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Archives for September 2017

MLB Daily Roster Roundup: Hamilton, Robles, Tapia

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ROSTER MOVES BY TEAM

NATIONAL LEAGUE

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AMERICAN LEAGUE

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FUTURE EXPECTED MOVES

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NOTABLE REHAB ASSIGNMENTS

*Rehab start date listed in parentheses.

AL Central Notes: Verlander Trade, Twins, Diaz, ChiSox

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In one of his latest columns at FanRag Sports, Jon Heyman looks at the final hours leading up to Aug. 31’s Justin Verlander blockbuster. The Astros, according to Heyman, had been reluctant to part with any of their top six prospects in trades for virtually any player in either July or August. It wasn’t until 10:30pm ET on the night of Aug. 31 that they called the Tigers to at last cave in and concede a willingness to part with highly touted right-hander Franklin Perez. Detroit GM Al Avila had two execs head to Verlander’s home before the ace had decided whether to waive his no-trade clause in order to obtain his signature as quickly as possible if he ultimately approved a deal.

The Tigers’ initial centerpiece target, per Heyman, was another of the Astros’ young right-handers: Forrest Whitley. Houston held firm on him, but the two sides were ultimately able to cobble a deal together and give Verlander about an hour to weigh whether to waive his no-trade protection. In the end, the trade went through at 11:59pm, per Heyman, barely scraping under the wire.

A bit more from the AL Central…

  • Jake Depue of 1500 ESPN spoke to Twins chief baseball officer Derek Falvey this week about top pitching prospects Stephen Gonsalves and Fernando Romero and the progress that the pair made in 2017. While there’d been some speculation that Gonsalves could join the team in September, Falvey hinted at some inconsistencies following a promotion to Triple-A Rochester. “We’ve seen some really good outings from him,” said Falvey. “…We’ve also seen probably the natural fatigue that a pitcher goes through late in the year, and he’s had some of those outings too.” Falvey ultimately acknowledged that the team felt Triple-A was “the best environment” for Gonsalves, with whom the team will be careful from a developmental standpoint. Indeed, Twins manager Paul Molitor told reporters prior to Thursday night’s game that the team was likely done making September call-ups (Twitter link via Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com).
  • Indians prospect Yandy Diaz has demonstrated elite exit velocity but also an extreme tendency to hit the ball on the ground, writes Travis Sawchik of The Athletic (subscription required and recommended). The 26-year-old Diaz signed out of Cuba for $300K three years ago, and while he’s never cracked many top prospect lists, his exit velocity and outstanding eye at the plate (14 percent walk rate, more walks than strikeouts in the minors) make him an intriguing breakout candidate despite his age. In addition to chatting with Indians assistant hitting coach Matt Quatraro about Diaz’s approach, Sawchik breaks down Diaz’s point of contact and recent adjustments to his swing as he looks to carve out a role on the team moving forward.
  • Left-hander Carlos Rodon was a last-minute scratch for the White Sox tonight, as Scott Merkin of MLB.com writes. Fifteen minutes before first pitch, the Sox swapped Rodon out for veteran Mike Pelfrey due to stiffness in his left shoulder. The former No. 3 overall pick is viewed as a key long-term piece for the Sox, but injuries have limited him to 69 2/3 innings this season. It’s not clear at this time if Rodon will need to miss any further outings.
  • Rodon isn’t the only injury for the White Sox, either; right-hander Jake Petricka was placed back on the 10-day DL for a third time this season due to an elbow strain, per Dan Hayes of CSN Chicago. Petricka expressed some frustration but explained that the injury built up over time as opposed to a more severe injury that could occur on one single pitch. Indeed, Hayes notes that an MRI revealed no structural damage for Petricka, but there’s uncertainty as to whether he’ll be able to return to an already inexperienced ChiSox pen before season’s end.

Indians Move Danny Salazar To Bullpen

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The Indians are moving right-hander Danny Salazar to the bullpen, writes Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer. Salazar lasted just two-thirds of an inning in his first start off the disabled list due to inflammation in his right elbow.

