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Archives for July 2018

Phillies Acquire Asdrubal Cabrera

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The Phillies have officially agreed to acquire infielder Asdrubal Cabrera from the Mets, as first reported by Andy Martino of SNY.tv (Twitter link). Righty Franklyn Kilome is heading to New York in return, as Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic first reported (via Twitter).

It’ll certainly be interesting to see how the Phils decide to utilize Cabrera. The veteran has mostly played second base this year, grading quite poorly in the field, but that’s not likely where he’ll play in Philadelphia. It seems possible that Cabrera will slot in mostly at third base and shortstop. He played the latter position for much of his career and split his time between all three of those infield spots in 2017.

Having tried and failed to land Manny Machado, the Phillies seem to have settled on a strategy of mixing and matching on the left side of the infield. To this point, they have primarily utilized Maikel Franco and Scott Kingery, but the rehabbing J.P. Crawford will also ultimately factor in again as well. The current roster also includes infield reserves Jesmuel Valentin and Trevor Plouffe, though it wouldn’t be surprising to see one of those players moved off the active roster to make way for Cabrera.

Regardless of what patch of dirt Cabrera occupies, it is clear that the Phils will gladly put his bat in the lineup. Though Franco has turned it on of late, Kingery and Crawford have produced little offensively. As for Cabrera, he has been a solid offensive performer throughout his dozen seasons in the majors. But he has never been better than in New York. Since inking a two-year deal with an option (picked up last winter), Cabrera carries a .279/.339/.464 slash with 55 home runs.

The switch-hitting Cabrera destroyed opposing righties in 2018, posting a .285/.345/.535 slash. He hasn’t been as productive when facing southpaws this year, but had greater success against them in the prior campaign. For his career, Cabrera has very neutral splits, so there’s good reason to think he can succeed regardless of which side of the box he’s in.

For the Mets, there was no reason not to cash in the last two months of control over Cabrera, who’s earning a manageable $8.25MM salary this year. The New York organization is well out of the postseason hunt and had already begun moving expiring contracts for the second-straight summer.

In exchange for Cabrera, the Mets will add an intriguing hurler who still needs to iron some things out to make an impact in the big leagues. Kilome’s raw arsenal is impressive, led by an upper-nineties heater, and he’s said to be regarded as a hard worker. Even while ranking Kilome the tenth-best prospect in the Phillies system, though, MLB.com noted that “his command has been inconsistent.”

Thus far in 2018, the 23-year-old owns a 4.24 ERA with 7.3 K/9 and 4.5 BB/9 over 102 Double-A innings. Perhaps he’s not far from being ready for an opportunity in a major-league pen, but it seems doubtful he’ll receive a shot in the rotation until he has completed some further development. Kilome is already on the 40-man roster, which will increase the pressures to make him of use at the MLB level.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

D-Backs Acquire Eduardo Escobar

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The Diamondbacks have officially struck a deal with the Twins that sends infielder Eduardo Escobar to Arizona. Ken Rosenthal and Dan Hayes of The Athletic (Twitter link) reported an agreement was close, while Jon Heyman of Fancred tweets that there is in fact a deal in place.

In return, the Twins will get three Class A ballplayers in the deal, Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports tweets. Righty Jhoan Duran and outfielders Ernie De La Trinidad and Gabriel Maciel are all going to Minnesota. John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7 had tweeted that a trio of minor-leaguers would go to the Twins in the deal.

Escobar will reach free agency at season’s end, making him an obvious trade piece for the Twins. While the Minnesota club is still not fully buried in the AL Central, with a seven-game deficit, the club obviously determined that it was not close enough to the talented Indians to hold off on moving veteran assets.

With the deadline drawing near, Escobar arguably rated as the top infielder available. He is earning just $4.8MM this year, so his salary was rather easy to absorb for most contenders. Esobar sat at 18th on MLBTR’s recent listing of the top 75 trade deadline candidates, though he would have been significantly higher had it been clear that the Twins were ready to deal.

Even with Escobar leaving the market, there still remain quite a few other potential infield targets. Top rentals include now-former teammate Brian Dozier (who is likely limited to second base), Asdrubal Cabrera, Adrian Beltre, Ian Kinsler, and a group of veteran shortstops (Adeiny Hechavarria, Jose Iglesias, Freddy Galvis).

