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Nationals Designate Shawn Kelley, Select Jimmy Cordero

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The Nationals announced today that they have designated veteran righty Shawn Kelley for assignment. The club selected the contract of reliever Jimmy Cordero in a corresponding move.

This stunner of a move comes on the heels of a rollicking post-deadline victory that ended on a bit of a sour note. Kelley admitted that he “acted like a baby” in slamming his glove after giving up a home run in mop-up duty last night, but it was his evident glare into the dugout that seems to have caught the ire of the Nats’ brass.

Kelley, 34, had come up in some talks in the run-up to the trade deadline, though it seemed that the Nationals were more interested in moving salary than parting with the veteran reliever. Now, unless he’s traded or claimed, Kelley will collect the remainder of his $5.5MM salary (less any portion of the league-minimum if he clears waivers and signs elsewhere) and will be removed from a relief unit that also just parted ways with Brandon Kintzler.

There has been some chatter of late about supposed internal turmoil in D.C., though as ever it’s hard to know whether that’s mostly just reflective of frustrations with a season that has fallen shy of expectations. Still, this move certainly sends a message. After deciding to roll the dice on a turnaround, ownership and upper management obviously isn’t interested in further public displays of discord.

Of course, Kelley’s work on the hill is also a factor. He’s carrying a 3.34 ERA through 32 1/3 innings on the year, a vast improvement over his disastrous 2017 season, but is still surrendering nearly two home runs per nine innings. And though Kelley has a quality combination of 8.9 K/9 and 1.4 BB/9, his swinging-strike rate has plummeted to a 11.2% figure that sits well below his recent levels.

It’s still tough to imagine that the Nationals prefer to part with relief depth at this stage of the season, but Cordero had been forcing his way into the picture. As J.J. Cooper of Baseball America recently tweeted, the former Phillies prospect — originally added in a swap with the division rivals in the fall of 2016 — has shown impressive stuff this year at Triple-A. He’ll now head up for his MLB debut after throwing 43 innings of 1.67 ERA ball at Syracuse, where he posted 9.8 K/9 and 4.4 BB/9 along with a 52.6% groundball rate.

40-Man Moves: D-backs, Dodgers, Indians, Mets, Mariners, Cubs, Marlins, O’s

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This has been a trade-packed day across Major League Basbeall, meaning there are plenty of corresponding smaller moves that have been announced over the past couple of hours as teams make today’s agreed-upon deals official. Here’s a look at the DFAs, contract selections and other 40-man transactions that came along with today’s action…

