherman of the New York Post reported that the deal was official following the medical reviews (via Twitter).
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Indians Designate Joey Butler For Assignment
The Indians announced today that they have designated outfielder Joey Butler for assignment to clear a spot on the 40-man roster for Andrew Miller.
The 30-year-old Butler has a bit of MLB experience but hasn’t played in the Majors with the Indians this season, instead spending the 2016 campaign at Triple-A Columbus, where he’s slashed a disappointing .238/.306/.360 with eight homers in 381 trips to the plate. Butler spent the 2015 season with the Rays organization and hit .276/.326/.416 with eight homers in 276 PAs. This season’s poor results notwithstanding, Butler has a nice track record in Triple-A over the course of his professional career. In 2187 PAs at that level, Butler is a .294/.383/.459 hitter.
Yankees Acquire Tyler Clippard
10:50am: The Diamondbacks have announced the trade — a one-for-one swap of Clippard and Campos.
10:19am: The D-backs are receiving right-hander Vicente Campos from the Yankees in the trade, reports MLB.com’s Steve Gilbert (via Twitter).
9:29am: The Yankees have reached a deal to acquire right-hander Tyler Clippard from the D-backs, reports FanRag’s Jon Heyman (Twitter link). The Clippard acquisition signals that in spite of this morning’s stunning trade of Andrew Miller to Cleveland, the Yankees aren’t waving a white flag on the 2016 season just yet. Joel Sherman of the New York Post was first to report that the Yankees were looking for veteran bullpen help even after moving Miller (Twitter link).
[Related: Updated Arizona Diamondbacks and New York Yankees Depth Charts]
Clippard, 31, is in his first season with the D-backs after signing a two-year, $12.25MM contract, so the Yankees will control him for this season and next. He’s pitched to a 4.30 ERA this season, averaging 11.0 K/9 against 3.6 BB/9 in 37 2/3 innings with Arizona. Clippard is an extreme fly-ball pitcher (though he did reduce his fly-ball rate to a career-low 45.9 percent in 2016), which unsurprisingly didn’t mesh well with Arizona’s homer-happy stadium. The seven homers already allowed by Clippard in 2016 are just four shy of his career-high 11, and and his 1.7 HR/9 and 17.1 percent homer-to-flyball ratio are both the highest of his career. In that sense, shifting to Yankee Stadium and its short right-field porch might continue to cause problems for Clippard.
However, Clippard has a long track record of success, having pitched to a 2.68 ERA with 10.1 K/9 and 3.5 BB/9 in 524 1/3 innings from 2009-15. There were some red flags in his 2015 campaign — namely his K/BB ratios going in the wrong direction and his velocity dipping — but Clippard’s track record made him appealing to a number of clubs this winter and likely to the Yankees in this instance. It presumably helped that the Yankee front office is already familiar with Clippard, having originally drafted him back in 2003 before trading him to the Nationals several years later.
In Campos, the D-backs will receive a 24-year-old righty that reached Triple-A for the first time this season and is in the midst of a strong overall year. Campos, originally acquired by the Yankees in the Michael Pineda/Jesus Montero swap, has a 3.20 ERA with 7.8 K/9 against 2.8 BB/9 in 121 innings across three levels this season. MLB.com ranked him 14th among Yankees farmhands on their midseason update of the team’s farm system, noting that he has three potentially above-average offerings but also serious concerns about his durability. The 121 innings Campos has thrown already represent a career-high, and it’s possible that he could head to the bullpen eventually if he cannot prove capable of handling a full workload in the rotation. He has mid-rotation upside but could end up as a power arm in the bullpen when all is said and done.
Cardinals Acquire Zach Duke
The Cardinals announced that they have acquired left-handed reliever Zach Duke from the White Sox in exchange for minor league outfielder Charlie Tilson.
[Related: Updated Chicago White Sox and St. Louis Cardinals Depth Charts]
Duke, 33, is pitching well in the second season of a three-year, $15MM contract signed with the White Sox prior to the 2015 campaign. He currently leads the American League with 53 relief appearances, though he’s clearly been deployed in a largely specialized role, as he’s totaled just 37 2/3 innings in those 53 contests. Duke has posted a 2.63 ERA with 10.0 K/9 against 3.8 BB/9 and a 58.8 percent ground-ball rate. While Duke has been used in left-on-left matchups with great frequency, he’s held right-handed opponents in check this season (albeit with the help of a .238 BABIP). He’ll give the Cardinals some needed bullpen depth and join Tyler Lyons and Kevin Siegrist as a third left-handed option for manager Mike Matheny.
Duke is earning $5MM this season — of which about $1.78MM remains — and is owed $5.5MM for the 2017 season as well. Cardinals fans may recall Duke from his days with the Pirates, but he reinvented himself as a reliever with the Brewers in 2014 and parlayed a brilliant season with Milwaukee into his current contract. Since that 2014 breakout, Duke has a 2.87 ERA with 10.4 K/9, 3.7 BB/9 and a 57.2 percent ground-ball rate.
Tilson, meanwhile, ranked 10th among Cardinals prospects on Baseball America’s midseason update of the organization’s top prospects and 12th on MLB.com’s version of the Cards’ top 30. BA writes that he has some of the best speed in the organization and strong contact skills but bottom-of-the-scale power. MLB.com agrees, noting that he’s selective at the plate, can bunt for hits and is capable of hitting to all fields but lacks pop. Tilson has the speed and range to play center field, and both reports indicate that he can be at least a fourth outfielder in the Majors, if not an everyday player whose game is geared toward speed, contact and defense.