Devon Travis has suffered a new bone bruise and cartilage damage in his surgically repaired right knee that has prompted the Blue Jays to place him on the 10-day disabled list, reports Shi Davidi of Sportsnet. The injury is rather mysterious, it seems as Travis felt fine when boarding a flight to Oakland on Sunday evening but was unable to bend his knee without discomfort when the plane landed. He’ll be examined by the same specialist that performed his offseason knee surgery in the near future, and manager John Gibbons acknowledged to Davidi and other reporters that Travis’ injury won’t be a quick one. There’s no timetable for the return of Travis, who has batted .259/.291/.438 with five homers, four steals and strong defense at second base through his first 50 games of the season.
Here are a few quick roster moves from around the American League.
- The Rays will promote righty Jacob Faria to make his big-league debut Wednesday in a start against the White Sox, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times writes. The 23-year-old Faria has never been regarded as an upper-echelon prospect (he currently ranks ninth among Rays prospects, according to MLB.com), but he’s in the midst of a strong season at Triple-A Durham, with a 3.07 ERA, 3.4 BB/9 and an outstanding 12.9 K/9 in 58 2/3 innings thus far. MLB.com notes that he works in the low 90s, keeps the ball down and has a promising chanegup, although his breaking stuff is usable but below average. Having Faria start Wednesday will give Rays starters Jake Odorizzi, Alex Cobb and Erasmo Ramirez an extra day of rest.
- The Tigers have announced that they’ve reinstated second baseman Ian Kinsler from the 10-day DL and optioned outfielder JaCoby Jones to Triple-A Toledo. They also announced that catcher James McCann, who suffered a hand laceration after being hit by a pitch late last month, would begin a rehab assignment with Toledo tonight. The Tigers placed Kinsler on the DL on May 27; it appears the hamstring strain that landed him there isn’t especially serious, because he’s back after the minimum time. The 34-year-old is off to a slow start this season, batting .234/.331/.365.
- The Athletics have announced that they’ve reinstated righty Jesse Hahn (triceps strain) from the 10-day DL and optioned 1B/OF Matt Olson to Triple-A Nashville. Hahn will start tonight against the Blue Jays. Like Kinsler, Hahn spent the minimum required time on the DL. He even made one rehab start with Class A+ Stockton in his brief time on the shelf. The 27-year-old has a 3.81 ERA, 7.4 K/9 and 3.3 BB/9 in 49 2/3 innings in the big leagues this season. Olson, once one of the Athletics’ top prospects, has collected just four plate appearances in two stints with the big club this year despite batting a terrific .285/.374/.575 in 206 plate appearances for Nashville.
Devon Travis is a very fragile ballplayer. It is a shame, because although he started slow this year, he was coming on strong and doing well. I would put him on the trading block to see what can be obtained at the deadline. Sometimes a change of scenery to another city can positively affect a ballplayer’s health.
That might be true and the turf probably doesn’t help him. That being said, I don’t see the jays needing to move him. They don’t have anyone to really step in and he’s a good player. They might have to hope he becomes more durable
Jays need to blow it up they’re old and destined to finish in the cellar!
“Destined to finish in the cellar”. The rest of the team is finally getting healthy and they’re only 3 games back of a playoff spot. The only reason you think they should blow it up is because you’re scared of them.
Jays are streaky and pitching shows that it is not championship calibre yet. I don’t think that the Jays are cellar dwellers this year, maybe 3rd place as they get on another run or two. If by the deadline they are 7 games out or less, I say be bigtime buyers, sell the farm for players, but if they a 8 games out or more at the deadline, which is what I expect, then blow it yup real good. Shop everyone but Str, Osuna, and Pllar .Blowing it up is a must if they are not in the race, this core is old and will not win. They won’t get much better, only worse next year. I would be trying to unload Tulo, Buatista, Martin, Estrada, and anyone else on expiring contracts.
Tulo and Martin are paid too much to unload and Bautista and Estrada won’t get you anything as they are on the downside of their careers and are not having banner years!
I am going to disagree with you on all those trade assessments. Martin can carry a pitching staff and is streaky at the plate. Teams will covet him given some cash help on the contract by the Jyas, it will be easy to move him for value. Tulo is Tulo and teams know what they will get. The contract is an albatross, but again, if the Jays help by throwing cash in the deal there will be teams with interest. The interest for Estrada will be off the charts. Expiring contract, amazing pitcher, equals 2 elite prospects at least. The last is Bautista. He has shown that he can still play offensively and defenisively. There is a elite prospect+ for him in a trade too if the team likes his personality.
Martin and tulo will not and I repeat WILL NIT net anything for a couple reasons. First contract, really high considering output. Second, age, eventually Father Time catches up with you. Third, health both mid thirties and showing that injuries are starting to arise. Estrada, if you were going to trade him just like Happ, should have been in the offseason when their solid and stellar years were fresh in all the GM’s minds leaving one to wonder, ‘hey, can they do this again?’. Estrada’ trade value right now is about that of a Canadian penny. Almost nothing. Bautista, offensively is leaving much to be desired right now, other then getting on-base a lot through walks there isn’t much left positive for Bautista at the dish currently. Defensively, he is a joke, poor routes, declining arm strength and accuracy. That was one addition the Jays didn’t need this offseason. Again no value, 29 GM’s were willing to pass on him all winter and one over payed and will be stuck with him all season.
After all said there is a lot too be desired with that team and not a lot of value. If your looking to rid the team of bad contracts it will be extremely difficult to do.
As I said all winter the Jays will be under .500 for most of the year before eventually finishing under .500. The time to trade the aforementioned players was in the offseason, not now.
I agree with the Jays poor performance prediction this year, as evidenced by my blogging during spring training that this team is not championship calibre. I dislike the grape kool aid that has hope for this team getting anywhere in the playoffs. Tulo is 32 not 35, Martin is 34 and getting up there and needing more rest than in the young days. I will tell you if the Jays help out financially in trade discussion there will be significant interest in Martin. With the same conditions there will be some interest in Tulo, but the amount of money the Jays with have to hold is staggering. There are teams scouting for players now for the deadline, and I know from an inside source that they are looking at Donaldson[surprise], Bautista, Pillar[won’t get him], and yes, Martin, plus Travis[before his injury]. They are also looking at and drooling over the availability of Estrada. Even though he hasn’t done well with the Jays there are also 2 teams looking at Matt Dermody in AAA.
Perhaps Travis would be better suited for a grass field. All that running around in shifts and for popups is going to take a toll on those knees. Once he is healed up and hitting again, time to trade him for sure.
Jimmertee – He was on MLB radio the other day saying the turf has no impact on him and he doesn’t notice the difference between grass and turf. I agree with you though and every other ballplayer noting the turf is not forgiving on the legs/knees/back of the players.
Travis had 17 doubles in May. Things were looking way up.
Time to resign Brett Lawrie!!!
Lawrie is a bit of an odd guy and there have been questions about his clubhouse influence being negative. Worth a shot. Better than coghlan for sure.
Holy crap…I didn’t realize that Lawrie is still a free agent…