The White Sox will promote highly touted right-hander Frankie Montas as the 26th man in Friday’s double-header, Yahoo’s Jeff Passan first reported (via Twitter). Acquired along with Avisail Garcia in the three-team trade that sent Jake Peavy to Boston and Jose Iglesias to Detroit two years ago, Montas’ stock has soared over the past 24 months. MLB.com ranked him as the game’s No. 91 prospect heading into the season, and the hard-throwing Dominican hurler hasn’t disappointed at the Double-A level. He’s posted a 2.47 ERA in 15 starts at the level at the age of 22, averaging 7.6 K/9 against 3.6 BB/9. That performance comes on the heels of a 1.44 ERA across three levels in 2014. Montas tossed a seven-inning no-hitter earlier this season and appeared in the Futures Game in Cincinnati during this year’s All-Star festivities. Though his promotion looks to be brief, he’ll give ChiSox fans a glimpse of what the team hopes is a long-term contributor.
More from the AL Central…
- Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer Press runs down the Twins’ three biggest problems as the trade deadline approaches and looks at some possible solutions for the club. Setup relief, catching and shortstop have been the club’s most glaring weaknesses in 2015, writes Berardino. In looking at catchers, he notes that the Twins made contract offers to both A.J. Pierzynski and Dioner Navarro before signing Kurt Suzuki in the 2013-14 offseason, so either backstop could again become a consideration. Both the Braves and Blue Jays figure to be open to dealing their veteran catcher.
- Phil Mackey of 1500 ESPN also examines the Twins’ needs and speculates that rolling the dice on a Jimmy Rollins acquisition could be worthwhile for Minnesota. Neither Danny Santana nor Eduardo Escobar has played well enough to hold a firm grasp on the club’s starting shortstop role, and the Dodgers may want to clear the way for Corey Seager to jump to the Majors at short. Mackey, of course, notes that Rollins hasn’t played well in 2015. He’s hitting only .213/.266/.338 on the season and is expensive — owed about $4.48MM through year’s end. But, that price tag and those struggles mean he won’t cost much in a trade. Rollins’ track record as a productive player and 2015 BABIP woes make him an intriguing low-risk gamble that could rebound in the second half, Mackey concludes.
- The next 10 days or so are critical to the Tigers’ direction at the trade deadline, writes Jason Beck of MLB.com. Beck writes that the Tigers realize the division crown is a long shot at this point, so the question for Detroit becomes whether or not they feel pursuing a Wild Card berth “as more than a crapshoot.” Contending clubs continue to ask the Tigers what their plan is going to be, Beck writes, but Detroit’s minor league clubs are also still being scouted by potential sellers like the Reds and Padres in the event that they move to add big league help. Even if the Tigers decide to buy at the deadline, payroll will be a factor, according to Beck. He also reminds that while David Price can net a compensatory draft pick this offseason if he signs elsewhere, Yoenis Cespedes cannot, due to a contractual stipulation.
- The Royals have promoted right-hander Miguel Almonte from Double-A to Triple-A and hope that the top prospect can emerge as a bullpen option in September, reports Andy McCullough of the Kansas City Star. The 22-year-old Almonte entered the season ranked 84th among prospects by MLB.com and 56th by Baseball Prospectus. His production in the Double-A rotation was a bit underwhelming, as he worked to a 4.03 ERA with 7.4 K/9 against 3.6 BB/9. McCullough notes that part of the reason for Almonte’s declined strikeout rate (he averaged 8.7 K/9 from 2013-14) is that he’s been tasked with focusing on improved fastball command and is thus using his above-average changeup less. A lot will change between now and September, but Almonte’s not on the 40-man roster, so the team would need to make a corresponding roster move if he proves worthy of another promotion.
I wonder if Cespedes for Schebler and Ethier – with Detroit taking all Ethier’s contract -makes sense for both teams? LAD clears Ethiers salary and Cespedes is gone at the end of the year too. Detroit gets a long-term LF and a scuttling but high ceiling OF prospect.
Tigers need pitching,not outfielders. Would need to cut Either’ s salary at least in half to make a deal at his age. If they wanted to spend that kind of money on an outfielder , they would keep the younger Cespedes or go after Gordon.
The Tigers already have a great OF prospect in Steven Moya, who most likely will step in when/if Cespedes flies the coop.
Moya is looking not very promising at AAA though, with a sky high K rate and terrible walk rate.
Like so many young players, he’s adjusting to a higher level of competition. He’s getting his lumps with Toledo, but he’s certainly a great prospect. He killed the AFL two summers ago, and just last year he smashed 35 homers while swiping16 bases. He does K a lot, which is why he’s not discussed as much when talking about prospects, but he’s got great tools and is closer than many think. On top of all of that, he’ll be FAR cheaper than re-signing Cespedes (not that I’m against that).
Its looking like Moya will need to start next year at Toledo again. Cespedes is likely not being signed. An OF would be nice, but Pitching, AA or above, is what they most need.
Moyà is not a great outfield prospect. If he were, the Tigers would have traded him already.
