Dodgers Designate Morse, Beachy, Heisey, Tsao For Assignment
The Dodgers announced that they’ve designated four players — Mike Morse, Brandon Beachy, Chris Heisey and Chin-hui Tsao — for assignment in order to clear 40-man roster spot for Alex Wood, Mat Latos, Luis Avilan, Jim Johnson and Jose Peraza. A fifth 40-man roster spot was freed up by placing Chris Hatcher on the 60-day DL. Peraza was optioned to Triple-A, and Bronson Arroyo, also acquired in today’s 13-player trade, was placed on the 60-day DL.
It’s rare — if not unprecedented — to see this large a roster departure in one fell swoop. But most of the pieces figure to have little problem clearing waivers. Morse’s sizable contract makes that an easy expectation, though Los Angeles could look to park him in the American League while saving some cash through a trade. Beachy, too, is owed enough ($2.75MM annual salary) that he’s likely to clear, though it’s unclear what Los Angeles will look to do with him. And the 34-year-old Tsao has struggled badly in his first action in the big leagues since 2007.
Heisey, though, could draw some interest. If nothing else, a team like the Brewers or Reds — both of whom could end up parting with multiple big league outfielders — might like the idea of plugging him into their outfield mix the rest of the way (and, possibly, for 2016). He is owed a fairly reasonable $2.16MM this year and can be controlled through arbitration next season — where he likely won’t command much of a raise after seeing scant time in the majors. The 30-year-old Heisey is capable of playing center and has a lifetime .246/.300/417 slash with a solid defensive reputation, making him a reasonably useful player.
Pirates Acquire Joakim Soria
The Pirates announced on Thursday that they have acquired Tigers closer Joakim Soria in exchange for shortstop JaCoby Jones.
The Pirates have been known to be interested in bullpen help since last week and swung a minor deal to add Joe Blanton to the mix last night, but Soria would represent a much higher-profile addition to the Pittsburgh ‘pen. A free agent at season’s end, the 31-year-old Soria is earning $7MM this season. He began the year as the Tigers’ primary setup option, but Joe Nathan blew out his arm in the early stages of the season, and Soria has seamlessly returned to a ninth-inning role with which he is quite familiar.
Soria has worked to a strong 2.85 ERA in 41 innings this season, although he’s also been uncharacteristically homer-prone, yielding what is already a career-high eight long balls on the season (1.76 HR/9). Home run rate can have quite a bit of randomness to it, so perhaps the Pirates are unconcerned (they’ve done well with other previously homer-prone arms such as A.J. Burnett and Mark Melancon). Both Soria’s walk rate (2.4 BB/9) and strikeout rate (7.9 K/9) are also down from an excellent 2014 season, but his bottom-line results remain strong.
It seems unlikely that Soria would supplant Melancon as the team’s closer, so the more likely scenario is that Soria will share setup duties with left-hander Tony Watson, who is enjoying a strong season in his own right. The Pirates have received strong production from their relief corps as a whole, although it’s been somewhat of a top-heavy unit, and a rental of Soria would deepen the group and help take some pressure off the rotation in the season’s final months.
Jones, a third-round pick from the 2013 draft, ranked as Pittsburgh’s No. 12 prospect on MLB.com’s midseason Top 30. Baseball America placed Jones 10th on their midseason Top 10 list for the Pirates.
Both Baseball America and MLB.com praise Jones’ combination of power and speed but note that he’s raw and a bit inexperienced at shortstop after playing mostly second base and center field at LSU. BA notes that he has a propensity to swing and miss, while MLB.com praises his aggressive style on the basepaths and pure athleticism.
Jones recently reached Double-A but has just three games at that level. He’s batting a combined .260/.319/.398 across two levels in the minors this season and is a .277/.336/.445 career hitter overall in his pro career.
Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review first connected the two sides (via Twitter), and MLive.com’s James Schmehl said a deal was getting close (also via Twitter). Jon Heyman of CBS Sports reported that the deal was done (Twitter link), and Biertempfel tweeted that Jones was headed to Detroit.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Yankees Acquire Dustin Ackley
The Mariners announced today that they have traded outfielder Dustin Ackley to the Yankees in exchange for outfield prospect Ramon Flores and right-hander Jose Ramirez.
