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Archives for August 2014

Yankees Designate Matt Daley For Assignment

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The Yankees have recalled right-hander Bryan Mitchell from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and designated fellow righty Matt Daley for assignment, the team announced via press release.

This marks the third time that the up-and-down Daley has been designated this season. The 32-year-old has appeared in a total of 14 1/3 innings with the Yankees, posting a 5.02 ERA with 10 strikeouts against six walks and one hit batter. In 100 2/3 career innings between the Rockies and Yankees, Daley has a 4.47 ERA with a very solid 98-to-36 K/BB ratio, but his average fastball velocity dipped below 86 mph in 2014.

Mitchell, a 16th-round pick in 2009, will be making his big league debut the first time he takes the hill for the Yankees. He has a 4.27 ERA overall in the minors this season, but his numbers improved after jumping from Double-A Trenton to Triple-A. In 25 frames with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, Mitchell notched a 2.88 ERA with a 21-to-10 K/BB ratio in five starts.

Phillies Pull Hamels Back From Waivers

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1:53pm: The Phillies have pulled Hamels back off waivers after the two sides were unable to strike a deal, tweets Paul Sulivan of the Chicago Tribune.

FRIDAY, 8:43am: In an updated version of his original article, Wittenmyer writes that the Cubs may prefer to add an ace-caliber starter via free agency this winter. They’ll have multiple options to do so with Max Scherzer, James Shields and Jon Lester (whom Cubs president Theo Epstein and GM Jed Hoyer know well) hitting the open market. Jon Heyman of CBS Sports hears the same, reporting that the Cubs are “expected to be aggressive” on the free agent market.

THURSDAY: As many have been speculating since Cole Hamels was placed on revocable waivers, the Cubs have indeed been awarded the claim on the Philadelphia ace, Mike Missanelli of ESPN 97.5 in Philadelphia first tweeted. However, Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times reports that a deal is almost certainly not going to happen. The Phillies, according to Wittenmyer’s sources, have asked the Cubs for one of their prized young shortstops as the centerpiece to a trade. Because both Starlin Castro and Javier Baez are already on the 40-man roster and would therefore be subject to revocable waivers themselves, Addison Russell (and others) is the likely asking price, according to Wittenmyer.

The two sides will have 48.5 hours from the moment of the claim in order to work out a trade. Any 40-man roster players to change hands in a theoretical deal would also need to clear waivers. If and when the two sides decide that a deal cannot be reached, the Phillies can simply pull Hamels back off waivers. Hamels’ contract does allow him to block trades to 20 teams, but as ESPN’s Jayson Stark reported earlier today, the Cubs are not one of those 20 clubs. So, in the unlikely event that a deal is agreed upon, Hamels would have no say in vetoing the transaction.

While the Cubs have the financial capability to assume the remaining $100MM+ on Hamels’ contract and the prospect depth to acquire nearly any available player via trade, Wittenmyer reports that the team has “no desire” to use both surpluses on a single player.

It’s certainly not outlandish for the Phillies to ask for Russell and other high-end prospects in order to part with Hamels. The Cubs, after all, acquired Russell (along with 2013 first-rounder Billy McKinney and controllable starter Dan Straily) in exchange for a year and a half of Jeff Samardzija’s services and three months of Jason Hammel.

Clearly, Hamels has more long-term value than the combination of the two arms the Cubs sent to Oakland. While his salary is sizable, a $22.5MM annual commitment is actually below-market for a top-of-the-rotation arm, which Hamels clearly is. He’s pitched to a 2.42 ERA with 9.1 K/9, 2.6 BB/9 and a 46.9 percent ground-ball rate in 137 1/3 innings this season. He’s controlled through the 2018 season at that same $22.5MM rate, and his vesting option for the 2019 campaign comes with a $6MM buyout. However, if the Phils truly wish to shop Hamels — and there’s been little to no indication that they do — they’d likely be better suited to wait until the offseason, when all 29 other teams could bid for his services and potentially drive up the price.

