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Archives for June 2018

2018 Amateur Draft Signings: 6/25/18

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Here are today’s most notable signings from the first few rounds of the draft.  Scouting reports and pre-draft rankings can be found courtesy of MLB.com, Fangraphs, Baseball America and ESPN’s Keith Law (the latter two available to subscribers only)…

  • The Mets have agreed to a $1,038,000 bonus with third-rounder Carlos Cortes, per MLB.com’s Jim Callis (via Twitter). That handily tops the $705,300 allocation for the 83rd overall pick. The Fangraphs prospect team was far and away the highest on Cortes, rating him as the 82nd-best prospect on their list. Cortes is best known for being a switch-thrower. While that talent is of limited utility for an outfielder, he is considered a talented hitter. Despite some ups and downs over the years, Cortes has generally been productive at the plate for the University of South Carolina, though he’ll have to hit quite a bit as a pro since he’s expected to be limited to playing left field. According to the MLB.com draft tracker, the Mets have now secured contracts with all of their top ten picks.

Diamondbacks To Activate Robbie Ray; Latest On Pollock, Souza

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The Diamondbacks have seen some positive developments in a variety of health situations. After activating Shelby Miller earlier today, the club decided it’ll also activate fellow starter Robbie Ray on Wednesday, as Zach Buchanan of The Athletic reports (Twitter links).

Ray, who is coming off of an outstanding 2017 season, hit the shelf with an oblique strain after six outings this year. He was due to make at least one more rehab start before returning, but evidently feels good enough to jump into the MLB rotation. As Buchanan notes, Ray’s pitch count will likely be limited a bit for at least his first start back.

There’s good news in the outfield, too. Steven Souza Jr. is set to begin a rehab assignment, though he’ll initially work only as a designated hitter as he is still building up his throwing ability. Souza’s pectoral injury has limited him to just 14 games this season, his first with Arizona.

Even more importantly, perhaps, center fielder A.J. Pollock has finally resumed baseball activities. Pollock has been sidelined since mid-May with a broken thumb, which has healed a bit more slowly than the team surely preferred. If he can avoid any setbacks, though, perhaps it won’t be too long before Pollock is able to provide a major boost to the Snakes’ lineup.

Despite these significant injuries, the Snakes have managed to keep winning games. After a lull, the club has bounced back and kept its edge in the NL West. The D-Backs will surely need all hands on deck to hold off the Dodgers and other division contenders over the second half of the season.

Cardinals Place Michael Wacha On 10-Day DL

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JUNE 25: The expectation is that Wacha will be out until after the All-Star break, Cards GM Mike Girsch tells reporters including MLB.com’s Jenifer Langosch (via Twitter). Given the nature of the injury, it’s no surprise to hear that he has already more or less been ruled out for that duration.

What’s interesting about the timing is that the Cardinals may or may not have a clear picture of Wacha’s outlook when the trade deadline hits. If he’s close to full strength or back in the majors, perhaps rotation depth won’t be as much of a need. Any significant uncertainty surrounding Wacha would boost the likelihood of a move to add a starter, though it’s also possible the St. Louis organization will focus on other, more pressing roster needs regardless.

JUNE 21, 10:50pm: The Cardinals have termed the oblique strain to be “moderate,” per MLB.com’s Joe Trezza (Twitter link). While it’s obviously good news for the team that Wacha isn’t looking at a severe strain that’ll keep him out for months, Trezza notes that the team still expects to be without Wacha for “at least” a couple of weeks.

2:26pm: The Cardinals announced that they have placed righty Michael Wacha on the 10-day DL, as had been expected. He’s dealing with a left oblique strain.

Fellow righty John Gant will come up to take his place on the active roster. For the time being, Gant may move into the pen, though the Cards will ultimately have to fill in a rotation opening. At present, the team will rely on Carlos Martinez, Miles Mikolas, Luke Weaver and Jack Flaherty in the starting five. Gant could step into that role, though the team also has rotation options in the form of Austin Gomber and Daniel Poncedeleon.

The open question is just how long the St. Louis organization will go without Wacha. He has had a strong campaign to date, working to a 3.20 earned run average with 7.6 K/9 against 3.8 BB/9 through 84 1/3 innings. The Cardinals didn’t provide an immediate timeline, though even Grade 1 oblique strains have been known to keep players on the disabled list for upwards of a month. With Alex Reyes already out for the season and Adam Wainwright’s status still uncertain, the pressures on the rotation are mounting.

Yankees Place Gary Sanchez On DL, Option Clint Frazier

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4:00pm: Sanchez has a Grade 1 strain and is expected to miss three to four weeks of action, manager Aaron Boone tells reporters (Twitter link via Bryan Hoch of MLB.com).

