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Nationals Rumors: Madson, Doolittle, Reed

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  • Another reliever, the Mets’ Addison Reed, could also end up on the move. Odds are, though, that he won’t head to the Nationals, writes Cafardo. The Mets apparently aren’t open to helping the NL East rival Nats fix their bullpen issues.

    [SOURCE LINK]
  • The Athletics are likely to trade relievers Ryan Madson and Sean Doolittle, according to Cafardo, who names the Nationals and Yankees as potential suitors. Madson, who’s on a $7.5MM salary both this year and next, has bounced back from a so-so 2016 to post a 2.53 ERA, 8.72 K/9, 1.69 BB/9 and a 53.6 percent ground-ball rate in 32 innings this season. The oft-injured Doolittle has only thrown 16 1/3 frames, but he has been highly effective (3.31 ERA, 12.67 K/9, 1.1 BB/9); what’s more, he’s controllable for reasonable prices through 2020.
  • Another reliever, the Mets’ Addison Reed, could also end up on the move. Odds are, though, that he won’t head to the Nationals, writes Cafardo. The Mets apparently aren’t open to helping the NL East rival Nats fix their bullpen issues.

Nationals Designate Jacob Turner For Assignment

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The Nationals announced that they’ve designated right-hander Jacob Turner for assignment and activated left-hander Sammy Solis from the disabled list.

[RELATED: Updated Nationals Depth Chart]

Turner, an offseason minor league signing, cracked the Nationals’ rotation in early May but ended up doing most of his work out of the bullpen before his designation. The 26-year-old wasn’t part of the solution for the Nats’ beleaguered relief corps, though, as he pitched to a 5.20 ERA and yielded a .288/.355/.545 batting line in 27 2/3 innings from their bullpen. All told, Turner has recorded a 5.08 ERA, with 5.31 K/9 and 3.46 BB/9, in 39 frames, making this the latest disappointing major league season for the 2009 first-round pick of the Tigers and former high-end prospect.

Meanwhile, if his output from 2015-16 is any indication, Solis’ return actually could be a significant boon to Washington’s bullpen. Solis was especially brilliant last year, when he registered a 2.41 ERA, 10.32 K/9 and 4.61 BB/9 in 41 innings, though he got off to a rough start this season before going on the DL in late April with elbow inflammation. The 28-year-old has given up four earned runs on four hits and three walks in 4 1/3 innings in 2017, but that’s obviously a small sample and he still owns a 3.11 ERA in 66 2/3 career frames. That type of run prevention would be a godsend for the Nats, whose relievers rank second last in the majors in both ERA and fWAR.

Nats Expect Turner Back By End Of August, Aren't Looking To Acquire Shortstop

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The Nationals don’t expect to go without shortstop Trea Turner for more than two months, Bob Nightengale of USA Today reports on Twitter. As such, the report suggests, Washington doesn’t currently intend to pursue a replacement at the position. The Nats do have internal options, of course, in veteran Stephen Drew and youngster Wilmer Difo, who could make for a functional platoon pairing. And the team is still holding a sizable lead in the division, although there’s still time for that to change. Regardless of whether any other position players are ultimately pursued, the biggest need in D.C. remains in the bullpen.

Nationals Place Trea Turner On 10-Day DL

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TODAY: As anticipated, the Nats have placed Turner on the 10-day DL, per a club announcement. The club selected the  contract of Adrian Sanchez to take his spot on the active roster.

Sanchez, 26, has been playing in the organization for 11 years. He’ll bring plenty of defensive versatility to the table — he has spent significant time at second, third, and short — but not much in the way of hitting ability. Sanchez carries a .259/.312/.384 slash line with 21 steals over 280 plate appearances on the year, mostly of them coming at Triple-A.

To open a 40-man spot, the Nationals moved lefty Sammy Solis to the 60-day DL. That’s just a formality, as he has already been out for that span. It seems reasonably likely that Sanchez will function as a little-used bench piece until there’s a need for his roster spot.

YESTERDAY: Nationals shortstop Trea Turner, who was hit by a pitch in tonight’s game against the Cubs, has been diagnosed with a broken right wrist, reports Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post (on Twitter). There’s no timetable for a return to the roster at this point, she adds.

Suffice it to say, the loss of Turner for any stretch of time is a crushing blow to the Nationals, although the Nats have a large enough lead in the NL East (nine games, at present) to weather an absence for the 23-year-old star. That said, Turner has batted .279/.324/.422 with seven homers and an outrageous 35 stolen bases in 315 plate appearances this season, and he’s turned in roughly average defense at shortstop as well. Subtracting that level of output from any roster is a tough pill to swallow.