For the time being, at least, it seems likely that Escobar will slot in at third base, which is where he has spent most of the year. D-Backs incumbent Jake Lamb is dealing with a shoulder injury that may require a DL stint. He has also struggled mightily at the plate this year after two consecutive quality campaigns.

Escobar certainly has not had any difficulties putting bat to ball in 2018. He’s sporting a career-best .274/.338/.514 batting line with 15 home runs through 408 plate appearances. That’s a fair sight more than the switch-hitter has ever produced at the plate over a full season in the past, though Escobar has posted roughly league-average batting lines in three of the past four campaigns.

Of course, the Diamondbacks will surely still hope that Lamb can return and provide a boost. It’s notable, then, that Escobar has extensive experience at shortstop and also has spent time at second base (as well as the corner outfield). He may ultimately end up moving around the diamond as needs dictate down the stretch.

On the Twins’ side, there’s some interesting young talent coming back. Per MLB.com’s recently updated organizational rankings, Maciel ranked as the 11th-best prospect in the Arizona system, with Duran listed in the 19th spot. Maciel is valued for his ability to get aboard and do damage on the basepaths when he does. Entering the season, Baseball America rated both of those players among the thirty best Diamondbacks prospects. In their latest look, they bumped Duran into the club’s top-ten list on the basis of his big heater and “power curve.” While he still needs a third pitch to profile as a future starter, it seems there’s a lot to like about his arm.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Mets Designate Matt den Dekker

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The Mets have designated outfielder Matt den Dekker for assignment, as Matt Ehalt of The Record was among those to tweet. His roster spot was needed for the just-signed Austin Jackson.

It turned out to be a brief return to the majors with the Mets for den Dekker, who’s nearing his 31st birthday. The former New York draftee (5th round, 2010) had spent the early portion of the season at Triple-A Las Vegas. In 249 plate appearances there, den Dekker posted a .286/.336/.524 slash with 11 homers and six steals.

Reds Designate Kyle Crockett

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The Reds have designated southpaw Kyle Crockett, the club announced. That move, along with the optioning of righty Austin Brice, allowed the club to promote southpaw Wandy Peralta and right-hander Keury Mella.

Crockett, 26, had recorded 11 strikeouts while issuing only one walk in his 9 1/3 MLB innings this year. Of course, he was also touched for six earned runs on 16 base knocks. He has seen scattered action over each of the past five MLB campaigns, holding same-handed-hitters to a cumulative .640 OPS but surrendering a .862 mark to opposing righty bats.

Cardinals Designate Tyler Lyons For Assignment

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The Cardinals announced that they’ve designated left-handed reliever Tyler Lyons for assignment. St. Louis also formally announced the previously-reported DFA of right-hander Greg Holland and placed Brett Cecil on the 10-day DL with right foot inflammation. Combined with an out-of-the-blue trade of Sam Tuivailala to the Mariners, the series of moves marks a dramatic shuffling of the St. Louis pitching staff.

In a series of corresponding moves, the Cardinals promoted top prospect Dakota Hudson (as had been previously reported) and recalled lefty Tyler Webb and righties Daniel Poncedeleon and Luke Weaver from Triple-A Memphis.

Just a few short months ago, a DFA of Lyons would’ve been unfathomable. The 30-year-old Lyons steadily elevated his status with the Cards from 2015-17, improving his ERA and strikeout rates each season along the way, culminating with a 2017 campaign that saw him pitch 54 innings of 2.83 ERA ball with 11.3 K/9, 3.3 BB/9, 0.5 HR/9 and a 41.9 percent grounder rate. Lyons’ swinging-strike rate (10.3 percent) and chase rate (27.4 percent) weren’t as impressive as his K/9 mark might’ve led some to believe, but he nonetheless looked like a legitimate left-handed weapon out of the St. Louis ’pen.

This season, though, he’s missed time on the disabled list with back and elbow injuries, pitching to a dismal 8.64 ERA through 16 2/3 innings when healthy enough to take the mound. That said, Lyons’ average fastball velocity has hardly plummeted (90 mph in 2017, 89.2 mph in 2018), and he’s still punched out 19 hitters in those 16 2/3 frames — all while maintaining similar swinging-strike and chase rates.

