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Brewers Acquire Gio Gonzalez

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The Brewers have reached agreement on a trade with the Nationals to acquire lefty Gio Gonzalez, per a club announcement. $250K of international bonus capacity is also heading to the Brewers, who’ll send minor-leaguers KJ Harrison and Gilbert Lara to D.C. So far as is known at this point, the Brewers will take over all of Gonzalez’s salary despite the fact that he cleared waivers.

Gonzalez, who’ll soon turn 33, will be a free agent at season’s end after wrapping up a long-term deal that he signed with the Nats not long after being acquired before the 2012 season. He will wrap up his tenure with the club after nearly seven mostly excellent seasons. Gonzalez will appear in a Brewers uniform in Nationals Park tomorrow, though he won’t pitch in this series.

With a hefty $12MM contract, just under $2MM of which remains to be paid, Gonzalez had cleared revocable trade waivers earlier in the month. He got off to a strong start to the season but had encountered some struggles of late. Through 145 2/3 innings, he carries a 4.57 ERA — the same mark he posted in 2016, the only season since 2010 in which he has finished with more than 3.79 earned runs per nine on his record.

Unfortunately for the Nats, the club never really got off the ground this year and has been forced to dump some pending free agents this summer. While Gonzalez came into the month of August with a 3.78 ERA, he has coughed up 26 earned runs in his last 31 1/3 innings. Though he has turned in two excellent outings in that span of six starts, the run of difficulties clearly left the Nats convinced not to make him a qualifying offer at season’s end — and also reduced the team’s potential trade return.

Gonzalez no longer operates in the 94 mph range with his fastball, but in many other ways looks to be much the same pitcher he has been the past several years. He’s carrying a 9.2% swinging-strike rate that sits just under his career average. And he has continued to make start after start; since fully establishing himself in the majors in 2010, he has only once made less than 31 starts in a given season (2014, when he took the ball 27 times).

Of course, despite turning in 201 innings of 2.96 ERA ball last year, Gonzalez has clearly been in decline. He has been much more prone to the long ball of late after notably suppressing dingers for most of his career. As his velocity fell off a table before the 2017 season, ERA estimators have found increasing cause for worry in his peripherals. After posting a career-low 3.43 SIERA in 2014, for instance Gonzalez has turned in successive marks of 3.77, 3.96, 4.41, and 4.75.

While it would be optimistic to hope for Gonzalez to regain the magic of 2017, the Brewers can still probably expect he’ll give the club some good innings down the stretch. Perhaps the jolt of a return to a postseason race will help, and Gonzalez certainly has every incentive to show well in advance of his first trip onto the open market. While the long-awaited rotation boost may not be quite as significant as some fans might have hoped for, the acquisition ought to add depth to the club’s pitching staff and help the effort to reach and advance in the postseason.

On the D.C. side of this swap, it’s obviously not how the club wanted things to end. But they’ll get some compensation for the veteran lefty. Harrison, 22, has lined up behind the plate and at first base while also seeing action as a DH. A third-round pick in 2017, he has shown plenty of pop, but also struck out in 147 of his 466 trips to the plate this year. Astute readers will recall that Lara commanded a big bonus as an amateur player. Now twenty years of age, the infielder has not developed as hoped, with a marginal .237/.274/.324 slash as a professional.

Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reported the deal (Twitter link). Kyle Lobner of the Frosty Mug suggested the involvement of Harrison and Lara, on Twitter, with Jon Heyman of Fancred (via Twitter) reporting they were indeed involved. Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reported the bonus amount on Twitter.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Trade Chatter: Gio, Brewers, Granderson, Mets, O’s

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Major League teams have until midnight ET tonight to acquire players who can still be eligible for their postseason roster. While this deadline isn’t likely to be as significant as the July 31 non-waiver deadline, major swaps can still take place. Andrew McCutchen has already gone from the Bay Area to the Bronx, and it was one year ago today that the Astros pulled off a trade for Justin Verlander that played an absolutely pivotal role in their eventual World Series victory. While there is understandably a large focus on Josh Donaldson, who seems likely to be traded today, here are some other rumblings from around the game…