June 25, 2:20pm: The Yankees did indeed place Sanchez on the disabled list today due to a right groin strain, the team announced. Higashioka is up from Triple-A to replace him on the roster. New York also announced that Clint Frazier has been optioned to Triple-A in favor of right-hander Giovanny Gallegos.

June 24: The Yankees will likely place catcher Gary Sanchez on the disabled list because of a right hip/groin problem, manager Aaron Boone told Marc Carig of The Athletic and other reporters Sunday.

The Yankees fell to the Rays on Sunday, thus dropping three in a row in Tampa Bay, and Sanchez contributed to their defeat with an 0-for-4 performance. Sanchez then suffered an injury on the base paths in the top of the 10th inning, forcing him to exit the game in favor of backup Austin Romine.

At 50-25, the Yankees have gotten off to a great start this season, though Sanchez hasn’t been at his best. After establishing himself as one of the elite catchers in the game from 2016-17, Sanchez has opened this season with a .190/.291/.433 line in 265 plate appearances. That’s good enough for a 97 wRC+, which is respectable for a catcher, but it pales in comparison to his lifetime mark (131). Sanchez has still smacked 14 home runs and posted a .242 ISO, to his credit, and he has encountered significant batted-ball misfortune. The 25-year-old ranks fourth in the majors in average exit velocity on fly balls and line drives (99 mph) and 11th in barrels per plate appearance, per Statcast. He also entered Sunday with a terrific xwOBA (.372), easily eclipsing his actual wOBA (.313).

Behind the plate, the cannon-armed Sanchez has thrown out 28 percent of would-be base stealers – just beating out the 27 percent league average – and performed well as a pitch framer, according to Baseball Prospectus. BP has also approved of Romine’s framing work, and the longtime backup has seemingly found another gear at the plate. Romine, 29, has hit .305/.370/.524 with four homers in 92 PAs, also putting up a Sanchez-like xwOBA (.366).

With the Yankees tied atop the AL East with the Red Sox, they’ll hope Romine can continue his apparent breakout in a larger role for however much time Sanchez misses. Fellow backstop Kyle Higashioka will likely come up from Triple-A Scranton to back up Romine, Boone said (via Carig).

Phillies Place Edubray Ramos On DL, Recall Hector Neris

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The Phillies announced Monday that they’ve placed right-hander Edubray Ramos on the 10-day disabled list due to a right shoulder impingement and recalled Hector Neris in his place.

The loss of Ramos is a significant hit to the Philadelphia relief corps, as he’s somewhat quietly been one of the most effective relievers in the National League this season. Through 29 innings, he’s worked to a pristine 1.24 ERA with a healthy 9.9 K/9 mark against 3.1 BB/9 and 0.62 HR/9. Ramos is an extreme fly-ball pitcher (45.1 percent in 2018), but he’s nonetheless proven adept at limiting homers in his big league career. Through 126 2/3 innings, he’s yielded just 11 homers (0.78 HR/9). There’s no indication to this point just how long Ramos is expected to remain sidelined, but certainly any shoulder injury is cause for concern with a pitcher.

Neris, meanwhile, will return to the club just a week after being optioned. He tossed a pair of scoreless innings for the Phillies’ top affiliate in Lehigh Valley, and the team will hope that his abbreviated demotion will help to get the struggling righty back on track. Neris opened the season as the Phillies’ closer and has been an important bullpen piece for the team dating back to 2015. However, after three strong seasons in which he ascended from middle-relief work to a setup role and eventually the team’s closer, he’s struggled immensely in 2018.

This season, Neris has been clobbered for a 6.00 ERA, and while his 11.7 K/9 mark and 17.6 percent swinging-strike rate are excellent, he’s been the most homer-prone reliever in the National League this season. In just 27 innings, Neris has served up eight long balls.

In addition to the bullpen maneuverings, the Phillies also announced that they’ve reinstated infielder Jesmuel Valentin from the paternity list and optioned fellow infielder Mitch Walding back to Lehigh Valley in a corresponding move.

D-backs Activate Miller, Place Buchholz On DL, Release Crichton

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The D-backs announced a series of roster moves Monday, activating right-hander Shelby Miller from the 60-day disabled list, placing fellow righty Clay Buchholz on the 10-day disabled list due to a strained left oblique muscle and releasing right-hander Stefan Crichton, who’d been on the minor league disabled list due to a shoulder injury.

For Miller, this will mark his return from a 14-month absence due to Tommy John surgery. He ramped up for his return with four minor league rehab starts between Class-A Advanced and Double-A, working to a combined 4.66 ERA with a much more impressive 28-to-6 K/BB ratio.

