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Nationals Acquire David Carpenter From Yankees

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The Yankees announced that they have traded recently designated right-hander David Carpenter to the Nationals in exchange for minor league second baseman Tony Renda. Outfielder Nate McLouth has been placed on the 60-day DL to accommodate Carpenter on the 40-man roster.

New York acquired Carpenter from the Braves this offseason on the heels of a pair of excellent seasons working as a setup man for Craig Kimbrel in the Atlanta bullpen. (That trade sent the previously vaunted Manny Banuelos to Atlanta and also netted the Yankees southpaw Chasen Shreve.) However, after posting a 2.63 ERA over 126 2/3 innings with 10.0 K/9 and 2.6 BB/9 from 2013-14, Carpenter struggled quite a bit in his brief time with New York. As a member of the Yankees, the 29-year-old worked to a 4.82 ERA in 18 2/3 innings, striking out just 11 hitters against seven walks.

Carpenter maintained very strong fastball velocity with the Yankees, averaging 94.9 mph on his heater. He also posted a career-best 42.4 percent ground-ball rate and struggled with home runs, so perhaps the Nationals feel that a move back to a larger stadium in the National League will help to alleviate his troubles with the long ball. Of course, there will be additional work needed to sort out the righty’s control and restore his significantly diminished strikeout rate.

Carpenter is earning $1.275MM after avoiding arbitration this offseason, and the remaining $815K or so of that sum will be picked up by the Nats. If Carpenter is able to turn it around in D.C., the Nationals will have control of him through the 2017 season — his age-31 campaign.

The 24-year-old Renda, a second-round pick of the Nats in 2012, ranked as Washington’s No. 12 prospect this offseason according to Baseball America and currently ranks 22nd on MLB.com’s Top 30 list. BA praised his compact swing and line-drive stroke, noting that his bat has a chance to be above-average, and he’s tough to strike out. Both scouting reports agree that Renda lacks plus tools across the board but has outstanding makeup and work ethic. He’s not said to be a plus runner but has potentially average speed and is a “solid defender, capable of making the routine plays well,” per Jim Callis and Jonathan Mayo of MLB.com, though the duo does refer to him as an “offensive-minded” second baseman. Fangraphs’ Kiley McDaniel didn’t rate Renda among his top Nats prospects this offseason, but he did mention that the infielder has a good approach and advanced bat control despite a lack of power. In 228 plate appearances at the Double-A level this season, Renda has batted .267/.330/.340 with a homer and 13 steals.

Prospect Notes: Turner, Draft Updates, Cuba

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The Nationals can finalize their acquisition of Padres shortstop Trea Turner as soon as June 14, MLB.com’s Bill Ladson reports. Turner, the widely-reported player to be named later in the deal that delivered Wil Myers to San Diego — with the Nationals giving up Steven Souza (to the Rays) and also picking up righty Joe Ross — has remained with the Padres organization under the since-changed rules regarding drafted players. The 21-year-old owns a .322/.389/.478 slash with five home runs and ten steals in 231 plate appearances at Double-A.

  • Several notable names have come off the board early on day two of the draft. Duke righty Michael Matuella went to the Rangers with the third pick of the third round (78th overall). Not long after, the Padres took fellow right-hander Jacob Nix, whom the Astros were unable to sign last year after their deal with top pick Brady Aiken fell through. And the Nationals grabbed Mariano Rivera Jr. with the 134th choice.
  • Kiley McDaniel of Fangraphs offers his thoughts on yesterday’s draft proceedings, explaining that it is premature to judge the Marlins harshly at this juncture for choosing young slugger Josh Naylor in the first round (much higher than most pundits had him rated). After all, as McDaniel rightly notes, the supposed “value” of a pick will never be as important in the long run as the simple fact of whether that player develops and produces, and at some point teams simply have to take guys they believe in when they can get them. Check out the piece for Kiley’s views on the clubs that chose well on the draft’s first day.
  • Amateur players come to clubs through the draft and the international signing market, of course, making comparison difficult. Ben Badler of Baseball America discusses the latest news and analysis on the Cuban market, providing a helpful guide on several notable names by assigning them a rough (and entirely hypothetical) draft value. Notably, Badler does not share the optimism that some have expressed regarding righty Yadier Alvarez and, in particular, outfielder Eddy Julio Martinez.