  • The Nationals are discussing a trade of left-hander Gio Gonzalez, tweets Jon Morosi of MLB.com, though it’s not clear if multiple clubs are showing interest in the veteran southpaw with tonight’s deadline looming. Gonzalez has been rocked in three of his past five starts, causing his ERA to balloon from 3.78 on July 28 to its present mark of 4.57. He’s still averaging 7.8 K/9 with quality home-run and ground-ball rates, but he’s walking batters at a higher clip than he has since 2009 (4.6 BB/9). Gonzalez has a lengthy track record as a solid mid-rotation arm, though, and he’s one of very few starers reported to have cleared waivers. He’s still owed about $2MM of this season’s $12MM salary.
  • The Brewers are still looking into multiple upgrade possibilities, and though their fans are clamoring for rotation help, they’re also looking at adding a left-handed bench bat, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic tweets. Curtis Granderson is one possibility to land in Milwaukee, he notes. Granderson has already cleared trade waivers, meaning the Blue Jays can shop him around to any team in the league. He’s owed the remainder of this year’s $5MM salary (about $829K) and is hitting well against right-handed pitching (.250/.345/.443). USA Today’s Bob Nightengale tweets that Granderson is expected to be traded at some point before midnight.
  • Mike Puma of the New York Post tweets that the Mets don’t expect to trade either Jerry Blevins or Devin Mesoraco today. Both are free agents at season’s end, and Blevins was already reported to have cleared waivers (while Mesoraco was also a virtual lock to do so). If that indeed proves to be the case, the May trade in which the Mets and Reds swapped Mesoraco and Matt Harvey won’t have garnered either team any value beyond the current season (unless either player’s time in his new organization leads him to re-sign there).
  • The Post’s Joel Sherman tweets that the Orioles have actually made a surprising number of waiver claims recently, though obviously none have led to a trade just yet. The O’s clearly aren’t going anywhere in 2018, so it’s likely they’ve been attempting to acquire pieces that are controlled into 2019 (and likely beyond). Such players are difficult to acquire in the first place, and doing so in the allotted 48-hour window is all the more difficult.

Dodgers Acquire Ryan Madson

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1:50pm: The Dodgers have announced the trade.

1:06pm: The Dodgers are sending minor league right-hander Andrew Istler to the Nationals in return, Joel Sherman of the New York Post reports (via Twitter).

12:54pm: The Dodgers and Nationals have agreed to a trade that’ll send right-hander Ryan Madson from D.C. to L.A., reports Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic (via Twitter). Madson was placed on revocable waivers earlier this week, per the Washington Post’s Jorge Castillo. Ken Gurnick of MLB.com had previously reported that the Dodgers placed a claim on the veteran setup man.

Ryan Madson | Rick Scuteri-USA TODAY Sports

Though the Nats could have simply let Madson go to the Dodgers and shed the remainder of his $7.5MM salary, Fancred’s Jon Heyman tweets the Dodgers will indeed send a prospect to Washington in return for the right-hander. USA Today’s Bob Nightengale adds that the Dodgers are taking on all of the $1.24MM remaining on the 38-year-old Madson’s contract. He’s a free agent at season’s end, so Madson will be a rental piece for the Dodgers as they strive for a postseason berth in the competitive NL West.

Madson was only recently activated from the disabled list after missing time with a nerve issue in his back. He has a strong big league track record and has generally been a reliable late-inning arm in recent seasons since returning from Tommy John surgery in 2015, but he’s struggled with the Nats so far this season. Through 44 1/3 innings this year, Madson has posted an unsightly 5.28 ERA, though he’s averaged a healthy 95.8 mph on his heater and is still missing bats (8.3 K/9, 12.4 percent swinging-strike rate).