The trade deadline hasn’t passed yet!
Yep
I hope that there is someone here that can explain this, but how does Yoenis Cespedes have a contractual stipulation that overrides the CBA? Can any player write into their contract language that makes the CBA a moot point? It would seem to me that it opens a whole new can of worms if it is that simple, so there must be more to this that I don’t know/understand
Cespedes’ contract calls for him to be released at the end of the deal. It wasn’t necessarily done as a means of circumventing the qualifying offer but as a means of allowing him to reach free agency despite not having accrued the requisite six years of MLB service time.
Thank you for the explanation, but it still seems to me that it is a way to get around the CBA. In effect, he is getting around the compensation pick as well as becoming a FA ahead of his peers. I believe that MLB reviews all contracts, and I am absolutely shocked that they let that language fly as it would appear that any player can write terms that make the CBA moot.
Once again, thanks for the explanation!
I’d imagine Cespedes can’t wait for free agency so he can hopefully quit being bargained off to another team at the trade deadline, lol. I’m still angry about the junk trade that went down between the Tigers and Boston over the off season. Tigers definitely won out on that one.
Boston made some bad SMH moves this year. Will be interesting to watch Cherington in the next two weeks.
Cespedes likes it in Detroit. They may overpay to keep him before he gets to free agency. Ironically, it may be the same contract as Porcello got!
I like Cespedes and even if the Tigers trade him at the deadline, they should make a run at him in free agency. Having said that, I would hope the Tigers don’t go a penny over 4 yrs/$75 million.
Cespedes has already told Oakland, Boston, AND Detroit that he’s testing free agency, no matter the offer thrown at him. He might re-sign with the Tigers, but it won’t be until hot stove season, and only if they’re the highest bidder.
The Twins biggest need is relief pitching and maybe a power bat–that should be their main focus.
I think relief pitching and a back-up catcher. Sano seems sort of acceptable as a power – kind of like Trout was acceptable as a CF when he came into the league. SS will work itself out. No need to panic for the Twins anywhere on their roster. They have the deepest collection of quality young players in MLB. It’s their first year of contention coming out of their rebuild. Some players will take longer then others to adjust. Example – Hicks is playing relaxed and is a totally different player then he was last year.
The Tigers are buyers their owner is old and he wants to win before he dies
More than that, they don’t need prospects or a deep farm system. 8 out of their 9 starters are either cheap and under team control or on long term contracts. Their offense is among the best in baseball and their defense is solid.
The 9th guy is Cespedes and I am of the opinion they will attempt to resign him unless the market says his value is crazy high. If it is they are prepared to let Collins/Moya battle it out next spring.
What they do need is a cheap number 4 starter to replace Simon. Price will be replaced by Price or another high priced free agent, not a prospect.
The Tigers have been retooling for three years, they wont rebuild with Miggy, VMart and Verlander in their prime.
It’s difficult to imagine a scenario where the Dodgers trade Rollins any time soon. Sure Seager is the future but first-place teams don’t normally gamble on rookies in mid-season unless it’s an injury situation.
Great article in MLIVE this morning. Lots of names for the Tigers. Many are realistic gets and are BETTER than the worst Tigers pitchers.
Just some of them:
SP: Haren, Colon, Leake, Kazmir, Kennedy, Latos, Lohse, and maybe Shields (take on the money)
RP: Axford, Clippard
Tigers should hang out in this middle tier and get 2 starters and a reliever. They do that, and Simon can move to the bullpen, Greene can figure things out in AAA (reducing his service time) and they can win a Wildcard.
The teams that might trade those players are all looking for quality young, cheap, controllable players in return – they surely aren’t trading them for Alex Avila, Ian Kinsler, or Anibal Sanchez. Who do the Tigers have to offer? And if they do package a few young players, what do they do next year and the years after? The Tigers already have the 3rd highest payroll in MLB, and are only $15M from the salary cap tax.
The names I mention are realistic. NOT Hamels, Cueto, Shark, Papelbon or Chapman.
Other contending teams do not need middle tier pitchers as much as the Tigers. They already have them. The Tigers are top heavy 1-3, then a huge drop off to #4-5. Also, any move for a starter may likely put Simon in the bullpen, improving both.
The cost may be low on some of these guys in terms of prospects (especially last year of contract guys) and the pro rated portion of the salaries are unlikely to impact the luxury tax.
Best realistic option? Leake.
The only question that you didn’t answer is who are the Tigers trading to get those “realistic” players? The Tigers do have two holes in the rotation currently. Hopefully, Lobstein will be back soon. (didn’t think he would be out this long). Since the minors are thin, I would be happy with Dillon Gee (little cost), and then see if we can thin the minors more while getting Chapman for the bullpen. He is this years Andrew Miller. Many teams liked Shawn Greene, earlier. Maybe he has some value to add to a package.
The Twins do need need Jimmy Rollins. Too expensive. Their current options are just fine. Molitor and his coaching staff need to give Santana and Escobar more time and coaching. If they don’t work out, go after a free agent in the off season. Relief pitching should be the number 1 priority.