In the short term, the Nats can turn to veteran Stephen Drew and rookie Wilmer Difo and entrust that pair with the bulk of the playing time at shortstop. The 34-year-old Drew has somewhat quietly been excellent for the Nationals across the past two seasons, hitting at a combined .286/.347/.515 in an admittedly small sample of 225 plate appearances. Just 19 of those plate appearances have come against left-handed pitching, so Drew would ideally benefit from a platoon partner. The switch-hitting Difo can provide that; while he’s struggled against lefties in a tiny sample of 37 plate appearances, Difo hit left-handed pitching considerably better than right-handed pitching in the minors in 2015-16.

There will, of course, be some options available for the Nationals to pursue on the trade market. Zack Cozart stands out as the most logical candidate, as the 32-year-old has taken his offensive game to a new level in 2017 and paired it with his usual brand of defensive wizardry. Cozart is a free agent at season’s end, and the rebuilding Reds will undoubtedly be open to moving him once he returns from a much more minor DL stint of his own (for a strained quadriceps). Other available options for the Nats include Jed Lowrie of the Athletics and Eduardo Nunez of the Giants. Looking across the division, Asdrubal Cabrera recently expressed frustration with the Mets and suggested that he’d prefer a trade, but he’s since walked those comments back a bit (and it’s not clear if the two division rivals would be able to line up on a trade anyhow).

NL East Notes: Bartolo, Kendrick, Nationals

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The Mets will at least consider a reunion with 44-year-old righty Bartolo Colon following yesterday’s DFA by the Braves, reports MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo (Twitter link). They are, however, understandably wary of his poor performance in Atlanta. Kristie Ackert of the New York Daily News spoke to one Mets person who expressed some intrigue regarding the possibility of once again pairing Colon with pitching coach Dan Warthen to see if Colon could succeed in a bullpen role in New York. And, as Ackert points out, the additional depth would hardly be a bad thing for a Mets pitching staff that has been decimated by injury.

Elsewhere in the NL East…

  • The Phillies could be facing a trip to the disabled list for Howie Kendrick, writes CSNPhilly.com’s Jim Salisbury. Kendrick has been bothered lately by a sore hamstring, and while he was in the lineup as a DH on Tuesday this week, he told manager Pete Mackanin that he didn’t feel good enough to go on Wednesday. Mackanin acknowledged that the Phils have to consider a DL stint for Kendrick, which would be a disappointing development for the organization, as Kendrick’s hot bat has elevated his trade candidacy since returning from a lengthy six-week stint on the DL earlier this year. Salisbury wonders whether the Phils would bring up a prospect such as Nick Williams or Dylan Cozens and give him regular playing time in lieu of Kendrick, though that suggestion appears to be made somewhat speculatively.
  • Although the Nationals have a well-documented need for bullpen upgrades, sorting out the roster in the wake of a move won’t be as easy as one would imagine, writes Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post. Ownership typically doesn’t love the notion of adding significant contracts midseason in the first place, she writes, and the concept of adding a reliever and then cutting a player already on a relatively significant deal (e.g. Joe Blanton) may not be appealing to the Lerner family — especially if it meant acquiring another significant contract. Janes runs down a list of virtually every relief option on the roster, noting that the team’s best-performing relievers (Matt Albers, Enny Romero) are among the most affordable options. Despite Shawn Kelley’s struggles, Janes writes, he’s a well-liked clubhouse presence that is under contract through 2018, and it’s unlikely that the Nats would simply eat the rest of his contract to free up a roster spot.

Nationals To Sign Kevin Jepsen

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The Nationals have agreed to a deal with righty Kevin Jepsen, according to Chris Cotillo of SB Nation (Twitter link). It’s a minors pact with a July 26th opt-out opportunity, Jon Heyman of Fan Rag tweets.

Jepsen, who’ll soon turn 33, recently put on a showcase in hopes of landing a new opportunity. He spent the spring with the Diamondbacks, but struggled in game action and was released before the start of the season.

There’s no sugar-coating Jepsen’s struggles in 2016. He threw 49 2/3 innings of 5.98 ERA ball for the Twins and Rays, with only 6.3 K/9 against 3.8 BB/9. Though he didn’t lose much on his mid-nineties fastball, Jepsen posted a 8.3% swinging-strike rate that fell short of his numbers over the prior two seasons.