Today’s decision to designate Lyons for assignment, then, registers as a fairly notable surprise. Given that he’ll finish the season with four-plus years of MLB service time and can thus be controlled through the 2020 season before reaching free agency, it’d be even more stunning if Lyons weren’t ultimately traded to another club — or at the very least claimed off outright waivers. He’s earning just $1.2MM this season and, given his recent success in the Majors, should draw interest from both contending clubs and non-contending teams alike.

Mariners Acquire Sam Tuivailala From Cardinals

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The Mariners have acquired right-handed reliever Sam Tuivailala from the Cardinals in exchange for minor league right-hander Seth Elledge, the teams announced Friday. Elledge has been assigned to Double-A Springfield.

Sam Tuivailala | Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

“Sam is in the midst of his second consecutive solid big league season, and has pitched in parts of four Major League seasons but has barely two years of service time,” Mariners general manager Jerry Dipoto said in a press release announcing the move. “We view this as a move for our present and our future.”

It’s another somewhat creative and unexpected trade for a Mariners club that has made a habit of identifying atypical trade candidates in recent seasons in spite of a poor farm system. In Tuivailala, Seattle is adding a 25-year-old righty who is in the midst of a solid season and can be controlled through the 2022 campaign.

Tuivailala, who won’t be eligible for arbitration until after the 2019 season, has spent his entire career in the Cardials organization since being selected in the third round of the 2010 draft. Dating back to Opening Day 2017, he’s stepped up and established himself as a useful contributor at the MLB level, tossing 74 innings of 3.04 ERA ball with 7.3 K/9, 2.7 BB/9, 0.85 HR/9 and a 48.4 percent ground-ball rate. He’s averaged 95.3 mph on his fastball over the past two seasons and made positive gains in both swinging-strike rate (from 9.5 percent to 10.1 percent) and chase rate (from 27.9 percent to 29.2 percent) so far in 2018.

While much has been made of the Mariners’ pursuit of rotation help, they’ve also been linked to bullpen upgrades, and Dipoto and his staff have previously prioritized acquiring longer-term assets when trading their own young talent away (e.g. Ryon Healy, James Pazos, Ben Gamel, Mitch Haniger). Tuivailala adds to that trend and gives recently extended manager Scott Servais another option late in games to help bridge the gap from the rotation to All-Star closer Edwin Diaz.

For the Cardinals, the trade of Tuivailala comes as a surprise component to an otherwise highly anticipated shuffling of the team’s pitching staff. President of baseball ops John Mozeliak recently indicated that changes were coming to his roster, specifically as pertains to the ’pen, though given Tuivailala’s remaining club control and general success over the past two seasons, few could’ve reasonably expected him to be a part of the machinations.

That said, in prying Elledge away from the Mariners, the Cards will pick up an intriguing relief prospect who seemingly has more upside than Tuivailala carries. Seattle selected Elledge in the fourth round of last season’s draft, and he’s absolutely torn through Class-A Advanced with the Mariners, working to a 1.17 ERA with 12.7 K/9, 3.5 BB/9, 0.23 HR/9 and a 50 percent ground-ball rate.

Elledge has been virtually untouchable to Class-A Advanced batters, yielding just 18 hits in 38 1/3 innings of work. Jim Callis and Jonathan Mayo of MLB.com ranked Elledge 10th among Seattle farmhands on yesterday’s midseason update of each team’s Top 30 lists. The MLB.com duo writes that he sits 93-95 mph with a fastball that features “heavy sink” and is complemented by a slider and changeup — both of which have the potential to be average offerings.

Aaron Judge Out At Least Three Weeks With Chip Fracture In Wrist

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July 27: The Yankees announced that Judge has been placed on the 10-day disabled list. Infielder Tyler Wade is up from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre to take his spot on the roster for the time being. The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal first reported (via Twitter) that Wade would be recalled.

July 26: The Yankees announced after tonight’s game that an MRI revealed a chip fracture in Aaron Judge’s right wrist — specifically, in the ulnar styloid bone. He’ll head to the disabled list and won’t be able to swing a bat for an estimated three weeks, though he won’t require surgery. Judge sustained the injury when he was hit on the wrist by an errant fastball from Royals righty Jakob Junis.

Obviously, the significance of any absence for Judge can’t be undersold when the Yankees are just four and a half games back from the Red Sox for the division lead in the American League East, though surely the Yankees are breathing at least a mild sigh of relief. Given the proximity of the fracture to Judge’s hamate bone, the 2017 AL MVP runner up could’ve faced a considerably more significant stay on the disabled list and surgical repair if the pitch had caused a hamate fracture.