To call the 2017 campaign and up-and-down year for Salazar would be an understatement. The 27-year-old pitched poorly through the season’s first two months before a brief move to the ’pen followed by a subsequent placement on the disabled list for shoulder fatigue. He returned roughly six weeks later and looked like the Salazar of old — dominating hitters and racking up prodigious strikeout totals. From July 22 through Aug. 15, Salazar tossed 32 1/3 innings with a minuscule 1.39 ERA and a gaudy 46-to-9 K/BB ratio. Salazar surrendered only five runs in those 32 1/3 frames, but he allowed six runs in his next start (4 2/3 innings) before landing back on the DL.

Salazar’s move to the relief corps points to a rotation consisting of Corey Kluber, Carlos Carrasco, Trevor Bauer, Mike Clevinger and Josh Tomlin down the stretch, though manager Terry Francona did tell Hoynes that the team will try to get Salazar a two- or three-inning appearance in the near future. That could give Salazar an opportunity to stretch back out for the postseason,  but he could also simply be multi-inning weapon for October if he takes to his new role well and remains healthy.

Looking beyond the 2017 season, the injuries and the late move to the bullpen this year figure to hamper his arbitration earnings. Salazar avoided arbitration as a Super Two player for the first time last winter, agreeing to a fairly sizable $3.4MM salary. He’ll still receive a raise on that figure for the 2018 season, but the extent of that salary increase will be reduced thanks to his limited innings and lack of productivity for much of the year. Cleveland controls Salazar through the 2020 season, and he’ll be arbitration-eligible a total of three more times (including this upcoming offseason).

Minor MLB Transactions: 9/7/17

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Here are Thursday’s moves from around the league…

  • Right-hander Daniel Wright has cleared waivers and been sent outright to Triple-A Salt Lake, the Angels announced today. Wright, 26, was designated for assignment three days ago when the Angels claimed Dayan Diaz off waivers from Houston. Through 19 2/3 innings with the Angels this year, Wright turned in a 4.58 ERA with an 11-to-8 K/BB ratio. Overall, he owns a 5.61 ERA with 4.9 K/9 against 2.4 BB/9 in 56 1/3 Major League frames between the Halos and the Reds. His work in Triple-A has resulted in a 6.58 ERA with 126 strikeouts against 60 walks in 176 1/3 innings.

Wilmer Flores Out For Remainder Of Season

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The Mets announced on Thursday that infielder Wilmer Flores’ season is over due to a broken nose that he sustained this past weekend. As MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo tweets, the team had hoped that Flores would be able to return at some point this week, but today’s reexamination of the injury apparently altered that trajectory.

Flores, who turned 26 last month, turned his second consecutive above-average campaign at the plate, although this also makes for a second straight injury-shortened season as well. In 362 plate appearances, Flores batted .271/.307/.488 (105 OPS+, 106 wRC+) with a career-high 18 homers.

Flores posted a 35.4 percent hard-hit rate that is easily a career-high — a mark that was buoyed by improving his hard contact against right-handed pitching by a considerable seven percentage points. A right-handed hitter, Flores was characteristically strong against lefties this year, but he also turned in a respectable .262/.306/.459 mark against same-handed pitching, which bodes well for his offensive output in future seasons.

This offseason will be the second trip through arbitration for Flores, who will be in line for a nice raise on this year’s modest $2.2MM salary. With four years and three days of Major League service time, Flores won’t reach the open market until the completion of the 2019 season, at which point he’ll be a relatively young free agent (heading into his age-28 season).

Nationals Promote Victor Robles

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1:58pm: Washington has announced the move. Outfielders Rafael Bautista and Andrew Stevenson will accompany Robles to the majors after receiving some MLB time earlier, which will leave the club with an abundance of outfield possibilities over the next few weeks.

The Nats moved righty Erick Fedde to the 60-day DL to clear the needed roster space. Washington decided to give Robles a chance when Goodwin suffered a setback, Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post tweets.

1:20pm: In a surprise move, the Nationals will promote top outfield prospect Victor Robles, according to Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports (via Twitter). He’ll require a 40-man roster spot when the move is formalized.