The Dodgers’ bullpen has been struggling to near unthinkable levels in the month of August, as manager Dave Roberts tried to use virtually every arm at his disposal in late-inning situations with star closer Kenley Jansen on the disabled list. The Dodger ’pen blew leads in seven straight games at one point, and when the team welcomed Jansen back from the DL, he too struggled to uncharacteristic levels. Jansen has allowed runs in each of his four appearances since returning from a DL stint due to an irregular heartbeat. With the bullpen reeling, Madson and this weekend’s slate of September call-ups will give Roberts some additional options to mix and match as he tries to keep his club in the race.

As for Istler, he wasn’t considered to be among the Dodgers’ top prospects but has enjoyed a solid season across three minor league levels. A 23rd-round pick in 2015, Istler opened the 2018 season at Class-A Advanced but has steadily risen through the ranks to Triple-A. He’s pitched to a combined 2.37 ERA with 8.2 K/9, 2.1 BB/9 and a roughly 43 percent ground-ball rate through 79 2/3 innings. Istler, who has allowed just two homers on the season, could conceivably give the Nats a bullpen option as soon as next season given his 2018 ascension.

NL Central Notes: Murphy, Garrett, Finnegan, Brewers

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Fans and pundits alike were surprised when Daniel Murphy fell to the Cubs on revocable waivers, and that was the reaction of the Cubs’ front office as well, GM Jed Hoyer explains to Jesse Rogers of ESPN. Hoyer says the Cubs had been claiming anywhere from one to as many as “eight or nine” players per day without much to show for it and were indeed “surprised” to learn they’d been awarded the claim on Murphy. (Interestingly, Rogers notes that the Cubs also tried to claim Bryce Harper, though the Dodgers reportedly blocked other contenders from succeeding in that regard.) Hoyer delves into negotiations with the Nationals a bit and reveals that the Murphy trade came together all of two minutes before his waiver period was set to expire.

Rogers’ column gives interesting insight into the mechanics behind the waiver process from the team perspective, explaining how clubs go about placing claims and learning when they have or have not succeeded in claiming a player. Rogers also chats with Murphy himself about the waiver process and the transition from the Nationals to the Cubs. Those looking to learn more about August trade maneuverings and the nuts and bolts behind these claims will want to check out the column in full to gain some additional perspective. And, of course, we’d be remiss to not thank Murphy for his readership, as the veteran infielder tells Rogers he “frequents” MLBTR and first learned of his placement on waivers right here.

Here’s more from the division…

  • The Reds announced this afternoon that lefty setup man Amir Garrett has been placed on the 10-day disabled list due to a bone bruise in his foot. Righty Jackson Stephens was activated from the 10-day DL and added to the roster in his place. As Bobby Nightengale of the Cincinnati Enquirer examines, the situation illustrates just how far Brandon Finnegan’s standing within the organization has fallen. Interim skipper Jim Riggleman suggested to reporters that the team wouldn’t bring up a lefty in the short term and, asked specifically about Finnegan, wouldn’t commit firmly to a September call-up for the 25-year-old. Finnegan was very arguably the headliner of the 2015 trade that sent Johnny Cueto to Kansas City, but he’s struggled immensely in 2018 and, since being moved to the bullpen in Triple-A, has an ERA north of 7.00 with 19 walks against 20 strikeouts.
  • Brewers fans are growing increasingly restless as they clamor for the team to make some kind of upgrade between now and month’s end, and general manager David Stearns addressed his lack of activity to this point in an appearance on MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM earlier today (Twitter link, with full audio). Stearns made clear that he has confidence in the Brewers’ current pitching staff and suggested that expanded September rosters will allow Milwaukee to take pressure off the rotation by shortening games, but he also plainly stated that he’s staying active in trade discussions as he seeks upgrades. “You generally know who has cleared waivers,” said Stearns. “At this point, most of the guys have gone through. We are having conversations. I think most contending clubs are having conversations.” Stearns added that the limited rental period for impending free agents acquired this time of season makes the cost of acquisition even more crucial but said the Milwaukee front office is still “out there looking to improve the team if we can find the right match.”