For those who are unfamiliar with revocable waivers or post-July 31 trading, check out MLBTR’s primer on August trades.

Cubs Designate Ryan Kalish For Assignment

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The Cubs have designated outfielder Ryan Kalish for assignment in order to clear roster space for the newly acquired Jacob Turner, reports MLB.com’s Carrie Muskat (Twitter link).

The 26-year-old Kalish was once considered among baseball’s top 100 prospects by both Baseball America and Baseball Prospectus, but he’s never been able to capitalize on the tools that resulted in that hype, due in large part to a series of neck and shoulder surgeries. In an even 100 plate appearances with the Cubs this season, he batted .242/.303/.330 — numbers that aren’t much of an improvement over his career .243/.296/.346 batting line.

Kalish, a former ninth-round pick, has a .245/.319/.391 triple-slash in his career at the Triple-A level. He’s capable of playing all three outfield positions, though he spent more time in left than center with Chicago this season, and defensive metrics haven’t been kind to his glove at the Major League level.

Cubs Acquire Jacob Turner

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The Cubs have bought low on another once-promising right-hander, as they’ve announced the acquisition Jacob Turner from the Marlins in exchange for minor league right-handers Tyler Bremer and Jose Arias. Chicago placed a claim on Turner earlier this week after Miami designated the once prized prospect for assignment and placed him on revocable waivers.

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Turner, who only recently turned 23, is a former first-round pick of the Tigers, and it wasn’t long ago that he was regarded as one of baseball’s top prospects. Acquired by Miami as the centerpiece to 2012’s Anibal Sanchez/Omar Infante trade with Detroit, Turner has struggled with the Marlins and was designated for assignment because he is out of minor league options. While the Marlins reportedly had lost patience with Turner after his struggles in both the rotation and the bullpen, the move is a curious one for a team that typically doesn’t spend much; cost-controllable starters with this type of upside are hard to come by, and Turner’s rotation spot will reportedly be filled by Brad Penny, making this decision a puzzling one, to say the least.

Though Turner’s ERA jumped from 3.74 last year (in 118 innings) to 5.97 in this year’s 78 1/3 innings, there’s plenty to like about the rest of his numbers in 2014. Turner’s K/9 rate, swinging strike rate and average fastball velocity have all increased (though he has not shown a significant jump in the latter measure when taking into account only his innings as a starter). Meanwhile, his BB/9 rate has dipped from 4.1 to 2.6. He’s also seen his ground-ball rate spike from a solid 45.7 percent to a strong 51.3 percent this season. Sabermetric ERA estimators such as FIP (4.01), xFIP (3.93) and SIERA (3.98) all feel that Turner has been markedly better than his earned run average would suggest in 2014.

Turner, who signed a Major League deal out of the draft (before the CBA banned such contracts), has a $1MM option for next season and can be controlled via arbitration once he has accumulated three years of Major League service. He’s controllable through at least the 2018 season for the Cubs and represents a chance for Chicago to buy low on another talented but struggling arm, as they did in 2013 with Jake Arrieta.

Turner, of course, may never bounce back to the level which Arrieta has in 2014, but the marginal cost to acquire him made this a fairly easy call for president Theo Epstein and GM Jed Hoyer once the Rockies surprisingly neglected to make a claim.

The 24-year-old has a 3.10 ERA with 10.8 K/9 and 3.8 BB/9 in in 52 1/3 innings of relief between Class-A Kane County and Class-A Advanced Daytona this season. Arias, a 23-year-old Dominican hurler, has a 1.77 ERA with 11.3 K/9 and 3.8 BB/9 in 40 2/3 innings at Kane County this season. Neither pitcher ranked among the Cubs’ top 30 prospects (per Baseball America) heading into the season.