That said, Judge is in the midst of yet another brilliant season, hitting .285/.398/.548 with 26 home runs. He’s leading the team in that category as well as on-base percentage, slugging percentage and RBIs, among other offensive categories. With Judge on the shelf, the Yankees will presumably deploy Giancarlo Stanton as the primary right fielder, with Brett Gardner in left and Aaron Hicks in center field.

Were Judge in line for a lengthier absence, it’d be conceivable that Yankees GM Brian Cashman would be motivated to add a bat to replace the lost production. But with Judge apparently likely to return by mid-August, it’s unlikely that the injury will prompt a significant move; even after Judge had sustained his injury, for instance, Fancred’s Jon Heyman tweeted that while the Yankees have considered Mike Moustakas previously, they still believe his asking price to be too high. Furthermore, Joel Sherman of the New York Post tweets that he suspects the Yankees will stick with internal options rather than pursuing even stopgap options on the trade market (e.g. Cameron Maybin, Jose Bautista).

White Sox Designate Chris Volstad For Assignment

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The White Sox announced Friday that they’ve designated right-hander Chris Volstad for assignment. His spot on the 25- and 40-man rosters will go to right-hander Tyler Danish, whose contract has been selected from Triple-A Charlotte. The ChiSox also called up right-handed reliever Thyago Vieira from Charlotte to join the big league bullpen.

Volstad, 31, has soaked up 47 1/3 innings for an ugly Chicago pitching staff so far in 2018, though he’s posted an ungainly 6.27 ERA with 5.5 K/9 against 2.3 BB/9 in that time. Those 47 1/3 frames are the most he’s totaled in a big league season since 2012; in fact, it’s a greater total than the combined number of MLB innings Volstad threw from 2013-17. The Sox have a week to trade him or run him through outright waivers, and it stands to reason that there’s a good chance he’ll clear and have the opportunity to remain in the organization at Triple-A.

Danish, 23, was one of Chicago’s better pitching prospects for a few years but cleared waivers and was removed from the 40-man roster last offseason. He’s had a nice run in Charlotte this season, though, notching a 3.06 ERA with 6.4 K/9, 3.6 BB/9 and a 51.1 percent ground-ball rate in 64 2/3 innings of work. All but two of Danish’s 29 appearances have come in relief, so it seems the organization will see how the former starter fares out of the bullpen moving forward.

As for Vieira, the 25-year-old flamethrower has had his struggles in Charlotte this year — his first in the organization. Chicago picked him up in a trade that sent international bonus considerations to the Mariners this past offseason, and while he’s averaged a heart 11 strikeouts per nine innings pitched in 2018, he’s also averaged 5.3 walks in that same span. Vieira averaged 98.7 mph on his fastball in last year’s brief MLB debut with the Mariners, and he’ll bring the ability to miss plenty of bats to the table on the South Side, even if control could prove to be an ongoing issue.

Latest On Asdrubal Cabrera, Zack Wheeler

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12:03pm: Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic tweets that the Mets and Brewers have discussed a package deal that would send both players to Milwaukee, though there’s no indication that anything is close to being completed. The D-backs are indeed in the mix for Cabrera, he adds.

9:05am: Teams who’ve spoken to the Mets about the availability of Asdrubal Cabrera have gotten the impression that he’ll be traded soon, reports Andy Martino of SNY.tv. While “soon” is a relative term, especially with the non-waiver trade deadline just four days away, Martino adds that the Mets then plan to shift their “full attention” to finding a trade partner for Zack Wheeler. Presumably, they’ll want to leave themselves ample room to discuss that swap, so it stands to reason that they’d hope to wrap up a Cabrera swap in short order.

ESPN’s Buster Olney tweeted yesterday that the Diamondbacks have “checked in” on Cabrera as they seek to bolster their own infield mix. Joel Sherman of the New York Post adds the Indians and the Phillies to the fray, though he notes that Philadelphia’s interest would be stronger were Cabrera still viewed as a capable shortstop. Fancred’s Jon Heyman tweets that the Braves and Brewers, too, may be in the market. While a number of teams have inquired to some extent, the Post’s Mike Puma surmised yesterday that there are three or four teams with legitimate interest in Cabrera (Twitter link). As for Wheeler, he’s generating interest from the Brewers and Reds, per Martino. The Cubs had shown interest, though yesterday’s agreement to acquire Cole Hamels would quite likely put an end to that pursuit.

