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Alex Cobb To Undergo Tommy John Surgery

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Rays right-hander Alex Cobb announced to reporters that he will undergo Tommy John surgery to repair the torn ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow, according to MLB.com’s Bill Chastain (on Twitter). Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times tweets that Cobb learned yesterday that he has a full tear of the ligament, whereas previous tests had indicated it was only a partial tear.

Cobb will be lost for the remainder of the 2015 season and could be sidelined into June or July of the 2016 season. Cobb’s teammate, Matt Moore, underwent Tommy John on April 22 last year and is expected to return to the Rays at some point in June.

Over the past two seasons, the 27-year-old Cobb has looked the part of a front-line starter when healthy enough to take the hill. He’s worked to a 2.82 ERA with 8.2 K/9, 2.7 BB/9 and a 56 percent ground-ball rate in 309 2/3 innings. He has also, however, missed time with a concussion and an oblique injury, and this season he opened the year on the disabled list due to what was originally termed right forearm tendinitis.

Given his previous level of performance, the loss of Cobb is a crushing reality for a Rays club that hoped to have its top pitcher return to bolster a rotation that has been effective as a whole but has seen some struggles at the back end. Drew Smyly was recently activated from the disabled list to join the starting five, which should help provide some stability. Smyly will now join Chris Archer, Jake Odorizzi, Nate Karns and Alex Colome as the team awaits Moore’s return.

As for Cobb, he’ll be placed on the 15-day DL and, when the team needs a 40-man spot, the 60-day disabled list. He’ll receive Major League service time while injured and continue earning his $4MM salary as he rehabs. Because he didn’t throw a pitch in 2015, Cobb will likely be in line for a very similar, if not identical salary in arbitration this winter. That will mark his second time through the arb process and leave the Rays with roughly one-and-a-half healthy seasons of Cobb, barring any setbacks in his recovery, before he is eligible for free agency at the conclusion of the 2017 season.

Jason Vargas On DL With Flexor Strain; No Damage To UCL

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2:50pm: Vargas tells reporters that further tests revealed that there’s no damage to his UCL (Twitter link via McCullough). He’s hopeful that he can begin to play catch next week and only miss “a few” starts, though the team has yet to announce any form of timetable.

2:32pm: The Royals will place left-hander Jason Vargas on the disabled list with a strained flexor muscle in his left elbow, reports Andy McCullough of the Kansas City Star. While there’s no further news on Vargas’ condition yet, McCullough notes that Vargas could be out for months. The team also must be concerned with the possibility of Tommy John surgery, as flexor injuries can often be a precursor to the operation. Vargas’ roster spot will be filled by Yohan Pino for the time being.

Vargas, 32, is in the second season of a four-year, $32MM pact with Kansas City signed in the 2013-14 offseason. While some questioned the deal at the time it was signed, Vargas made good on the first year of the contract, firing 187 innings of 3.71 ERA ball with 6.2 K/9, 2.0 BB/9 and a 38.3 percent ground-ball rate. Fangraphs valued his contributions at 2.2 wins above replacement, while Baseball-Reference pegged him at 2.4. Vargas also pitched well in the postseason, winning a pair of games in the ALDS and ALCS by allowing three total runs in a combined 11 1/3 innings. He scuffled a bit in the World Series, yielding three runs in a short, four-inning outing that resulted in a loss.

The Royals have some rotation depth in the event of such an injury, as Pino and Chris Young were both signed to small Major League deals this offseason. Top prospect Brandon Finnegan looms as an option in the Minors as well. Young is expected to step into Vargas’ rotation slot for now, according to McCullough.

Losing Vargas for a significant amount of time would increase the need for strong performances from Yordano Ventura, Danny Duffy and Edinson Volquez atop the rotation, however, as right-hander Jeremy Guthrie has struggled badly in the final guaranteed year of his contract. Vargas, too, has struggled in 2015, although this news may shed some light on the reason for his difficulties. Through 25 2/3 innings this year, he’s worked to a 5.26 ERA with a 14-to-10 K/BB ratio.