While Miller’s first season with the D-backs following the infamous Ender Inciarte/Dansby Swanson trade was an unequivocal disappointment, the righty was displaying some signs of a rebound last season at the time of his injury. Miller only made four starts last season and pitched just 22 innings, but he notched a solid 4.09 ERA with 20 strikeouts against 11 unintentional walks. More heartening, perhaps, was the fact that the lost life on his fastball had been rediscovered; after averaging a career-low 93 mph on his heater in 2016, he averaged 94.9 mph in 2017 prior to undergoing surgery.

[Related: Arizona Diamondbacks depth chart]

Miller’s return could prove to be critical for a D-backs rotation that has lost Taijuan Walker for the season and is currently without left-hander Robbie Ray (who, like Buchholz, is dealing with an oblique injury). Ray is on a minor league rehab assignment right now, and a starting five that includes him, Zack Greinke, Patrick Corbin, Zack Godley and a healthy Miller could prove formidable if Miller is closer to the pitcher who notched a 3.57 FIP in 2017 than he is to his 2016 form (6.15 ERA, 4.87 FIP).

Buccholz’s injury is hardly insignificant itself. After the Royals decided not to give him a look in the Majors earlier this year, he signed a minor league pact with the D-backs and has been something of a savior to their injury-plagued staff. Through seven starts and a total of 38 2/3 innings, Buchholz has compiled an outstanding 2.56 ERA with a 31-to-7 K/BB ratio and a 40.7 percent ground-ball rate.

As for Crichton, the D-backs acquired him back on April 2, sending a player to be named later or cash to the Orioles. He ultimately never pitched in the Majors for the D-backs, and he was hit exceptionally hard in Triple-A before landing on the disabled list. In 16 innings there, Crichton logged a disastrous 10.13 RA with 17 strikeouts against eight unintentional walks and four home runs. That said, the 26-year-old was nothing short of excellent in Triple-A last year. In 47 2/3 there last season, a healthier Crichton notched a tidy 3.02 ERA with 9.4 K/9 against 2.1 BB/9.

White Sox Outright Trayce Thompson

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Outfielder Trayce Thompson has cleared waivers and been sent outright to the White Sox’ Triple-A affiliate in Charlotte, James Fegan of The Athletic reports (on Twitter). Thompson was designated for assignment last week when the team activated Avisail Garcia from the disabled list.

Thompson, 27, entered Spring Training with the Dodgers but has since gone to the Yankees, Athletics and now back to his original organization, the White Sox, in a series of waiver claims and minor trades. This is the first time Thompson has cleared waivers and been outrighted, and as such, he doesn’t have the option to reject the assignment.

It’s been a brutal year at the plate for Thompson, who has slashed just .117/.162/.211 and fanned 50 times in 137 plate appearances. His struggles at the dish date back to last season, and he’s never really enjoyed a prolonged run of success in the big leagues. That said, the former second-round pick did hit .249/.322/.463 with 18 homers through his first 62 MLB games with the ChiSox and Dodgers. He’s also an excellent athlete who can capably handle all three outfield spots. He’ll head to Charlotte and look for a reset of sorts in hopes of getting back on track and returning to the Majors later this season.

Tigers Sign Casey Mize

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The Tigers announced today that they’ve signed No. 1 overall pick Casey Mize. He’ll be introduced today at a press conference. Anthony Fenech of the Detroit Free Press reports (via Twitter) that the former Auburn ace received a $7.5MM signing bonus. That’s a new record bonus for the current draft structure, though it still checks in south of the full slot value of $8,096,300. Mize was advised by and is now represented by the Bledsoe Agency.

Mize, 21, was the consensus top talent in the 2018 draft class. He topped pre-draft rankings from Baseball America, MLB.com, Fangraphs and ESPN, and virtually every mock draft leading up to the draft itself had projected that the Tigers would select him. He’ll instantly become one of the game’s top pitching prospects (and top overall prospects) and will give the Tigers a potential fast-moving, high-end pitching talent to add to their minor league ranks.

In his junior season at Auburn, Mize pitched to a 3.30 ERA with a ridiculous 156-to-16 K/BB ratio in 114 2/3 innings of work. He works with a fastball that reaches 97 mph but sits more in the 93-95 mph range and draws exceptional reviews for his ability to command that pitch as well as a splitter that both MLB.com and Baseball America rate as a 70-grade pitch (on the 20-80 scale). Mize also began throwing a cut fastball this year — another pitch that has quickly earned plus ratings — and throws a slider as well.

The rebuilding Tigers have begun to amass an impressive collection of arms that could be in the Majors by 2019 and certainly by early 2020. Detroit has selected a pitcher with its top pick in each of the past four drafts, and those arms — Alex Faedo (2017), Matt Manning (2016) and Beau Burrows (2015) — are widely ranked as the organization’s Nos. 2-4 prospects. Their top prospect, prior to signing Mize, is right-hander Franklin Perez — another highly touted arm whom the Tigers acquired from the Astros as the centerpiece to last summer’s Justin Verlander blockbuster. With Mize now joining that quartet, and Michael Fulmer and Matthew Boyd controlled for four years beyond the current season, the Tigers have the makings of an impressive up-and-coming pitching staff on which their fans and front office can dream.