  • The Diamondbacks designated left-handed reliever Jorge De La Rosa to make room for newly added southpaw Jake Diekman, Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic tweets. De La Rosa, a longtime Colorado starter who’s in his second season in Arizona, switched to a full-time relief role upon changing teams and hasn’t produced inspiring results. The 37-year-old has logged a 4.38 ERA/4.98 FIP with 7.51 K/9, 4.17 BB/9 in 86 1/3 innings since joining the D-backs. On the bright side, De La Rosa has posted a 48 percent groundball rate and been tough on left-handed hitters. Considering he’s only owed the balance of a $2.25MM salary, perhaps a team will be interested in taking a flyer on De La Rosa.
  • The Dodgers designated righty Ariel Hernandez for assignment to open a spot for John Axford, per the MLB.com transactions page. Hernandez, 26, scuffled through his first MLB action last year with the Reds and hasn’t made it back since. Over fifty frames this year in the upper minors, he’s carrying an appealing 2.52 ERA, but has also handed out 29 walks to go with his 49 strikeouts.
  • The Indians announced that they’ve designated outfielder Johnny Field for assignment. His spot on the 40-man will go to newly acquired outfield prospect Oscar Mercado, whom Cleveland acquired in a rare all-prospects trade with the Cardinals (full details here). Field, 26, only recently landed with the Indians himself after spending most of the year (and his entire professional career to that point) with the Rays. Field posted a meager .213/.253/.373 batting line in his first 179 MLB plate appearances, all accumulated earlier this season.
  • The Mets announced today that they’ve claimed infielder Jack Reinheimer, who was designated for assignment last week, off waivers from the Diamondbacks. A former fifth-round pick, Reinheimer received a cup of coffee with the D-Backs last year but hadn’t done much to force his way back to this point in 2018. In his fifty games at Triple-A, Reinheimer owns a .237/.312/.353 batting line. Additionally, outfielder Matt den Dekker cleared waivers and was sent outright to Triple-A Las Vegas. He’ll have the right to elect free agency now or at season’s end.
  • Outfielder Isaac Galloway is on his way to the Majors to make his MLB debut with the Marlins, the club announced. It’s a long time coming for an eleven-year pro who has never before tasted the majors. Through 356 plate appearances this year at Triple-A, Galloway carries a .262/.315/.429 triple-slash.
  • Galloway’s contract was selected following the trade of Cameron Maybin to the Mariners, who opened a spot for Maybin by moving right-hander Dan Altavilla from the 10-day DL to the 60-day DL in yet another 40-man move. Similarly, Cubs righty Justin Hancock was transferred to the 60-day disabled list in order to open a spot for Brandon Kintzler, who was acquired from the Nationals today.
  • The Orioles are selecting the contract of right-handed reliever Cody Carroll, who will step into the roster spot of Kevin Gausman following today’s trade to Atlanta. Carroll landed with the Baltimore organization in the recent swap that sent reliever Zach Britton to the Yankees.
  • First baseman Ryan O’Hearn had his contract selected by the Royals, per a team announcement. Infielder Cheslor Cuthbert moved to the 60-day DL to open a spot. It’s the first crack at the majors for O’Hearn, who’ll get the call despite tepid results (.232/.322/.391) this year at Triple-A.
  • Righty Warwick Saupold cleared waivers and was sent outright to Triple-A by the Tigers. The Aussie hurler threw 34 1/3 innings of 4.46 ERA ball this year in Detroit, but managed only 16 strikeouts and a 6.1% swinging-strike rate in that span.

Red Sox Pursued Trade For Kelvin Herrera

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Although the Red Sox didn’t add to their bullpen prior to Tuesday’s non-waiver trade deadline, they were connected to several relievers in recent rumors. Add the Nationals’ Kelvin Herrera to the group of relievers who landed on the Red Sox’s radar, as Alex Speier of the Boston Globe and Rob Bradford of WEEI tweet that the team had been after the right-hander.

Herrera would have been a significant pickup for Boston and a major loss for Washington, the latter of which has disappointed this year but still didn’t make any huge moves leading up to the deadline. The Nationals did deal reliever Brandon Kintzler to the Cubs, though they otherwise kept their 52-53 team intact and will continue trying to make up a 5 1/2-game deficit in the NL East. Herrera will be part of that group, but the 28-year-old hasn’t performed as well as hoped since the Nats acquired him in a headline-grabbing trade with the Royals on June 18.

When the Nationals picked up Herrera, he had worked to a near-spotless 1.05 ERA with 22 strikeouts against a mere two walks in 25 2/3 innings. Since then, the 28-year-old has logged a still-solid 3.29 ERA with 12 punchouts and six walks in 13 2/3 frames. Given that Washington’s general manager, Mike Rizzo, continues to hold out hope the club will rally this year, he wasn’t willing to flip Herrera for anything other than a compelling return.

Despite their subpar season thus far, the Nats didn’t view dealing Herrera as a must. However, they could now lose the pending free agent for nothing in the offseason. Because he was already part of a trade this season, Herrera won’t be eligible to receive a qualifying offer over the winter. Perhaps the Nationals will try to deal Herrera in August if they continue to stumble, then, but his track record and reasonable salary (the rest of a ~$7.93MM commitment) mean he may not clear waivers. If a team does claim Herrera, the Nationals would only be able to work out a trade with that club.