Cuban Infielder/Outfielder Yosvani Garcia Declared Free Agent

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Cuban infielder Yosvani Garcia, 26, has been declared a free agent by Major League Baseball, MLBTR has learned (Twitter link). Because Garcia is older than 23 and has at least five years of professional experience playing in Cuba, he is not considered an amateur and will not be subject to international spending limitations.

Garcia will host a showcase for MLB clubs in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic on May 27. He’s a lifetime .280/.375/.352 hitter in Cuba with a knack for making contact, evidenced by a strikeout rate of 14.8 percent in Cuba’s top league, Serie Nacional. Garcia has been clocked at 6.4 seconds in the 60-yard dash and possibly as low as 6.2 seconds.

Garcia, who is being represented by Pro Talent Sports Group’s Christopher Fanta, didn’t play in Cuba’s most recent season, as he was in the process of establishing residency in the Dominican Republic after defecting from Cuba. To this point, roughly 10 clubs have expressed interest in his services. It’s unclear at this stage exactly what type of contract Garcia could command. He’s not a Hector Olivera type of prospect, but we’ve still seen recent Cuban signings such as Dian Toscano (four years, $6MM with the Braves) and Daniel Carbonell (four years, $3.5MM with the Giants) obtain noteworthy guarantees, even though some scouts feel they’re likely to occupy part-time roles in the Majors. Another Cuban signee, Pablo Fernandez, received an $8MM bonus on a Minor League deal despite the fact that scouts were lukewarm on him, and he spent most of his time in Cuba as a reliever.

DraftKings MLB All-Star Game Contest

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It’s time for another exciting DraftKings event — this time, with a twist. The winner will receive a trip for two to Cincinnati for the MLB All-Star Fantasy Camp on July 12 through 16. If you win, you’ll get a $1,000 airfare credit, hotel accommodations in Cinci, two tickets to the festivities — including the Home Run Derby and the 86th MLB All-Star Game — and an official MLB Fantasy Camp uniform. All said, it’s a $10K value for the winner!

Head to DraftKings right now to enter for just $3 — or, for free with your first deposit! (Must be 21 or up to enter.) In addition to the first prize, the top 288 entrants will win cash.

The contest goes live tomorrow night — Saturday, May 9th, at 7:05pm EST. Just head to the entry page, choose your 8 position players and 2 pitchers while staying within the $50K salary cap, and follow the action to see if you are a winner!

Here’s the lineup I’m planning on rolling with for tomorrow night:

05.08.2015 DK

Don’t hesitate!  Sign up for the DraftKings MLB All-Star Game contest right now!

This is a sponsored post from DraftKings.

 

Athletics To Designate Alex Hassan For Assignment

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The Athletics have designated outfielder Alex Hassan for assignment, reports Robert Murray of Baseball Essential (Twitter link). Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle adds (also via Twitter) that the DFA will clear room on the roster for right-hander Angel Castro, who will join the bullpen.

Hassan has, unfortunately, become somewhat of the poster boy for some possible flaws in the DFA system, which MLBTR’s Charlie Wilmoth recently examined at length. Hassan entered the offseason in the Red Sox organization, but was claimed off waivers by the A’s and then the Orioles. Baltimore designated Hassan for assignment in February, with the A’s claiming him off waivers yet again. He would then be designated by Oakland in April, claimed by Texas and designated again before being claimed for a third time by the A’s. This marks the fourth official DFA for Hassan since late February — a mark that doesn’t include the original two instances in which Boston and Oakland tried to sneak him through outright waivers.

From Hassan’s standpoint, it’s clear that multiple clubs view him as a good enough player to keep on a 40-man roster for depth purposes, and while that’s normally a good thing for a player, it can also hinder their development, as they’re ineligible to play while waiting to learn of their outcome in DFA limbo.