ESPN’s Keith Law first broke the news of the trade (on Twitter). Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune tweeted that two Class-A pitchers were headed to the Marlins, with Law tweeting that both were relievers. Bremer’s brother, Noah, first tweeted his inclusion in the deal, while ESPN Chicago’s Jesse Rogers tweeted that Arias was the second pitcher.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Giants Release Dan Uggla, Outright Tyler Colvin

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AUG. 8: The Giants have released Uggla and outrighted Colvin to Triple-A Fresno, according to the team’s transactions page.

AUG. 4: Uggla has declined to go to Triple-A, Pavlovic tweets, and it is “hard to see him back with [the] Giants at any point.”  As for Colvin, Giants assistant GM Bobby Evans told Hank Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle (Twitter link) that the outfielder has been informed that the Giants would like to keep him at Triple-A if he clears waivers.  Colvin has the option of becoming a free agent.

AUG. 1: The Giants have designated Uggla and Colvin for assignment, tweets Alex Pavlovic of the Mercury News.

JULY 30, 9:21pm: The Giants have actually optioned Colvin to Triple-A, and have yet to formally make a move regarding Uggla, tweets Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle. The club has not confirmed that Uggla has or will be released, tweets Andrew Baggarly of CSNBayArea.com.

8:46pm: The Giants have released second baseman Dan Uggla and outfielder Tyler Colvin, reports MLB.com’s Chris Haft. San Francisco is expected to undertake several roster moves, possibly including new additions as well as the activation of several regulars from the DL.

While the club has been rumored to be pursuing several possible options at second base, nothing has reportedly come to fruition at this point. The Giants need roster space regardless, as Angel Pagan, Brandon Belt, and Hector Sanchez are all expected to be activated in relatively short order.

Uggla struggled mightily in his short time in San Francisco, failing to register a hit in 12 plate appearances while striking out six times (to go with three errors in the field). Of course, that is a continuation of his difficult time this year and last in Atlanta. Since the start of 2013, the 34-year-old has slashed .171/.291/.326 over 694 plate appearances, racking up 217 strikeouts along the way.

Colvin, meanwhile, owns a meager .225/.270/.384 line in 148 plate appearances on the season. He joined the Giants on a minor league deal after spending the prior two seasons with the Rockies. Once a well-regarded prospect, the 28-year-old had a strong 2012 campaign but has not produced at the MLB level since.

Dodgers Not Done Pursuing Pitching Help

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The Dodgers swung a trade with the Phillies yesterday and acquired right-hander Roberto Hernandez due to concerns over the health of Josh Beckett, but GM Ned Colletti told reports, including Bill Shaikin of the L.A. Times, that he hopes to make at least one more move. “There’s another pitcher out there we’re trying to get,” Colletti said.

Colletti said that the Dodgers would like to add a swingman to replace Paul Maholm, who is out for the season with a torn ACL, and added that the club is also looking at back-of-the-rotation arms and late-inning relievers. Referring to the Hernandez trade, Colletti candidly admitted that the trade talks accelerated quickly, as he hoped to swing a deal before news of Beckett’s injury broke. “Ruben [Amaro Jr.] could hold me up for even more,” he stated.

A number of back-end arms that I mentioned in last month’s look at the trade market for starting pitchers could likely be had for very little return from the Dodgers, including Kyle Kendrick, Kevin Correia and Colby Lewis. Bartolo Colon could represent a potentially more expensive but still effective option, assuming he clears waivers (which is highly likely). MLBTR’s Jeff Todd examined the trade market for right-handed relievers and left-handed relievers, and while some of them have since been dealt (as have some from the list of starters), many of those names could come into play as well.

Quick Hits: Preller, Lester, Hernandez, Manny

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We at MLBTR would like to extend a sincere thank you to all of our readers — both longtime fans and newcomers alike — for the overwhelming support we received on July 31 this year. MLBTR shattered its previous highwater mark for most pageviews in a single day, as the 4,487,005 views we received on deadline day dwarfed the previous peak of ~3.5MM views. This site wouldn’t exist without loyal readers and who frequent the page and commenters who strengthen the community through discussion and speculation on each post. Thank you for the continued support!

Onto tonight’s links from around the league!