The Red Sox, meanwhile, may keep seeking bullpen upgrades over the next month, and it should help that they’re unafraid to incur the penalties that come with exceeding a $237MM payroll. Whether they truly need help is up for debate, though. Boston owns the majors’ best record (75-33) and a six-game lead in the AL East, thanks in part to a relief corps that ranks fourth in the majors in fWAR, sixth in ERA and 10th in K/BB ratio.

Cubs Acquire Brandon Kintzler

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2:26pm: This deal is in the books. Righty Jhon Romero is heading to D.C. in return.

2:00pm: The Cubs are nearing an agreement with the Nationals that would bring veteran reliever Brandon Kintzler to Chicago, according to Ken Rosenthal and Sahadev Sharma of The Athletic (Twitter link). The return is not yet known.

There have been varying reports of late on the Nats’ deadline plans, and it seems they have elected to make at least one sell-side move. It’s hardly clear, though, that this portends further departures. The Nats are reputedly interesting in shaving some money, even if they don’t go for a full teardown, and have replacement options at Triple-A (including Koda Glover and Jimmy Cordero).

Kintzler landed in D.C. this time last year and re-signed with the club over the winter. His contract promises him $5MM this year — around $1.7MM of which remains — and comes with either a $5MM player option or $10MM club option for 2019.

On the eve of his 34th birthday, it seems Kintzler will pack up and join a club he faced in last year’s NLDS clash. The Cubbies have made a few pitching additions already; presumably, this is the last arm to be brought into the organization at the deadline, though there’s still a bit of time left.

Typically a strong groundball hurler, Kintzler has drawn worm burners at a 48.0% rate this year — well shy of his career average. He is, however, generating more strikeouts than usual (6.5 per nine) and carries a sturdy 3.59 ERA over 42 2/3 innings.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Nationals Willing To Discuss Gio Gonzalez, Jeremy Hellickson

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The Brewers are “pursuing” veteran Nationals lefty Gio Gonzalez, according to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic (via Twitter). While the Nats have pulled back their relief arms, they are willing to consider scenarios involving Gonzalez or Jeremy Hellickson, per ESPN.com’s Buster Olney (Twitter link).

It’s an interesting situation for both ballclubs. The Milwaukee outfit is obviously turning over all stones to get a rotation upgrade, as Bob Nightengale of USA Today tweets. And the Nationals still appear to be dangling some veterans even after deciding not to move Bryce Harper.

It’s not immediately clear why the D.C. organization is willing to listen on those two hurlers. The team doesn’t seem to have replacement rotation pieces lined up. While Gonzalez is expensive ($12MM salary), Hellickson is quite affordable ($2MM base salary with up to $4MM in incentives), so they aren’t quite on equal footing as rental pieces. Perhaps it’s conceivable that the club is angling to add a different starter, though we’ve seen no particular recent rumors to that effect.

Mike Rizzo Says Nationals Will Not Trade Bryce Harper

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Nationals president of baseball operations and GM Mike Rizzo has issued a strong statement about his intentions amid speculation that the club has considered trading star Bryce Harper. As Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post reports on Twitter, Rizzo says: “Bryce is not going anywhere. I believe in this team.”

It’s hardly surprising to see the Nationals land on this stance. After all, for all its struggles this year, the club remains within reasonable striking distance in both the NL East and the Wild Card races. While the club has several high-end players, moreover, Harper remains the most visible member of the organization.

On the other hand, the 25-year-old Harper is heading to free agency at season’s end. If the Nats aren’t going anywhere, they’d surely love to recoup some value for Harper, who’s also still playing on a hefty $21,625,000 salary this year. A qualifying offer seems sure to bring back some draft compensation, unless Harper elects to return to D.C., but that surely won’t be as useful as the potential prospect return in a trade.

To be sure, though, Harper’s value as a rental asset isn’t as great as his name recognition. He has not looked himself for much of the season, with mortal (but still good) offensive numbers and putrid grades for his glovework in the outfield. His salary is a factor, too. Surely, the potential return for Harper weighed into the Nationals’ decisionmaking, though it’s unclear whether that was the major driving force.