If the drop in strikeouts wasn’t enough, Jepsen also struggled to manage contact, permitting hard contact at a career-worst 37.5% rate. Once a strong groundball pitcher, he managed to induce them at only a 31.1% clip while also allowing 2.2 homers per nine innings.

Still, there’s probably some hope of a return to form. Jepsen carried a 2.33 ERA over 69 2/3 innings in 2015 and was able to post 10.1 K/9 in his successful 2014 campaign. The Nationals will take a look at him over the coming weeks, just as they are doing with veteran Francisco Rodriguez, as the team decides upon a course of action at the trade deadline.

Koda Glover Dealing With Inflammation, Two Strains In Shoulder

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Nationals closer Koda Glover has been on the disabled list for nearly three weeks due to back issues, but via Mark Zuckerman of MASNsports.com, he also revealed today that he’s dealing with “severe” inflammation in his rotator cuff as well as two separate strains in his right shoulder.

[Related: Washington Nationals depth chart]

Glover told the D.C. media that he began to feel pain in his shoulder well before the pain in his back, and he believes that the back injury actually stemmed from overcompensating for the shoulder discomfort he was pitching through. “I didn’t really know what was sore, what was hurt,” said Glover. “Nothing was really hurt, I thought, so I just kept pitching. Over time, I guess it just broke down, so my body broke down with it, the overcompensation.”

At the injury’s worst, Glover said that he wasn’t even able to lift his right arm, though he’s already been through an MRI exam which revealed the inflammation and strains but no significant structural damage. Nonetheless, a shoulder injury for Glover only further complicates the bullpen picture for a Washington relief corps that already figured to be a primary focus for GM Mike Rizzo on the trade market. There’s currently no timetable for Glover’s return, but it doesn’t sound as if he’ll be back all that soon, as they’re currently waiting for the inflammation to subside before he’s even cleared to resume throwing. On the plus side, the back pain that was plaguing Glover has subsided.

Glover, Shawn Kelley and Sammy Solis are all presently on the disabled list, which has led the Nats to entrust save opportunities to righty Matt Albers and lefty Enny Romero. In addition to that pair, Blake Treinen, Joe Blanton, Oliver Perez, Matt Grace and Jacob Turner presently comprise the remainder of the bullpen. As such, the Nationals will likely be linked to not only the bigger-name closers that become available in trade talks this summer, but also to setup men and middle relievers to fortify their entire relief unit. They’ve long been linked to David Robertson on the rumor circuit, and they also reportedly have at least some degree of interest in division rival Pat Neshek. Rizzo has already brought Francisco Rodriguez in on a minor league deal, but further moves over the next month seem like a virtual certainty.

2018 Vesting Options Update

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We already took a preliminary look at the vesting option scenarios playing out around the game, but we’ve now gained quite a bit of clarity over the last six weeks. Generally, vesting options are club options that can become guaranteed based on the player’s health and/or performance. Typically, achieving contractually defined thresholds (such as for plate appearances or games finished) takes the decision out of the team’s hand, with some clauses also requiring certain health standards to be triggered.

Here’s where things stand at present:

Already Vested

  • Greg Holland: That was fast! Holland has already racked up thirty games finished, meaning that what was a $10MM mutual option for 2018 has been converted into a $15MM player option. With a league-leading 25 saves in the bank, along with 29 1/3 innings of 1.53 ERA pitching, it seems unlikely that Holland will take that cash rather than testing the open market — though he could also have to turn down a qualifying offer and hit free agency weighed down a bit by draft compensation. (Notably, too, Holland is cracking into some hefty contract incentives. He is on track to earn most or all of the $11MM in available bonus money.)

On Track To Vest

  • Gio Gonzalez: While Gonzalez is pitching well enough to make it a foregone conclusion that the Nationals would pick up his 2018 option at $12MM, that step won’t be necessary if he ends the regular season with 180 innings on his ledger. Working deep into games has been an issue for Gonzalez in recent years, but he has already topped 100 frames through just 16 starts thus far in 2017. Barring an injury, this one looks quite likely to vest.