While the Mets have had just about everything possible go wrong for them over the past couple of seasons, their signing of Cabrera in the 2015-16 offseason has proven to be an excellent one. He’s earning $8.5MM in the third year of what proved to be a $25MM contract (after his 2018 option was exercised) and is hitting .277/.329/.488 with 18 homers, 23 doubles and a triple. Cabrera, though, has received dreadful defensive ratings for his work at second base (-18 Defensive Runs Saved, -6 Ultimate Zone Rating), which won’t do his trade value any favors.

As for Wheeler, he’ll obviously have the greater value of the pair, given his affordable salary, the fact that he’s controlled through 2019, his recent success and the plethora of teams seeking to bolster their rotation in the coming days. Over his past 10 starts, Wheeler has worked to a 3.50 ERA (3.40 FIP, 4.17 xFIP) with 7.8 K/9, 3.1 BB/9 and 0.56 HR/9 with a 40.2 percent ground-ball rate. His fastball has averaged 96.4 mph in that span, and he’s posted a strong 11.3 percent swinging-strike rate. Puma noted yesterday that as many as 10 teams have displayed some level of interest.

Cardinals To Designate Greg Holland For Assignment, Promote Dakota Hudson

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11:28am: Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch tweets that Holland will be designated for assignment — not released. That may well be a moot point, as the DFA will merely give the Cardinals a week (it had been 10 days prior to the new version of the CBA) to either trade Holland or place him on outright or release waivers. Holland would be able to reject an outright assignment in favor of free agency anyhow, so if the Cards aren’t able to find a taker on the trade market — which would assuredly require them to eat the vast majority of Holland’s remaining $4.89MM salary — then it seems he’ll hit the open market regardless.

11:17am: The Cardinals are expected to release right-hander Greg Holland today, reports Jon Morosi of MLB.com (Twitter links). His roster spot will go to pitching prospect Dakota Hudson, who is set to have his contract selected from Triple-A Memphis, per Morosi.

That report certainly meshes with some recent comments made by president of baseball operations on the Bernie Miklasz Show on ESPN 101, in which Mozeliak said to “expect changes” to the club’s bullpen in the near future (Twitter link). The Athletic’s Mark Saxon recently speculated that Holland would be cut loose and that Hudson would be brought up to the big league roster (Twitter link).

The Cardinals’ decision to sign Holland to a last-minute, one-year contract with a $14MM guarantee on Opening Day proved to be a catastrophic misstep for the club. Not only did St. Louis surrender a valuable selection in the 2018 draft to do so, but the Cardinals received nothing in the way of on-field value from the 2017 National League saves leader.

Holland missed all of Spring Training while waiting to find a deal he and agent Scott Boras dubbed suitable, and the Cardinals made the eyebrow-raising decision to bring him to the Majors after just two minor league appearances. Holland struggled immediately, walking four batters in his Cardinals debut on April 9. Those struggles were the first of many in 2018 for Holland, whose Cardinals tenure will come to a close with a 7.92 ERA, 22 strikeouts and 22 walks over the life of 25 innings.

As for his replacement on the roster, Hudson will come to the Cardinals having drawn considerable fanfare since being selected with the 34th overall pick in the 2016 draft. He ranked as the Cardinals’ No. 4 prospect on this week’s updated Top 30 rankings from Jim Callis and Jonathan Mayo of MLB.com, and while he falls outside that duo’s Top 100 overall prospects, Hudson is still viewed as a potential mid-rotation arm. The 23-year-old has pitched to a 2.50 ERA with 7.0 K/9, 3.0 BB/9 and a hefty 57.7 percent ground-ball rate through 111 2/3 innings in Triple-A Memphis this season.

Though Hudson is being promoted to replace a reliever, it seems quite likely that the organization will deploy him as a starter. Saxon speculated before that John Gant and/or Austin Gomber could be moved to the bullpen, with Hudson stepping into a starting spot and giving the Cards a couple of months to evaluate his future. Callis and Mayo note that while Hudson has four average or better offerings, led by his fastball and his slider, he still doesn’t miss many bats. His fastball/slider combo is strong enough, though, that he could work in relief even if he doesn’t pan out as a starter, per their report.

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