Quick Hits: Pompey, Ross, Reds

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The Blue Jays have moved center fielder Dalton Pompey from Triple-A Buffalo to Double-A New Hampshire, as Ben Nicholson of Sportsnet.ca notes. It’s been a rough season for the 22-year-old Pompey, one of the Jays’ top prospects. He hit .193/.264/.337 in 91 plate appearances in the Majors before being sent to Buffalo, where he continued to struggle offensively while also dealing with knee trouble. “He just hasn’t gotten it going yet,” says Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos. “I don’t know that there’s anything specifically. … Some guys just aren’t swinging well at a certain time.” Here’s more from around the game.

  • The Nationals lost 4-2 to the Cubs Saturday, but top prospect Joe Ross had a reasonably good big-league debut, allowing three runs over five innings but striking out four without walking a batter. Ross’ promotion caught him by surprise, as Chase Hughes of NatsInsider.com writes. Padres starting pitcher Tyson Ross, Joe’s brother, watched him make his big-league debut in Washington, and Cubs manager Joe Maddon noted similarities between the two pitchers. “Quick arm. Velocity was there. Really, an effective slider, not unlike his brother,” says Maddon. “Great athlete… He’s going to be very good for them. Coming out of Double-A, he represented himself really, really well.”
  • With his big-league debut Friday, Jon Moscot became the fourth rookie pitcher to start for the Reds this season, MLB.com’s Mark Sheldon writes. Moscot joins Anthony DeSclafani, Michael Lorenzen and Raisel Iglesias. “Well, we’re playing with what we have,” says manager Bryan Price. “[W]e had to make some roster adjustments for some payroll flexibility which led to some of the offseason moves. And it also created some opportunities for these young guys when needed to come in and pitch, but we knew this was our fall back.” The Reds currently have Homer Bailey and Iglesias on the disabled list, and they recently designated Jason Marquis for assignment after nine unsuccessful starts, leaving Johnny Cueto and Mike Leake as the only veterans in the rotation at the moment.

Nationals Promote Joe Ross

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SATURDAY: The Nationals have officially announced the move. To clear space for Ross on their active roster, they’ve optioned fellow pitcher A.J. Cole to Triple-A Syracuse. The clear space on the 40-man, they moved righty Craig Stammen to the 60-day disabled list.

FRIDAY: The Nationals will promote right-handed pitching prospect Joe Ross (the younger brother of San Diego’s Tyson Ross) on Saturday prior to their game versus the Cubs, according to a tweet from NorCal Baseball — Ross’ baseball league from his teenage years. Nationals manager Matt Williams has since told reporters, including MLB.com’s Bill Ladson (Twitter link) that Ross will indeed be starting against the Cubs tomorrow.

One of two key players acquired in the three-team trade that sent Wil Myers to the Padres and Steven Souza Jr. to the Rays (the other being Trea Turner, who is still with San Diego due to PTBNL status), Ross entered the season ranked as the No. 63 prospect in baseball, according to ESPN’s Keith Law (Insider subscription required). Baseball America and also considered him a Top 100 prospect, although they were a bit less bullish, ranking him 96th.

Ross has made pitching at Double-A Harrisburg look easy in his first year with the Nationals organization, compiling a 2.81 ERA with 9.5 K/9 and 2.1 BB/9 in 51 1/3 innings. The former 25th-overall draft pick is said by BA to possess a fastball that sits 91-93 mph but can be ramped up to 96 mph when needed. BA also calls his low- to mid-80s slider a plus pitch and notes that his changeup made a significant amount of improvement in 2014, giving Ross a chance to pan out as a No. 3 type starter in the Majors.

The Nationals have incurred a pair of notable injuries in their rotation, with both Stephen Strasburg and Doug Fister on the shelf at the moment. Perhaps more troubling is the fact that neither pitched particularly well when healthy. Strasburg’s velocity and K/BB numbers remained strong, giving the team some hope, but Fister’s velocity was down around 85 mph, and his strikeouts have all but vanished. Tanner Roark has slotted into the rotation in their absence, and the highly regarded Cole has made a start as well. But Roark has not matched his 2014 success either; despite a 2.59 ERA, Roark has just 11 strikeouts in 31 1/3 innings this year and a woeful 5.35 FIP.

None of this is to say that Ross is guaranteed to receive a prolonged look in the Major Leagues. Given his complete lack of experience at the Triple-A level, he could very well find himself back in the minors for more seasoning. Were Ross to remain with the Nationals for the duration of the season, however, he’d accumulate 122 days of Major League service time, which would, in all likelihood, leave him short of attaining Super Two status down the line.