Dodgers Claim Ryan Madson On Revocable Waivers; No Agreement Reached Yet

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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.

Nationals Place Ryan Madson On Revocable Trade Waivers

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The Nationals placed veteran reliever Ryan Madson on revocable trade waivers yesterday, per Jorge Castillo of the Washington Post (via Twitter). He’ll be on the wire until tomorrow.

It’s true, of course, that almost all major league players are run through trade waivers at some point. But the timing is still relevant, particularly in this case, as the placement kicks off a two-day waiver period. If a claim is made, the team that sought waivers (in this case, the Nationals) has another two-day stretch in which to work out a trade, pull back the player, or allow the contract to move to the claiming team without compensation.

[RELATED: How August Trades Work]

With Madson returning from the DL, and immediately thereafter hitting waivers, the Nats may have an opportunity to recoup some value — or, at least, save some salary — for the hurler. Having already moved veteran hitters Daniel Murphy and Matt Adams, and then lost pending free-agent reliever Kelvin Herrera to an injury, it seems likely that the D.C. organization will be quite motivated to move Madson.

Though he’s now 38 years of age, Madson still delivers plenty of velocity. Indeed, he’s averaging a career-high 96.4 mph with his four-seamer and getting swings and misses on 12.4% of his deliveries.

Those stats may help contending organizations look past some of the less-than-promising figures on Madson’s 2018 stat line. After posting a sparkling 1.83 ERA last year, he’s working at an ugly 5.28 clip through 44 1/3 innings this season, with only 8.3 K/9 against 3.0 BB/9.

Opposing hitters are carrying a .326 batting average on balls in play and averaging a 13.0% HR/FB rate against Madson, both of which sit above his typical recent levels. His 66.6% strand rate also hints at some potential poor fortune. Whether those numbers are due primarily to natural variability or an erosion in his skills is a matter for scouts to assess.

National League organizations will have first crack at Madson, who is earning $7.5MM on the season before reaching free agency this fall. Presently, the Dodgers and Phillies are the two clear contenders with the worst records in the league. Both could consider a move for Madson, though surely there are other players under consideration as well.

Kelvin Herrera Diagnosed With Torn Ligament In Foot

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Nationals right-hander Kelvin Herrera has been placed on the 10-day disabled list with a torn Lisfranc ligament in his left foot, the club announced Monday. Right-hander Ryan Madson was reinstated from the 10-day DL in a corresponding move.

The timing of the injury could hardly be worse for either Herrera or the Nationals. The 28-year-old Herrera was fresh off the disabled list for an unrelated shoulder issue when he incurred his foot injury over the weekend and is just weeks away from his first crack at free agency.

It’s not yet clear how long Herrera will need to get back to full health or just what his outlook is. Of course, it’s all but certain he’ll miss the rest of the season, as Dan Kolko of MASNsports.com notes on Twitter. Herrera is headed for a second opinion before deciding on a course of treatment.

Generally, Lisfranc injuries aren’t all that quick to heal. Neither are they always straightforward. Issues with that particular ligament played a role in the downturn of the career of Chien-Ming Wang, for example, though there’s really no indication that the cases are analogous.

Hopefully, Herrera will be able to rest up over the winter and enter the spring ready for a full camp. Even in the best case, though, his free-agent outlook is not as promising as it was when the Nats dealt for him in mid-June. As the injuries woes have arisen, Herrera has struggled on the mound. He carries a 4.34 ERA with 7.7 K/9 and 3.9 BB/9 in his 18 2/3 frames with the D.C. organization.