While this news seems to take away any realistic possibility of a surprising deal coming together today on Harper, it doesn’t necessarily strip the Nationals of trade deadline intrigue. Notably, however, the Nationals organization is sending signals that it will not move its high-priced relief arms, per Bob Nightengale of USA Today (via Twitter). But the organization employs several other expensive pending free agents as well, including one veteran starter who just popped up in a rumor.

Of course, there’s also still at least some potential for the club to consider repositioning or even buy-side moves, particularly if it would mean adding a controllable player who’d make an impact now and in the future. If the team ends up moving a starter, in fact it could conceivably do so in order to facilitate the addition of a different arm. As things stand, there still seem to be loads of possibilities.

Bryce Harper Trade Deadline Rumors

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There was a rising sense yesterday evening that the Nationals may increasingly be willing to consider trade scenarios involving long-time franchise superstar Bryce Harper. The team is said to be weighing multiple paths even as the non-waiver trade deadline sits just hours away. We’ll track any developments on Harper’s situation in this post.

The latest:

  • As Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post notes on Twitter, the Nationals could conceivably move Harper (and other rental assets) while not fully giving up on the present season. That’d be particularly true, she notes, if a Harper swap not only cleared the way for top prospect Victor Robles but also helped the club line up with the Marlins on star catcher J.T. Realmuto. Perhaps there’s potential for the Nats to do something generally similar to what the Red Sox did in 2014, when they shipped core veteran Jon Lester to the A’s for Yoenis Cespedes.
  • The WaPo’s Jorge Castillo provides rather an interesting nugget of information, tweeting that a rival organization has been left with the impression that Nationals “ownership pulled the plug late last night” on potential trades — including one of Harper. While the phrasing suggests this ought to be taken with a grain of salt, it’s fascinating to contemplate. If true, it would indicate that the Nationals have moved rather far down the line on striking a swap. Of course, it also suggests that a deal may not come together — or, at least, that one potential avenue was shut down for the time being.

Bryce Harper Rumors: 7/30/18

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While the Nationals have done background work in anticipation of a potential pivot to a selling stance, all indications to this point have been that the club has little appetite for offers on superstar outfielder Bryce Harper. That does not mean, however, that there’s no room for trade talks to occur. And there’s increasing indication now that the Nats may be more open than ever to the once-unthinkable possibility of trading a franchise cornerstone in his prime.

Here’s the latest on Harper heading into tomorrow’s trade deadline …

  • The Nats are “making it known to other teams” that Harper “is indeed available,” per MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand (via Twitter). That’s assuredly notable news, though it remains unclear whether the D.C. organization is yet committed to moving Harper. There’s a big difference between being open to taking a big offer, on the one hand, and auctioning a player for the best return possible. It seems doubtful the Nats would do the latter. After all, while Harper is a pending free agent, the team is still in reasonable striking distance of the division and also may have designs on trying to re-sign the franchise’s marquee player this winter. Then again, surely there’s an argument to be made that the club should either hold or sell most of its rental assets rather than only moving a few of them.
  • Meanwhile, Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post presents things in a somewhat less-committed manner. The Nats aren’t ruling out a move, she says, though the precise level of willingness to do a deal remains unclear. As she puts it: “The gap between picking up the phone and actively negotiating is wide, and no one with the team gave any indication of whether they had bridged it.”
  • Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic, on Twitter, reconciles things to an extent. The Nats are putting out “feelers,” he says, seeing if some team will go overboard with an offer. It seems, then, that the organization is actively interested in seeing what it can get for Harper, but hardly committed to moving him.

Earlier Updates

  • The Indians have held discussions with the Nationals on Harper, according to Jon Morosi of MLB.com, though there’s no indication that the sides have gained any traction. Earlier today, Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports noted that Harper would make quite a lot of sense as a target for the Indians — presuming, of course, that the Nats would make him available.