Amateur Notes: Gourriel Brothers, Martinez, Draft

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We’ve had a lot of news of players leaving Cuba of late, but two of the country’s most prominent names — brothers Yulieski and Lourdes Gourriel, rated first and fourth among the island’s players as big league prospects — have thus far not made any public moves towards the big leagues. As Ben Badler of Baseball America explains, however, both players are now set to miss the Cuban national team’s upcoming appearance in the Pan American Games. The younger of the two, Lourdes, was surprisingly left off the original roster, while Yulieski (the country’s biggest star) is said to have taken himself out of the tournament — after both recently seemed to have passed on chances to earn significant money playing in Japan. For now, it’s entirely unclear whether there is any movement afoot for the brothers to come stateside, but Badler notes that MLB clubs are watching with keen interest.

Here are some more amateur notes as we enter the final weekend before the draft:

  • As he prepares to join the professional ranks after being declared a free agent, Cuban outfielder Eddy Julio Martinez has moved into the top spot on MLB.com’s international prospect list, as MLB.com’s Jesse Sanchez writes. It’s unclear as yet whether Martinez will sign in this period or the new one beginning July 2, but he’ll have to put pen to paper in short order if he’s to head to the Yankees or Angels. Those two clubs will be unable to spend more than $300K after this July 2 class closes, and they are among the teams who Sanchez lists with interest. The Cubs, Blue Jays, Nationals, Rockies, Tigers, Dodgers, and Giants have also reached out to Martinez’s camp, per the report. “I’m working hard to get to my goal to play in the Major Leagues, ” says the 20-year-old. “That’s what I have always wanted to do.”
  • The makeup of the amateur draft has changed over time, as Ben Lindbergh of Grantland explains. Mocking the draft is a more-or-less hopeless endeavor, says Lindbergh, but some trends have emerged. For one thing, the number of pitchers has continued to rise rather significantly. While this year’s class lacks premium talent, Christopher Crawford of Baseball Prospectus tells Lindbergh, some teams — the Rangers (who have the fourth overall pick) chief among them, based on their recent history — could well continue to stockpile arms. The Diamondbacks, who of course sit at first overall, have leaned toward position players recently, although they have an entirely new front office installed this time around. Meanwhile, the percentage of high school players taken has plummeted in the long run, but has jumped more recently. In particular, says Lindbergh, the Red Sox and Blue Jays have moved toward heavy drafting of prep players, who of course represent generally riskier but (in some cases) higher-upside investments. The Nationals have skewed most heavily toward college players — the spread is rather amazingly wide — though that could be due in part to draft circumstances. There are plenty more details in the piece, and I highly recommend a read to prepare for the coming draft.
  • Bonus allocations (which come with the penalty of stark limitations in future drafts) have had a marked impact on clubs’ total outlay on draft-eligible talent, argues Ronald Blum of the Associated Press (via the Denver Post). Draft spending has remained flat over the last three years, with Blum calculating that an analogous increase of total cash commitments to that observed in free agency — which was often the case prior to the new rules — might have delivered an additional $100MM to amateur players over that span. This area is obviously full of complicated questions, including considerations of an international draft, and it’s extremely difficult to identify clear-cut solutions. The piece is full of interesting quotes from notable figures around the game, and is well worth a full read.

NL East Notes: Gee, Niese, Murphy, Marlins, Fister

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Here’s the latest from the National League East:

  • The Mets are “ramping up [their] efforts” to trade both Dillon Gee and Jon Niese, Andy Martino of the New York Daily News reports. New York indicated today that it’s likely the club will back off of its six-man rotation and return to a traditional schedule. With Noah Syndergaard now fairly firmly installed at the big league level, and Steven Matz not far behind him, it makes sense that the club would be looking to see what it can get out of Gee and Niese. Both have good track records of steady production and are controllable in the future at affordable rates, but unfortunately neither has matched their historical results thus far in 2015.
  • As they weigh rotation moves, which rate as good problems, the Mets are dealing with more troubling issues in the infield. The team has placed infielder Daniel Murphy on the 15-day DL with a strained quad, as Adam Rubin of ESPNNewYork.com was among those to report. It’s not believed to be a serious injury, according to manager Terry Collins, but the club can ill afford any significant absence from Murphy. New York is already missing third baseman David Wright for an indeterminate stretch, while highly-regarded youngster Dilson Herrera is also working back from the DL (as well as backstop Travis d’Arnaud). An infield addition of some kind already seemed a plausible target for the Mets, though of course this injury is unlikely to have an impact unless it turns into something worse than expected.
  • While the Marlins continue to wait and see how to proceed at the deadline, the club is looking to build out its pen to give it the best chance at entering the contention picture, MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro reports. Miami has discussed David Carpenter, who was recently designated by the Yankees and is about as intriguing an arm as you can hope to find at a reasonable price tag at this time of year.
  • Nationals righty Doug Fister is set to make his first rehab appearance this weekend at Triple-A, James Wagner of the Washington Post tweets. It would appear as if things have gone about as well as could be hoped since he hit the DL with forearm tightness after his start on May 14. He’ll be a welcome addition to the Nats rotation, assuming he can return after a few minor league starts, and can begin attempting to rebuild his free agent value.