  • New Padres GM A.J. Preller is impressed with the rotation that he’s inheriting in his new post, writes MLB.com’s Corey Brock. Preller’s new team boasts a rotation fronted by Andrew Cashner, Ian Kennedy, Tyson Ross and Jesse Hahn, and Brock wonders if the team will make a second run at extending Cashner with a new GM in place. Of his new club, Preller said to Padres fans: “I want Padres fans to understand that it’s not going to be smooth sailing from Day 1, But I can promise you we’re going to have the hungriest, hard-working group of employees in the game.”
  • A theoretical return to the Red Sox for Jon Lester could follow the same path as Mike Lowell’s return following the 2007 season, writes WEEI’s Rob Bradford. Lowell spoke with Bradford at length about his decision to reject a four-year, $48MM offer from the Phillies in favor of a three-year, $38MM offer to return to Boston. Lowell feels that Lester might not feel the need to take something like $150MM over seven years, but he adds that the Red Sox can’t simply offer a four-year deal if the rest of the market is willing to offer five or more years.
  • Uncertainty surrounding Josh Beckett’s health for the remainder of the season and an unwillingness to part with their top three prospects led to the Dodgers’ acquisition of Roberto Hernandez earlier today, writes Tim Brow n of Yahoo Sports. Brown feels the decision to hang onto Corey Seager, Joc Pederson and Julio Urias was defensible and notes that a team source told him that Beckett could need season-ending surgery.
  • Phillies GM Ruben Amaro Jr. told MLB.com’s Todd Zolecki that the team felt it made sense to flip Hernandez, as they had no plans to make a qualifying offer following the season (Twitter link). While that’s hardly a surprise, the philosophy behind the move could be applied to other current Phillies such as Kyle Kendrick, although that’s just my own speculation.
  • Cubs prospects Javier Baez and Arismendy Alcantara both offer high praise for Triple-A player/coach Manny Ramirez and the help they received on their swing mechanics from the former MVP candidate, writes Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times. “He helped my approach to right-center, [following] his routine every day, going to the cage, the way he works,” said Baez. “He’s always got a bat in his hand doing something, either swinging the bat or just hitting in the cage. He talked to a lot of the guys. A lot of people learned from him.” In his most recent chat with readers, ESPN’s Keith Law wrote that he was a believer in Ramirez’s positive influence on Baez.

Angels Searching For Rotation Help On Waiver Wire

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The Angels claimed Vinnie Pestano off waivers from the Indians and subsequently worked out a trade for the righty earlier today, but GM Jerry Dipoto tells reporters, including the Orange County Register’s Jeff Fletcher, that he’s actively claiming other players and trying to bolster his rotation (Twitter links). However, acquiring starting pitching upgrades at this time of year is very difficult, Dipoto added (rival clubs, of course, can pull their players back off revocable waivers).

The Halos clearly passed on Josh Beckett when he was placed on waivers, as he’s the lone starting pitcher on MLBTR’s list of players that have already cleared revocable waivers. Beyond that, however, there figure to be multiple possibilities on the market, though several would come with significant financial commitments. A.J. Burnett of the Phillies, for example, was said to be on waivers earlier this week. So, too, were Kyle Kendrick, Jason Hammel and Wade Miley, although each would come with road blocks (e.g. Kendrick’s salary and mediocre performance, Hammel’s presence on the roster of a division rival and Arizona’s unwillingness to move Miley).

The Angels’ pitching depth took a hit when Tyler Skaggs was lost to the disabled list due to a strained flexor tendon in his left arm last week. At the same time, C.J. Wilson, who is returning from injury, pitched poorly in his first time back on the mound and has allowed six runs in four of his past five outings.

For the time being, Wilson will pair with Garrett Richards and Jered Weaver atop the rotation, with Hector Santiago and Matt Shoemaker rounding out the quintet. However, Dipoto will have several options available to him. Last month, I took a look at the trade market for starting pitchers, and while several arms I listed in the post have since been moved, a good number of the pitchers listed could make sense for the Halos. Bartolo Colon, for example, would be a sensible option to add some stable innings down the stretch for Anaheim, and his salary makes him a likely candidate to clear waivers (his name is purely my own speculation, of course).