Nats Fielding Offers On Rental Relievers, Also Still Involved In Realmuto Negotiations

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3:24pm: Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic tweets that the Nationals are indeed taking offers on impending free-agent relievers such as Herrera, Madson and Kelley. However, Rosenthal adds that Washington is trying to pry more away from rival teams than it gave up to acquire Herrera in the first place, seeking top-tier prospects in return.

Passan, meanwhile, tweets that he’s heard even further since writing this morning’s column that the Nationals’ clubhouse is a growing problem, and organizational confidence in Martinez has faded. Nationals ownership has been notoriously fickle with its managerial preferences, and the reported discord between Martinez and higher-ups is merely the latest data point in that bizarre trend.

Beyond all that, Janes now reports (via Twitter) that the Nationals and Marlins have held “extensive” negotiations regarding Realmuto in recent days, but Washington still deems the price tag to be too high. At the same time, they’re also listening to offers on rental players whose subtraction would help to reduce payroll, she adds.

1:27pm: The 52-53 Nationals have emerged as one of the most interesting teams to watch with just under 26 hours remaining before the non-waiver trade deadline. The presumptive NL East favorites sit six games back in a divisional race that has seen them outplayed by the upstart Phillies and Braves to this point in the season.

It was reported late last week that the Nats were preparing for the possibility of selling some veteran pieces in the event that their four-game set against the Marlins didn’t go well. Washington took the first two games of that series, only to see Miami rally and salvage a 2-2 split. The Nats have actually made up a game in the standings since the time of that report, but the talk of a potential sale persists.

For instance, Yahoo’s Jeff Passan kicks off his weekly 10 Degrees column with a lengthy, fascinating exploration of the apparent disarray in the clubhouse of a Nationals team that has underperformed in a transitional year both in terms of on-field management (where rookie skipper Dave Martinez replaced veteran Dusty Baker) and in terms of ownership (after owner Ted Lerner ceded control of the organization to his son, Mark). One source bluntly told Passan that the Nats’ clubhouse “is a mess,” and three others backed that sentiment. The details are well worth a full read-through for anyone, though Nats fans in particular should take a look.

Broadly speaking, Passan goes on to suggest that the Nationals had hoped to win three of four games in the series they split with Miami this weekend, and though the one-game difference may not prove to be pivotal, ownership will be involved as the club weighs potential trades of short-term veterans. There’ll be a substantial swath of names for decision-makers to consider, with Kelvin Herrera, Ryan Madson, Shawn Kelley, Gio Gonzalez, Mark Reynolds, Matt Adams, Daniel Murphy, Brandon Kintzler and Jeremy Hellickson all serving as potential free agents.

The Nationals have not, to this point, given any real consideration to trading Bryce Harper, Passan adds, which aligns with last week’s comments from Mike Rizzo to the New York Post’s Joel Sherman, in which the general manager suggested that it’d take “something extreme” in order to consider trading Harper. Heyman, meanwhile, tweets that rival teams believe there’s virtually no chance the Nats will consider moving Harper, whom they hope to retain long-term.

Heyman adds, though, that other clubs expect the Nats to “investigate” possible trades of Herrera, Madson, Kelley and  Of course, with so many relievers available on the market, it’s worth wondering just how much the Nationals could even extract for the majority of those bullpen rentals.

Given the sheer volume of rental players the Nationals could potentially peddle to other clubs, it’s also unlikely that there’d even be time to orchestrate an all-out sale. To that end, Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post tweeted even after yesterday’s loss that she’d still be “stunned to see a major fire sale.” USA Today’s Bob Nightengale tweets that other teams expect the Nationals to largely stay the course, perhaps preferring to try to pass some players through waivers next month. It’s possible that some smaller-scale moves will come together, but it hardly seems that the Washington front office is prepared for any type of significant tear-down.