Robles, who’s still just twenty years of age, has yet to play above the Double-A level. But the Dominican native, who signed for only $225K back in 2013, is widely regarded as one of the game’s ten or so best overall prospects, with scouts widely praising his across-the-board gifts.

Certainly, Robles has done nothing this year to detract from that lofty status. He continued to produce after earning a promotion to the penultimate level of the minors after opening the year at High-A. Through 496 total plate appearances on the season, Robles carries a .300/.382/.493 batting line with ten home runs and 27 steals.

Notably, Robles did not need to be protected from the Rule 5 draft over the coming offseason, so he would not have needed a 40-man spot this winter. And the Nats have little need for an extra player over the final weeks of the season with a division title almost secured already, which hints at other motives.

The move seemingly suggests, rather, that Robles is expected to factor in the team’s plans for the near future. While it’d rate as a surprise were he to play his way onto the postseason roster this season, perhaps that can’t be ruled out. With Jayson Werth set to reach free agency at the end of the year, it’s also conceivable that Robles could stake a claim to a job for 2018.

Perhaps the likeliest scenario, though, would be for Robles to follow the path of Trea Turner, who returned to the minors to open the 2016 season after getting his first cup of coffee in 2015. Robles has spent most of his professional career in center field, making him an ideal fit for the near-future Nats roster. While the club will expect Adam Eaton to be fully healthy in 2018, he’s best utilized in a corner spot. Michael Taylor and Brian Goodwin could make for a solid platoon pairing in center if they can sustain some of the strides they’ve shown this year, so there shouldn’t be too much immediate pressure on Robles to prove himself a permanent fixture, but nobody would complain if the young phenom forces the team’s hand.

Rockies Acquire Jon Keller To Complete Miguel Castro Trade

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The Rockies have acquired minor-league righty Jon Keller from the Orioles, per an official announcement. He’ll become the player to be named later in the April swap that sent right-hander Miguel Castro to Baltimore.

Keller, 25, has yet to move past the Double-A level through five seasons in the minors. Though he has had some intriguing moments at times in the lower minors, he has stalled out with command issues at Bowie. Over 53 total frames there since 2015, Keller owns a 7.13 ERA with 41 strikeouts and 51 walks.

Meanwhile, Castro — once seen as an intriguing prospect — has produced for the O’s this year. The 22-year-old carries a 2.65 ERA through 54 1/3 innings spread over 33 appearances. Those innings alone make the deal worthwhile and Castro won’t reach arbitration eligibility until at least 2020.

Of course, while he’s averaging 96 mph with his fastball and generating swings and misses at a solid 10.1% rate, Castro is also averaging just 4.8 K/9 against 3.1 BB/9 on the year. There’s little chance that he will sustain his current .201 BABIP moving forward, so he’ll need to find a way to put away big league hitters to keep his earned run average anywhere near its current levels.

Former Yankees GM Gene “Stick” Michael Passes Away

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Longtime Yankees stalwart Gene “Stick” Michael has passed away, the New York Post reports. Michael, who served the organization in a variety of capacities over several decades, was 79 years of age.

Michael was long a key figure around Yankee Stadium, playing and managing the Bronx Bombers before eventually moving over to the operations side. Following a stint as the Cubs’ manager, he took the reins as Yankees’ general manager before the 1991 season, with the club still reeling from consecutive sub-.500 finishes and disciplinary action against owner George Steinbrenner.

Though the Yanks took a few years to resume their winning ways, they finally returned to the postseason in 1995 — Michael’s last season as the GM. While he did not get to oversee the full blossoming of the roster he built from the GM seat, Michael remained in the organization in a scouting and advisory role.

Of course, many of the players installed during Michael’s tenure ended up leading the Yankees back to glory. As the Post notes, Michael was at the helm when the team gathered together the entire “Cour Four” — Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera, Andy Pettitte, and Jorge Posada — that would go on to win the World Series in four of five seasons between 1996 and 2000.