Ackley, now 27 years old, came to the Mariners with a great deal of fanfare after being selected with the second overall pick in the 2009 draft. Selected one spot after Stephen Strasburg, Ackley was hailed as the best college bat in the draft on the strength of his play at UNC. Baseball America rated him as the No. 11 prospect prior to the 2010 season and No. 12 prior to the 2011 season, but Ackley’s excellent minor league play — .303/.401/.472 in 143 Triple-A games — never carried over to the Majors with any sort of consistency.
Ackley showed promise in his rookie season, hitting .273/.348/.417 in 90 games as a 23-year-old rookie in 2011, but since that time, he’s posted just a .236/.297/.356 line in 1844 big league plate appearances. He’s bounced around defensively but has settled in as mostly an outfielder in recent years. He does have quite a big of Major League experience at second base, with 2450 innings under his belt, but he has just 449 innings there since Opening Day 2013.
In exchange for Ackley, the Mariners will receive an outfielder that ranks 27th among New York prospects (Flores) and a right-handed reliever that has already cracked the Major Leagues (Ramirez). An earlier report indicated that the Yankees had initially offered Flores and minor league outfielder Ben Gamel, but the Mariners wanted more, so it stands to reason that Seattle considers Ramirez an upgrade over Gamel.
The 23-year-old Flores got a cup of coffee earlier this season but picked up just 33 plate appearances — far too small a sample from which to glean anything useful. He’s a career .268/.360/.429 hitter a the Triple-A level in parts of two seasons. MLB.com’s scouting report praises his hit tool and ability to spray line drives but also notes that he lacks the power to profile as a regular in the outfield. He has an average arm and can man all three outfield spots, giving him the ceiling of a fourth outfielder, per MLB.com.
Ramirez, 25, has thrown 13 innings with the Yankees over the past two seasons, striking out 10 but also issuing six walks. His average fastball hovers around 95 mph. Ramirez has shown the ability to miss bats in the minors — 100 strikeouts in 93 1/3 Triple-A innings — but he’s also issued 52 unintentional walks and hit seven batters in that time, so control is clearly an issue for him.
The YES Network’s Jack Curry reported that Ackley had been acquired by New York in exchange for Flores and Ramirez (All Twitter links). Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News had previously connected the Yankees to Ackley.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Red Sox Designate Daniel Nava
The Red Sox have designated outfielder/first baseman Daniel Nava for assignment, Alex Speier of the Boston Globe reports on Twitter. He lost as spot as the club moved to add bullpen depth to its active roster.
Nava, 32, put up strong results in fairly extensive playing time over each of the last three seasons, racking up 1,261 plate appearances with a .278/.364/.403 slash. But injuries and performance issues have kept him grounded in 2015. He’s put up a meager .152/.260/.182 line in only 78 turns at bat.
Despite the recent struggles, it wouldn’t be surprised to hear of another team with interest at giving Nava a bench spot. But his $1.85MM salary is a major obstacle, so it will take some effort for Boston to find him a new home. (Otherwise, he’ll likely clear waivers and remain under team control.)
Cardinals Designate Dan Johnson
The Cardinals have designated veteran first baseman Dan Johnson for assignment, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports on Twitter. The 35-year-old lost his roster spot to make way for the just-acquired Brandon Moss.
Johnson has seen only scattered big league action for most of his career, and has not taken more than 100 MLB plate appearances since 2010. All told, he’s slashed .234/.335/.405 over 1,625 plate appearances in his career. While waiting for his next chance at the big leagues, Johnson has swatted 250 total minor league home runs.
Blue Jays Acquire David Price For Three Prospects
The Blue Jays have officially agreed to acquire star lefty David Price from the Tigers, as Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com reported. Medicals have been reviewed and will pose no issues, Jerry Crasnick of ESPN.com tweets. No money is changing hands in the deal, Joel Sherman of the New York Post reports on Twitter, as Toronto will be responsible for the rest of Price’s $19.75MM annual tab.
The marquee piece coming in return is top Blue Jays prospect Daniel Norris, Heyman adds. The full haul also includes two other lefties, Jairo Labourt, and Matt Boyd, as Gideon Turk of BlueJaysPlus was first to note on Twitter.
It’s the second time in two years that Price has been featured as a marquee summer trade chip. This time, of course, he’s a pure rental with one function: driving his new team to and through the post-season this year. Toronto has seven games to make up in the division and is two back in the Wild Card chase, so it’s certainly a bold undertaking.