Unlikely To Vest

  • Ricky Nolasco: The 34-year-old faces an uphill battle, but he’s at least keeping it interesting. Nolasco can turn a $13MM club option ($1MM buyout) into a player option if he gives the Halos 202 1/3 frames this year. That’s a big number, but Nolasco has managed to log 90 2/3 innings through 16 outings, leaving 111 2/3 left to achieve. Even if he takes the ball another 16 times the rest of the way, he’d need to go seven innings per start — a pace typically achievable only by a few top aces around the game. (Currently, Max Scherzer and Chris Sale top the leaderboard with 113 2/3 frames.)
  • Matt Cain: The Giants are sure to pay Cain a $7.5MM buyout rather than picking up his $21.5MM option for the 2018 campaign. But the veteran righty could take that decision out of the team’s hands if he’s able to reach 200 innings this year and stay off of the DL at season’s end. Cain has made all 16 of his starts so far, but he has accumulated only 84 innings. While it’s a theoretical possibility, then, it’s all but certain that this option won’t vest — and the Giants have every incentive to see that it doesn’t.
  • Hisashi Iwakuma: When the season started, it seemed reasonably likely that Iwakuma would trigger his second vesting season — as he did last year with the first. After compiling 199 innings in 2016, he needed to accumulate only 125 more (and avoid an unspecified injury) to lock up a $15MM payday. But Iwakuma is currently parked on the DL with just 31 frames in the bank; even if he is able to work deep in most of his remaining starts, he almost certainly won’t have enough to accumulate the 94 additional innings he needs. If he doesn’t get there, then Seattle will decide between a $10MM salary and a $1MM buyout.

Will Not Vest

  • Andre Ethier: Ethier’s $17.5MM club option vests upon 550 plate appearances in 2017. He has been shelved for the entire first half of the season, so he’ll have to take home a $2.5MM buyout as a consolation prize.
  • Matt Garza: This one is complicated, but here’s the bottom line: Garza cannot possible make enough starts to reach 110 in total from 2014-17 (he’s currently at 82), so his option cannot vest at $13MM. At the same time, it’s no longer possible for him to miss 130 or more days of action to the DL this year, so the club won’t get a shot at a $1MM option for his 2018 rights. Instead, the deal reverts to a club option at $5MM. See? It’s simple.
  • J.J. Hardy: The extension that Hardy signed with the O’s a few years back includes a $14MM club option (or a $2MM buyout), but that would vest if Hardy ended the 2017 campaign with 600 plate appearances on his stat sheet. That always seemed a stretch, but with his recent DL placement it’s no longer even possible.

Pitching Injury Notes: Smyly, Weigel, Keuchel, Nats, Salazar, Hendricks, Finnegan

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The Mariners got some unwelcome news about the status of rehabbing lefty Drew Smyly. As Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times, plans for Smyly to face live hitting were scuttled after the southpaw experienced some elbow discomfort. Pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre explains that Smyly has dealt with other such “episodes” while working back from a flexor strain, especially when throwing breaking pitches, so perhaps this could just be a minor blip. Still, he’s slated for a medical examination; at present, there’s no clear indication of what’ll come next. “Until the doctors check, and all that stuff subsides, you just can’t move forward,” explains Stottlemyre. “It’s hard to make a plan going forward until we know more.”

Clearly, Seattle’s deadline plans could be altered by Smyly’s progress (or lack thereof). If the team finds itself in a strong Wild Card position at the end of July, but doesn’t think it’ll get the rotation boost it needs, it’s at least possible to imagine a move to  bolster the rotation. Here are some more notable injury situations from around the game:

  • Young Braves hurler Patrick Weigel is headed for Tommy John surgery, per David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. That’s the result that was feared when it was learned that he had suffered a partial UCL tear. Soon to turn 23, Weigel had reached Triple-A in just his third professional season. He could’ve conceivably provided the Braves with a rotation option for 2018, so the loss should only increase the organization’s interest in adding a significant outside starter.
  • It seems the Astros are wisely taking a measured approach with southpaw Dallas Keuchel, who is working back from a pinched nerve in his neck. As Jake Kaplan of the Houston Chronicle writes, skipper A.J. Hinch acknowledges that the club is “just being conservative” by “methodically putting a few more challenges in front of him” to bring Keuchel along slowly. With Keuchel in need of at some rehab outings before returning to the MLB hill, it seems he won’t likely make it back until after the All-Star break. That timeline surely works just fine for the front-running Astros, who are as close to a postseason shoe-in as there can be at this stage of the season.
  • The Nationals’ bullpen needs have long been a focus of the 2017 trade season. Just how many arms the Nats will go looking for could well depend in part upon the progress of several current pitchers. Per a club update, via Mark Zuckerman of MASNsports.com (via Twitter), Sammy Solis appears to be making real strides after missing a significant stretch with elbow issues, as he was able to take the ball for Triple-A Syracuse. If the power lefty can return to health and to form, that’d be a significant boost. Meanwhile, Shawn Kelley (out with a trap strain) has resumed throwing — which is not yet the case for fellow righty Koda Glover (who is dealing with back issues).
  • There’s some positive momentum for Indians righty Danny Salazar, as Jimmy Miller of the Akron Beacon Journal writes. Salazar says his shoulder feels good, and he’s now slated to begin a rehab assignment. The high-octane hurler, 27, could potentially re-take a spot in the rotation or provide Cleveland with another fascinating, multi-inning-capable bullpen arm.
  • Likewise, the Cubs saw progress from righty Kyle Hendricks, as Patrick Mooney of CSN Chicago tweets that he was able to throw (albeit only from 90 feet) without experiencing any issues in his hand. Hendricks has been dealing with tendon problems in his pitching hand, leading to a DL placement. Before going down with the injury, Hendricks had turned in eleven somewhat worrying starts. Expectations were high after he landed third in the 2016 Cy Young voting, but Hendricks has shown a significant velocity loss (over two miles per hour on his fastball) and a big drop in swinging-strike rate (from 10.0% to 7.3%). Getting him healthy and back to form would represent a big boost to the Cubs, though it’s not clear whether they’ll have a real read on his capacity before making deadline plans.
  • While the Reds haven’t yet made a move, it seems likely that lefty Brandon Finnegan is heading back to the DL. Initial indications were that he had only experienced a triceps strain during his first start after rehabbing an injury to the teres major muscle in his shoulder. Instead, per manager Bryan Price (on MLB Network Radio on Sirius XM, via Twitter), the injury was traced to that same muscle. While it’s said to be in a different part of the muscle, it nevertheless seems rather concerning that Finnegan is experiencing issues in that same narrow area. The broader prognosis remains unclear at this moment, though Price said he expects the southpaw to miss “at least … several weeks, if not longer.”

Nationals To Sign Francisco Rodriguez

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TODAY: Rodriguez will have an opt-out opportunity on July 12th, Jon Heyman of Fan Rag tweets. That gives the Nats about two weeks to watch the veteran throw at Triple-A before making a decision on adding him to the MLB roster.

YESTERDAY, 7:27pm: A deal is now in place, according to Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post (Twitter link).

3:09pm: The Nationals and veteran right-hander Francisco Rodriguez are nearing agreement on a minor league contract, according to reports from Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (via Twitter) and Mark Zuckerman of MASNsports.com (via Twitter). FanRag’s Jon Heyman reported earlier today that Washington was pursuing the Beverly Hills Sports Council client, who was released by the Tigers over the weekend.

Editor’s Note: an earlier version of this post mistakenly stated that the contract had been finalized.

The 35-year-old Rodriguez was clobbered for a 7.82 ERA through 25 1/3 innings in Detroit thanks largely to a staggering nine home runs allowed in that small sample of work. He’s had success with a diminished fastball in recent seasons, but this year’s average of 88.9 mph is the lowest of his storied career.

For all of his 2017 struggles, Rodriguez did post a very solid 3.24 ERA with 8.0 K/9, 3.2 BB/9 and a career-high 54.7 percent ground-ball rate as the Tigers’ closer in 2016, totaling 44 saves throughout the year. He’s earning $8MM this year, though the Tigers are on the hook for the remainder of that considerable sum. The Nats will only have to pay K-Rod the pro-rated portion of the league minimum for any time he spends in the Majors.

Though the Nationals are running away with the NL East, their bullpen has been an unmitigated disaster in 2017. Washington’s 4.88 bullpen ERA ranks 26th in the Majors, and the Nats also rank 25th in bullpen FIP (4.72) and 21st in bullpen xFIP (4.52). The Nats currently have de facto closer Koda Glover and veteran righty Shawn Kelley on the disabled list along with lefty Sammy Solis. With that group on the shelf, the team is presently relying on Matt Albers, Enny Romero, Blake Treinen, Oliver Perez, Joe Blanton, Matt Grace and Jacob Turner to comprise its relief corps.

Obviously, there’s no guarantee that Rodriguez will serve as any type of upgrade over that bunch, but given the state of Dusty Baker’s bullpen, the Nats figure to be at least loosely interested in virtually any veteran reliever that becomes available. Moreover, it’ll be a shock if general manager Mike Rizzo doesn’t make at least one notable bullpen acquisition on the trade market, and it’s possible that he could look to acquire multiple relievers between now and the July 31 non-waiver deadline.

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