Beyond his renown as a baseball man, Michael was seen as a passionate and caring figure on a personal level — as today’s outpouring of grief suggests and as Joel Sherman of the New York Post captures in a column. MLBTR joins those around the game in extending its best wishes to his family and friends.

Notable Recent Late-Season Extensions

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September isn’t usually a terribly active month on the trade front, as players acquired after August 31 are not eligible to join an acquiring club’s postseason roster. However, in recent years, we have seen some notable extensions hammered out in the final full month of the regular season (or shortly thereafter in early October). While most such agreements represent short-term arrangements with veterans, every now and again there’s a more significant pact to be found. Could we see one go down in the next week and change? Here’s a look back at some notable late-season extensions over the past six seasons…

2016

  • Marlins sign Martin Prado to a three-year, $40MM extension. — This is one of the biggest deals we have seen at this stage of the season. The steady veteran had a long history of quality performance — solidly above-average hitting with good glovework — and had settled in as a leader in Miami. Of course, the contract also didn’t seem to represent much of a discount for a low-power player who was already 32 years of age. Prado has struggled with injuries quite a bit in 2017, slashing just .250/.279/.357 over 147 plate appearances, which makes the backloaded deal look like a suboptimal investment.
  • Braves sign Jim Johnson to a two-year, $10MM extension. — This early October deal set the Braves’ offseason course, as the club would go on to invest in several other veteran hurlers. Then 33, Johnson was wrapping up quite a strong season at the time of the extension, as he contributed 64 2/3 frames of 3.06 ERA ball with 9.5 K/9 and 2.8 BB/9 along with a 55.0% groundball rate. Johnson was expected to function as Atlanta’s closer, keeping a veteran arm to the back of the pen while tamping down the arbitration earning power of younger pitchers. While he has maintained his surge in strikeouts, though, Johnson has allowed more walks, hits, home runs, and earned runs (5.81 ERA) thus far in 2017.

2015

  • Marlins sign Ichiro Suzuki to a one-year, $2MM extension with a club option. — The Fish pushed a 41-year-old Ichiro harder than had been expected in 2015, and he responded with a less-than-useful campaign. But he was still valued as a bench presence, and it didn’t hurt that 2016 promised a run at 3,000 hits. Ichiro not only passed that milestone, but thrived in a more limited role that year, providing solid baserunning and glovework as well as a sturdy .291/.354/.376 batting line in 365 plate appearances. The Marlins ended up repeating the contractual move late in 2016, picking up the option and adding another option year. He hasn’t been nearly as productive at the plate in 2017, however.

2014

  • Rockies sign Jorge De La Rosa to a two-year, $25MM extension. — De La Rosa saw a strong uptick in his fastball velocity in 2014, his second full season back from Tommy John surgery.  With an average of 92.3 mph on his heater versus 91.1 mph in 2013, De La Rosa pitched to a 4.26 ERA with 6.7 K/9, 3.2 BB/9 and a 51.9 percent ground-ball rate in 160 2/3 innings of work at the time of the signing.  In 2015, the hurler pitched to a similar 4.17 ERA with 8.1 K/9 and 3.9 BB/9, but his productivity fell off in the second year of the contract — which proved to be the end of his tenure in Colorado.