In fact, it seems it’s not yet entirely out of the question that the Nats would make a significant addition. Heyman tweets that they haven’t completely closed the door on a late push for Marlins star J.T. Realmuto. More interestingly, he suggests that the Nationals would at least consider parting with prized outfield prospect Victor Robles or top shortstop prospect Carter Kieboom, but the Marlins have been pushing for both to be included in a deal (as MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro reported Saturday). Whatever talks have taken place have not been serious enough that anything has been brought to Marlins ownership, tweets Craig Mish of SiriusXM.

Though this isn’t any real indication that a Realmuto deal has a legitimate chance of coming to fruition, Josh Norris of Baseball America tweeted last night that Miami had vice president of player development and scouting Gary Denbo in Durham, where Robles and the rest of the Nationals’ Triple-A club squared off against the Rays’ top affiliate. As ever, it’s probably best not to read too much into one specific scouting assignment, but the timing of the two reports is of at least some note.

Suffice it to say, the Nats seem to have a number of avenues they can explore. While trading short-term veterans and acquiring a big-name player such as Realmuto would seemingly run counter to one another, the two ideas could coexist. Adding Realmuto would give the Nationals a boost for two years beyond the current season, as he’s controllable through 2020. Trading some veteran rentals, meanwhile, would modestly supplement the farm while saving some money that could be put toward adding to a core of Max Scherzer, Trea Turner, Juan Soto, Adam Eaton, etc. this coming offseason. With just over a day to make so many crucial decisions, the Nats will be at the center of much of the intrigue surrounding the 2018 deadline.

NL Notes: Mesoraco, Cubs, Bucs, Nats, Brewers

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There’s not much “momentum” on a trade involving Mets catcher Devin Mesoraco, Mike Puma of the New York Post tweets, though he notes that a deal still may come together by the non-waiver deadline on Tuesday. Mesoraco has already been part of one trade this year, as he joined the Mets in May in a deal for now-Reds righty Matt Harvey. The 30-year-old Mesoraco has batted .230/.206/.393 with eight home runs in 219 plate appearances and caught 26 percent of would-be base stealers this season. He’ll be a free agent in the offseason.

More from the National League…

  • Cubs right-hander Tyler Chatwood is headed to the team’s bullpen to make room for just-acquired starter Cole Hamels, Jesse Rogers of ESPN.com was among those to report. Chatwood joined the Cubs on a three-year, $38MM contract last winter, but the deal hasn’t worked out as planned for the club. Prior to his demotion to a relief role, Chatwood walked a ridiculous 8.14 batters per nine innings across 94 frames (19 starts) and pitched to a 4.98 ERA/5.57 FIP.
  • The Pirates placed outfielder Corey Dickerson (left hamstring strain) and first baseman Josh Bell (left oblique strain) on the 1o-day disabled list Saturday, per Jerry DiPaola of the Pittsburgh-Tribune Review. The club recalled outfielder Austin Meadows and first baseman Jose Osuna from Triple-A to take their places. If not for Pittsburgh’s recent hot streak, it may have been in position to sell Dickerson prior to the deadline. The 29-year-old, who’s on a $5.95MM salary in 2o18 and has one arbitration-eligible season left, has batted a terrific .318/.351/.517 with 11 home runs in 367 plate appearances.
  • The Nationals reinstated outfield prospect Victor Robles from the disabled list Friday and activated him at the Triple-A level, according to Mark Zuckerman of MASNsports.com. The 21-year-old Robles has missed nearly all of this season after suffering an elbow injury early in the spring. He continues to rank as one of the majors’ premier prospects, though, as evidenced by Baseball America grading him as the game’s sixth-best farmhand in its most recent top-100 list.
  • Brewers first base prospect Jake Gatewood will undergo season-ending surgery after suffering a torn left ACL, Adam McCalvy of MLB.com tweets. The 22-year-old Gatewood, Milwaukee’s 14th-best prospect at MLB Pipeline, hit .244/.302/.466 with 19 home runs in 388 PAs at the Double-A level this season.

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