Hassan is a career .278/.381/.402 hitter at the Triple-A level, although he’s batted just .230/.305/.297 in 82 plate appearances between the Triple-A affiliates for Texas and Oakland this season. At his best, the 27-year-old offers the ability to hit for a high average and get on-base at a strong clip without striking out too often. He can handle first base and the outfield, so it’s not surprising that clubs view his skill-set as an appealing one.

Mets Notes: Wright, Syndergaard, Tapia

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David Wright’s return to the Mets will take longer than expected, as the team announced this afternoon that Wright’s rehab from a hamstring injury has been shut down due to the development of lower back pain. Wright underwent an MRI that did not reveal any structural damage, but the Mets say that he will not resume baseball activities until the back pain has subsided. Wright, 32, was hitting .333/.317/.424 through his first eight games at the time of the injury. Eric Campbell and Daniel Murphy have absorbed the bulk of the playing time at third base, but obviously the loss of Wright for now extended period of time is a notable hindrance on the team. I wouldn’t expect the Mets to pursue any form of long-term option, but a short-term pickup that could competently handle third base and allow Murphy to slide back over to second in place of the struggling Dilson Herrera is at least plausible.

A couple more notes on some Mets pitching prospects…

  • Noah Syndergaard, not Steven Matz, would be the next in line should the need for a spot start arise, reports Newsday’s David Lennon (via Twitter). Syndergaard’s Triple-A experience has him ahead of Matz at this time, and with Rafael Montero sidelined, he’d be the next line of defense. As it stands, Matt Harvey, Jacob deGrom, Bartolo Colon, Jon Niese and Dillon Gee comprise the Mets’ rotation. Gee began the year as a trade candidate — he may still be once Syndergaard/Matz have developed more and Montero is healthy — but he’s performed well enough to hold down a rotation spot thus far.
  • Jared Diamond of the Wall Street Journal tweeted yesterday that Mets pitching prospect Domingo Tapia has undergone Tommy John surgery. Tapia formerly ranked as one of New York’s 10 best prospects on Baseball America’s Top 30 list (prior to the 2013 season), but he fell to 19th prior to 2014 and missed the list entirely this past offseason. Last year, the 22-year-old Tapia spent the season with Class-A Advanced St. Lucie and worked to a 3.96 ERA but whiffed just 56 strikeouts against 51 walks. He moved up to Double-A this year but threw just 1 2/3 innings before falling to injury.

NL West Notes: Alonso, Saltalamacchia, Pence, Beachy

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The Padres could be facing an extended absence for first baseman Yonder Alonso following a shoulder injury sustained in last night’s contest, reports MLB.com’s Barry M. Bloom. Alonso is slated to have an MRI today after jamming his shoulder while diving to field a grounder. The 28-year-old was already scheduled for an x-ray on the shoulder today as well, Bloom notes, having been hit by a pitch there over the weekend — an incident which led to soreness that cost him two games in this week’s series against the Giants. Losing Alonso would be a difficult setback for the Padres for a number of reasons. The former top prospect is hitting well this season, with a .333/.427/.437 batting line in 103 plate appearances. He’s also the only true first baseman on the 25-man roster, and he’s been the most productive left-handed bat on an exceptionally right-leaning Padres roster.