As for the Nationals, they’ve already sold off veterans Daniel Murphy and Matt Adams this month, and Herrera stood out as a reasonable candidate to be dealt in exchange for some prospect help between now and Friday’s postseason eligibility deadline. Instead, it’s another negative turn in a bitterly disappointing season. Washington will owe Herrera the balance of his $7,937,500 salary.

Nationals Notes: Herrera, Harper, Trades

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Kelvin Herrera had to be removed from the field on a cart after suffering a potentially serious left foot injury in the ninth inning of the Nationals’ 15-0 win over the Mets today.  Herrera took a bad step while fielding a ground ball, and fell down on the ground after completing the out at first base.  Manager Davey Martinez told MASNsports.com’s Mark Zuckerman and other reporters that Herrera’s foot was the issue, not the right-hander’s Achilles.  Results aren’t yet known from x-rays taken on Herrera after the game, though he was seen in the clubhouse on crutches and wearing a protective boot.  Herrera ranked sixth on MLBTR’s recent list of the top 20 August trade candidates, though today’s unfortunate news may make it unlikely that Herrera returns to the field at all this season.  [UPDATE: X-rays were negative, Jorge Castillo of the Washington Post reports.  Herrera will undergo further tests tomorrow to check for any ligament damage.)

Here’s more D.C. baseball chatter…

  • Reports indicated that the Dodgers’ claim of Bryce Harper was meant to block other NL contenders from obtaining the star outfielder, though ESPN’s Buster Olney reports that the Dodgers “also placed some expensive veterans on the waiver wire” when they put in their claim for Harper.  Clearly, L.A. had to prepare itself for the possibility, however remote, that the Nationals might’ve simply let Harper go on waivers without a trade, which would’ve left the Dodgers over the luxury tax threshold.  Since the Nats seemingly had no intention of parting ways with Harper, though, it ended up being a moot point.  While it isn’t unusual for teams to put most, or even all, of their players on waivers as a matter of procedure in August, it is interesting to speculate who the Dodgers could’ve tried to deal or simply let walk on a waiver claim if they had been forced to make room for Harper — Yasiel Puig or the slumping Matt Kemp come to mind, given that Harper would’ve stepped into an everyday outfield role.
  • Also from Olney’s column, he takes a broader look at the Nationals’ disappointing season, and speculates about the club’s unusual transaction strategy over the last month.  If the Nats weren’t going to sell at the trade deadline, it would’ve made more sense for Washington to buy, particularly to address a bullpen that has been a season-long issue.  When the team did decide to sell (i.e. the trades of Daniel Murphy and Matt Adams), rival executives were reportedly curious about the timing, since there’s still time before August 31 and the Nationals aren’t totally out of the race.  Beyond the past month, however, Olney also believes the Nats have a bigger-picture issue to solve, as “it would be helpful if they work to figure out why so many players have left the organization speaking of an unusual and sometimes counterproductive clubhouse culture.”

Nationals Pulled Mark Reynolds Off Revocable Waivers Following Claim By Braves

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The Nationals placed first baseman Mark Reynolds on revocable trade waivers earlier this week but pulled him back after he was claimed by the Braves, reports Jon Heyman of Fancred (via Twitter). That Reynolds has already been pulled off waivers makes him unlikely to change hands at this point. While the Nats could try to pass him through waivers a second time, those waivers would no longer be revocable.

Reynolds, 35, is hitting .255/.335/.497 with 11 home runs in 172 plate appearances with the Nats after signing a minor league deal back on April 17. He eventually played his way onto the MLB roster and has rewarded the organization’s minimal investment of a $1MM base salary with a solid season of production — largely in a bench role.