Athletics Designate Liam Hendriks For Assignment, Select Edwin Jackson

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10:35am: The A’s have announced Hendriks’ DFA. His roster spot goes to right-hander Edwin Jackson, who has formally been selected from Triple-A Nashville. Oakland also activated lefty reliever Ryan Buchter from the DL and optioned outfielder Nick Martini to Triple-A in his place.

10:09am: The Athletics will designate right-handed reliever Liam Hendriks for assignment today, reports Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic (via Twitter).

Hendriks, 29, once rated as one of the better pitching prospects in the Twins’ minor league system but never cemented himself in the big leagues with Minnesota. After unsuccessful stints with the Orioles and Royals, he landed with the Blue Jays, however, and broke out as a quality bullpen piece in 2015. The A’s made a nice trade in sending right-hander Jesse Chavez to the Jays for Hendriks in the 2015-16 offseason, and he delivered two seasons of solid relief in Oakland. In all, from 2015-17, Hendriks notched a 3.63 ERA with 10.2 K/9 against 2.2 BB/9 in 193 1/3 innings in that time.

The 2018 season, however, has been an ugly one for the Australian-born Hendriks. He missed more than a month due to a right groin strain, and he hasn’t performed well when healthy. In 11 innings this season, Hendriks has allowed nine runs on 17 hits and seven walks with a dozen strikeouts. He’s allowed three home runs en route to that ugly 7.36 ERA.

Hendriks’ average fastball velocity is down two miles per hour this season (from 94.7 mph in 2017 to 92.7 mph in 2018), though he’s regained some of that missing heat since being activated from the disabled list earlier this month. He’s earning $1.9MM this season and is controllable for another year via arbitration to any club that either claims him off waivers or swings a trade to acquire his services.

Trade Rumors: Britton, Red Sox, Beltre, Dodgers, Boyd

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We’re still over a month away from the trade deadline but the hot stove is already percolating.  Here’s some trade buzz from around the majors…

  • The Red Sox are one of several teams who are scouting Orioles southpaw Zach Britton, the Boston Globe’s Nick Cafardo reports.  Craig Kimbrel wouldn’t be in any danger of losing his closing job if Britton joined the Sox, though Britton would be a setup man and big left-handed weapon out of Boston’s pen.  Brian Johnson is currently the only lefty reliever on the 25-man roster, though Bobby Poyner (currently in Triple-A) has posted some solid results when pitching for the big league team.  MLBTR’s Steve Adams recently explored Britton’s value as a trade candidate, noting that virtually every contender will, or should, be monitoring Britton as he continues his return from offseason Achilles surgery.
  • Also from Cafardo, he adds the Red Sox and Braves to the list of teams with some interest in veteran third baseman Adrian Beltre.  With Rafael Devers on Boston’s big league roster and Braves top prospect Austin Riley looming at Triple-A, both teams could make sense for a short-term upgrade like Beltre, who is only signed through this season.  While Beltre seems like a natural trade chip for a Rangers team that is well out of contention, there still remains some speculation as to whether or not Texas will actually move him, as the team heavily values Beltre’s leadership and wants him on the roster in 2019.  Beltre also has no-trade protection via 10-and-5 rights.  Still, the Rangers are at least shopping Beltre (and other players) to gauge trade interest, and it can’t hurt that multiple contenders could be in the market for third base help.
  • The Dodgers will be looking for relief help but otherwise don’t have any really obvious areas of need on their roster, Ken Rosenthal notes in a FOXSports.com video report.  This will allow the Dodgers to pursue the best players available on the trade market and “be picky” if they don’t like the asking price for a big-name rental player (i.e. Manny Machado).
  • Left-hander Matthew Boyd “is one of the Tigers’ most coveted players in trade talks,” MLB.com’s Jon Paul Morosi writes.  Even after a rough outing against Cleveland today, Boyd still has solid overall numbers this season, with a 4.15 ERA and 7.54 K/9 through 82 1/3 innings.  Advanced metrics aren’t nearly as high on Boyd’s work, however, so Detroit could explore a trade when Boyd is at his peak value, even though he is just 27 and isn’t eligible for arbitration until this winter.  Morosi speculates that the Mariners could target Boyd based on their past attempt to trade for him in the 2016-17 offseason, when GM Jerry Dipoto offered Taijuan Walker and prospects to the Tigers for Boyd and J.D. Martinez.

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