2013

  • Padres sign Will Venable to a two-year, $8.5MM extension. — Venable had a breakout season in terms of his power production in 2013, so the Padres moved to lock in his remaining arbitration salaries, as further 20-homer/20-steal seasons would cause the price to soar. Unfortunately for the team, Venable’s decision to opt for security looks wise, in hindsight, as he batted just .224/.288/.325  in the first year of the deal and .248/.325/.356 in 2015.  Venable ended up moving to the Rangers in an August waiver trade and saw only minimal MLB time from that point forward.  He ultimately hung up his spikes and took a front-office gig with the Cubs in 2017.
  • Marlins sign Greg Dobbs to a one-year, $1.75MM extension. — This extension drew plenty of public scrutiny, as Dobbs’ on-field performance in 2013 (.228/.303/.300) didn’t warrant the deal. It was eventually reported that owner Jeffrey Loria negotiated the deal without consulting former president of baseball operations Larry Beinfest. The Dobbs extension would be one of many stories that were referenced when describing the rift between Loria and Beinfest at the time of Beinfest’s dismissal.
  • Giants sign Hunter Pence to a five-year, $90MM extension. — The most notable of any extension in this post, Pence was positioned to be one of the top free agents in the 2013-14 class, but he took what looked to be market value at the time to remain in San Francisco. As it turns out, the market for outfield bats was more aggressive than many had thought, with Jacoby Ellsbury and Shin-Soo Choo landing seven-year deals worth $153MM and $131MM, respectively. In the first season of his deal, Pence hit .277/.332/.445 with 20 homers.  While he largely continued that output over the next two seasons of the pact, injuries sapped his playing time and Pence hit a wall in 2017 (his age-34 campaign).

2012

  • Padres sign Chris Denorfia to a two-year, $4.25MM extension. — Denorfia’s strong season led former GM Josh Byrnes to lock in his final arb years with this modest extension, and Denorfia made the deal look like a good one in 2013 by hitting a solid .279/.337/.395 with a career-high 10 homers and excellent numbers against lefties. His production fell off in the contract’s second year, but the Padres’ triumvirate of interim GMs were still able to flip him to Seattle for outfielder Abraham Almonte and minor league righty Stephen Kohlscheen.
  • Rangers sign Colby Lewis to a one-year, $2MM extension. — Lewis went down for the season in mid-July back in 2012, but he’d been enjoying a strong season and was expected to return for the 2013 campaign, making a $2MM salary a potential bargain for Texas. Unfortunately for the Rangers, Lewis had multiple setbacks and wasn’t able to take the hill the following season, but it’s not hard to see why they were interested in the low-risk deal; Lewis had turned in a 3.93 ERA over his previous 506 1/3 innings with the Rangers.

2011

  • Cardinals sign Chris Carpenter to a two-year, $21MM extension. — Carpenter led the league in innings pitched in 2011 and had been generally excellent over the previous three seasons, prompting quite a bit of praise for this deal. He, in fact, restructured his contract and took what most expected to be less money in the long run, giving up a $15MM club option in favor of this two-year deal. Of course, Carpenter would sadly throw just 17 more innings in his career before injuries forced him to retire. While it looked good at the time, this deal didn’t pan out.
  • Mets sign Tim Byrdak to a one-year, $1MM extension. — While the extension wasn’t particularly memorable and didn’t have a large impact on the 2012 Mets, Byrdak fired 30 2/3 innings of 4.40 ERA ball and was a strong weapon against lefties, making him worth his modest salary.
  • Cardinals sign Lance Berkman to a one-year, $12MM extension. — After a huge rebound campaign in 2011, Big Puma was rewarded with this contract, but he totaled just 97 plate appearances the following season due to knee injuries. He wasn’t able to recover with the Rangers in 2013 and retired following that season, putting an end to an excellent career.
  • Marlins sign Omar Infante to a two-year, $8MM extension. — This contract paid dividends in the sense that Infante was largely excellent for the Marlins over the next half-season before being dealt to the Tigers along with Anibal Sanchez. That trade netted former top prospect Jacob Turner, catcher Rob Brantly and lefty Brian Flynn — a respectable haul at the time but one that now looks lackluster. Miami dealt Turner to the Cubs for a pair of low-level relievers last season, and Brantly was passed over in favor of Jarrod Saltalamacchia.
  • White Sox sign Sergio Santos to a three-year, $8.25MM extension. — Signed at the end of a breakout season as the White Sox closer, Santos found himself traded to the Blue Jays for pitching prospect Nestor Molina that offseason. Molina didn’t do much and was outrighted by the ChiSox in 2014, but they probably feel fortunate not to have had to pay Santos the money he was guaranteed, as shoulder injuries led to a 5.23 ERA and just 51 innings pitched over the life of his three guaranteed years with Toronto.

The original version of this post was written by Steve Adams and Zach Links and ran in September 2015.

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