Minor Moves: McGehee, McGowan, Schebler, Venditte, Marrero, Mooneyham, Demeritte

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Here are the day’s minor moves:

  • Several notable players are en route to the big leagues. The Giants have brought back third baseman Casey McGehee after he hit well in a brief Triple-A stint (having accepted an optional assignment). Fellow veteran Dustin McGowan, a right-hander, has been recalled by the Phillies; he had been outrighted off the 40-man earlier in the year. And the Dodgers have called up outfielder Scott Schebler, the organization’s minor league player of the year in 2013, who will see his first MLB action. He was placed on the club’s 40-man roster last year, though his numbers have fallen off somewhat early this season after two consecutive .900+ OPS campaigns in the high minors.
  • Most exciting of all, perhaps, is the news that the Athletics have announced that switch-pitcher Pat Venditte has been added to the big league roster. A nearly-unprecedented hurler, Venditte reverses the very idea of platoons by moving seamlessly between pitching with his right and left arms. He’s been outstanding this year at Triple-A, tossing 33 frames of 1.36 ERA ball with 9.0 K/9 against 3.5 BB/9. The 29-year-old has been particularly stingy when facing lefties, holding them to a remarkable .095/.136/.095 slash.
  • First baseman Chris Marrero has reached a minor league deal with the White Sox, Mike Ashmore of MyCentralJersey.com writes. The former Nationals prospect, now 26, had been playing with the indy league Somerset Patriots. He’ll report to Double-A for the Chicago organization.
  • The Nationals have released lefty Brett Mooneyham, who was their third-round pick in the 2012 draft, Matt Eddy of Baseball America tweets. Mooneyham, a 25-year-old Stanford product, has struggled badly with control and shifted exclusively to the pen at the A-ball level this year. He owned just a 6.41 ERA over 19 2/3 frames with 16 strikeouts against 13 walks.
  • Rangers prospect Travis Demeritte, a first-round pick in 2013, has been hit with an 80-game suspension for using banned substances, Anthony Andro of FOX Sports Southwest reports on Twitter. The infielder was repeating the Sally League at age 20. Over 664 plate appearances at the level, he owns a .220/.320/.438 slash with 30 long balls and 16 stolen bases but a whopping 240 strikeouts.

Nationals Have Inquired With Athletics On Ben Zobrist

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The Nationals have reached out to the Athletics to express preliminary interest in super-utilityman Ben Zobrist, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reports (Twitter link). The teams do not appear to be nearing anything, per the report.

The idea behind the Nats’ interest, it would seem, is fairly straightforward: Zobrist would be expected to slot in at left field for Washington in the near term, filling in for the injured Jayson Werth. Then, he’d be available all around the diamond when Werth returns.

Further, the versatile Zobrist would function as something of a general insurance policy for the rest of the season. Denard Span and Anthony Rendon have both battled fairly notable maladies of late, though they’re both healthy and active now, and injuries can of course pop up at any time with any player. Having Zobrist on hand would mean the team could mix and match as needed while still maintaining productivity across the lineup.

It is worth bearing in mind that general managers Mike Rizzo and Billy Beane have matched up quite a bit on deals in recent years. Of course, many other teams have similar reasons for interest in Zobrist, who has been among the game’s most productive all-around players while spending time all over the field. There will be no shortage of suitors, some of whom (like the Nationals) may be interested in striking a deal early, which should obviously be good for the Athletics.

If you’re looking for even more granular reasons that Washington would be motivated to add a fairly premium piece like Zobrist, despite having reasonable options at the positions in question, remember that youngster Michael Taylor — who has seen quite a bit of action filling in for Span and now Werth — entered the year with 37 days of MLB service under his belt and has been up for much of the season. An opportunity to send him back down for an extended stretch could be enough for D.C. to gain an extra year of control, which would reduce the sting of losing the young talent required to pry loose Zobrist (or some other Werth fill-in).