In other news from the NL West…

  • The D-Backs made no promises to Jarrod Saltalamacchia upon signing him to a Minor League deal, writes Zach Buchanan of the Arizona Republic. In fact, chief baseball officer Tony La Russa tells Buchanan that the team wouldn’t have signed Saltalamacchia had he and agent Jim Munsey insisted on being added to the 25-man roster. The club has received virtually no offense from Tuffy Gosewisch thus far — though Gosewisch did respond to Salty’s signing by lacing three doubles on Thursday — but manager Chip Hale said they knew they’d likely be sacrificing some offense for Gosewisch’s glove. The D-Backs were hoping to have more offense from the rest of the order, making the need for production from catcher a bit less glaring. “It depends on how much our shortstop hits, how much our second baseman hits,” said Hale. “You can’t have it be really tough on you after the fifth hitter.”
  • Hunter Pence has yet to play in the second season of his five-year, $90MM contract with the Giants, but the right fielder is set to begin a rehab assignment at Triple-A Sacramento on Friday, reports Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle. Pence is in line for a relatively long rehab assignment, possibly as many as 10 games according to Schulman, in order to make up some of the lost ground from missing Spring Training. Justin Maxwell and Gregor Blanco have shouldered the load in Pence’s absence, but the Giants’ collective .229/.305/.400 line from right fielders clearly isn’t equal to what Pence can provide.
  • Dodgers righty Brandon Beachy is traveling with the Dodgers and working with VP of medical services Stan Conte and pitching coach Rick Honeycutt on changing his mechanics, writes Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register. The changes, made in an effort to prevent further elbow injury once he’s healed from his second Tommy John surgery, were Beachy’s idea. Conte immediately supported the pitcher’s interest in pitching mechanics and biomechanics. Beachy admitted that he’s having trouble commanding his pitches thus far in bullpen sessions, perhaps in part due to the new mechanics. While he has plenty of time to iron out the kinks, reduced control would be a trade-off Beachy would happily make if it meant avoiding another surgery. “I think I’d rather be less effective and be able to stay healthy for longer than one or two months.”

Quick Hits: A-Rod, Gutierrez, Butera, Manfred

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With a solo shot off of Chris Tillman during tonight’s 4-3 Yankees win over the Orioles, Alex Rodriguez officially passed Willie Mays for fourth place on the all-time home run list.  Rodriguez’s 661 career homers put him behind only Babe Ruth (714), Henry Aaron (755) and Barry Bonds (762) in the record books.  While A-Rod’s feat is certainly noteworthy in its own right, his homers have drawn even more attention due to the controversy around the so-called “milestone” bonuses in his contract that the Yankees are refusing to pay.  Here’s some more news from around the league…

  • Cuban right-hander Vladimir Gutierrez is now eligible to sign with teams during the 2015-16 international signing period, Baseball America’s Ben Badler reports.  Gutierrez has received residency in Mexico and registered with MLB, though since he still needs to be officially declared a free agent by the league, he may not be able to sign immediately when the signing period opens on July 2.  Gutierrez will be subject to the international bonus pool limits, so teams that are facing $300K signing caps in the upcoming signing period (the Angels, Diamondbacks, Rays, Red Sox and Yankees) won’t be able to afford the promising youngster.
  • Angels GM Jerry Dipoto was hoping to keep Drew Butera after the catcher was designated for assignment, but as Dipoto told reporters (including MLB.com’s Alden Gonzalez), “it became fairly clear that he was going to get claimed on waivers, so putting together a trade made the most sense.”  Butera was dealt to the Royals for infielder Ryan Jackson earlier today.
  • On the Royals side of that trade, GM Dayton Moore told reporters (including MLB.com’s Jeffrey Flanagan) that Butera won’t supplant Erik Kratz as the primary backup catcher.  “We’re just trying to get through this period of time,” Moore said, in reference to Kratz’s stint on the DL with an injured foot.  Since Butera is out of options, I’d guess he could be on the move again once Kratz is healthy.
  • Commissioner Rob Manfred spoke to reporters before a recent Rangers/Astros game about a number of baseball topics, including the possibility of a shorter schedule.  The Associated Press has a partial recap of Manfred’s comments.
  • One topic that isn’t a major priority for the league office is adjusting the designated-for-assignment period.  As Evan Drellich of the Houston Chronicle tweets, Manfred said “that rule actually has functioned fairly effectively over a period of time.”  Brian MacPherson of the Providence Journal and MLBTR’s Charlie Wilmoth both recently explored how some players, like Alex Hassan, can have their careers essentially put on hold due to constantly being in “DFA limbo.”
  • In his latest Insider-only post, ESPN’s Buster Olney cites the Athletics’ Scott Kazmir and the Reds’ Mike Leake as potential trade candidates if their teams continue to struggle.  Both hurlers are scheduled for free agency this winter.  Olney speculates that the Dodgers could be interested in either pitcher to bolster their rotation, while Kazmir could also be a fit with the Red Sox or Astros.
  • While the Marlins bullpen hasn’t pitched very well this year, MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro doesn’t think the club needs to turn to Edward Mujica, who was designated for assignment by the Red Sox earlier today.  Mujica pitched well for the Marlins in 2011-12 but as Frisaro notes, he’s struggled this year and Miami doesn’t really have any roster space for him.