Reynolds’ minimal salary gave the Nationals little reason to let go of him as a means of cost savings — he’s owed about $209K more as of this writing — and the Nats may simply not have been keen on helping the chances of a division rival in this manner. While the Nats’ playoff hopes are obviously slim, at best, they’re still technically within striking distance of the Braves at eight games out of first place. It’s extremely unlikely that they’ll overcome that deficit, but teams have erased larger leads with less time to play in the past. Beyond that, fan reaction to simply letting Reynolds go to a division rival in exchange for a mere couple hundred thousand dollars would surely have been quite negative.

Even if Reynolds is extremely likely to stay put, though, the Nationals may not yet be done dealing. The Washington Post’s Jorge Castillo reported earlier today that Gio Gonzalez, Matt Wieters and Ryan Zimmerman have cleared waivers. Wieters and especially Zimmerman may be long shots as trade pieces, but Gonzalez could be viewed as a potential rotation option for a contender down the stretch. It also remains to be seen whether the Nationals will part with Kelvin Herrera, who is a free agent at season’s end and will not be receiving a qualifying offer.

Gio Gonzalez, Matt Wieters, Ryan Zimmerman Clear Revocable Waivers

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A trio of Nationals players have cleared revocable trade waivers and are now eligible to be traded to any club, according to Jorge Castillo of the Washington Post (Twitter link). Left-hander Gio Gonzalez, catcher Matt Wieters and first baseman Ryan Zimmerman all went unclaimed by rival teams.

Of the trio, Gonzalez would be the likeliest to hold appeal to a contending team. While his numbers are down somewhat in 2018, Gonzalez is still averaging 8.0 K/9 and just 0.94 HR/9 with a 47.1 percent ground-ball rate. He’s averaged 4.5 walks per nine innings and is sitting on a 4.51 ERA through 133 2/3 innings, though his 4.26 FIP and 4.38 xFIP are slightly more encouraging than his ERA. Gonzalez’s average fastball velocity (89.7 mph) is nearly identical to his 2017 mark, and he’s actually had a modest improvement in his swinging-strike rate (from 8.7 percent to 9.2 percent).

[Related: How August Trades Work]

Gonzalez, 33 next month, is a free agent at season’s end and is earning $12MM in his final season of club control. There’s still about $2.5MM of that sum yet to be paid out on his contract, so it’s not a big surprise to see him pass through waivers unclaimed. However, now that he’s done so, the Nationals can negotiate with any club and agree to include some cash to help offset the remainder of that salary in exchange for what would likely be some modest prospect value.

While the Nationals aren’t embarking on a full-scale rebuild, they’ve signaled a willingness to move impending free agents who are unlikely or ineligible to receive qualifying offers (as was the case with Daniel Murphy and Matt Adams). Given his inconsistent season, Gonzalez likely falls into that same bucket, so it’ll be interesting to see if trade talk surrounding the veteran lefty picks up between now and the Aug. 31 deadline for postseason eligibility. Gonzalez recently checked in at No. 8 on MLBTR’s ranking of the top 20 remaining August trade candidates. A source confirmed to MLBTR that Gonzalez won’t reach 10 years of MLB service this season and therefore does not have 10-and-5 rights allowing him to veto a trade.

Like Gonzalez, Wieters is a free agent at season’s end, but he’s in the midst of a second disappointing campaign with the Nats. The switch-hitter has managed just a .240/.325/.365 batting line in 192 plate appearances during an injury-shortened second season in D.C. He’s owed about $2.19MM through the end of the season, making it unlikely that any team would pursue a trade to acquire the final month or so of his services (at least, without some significant financial help from the Nats).

Zimmerman, 34 in September, is still owed $3.57MM of this season’s $18MM salary in addition to an identical $18MM salary next season and a $2MM buyout on an $18MM option for the 2020 season. That remaining $23.57MM made him a no-brainer to clear waivers, but the veteran has remained productive into the late stages of his contract. He’s hitting .260/.332/.526 this season, though Zimmerman’s full 10-and-5 rights would mean he’d have to approve any trade. Ultimately, his clearing is more or less a formality, because there’s almost no realistic scenario in which he’s traded this year.

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