AL Central Links: May, Milone, Pestano, Garcia

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All signs point to the Twins promoting Trevor May to make Saturday’s start against the A’s, tweets Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN. The 24-year-old was acquired from the Phillies in 2012’s Ben Revere trade, and he’s seen his command steadily improve since joining the Twins organization. May’s ERA has dropped accordingly, and he’s currently sporting a 2.93 mark through 95 1/3 innings at Triple-A this season. With Vance Worley now in Pittsburgh, May is the lone piece remaining from that deal. Having averaged 10.5 K/9 in his minor league career, May could prove to be a valuable addition for a Twins team that’ has long been starved for power arms.

Here’s more on the Twins and the AL Central…

  • Recently extended catcher Kurt Suzuki influenced the Twins’ decision to acquire Tommy Milone from the A’s, reports John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle (Twitter link). Suzuki, who has caught Milone numerous times as a former member of the A’s, made pitch to manager Ron Gardenhire, pitching coach Rick Anderson and bench coach Terry Steinbach — all of which were presumably relayed to the front office.
  • Following today’s trade of Vinnie Pestano to the Angels, Indians GM Chris Antonetti offered the following statement to MLB.com’s Jordan Bastian (Twitter link): “Vinnie was a very valuable member of the organization who made some great contributions to our bullpen throughout his time with us. As we’ve had [Major League] bullpen opportunities over the course of the last month, we’ve promoted other pitchers from [Triple-A] Columbus, so we thought it made sense to give Vinnie a fresh start with the Angels. In return, we acquired a young pitcher who we think has a chance to help our Major League team in the next few years.” For his part, Pestano is excited about the fresh start, particularly due to the fact that he is a SoCal native. In a classy series of thank you tweets to the Indians organization, Pestano, who was born in Newport Beach, noted that he couldn’t imagine a better destination for a trade.
  • MLB.com’s Scott Merkin writes that Avisail Garcia’s aggressive approach to his rehab from a shoulder injury has impressed the White Sox. Garcia’s injury was thought to be season-ending back in April, but an August return now looks possible. Merkin notes that the move could create an interesting roster decision, though GM Rick Hahn has noted that he will pursue August trades, so a roster spot could be created that way.

Minor Moves: Anna, Kottaras, Jackson

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We’ll track today’s minor moves here.

  • The Pirates have outrighted infielder Dean Anna to Triple-A Indianapolis, according to the International League transactions page. Since being claimed by the Bucs in early July, the 27-year-old Anna has batted just .186/.368/.302 in 57 plate appearances. Overall, he has just a .601 OPS at the Triple-A level this season, and he didn’t fare any better in the bigs with New York, posting a .518 OPS in 25 plate appearances. Anna excelled with a .331/.410/.482 batting line with the Padres’ Triple-A affiliate in 2013, however, indicating that there’s some upside in his bat.
  • The Blue Jays have signed catcher George Kottaras and sent him to Triple-A Buffalo, Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.ca reports. The Cardinals released Kottaras last month after they acquired A.J. Pierzynski. He’s a lifetime .216/.326/.414 hitter in parts of seven seasons with the Red Sox, Brewers, Athletics, Royals, Indians and Cardinals.
  • The Brewers have acquired pitcher Jay Jackson from the Pirates for cash considerations, Tom Haudricourt of the Journal Sentinel tweets. Jackson, 26, has posted a 4.89 ERA in 84 2/3 innings as a swingman with Triple-A Indianapolis, but with 9.2 K/9 and 3.8 BB/9. He has also pitched in the Cubs and Marlins systems. He’s recently won praise for his stuff, with Pirates Triple-A catcher Tony Sanchez suggesting Jackson has the potential to be a good big-league reliever.

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