Injury Notes: Cobb, Magill, Bailey, Ottavino

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Here’s the latest on some injury situations around the game, including several pitchers who will face 12-16 months of recovery time from Tommy John surgery…

  • Alex Cobb discussed his injury situation with reporters (including Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times) and the Rays righty admitted that he is “still going back and forth on what to do.”  Cobb received a platelet-rich plasma injection in his right elbow and will wait a few weeks before testing, though if the procedure doesn’t take, Cobb will have to undergo TJ surgery.  If he waits and has to get the surgery anyway, however, Cobb risks missing all of 2016, whereas if he gets the surgery now, he believes he’ll be able to return late next season.
  • Right-hander Matt Magill will undergo Tommy John surgery tomorrow, according to the Reds’ official Twitter feed.  Magill’s Major League career consists of six starts for the Dodgers in 2013 that saw him post a 6.51 ERA, 26 strikeouts and 28 walks over 27 2/3 innings.  A 31st-round pick for the Dodgers in the 2008 draft, Magill owns a 3.99 ERA, 8.9 K/9 and 4.1 BB/9 over 700 2/3 minor league innings.  He was traded from Los Angeles to Cincinnati in December in exchange for outfielder Chris Heisey.
  • From that same Reds tweet, Homer Bailey will also undergo his own Tommy John surgery tomorrow.
  • Rockies closer Adam Ottavino underwent Tommy John surgery this morning, according to Nick Groke of the Denver Post.  Ottavino was going to get a second opinion to be sure, yet was fully expecting to get the operation to repair his partially torn UCL.

Draft Notes: Rodgers, Braves, Diamondbacks

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We’re just over a month away from the 2015 amateur draft, and here’s the latest about some of the players and teams who will be in the news on June 8…

  • Florida high school shortstop Brendan Rodgers tops Baseball America’s latest ranking of the top 100 draft prospects.  Vanderbilt shortstop Dansby Swanson, UC Santa Barbara righty Dillon Tate, Louisville righty Kyle Funkhouser and LSU shortstop Alex Bregman round out the top five.
  • The ranking aside, this year’s draft class has even more difficult than usual to evaluate, as Baseball America’s John Manuel writes.  Several of the top prospects have thin or unconventional track records, while others have seen their draft stock drop due to injuries.
  • “Expect the Braves [to] buck that [industry] consensus early and often,” Manuel writes.  This will be a big draft for Atlanta, as the Braves have six of the first 89 picks and the fourth-highest draft bonus pool of any club.
  • The Diamondbacks have had discussions with right-hander Garrett Whitley and catcher Tyler Stephenson about making either high schooler the first pick in the 2015 draft, Fangraphs’ Kiley McDaniel reports.  Whitley, Stephenson and outfielder Daz Cameron (another high schooler) are named by McDaniel as the co-favorites to be the #1 pick, with Tate and Swanson as longshot options.  While Whitley, Stephenson and Cameron aren’t at the top of most draft boards, the D’Backs may be looking to take an unconventional choice ifrst overall and then sign the player to a “cut rate” contract at below slot value.  This would free up more draft pool money for Arizona to spend on their later selections.  McDaniel speculates that Whitley or Stephenson could accept a deal worth less than half the $8.616MM slot value for the first overall pick since they otherwise might not be taken in the top seven.
  • Rodgers, meanwhile, doesn’t seem to be an option for the D’Backs, as McDaniel reports that the team haven’t scouted many of his games.

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