Price joins Troy Tulowitzki in Toronto after a pair of bold trade deadline moves for the Jays, who are set to field an array of the game’s top stars. If the trade for Tulowitzki wasn’t an all-in move, this one surely was. Both players have been among the very best in the game at their respective positions for the better part of the last decade, but remain young enough (29 and 30) to remain in their general prime.
Indeed, Price has pitched to a 2.53 ERA with 8.5 K/9 and 1.8 BB/9 over 146 innings on the year. That puts him on pace for a 200+ inning campaign with excellent results, Since his first full season in the big leagues, in 2010, Price has rated third in the majors among all starters in terms of fWAR, fourth in innings (1,224), and tenth in ERA (3.01) among qualifying starters. He has struck out 8.6 and walked 2.2 batters per nine innings in that span.
For the big lefty, the move means he’ll have a chance to hit the open market after the year without a qualifying offer dragging him down. Of course, that probably means more for the many clubs that are likely to chase him than it does for Price’s already-excellent earning power.
Toronto obviously had to part with significant assets to land Price. Norris just took the 18th spot on Baseball America’s mid-season round-up of the game’s best prospects. He’s a 22-year-old with loud stuff but sometimes-shaky control, as evidenced by his seventeen walks in thirty big league innings. But he’s got plenty of upside, obviously, particularly if he can harness his offerings. Over 90 2/3 frames at Triple-A this year, Norris owns a 4.27 ERA with 7.7 K/9 against 4.1 BB/9. But he was much better last year, putting up double-digit K/9 numbers and allowing only 3.1 walks per nine en route to a 2.53 earned run mark in 124 1/3 minor league innings.
Labourt, 21, is working at the High-A level and ranks 19th on MLB.com’s latest ranking of his now-former club’s prospects. The large-bodied sinkerballer could become a “future workhorse,” says MLB.com, though he’s scuffled somewhat this year. Over 80 1/3 innings, Labourt owns a 4.59 ERA with 7.8 K/9 against 4.9 BB/9.
The 24-year-old Boyd has spent most of the year in the high minors after a brief (and rough) two-start stint in the majors. He earned the 11th spot on MLB.com’s Toronto board. He doesn’t have a huge arm, but excels with feel, command, and deception.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Cardinals Acquire Brandon Moss
The Cardinals have announced the acquisition of first baseman/outfielder Brandon Moss from the Indians in exchange for left-handed pitching prospect Rob Kaminsky.
With the acquisition of Moss, the Cardinals will add a powerful left-handed bat to their lineup that will replace the injured Matt Adams, who is likely to miss the remainder of the season due to a torn quadriceps muscle. In Adams’ absence, Mark Reynolds has been seeing the lion’s share of playing time at first base, though one would imagine that Moss will now inherit those duties.
The Cardinals are also facing a potential loss of Matt Holliday, who last night injured the same quadriceps muscle that he tore earlier this season. There’s no definitive word on the severity of the injury just yet — he underwent an MRI last night — but an extended absence would be a blow to the Cardinals’ offense that could be partially offset by the addition of Moss. Should Holliday miss a prolonged stretch, Moss is capable of handling the corner outfield, but the Cardinals already have top prospect Stephen Piscotty on the big league roster, and he could slide into left field in that scenario.
Moss was acquired by Cleveland this past offseason in a one-for-one swap that sent second base prospect Joey Wendle to the Athletics. The lefty slugger, who averaged 25 homers per season from 2012-14 in Oakland, has again displayed power in his lone season with Cleveland (15 homers, .190 ISO). However, his walk and strikeout rates have trended in the wrong direction, leaving him with a sub-par .217/.288/.407 batting line on the season. That production is a far cry from the .254/.340/.504 output he showed in his three full seasons with Oakland, though it’s worth wondering if he’s still feeling any lingering effects from offseason hip surgery.
The 31-year-old Moss has typically struggled versus left-handed pitching, and while that should remain the expectation moving forward, the opposite has held true in 2015. Moss is hitting .265/.336/.453 in 131 plate appearances against same-handed pitchers but has just a .191/.262/.382 batting line against righties. Much of the struggles against righties is due to a .221 BABIP when holding the platoon advantage, so one would expect that his production may very well rise with some better fortune. He is, after all, still hitting line drives at a 20.5 percent clip and has actually lowered his infield fly rate.
Moss is earning $6.55MM in 2015 and is controllable through the 2016 season — the Cards will have to sort out the roster when he and Adams are both healthy — but it does seem as though St. Louis paid a steep price in this swap.