Zobrist has long made sense for the Nationals in some form or another: I suggested they could pursue him last summer (before they added Asdrubal Cabrera) and thought an offseason deal could also have materialized (which, indeed, Washington did consider to at least some extent). But that was before the team added Yunel Escobar and went on to witness a rebirth of Danny Espinosa. To be sure, the idea of gaining a temporary outfield replacement, highly valuable utility piece, and down-the-line infield injury protection in one fell swoop is tantalizing in its own right. But the addition of Zobrist would also theoretically free the team to trade Ian Desmond, who was reportedly rather aggressively shopped to the Mariners over the winter.

NL East Notes: Marlins, Cishek, Phils, Strasburg, Fister

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Despite what the standings say, the Marlins are not yet entertaining the idea of selling, MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro reports. The club is not interested in moving core players, says Frisaro, noting that dealing third baseman Martin Prado — who is under contract for next year as well — does not make sense, at least at present.

Here’s more from the NL East:

  • Skipper Dan Jennings says that the Marlins’ decision to option Steve Cishek was motivated by a desire to get his mechanics in order outside the big league spotlight, Frisaro reports. Noting that Cishek’s velocity has improved of late, Jennings said he expects a short minor league stint: “I don’t see this being a long-term deal at all. I think he will come back and be the same Steve Cishek we’ve known in the past.”
  • The upcoming draft is an important one for a Phillies organization that is working to add as much impact talent as possible, Jim Salisbury of CSNPhilly.com writes. Johnny Almaraz will oversee the picking for the first time, and Salisbury suggests he’s likely to “stay away from project-type players, at least up high.” Philadelphia has struggled to produce draft talent in the not-so-distant past, but seems thus far to have hit on both of its last two picks: shortstop J.P. Crawford and righty Aaron Nola. “It’s an interesting draft,” said GM Ruben Amaro Jr. “There’s some depth. Maybe not tons of super difference makers, but there’s some good players out there.”
  • Medical analysis confirms that Nationals starter Stephen Strasburg has a strained left trapezius, James Wagner of the Washington Post reports. For now, the plan is for Strasburg to rest, with the hope that he’ll be ready to resume throwing in relatively short order.
  • The Nationals have also received encouraging news on another injured right-handed starter, Doug Fister. As Wagner writes, Fister says his forearm tightness has “pretty much subsided completely.” The veteran went on to say that he has never been too concerned about the issue: “It was really just more tight than complete, utter mayhem. So I mean, it wasn’t a bad issue. It was more of just I really need a break for some reason, there’s so much tightness going on that we really need to address it.” As important as Fister is to Washington, his ability to recover and regain his effectiveness may tell even more on his free agent status. The 31-year-old has produced consistently excellent results over the last four seasons, but saw a dip in his velocity and strikeout tallies early this year.

Quick Hits: Opt-Outs, Correia, Draft, Rodriguez, Braves

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June 1 (that’s Monday) is a popular opt-out date, with multiple players having the chance to become free agents if not elevated to the big league roster. Chris Cotillo of SB Nation ran down a few of those on Twitter: David Aardsma of the Dodgers, Juan Gutierrez and Kevin Correia of the Giants, Rich Hill of the Nationals, and Brad Penny of the White Sox. (He also lists Jarrod Saltalamacchia, but he’s now up with the D’Backs.) As MLBTR’s Steve Adams notes (Twitter links), Aardsma is throwing quite well at Triple-A, and could well end up opting out — making him a nice target for teams in need of an arm.

  • One player who is very likely to find a new home is the Giants’ Correia, Jerry Crasnick of ESPN.com tweets. Correia will likely be released today, says Crasnick, as the team doesn’t have a need for his services at the big league level. He has been effective thus far at Triple-A, throwing 37 2/3 innings of 3.58 ERA ball over six starts and posting 6.0 K/9 against 2.6 BB/9.
  • The upcoming draft is not going to feature two eligible players, as righty/first baseman Luken Baker will head to TCU and center fielder Kevin Collard intends to play at San Diego, per Kiley McDaniel of Fangraphs (Twitter link). Kiley rated Baker the 40th-best prospect available, noting that he could end up as either a pitcher or position player.
  • In a recent chat, Ben Badler of Baseball America addressed the question of how Cuban shortstop Alfredo Rodriguez (read more on him here) stacks up against current minor leaguers. Badler says that, while some teams place a higher value on Rodriguez’s skillset (weak bat, good fielding and speed) than do others, he wouldn’t place him within the game’s 200 best prospects.
  • Badler also says that he hears the Braves are planning to make a huge push in the international market — not this coming July 2, but next. Atlanta seems to be hoping to take advantage of the fact that several big-spending teams will be restricted from giving out $300K+ bonuses in that market.
  • Roc Nation has hired former Excel agent Kyle Thousand to head up its baseball representation operations as managing director, Crasnick tweets.
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