The 20-year-old Kaminsky was one of two Cardinals first-round picks in 2013 (Marco Gonzales was the other) and currently ranked as their No. 4 prospect on Baseball America’s midseason update of the team’s top prospects. MLB.com was even more bullish on their own midseason update, ranking him third in the Cardinals’ organization and 88th in all of baseball.
Kaminsky has spent the season pitching at the Class-A Advanced level, where he has a 2.09 ERA with 7.5 K/9 against 2.7 BB/9. In their scouting report, Jonathan Mayo and Jim Callis of MLB.com write that Kaminsky’s fastball sits in the 89-92 mph range and can touch 95 mph when he needs it, adding that he has the best curveball in the team’s minor league system. His changeup gives him a third pitch that can be solid-average or better. Fangraphs’ Kiley McDaniel would seem to agree, as he pegs Kaminsky’s curveball as a potential 60-grade pitch (on the 20-80 scale), with his fastball, changeup and command all coming in at 50 (average) or better.
St. Louis reportedly discussed Adam Lind with the division-rival Brewers before agreeing to this swap, but it looks as though talks failed to progress, as I wouldn’t imagine they’ll acquire both Moss and Lind, who have somewhat redundant skill sets. Assuming no money changes hands, the Cardinals will be on the hook for about $2.47MM of Moss’ remaining salary.
Bernie Miklasz of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that the one-for-one deal was in place (Twitter link). SB Nation’s Chris Cotillo reported late last night that the two sides were discussing a trade involving Moss and Kaminsky.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Pirates Acquire Joe Blanton
The Pirates announced that they’ve acquired right-hander Joe Blanton from the Royals in exchange for cash considerations. Blanton had been designated for assignment by the Royals earlier this week despite generally solid numbers, and he’ll join the Pirates’ roster tomorrow.
Blanton made a nice comeback to the Majors this season after spending the 2014 season away from the game. He’s pitched quite well overall for the Royals, working to a 3.89 ERA with 8.6 K/9, 1.5 BB/9 and a 48.4 percent ground-ball rate in 41 2/3 innings split between the rotation and the bullpen. Blanton’s 90.8 mph average fastball is the fastest of his career, though one can imagine that’s partly attributable to the fact that 11 of his 15 appearances have come in a relief role.
The veteran Blanton seems likely to be asked to help the Pirates in a relief capacity, but he could also emerge as an option at the back end of their rotation eventually. Gerrit Cole, A.J. Burnett and Francisco Liriano have all turned in excellent seasons thus far, but each of Jeff Locke, Vance Worley and Charlie Morton has posted an ERA above 4.00.
Astros Designate Roberto Hernandez
The Astros designated righty Roberto Hernandez for assignment to open a roster spot for Jed Lowrie, tweets Brian McTaggart of MLB.com. Lowrie will start tomorrow for the Astros at third base, after recovering from May thumb surgery.
The Astros signed Hernandez to a minor league deal in February, and he made the team out of spring training. His contract was worth $2.65MM. Hernandez, 35 in August, posted a 4.36 ERA, 4.5 K/9, 2.8 BB/9, 0.96 HR/9, and 51.9% groundball rate in 84 2/3 innings, including 11 starts.
Angels Sign Wesley Wright To Minor League Deal
The Angels have signed left-hander Wesley Wright to a minor league contract, according to a tweet from Wright’s representatives at Reynolds Sports Management. The veteran reliever will report to Triple-A Salt Lake for the time being.
Wright, 30, began the season with the Orioles after agreeing to a one-year, $1.7MM free agent contract. He spent the 2014 season with the Cubs and enjoyed good success as a member of the Chicago bullpen, making him a somewhat surprising non-tender. Last year, Wright pitched to a 3.17 ERA with 6.9 K/9, 3.5 BB/9 and a 52.1 percent ground-ball rate while holding opposing lefties to a .273/.321/.273 batting line.
In 2015, though, Wright has been plagued by a strain and inflammation in his left shoulder. He spent three months on the disabled list before being activated and promptly designated for assignment. Wright tossed just 1 2/3 innings for the Orioles this year but has been a reasonably effective relief pitcher for much of his career.
Dating back to 2011, Wright has a 3.27 ERA with 8.4 K/9 against 3.2 BB/9 in 168 innings of relief between the Astros, Cubs, Rays and Orioles. He could emerge as a left-handed relief option for the Angels, who currently have lefties Cesar Ramos and Jose Alvarez pitching well in the bullpen.