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Archives for August 2018

Braves Outright Ryan Flaherty

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The Braves outrighted Ryan Flaherty after he cleared waivers, as Gabe Burns of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution was among those to tweet. The veteran infielder has accepted the assignment, but can still choose to elect free agency at season’s end.

Flaherty, 32, rushed out to a hot start at the plate but steadily trailed off over the course of the season. Through 172 total plate appearances in 2018, he’s slashing just .222/.298/.301 — good for a meager 59 wRC+ that falls in line with his numbers in recent seasons.

Flaherty’s role diminished as well with Johan Camargo returning to action and Charlie Culberson engaged in his own surprising run of success. (Interestingly, Statcast actually gives Flaherty the slight edge in xwOBA for the year over Culberson, taking a rather dim view of both players’ batted-ball output.) When a roster spot was needed recently, Flaherty was designated for assignment. He had taken only 32 plate appearances over the preceding two months.

Despite his offensive struggles, Flaherty will “likely” be added back to the MLB roster at some point in September, Burns tweets. Of course, that would still require the Atlanta organization to open a 40-man spot, so other considerations could still intervene. Presumably, if he does make it back to the majors this season, Flaherty will see occasional time as a defensive and baserunning replacement.

Nationals Pulled Mark Reynolds Off Revocable Waivers Following Claim By Braves

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The Nationals placed first baseman Mark Reynolds on revocable trade waivers earlier this week but pulled him back after he was claimed by the Braves, reports Jon Heyman of Fancred (via Twitter). That Reynolds has already been pulled off waivers makes him unlikely to change hands at this point. While the Nats could try to pass him through waivers a second time, those waivers would no longer be revocable.

Reynolds, 35, is hitting .255/.335/.497 with 11 home runs in 172 plate appearances with the Nats after signing a minor league deal back on April 17. He eventually played his way onto the MLB roster and has rewarded the organization’s minimal investment of a $1MM base salary with a solid season of production — largely in a bench role.

Reynolds’ minimal salary gave the Nationals little reason to let go of him as a means of cost savings — he’s owed about $209K more as of this writing — and the Nats may simply not have been keen on helping the chances of a division rival in this manner. While the Nats’ playoff hopes are obviously slim, at best, they’re still technically within striking distance of the Braves at eight games out of first place. It’s extremely unlikely that they’ll overcome that deficit, but teams have erased larger leads with less time to play in the past. Beyond that, fan reaction to simply letting Reynolds go to a division rival in exchange for a mere couple hundred thousand dollars would surely have been quite negative.

Even if Reynolds is extremely likely to stay put, though, the Nationals may not yet be done dealing. The Washington Post’s Jorge Castillo reported earlier today that Gio Gonzalez, Matt Wieters and Ryan Zimmerman have cleared waivers. Wieters and especially Zimmerman may be long shots as trade pieces, but Gonzalez could be viewed as a potential rotation option for a contender down the stretch. It also remains to be seen whether the Nationals will part with Kelvin Herrera, who is a free agent at season’s end and will not be receiving a qualifying offer.

Gio Gonzalez, Matt Wieters, Ryan Zimmerman Clear Revocable Waivers

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A trio of Nationals players have cleared revocable trade waivers and are now eligible to be traded to any club, according to Jorge Castillo of the Washington Post (Twitter link). Left-hander Gio Gonzalez, catcher Matt Wieters and first baseman Ryan Zimmerman all went unclaimed by rival teams.

Of the trio, Gonzalez would be the likeliest to hold appeal to a contending team. While his numbers are down somewhat in 2018, Gonzalez is still averaging 8.0 K/9 and just 0.94 HR/9 with a 47.1 percent ground-ball rate. He’s averaged 4.5 walks per nine innings and is sitting on a 4.51 ERA through 133 2/3 innings, though his 4.26 FIP and 4.38 xFIP are slightly more encouraging than his ERA. Gonzalez’s average fastball velocity (89.7 mph) is nearly identical to his 2017 mark, and he’s actually had a modest improvement in his swinging-strike rate (from 8.7 percent to 9.2 percent).

[Related: How August Trades Work]

Gonzalez, 33 next month, is a free agent at season’s end and is earning $12MM in his final season of club control. There’s still about $2.5MM of that sum yet to be paid out on his contract, so it’s not a big surprise to see him pass through waivers unclaimed. However, now that he’s done so, the Nationals can negotiate with any club and agree to include some cash to help offset the remainder of that salary in exchange for what would likely be some modest prospect value.

While the Nationals aren’t embarking on a full-scale rebuild, they’ve signaled a willingness to move impending free agents who are unlikely or ineligible to receive qualifying offers (as was the case with Daniel Murphy and Matt Adams). Given his inconsistent season, Gonzalez likely falls into that same bucket, so it’ll be interesting to see if trade talk surrounding the veteran lefty picks up between now and the Aug. 31 deadline for postseason eligibility. Gonzalez recently checked in at No. 8 on MLBTR’s ranking of the top 20 remaining August trade candidates. A source confirmed to MLBTR that Gonzalez won’t reach 10 years of MLB service this season and therefore does not have 10-and-5 rights allowing him to veto a trade.

Like Gonzalez, Wieters is a free agent at season’s end, but he’s in the midst of a second disappointing campaign with the Nats. The switch-hitter has managed just a .240/.325/.365 batting line in 192 plate appearances during an injury-shortened second season in D.C. He’s owed about $2.19MM through the end of the season, making it unlikely that any team would pursue a trade to acquire the final month or so of his services (at least, without some significant financial help from the Nats).

Zimmerman, 34 in September, is still owed $3.57MM of this season’s $18MM salary in addition to an identical $18MM salary next season and a $2MM buyout on an $18MM option for the 2020 season. That remaining $23.57MM made him a no-brainer to clear waivers, but the veteran has remained productive into the late stages of his contract. He’s hitting .260/.332/.526 this season, though Zimmerman’s full 10-and-5 rights would mean he’d have to approve any trade. Ultimately, his clearing is more or less a formality, because there’s almost no realistic scenario in which he’s traded this year.

Rockies Select Contract Of Matt Holliday

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11:54am: The Rockies have formally announced the move. Infielder Garrett Hampson was optioned to Triple-A to open a spot on the active roster.

9:16am: Matt Holliday looks to be on the verge of donning a Rockies uniform for the first time since 2008. Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post (via Twitter) that Holliday, who signed a minor league contract with the organization earlier this month, will have his contract selected today and could be at Coors Field for today’s game.

When Holliday went unsigned this past offseason at the age of 38, many wondered whether that might be the end of an excellent 14-year big league career. But the veteran slugger told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch back in April that he hoped to continue his playing career, and his original organization has given him the opportunity to do so.

Holliday has made the most of his opportunity in Triple-A Albuquerque, where he’s absolutely clobbered minor league pitching through a small sample of 15 games and 62 plate appearances. In that brief trial run, Holliday has batted .346/.452/.596 with three homers and four doubles. He’s also drawn nine walks against nine strikeouts in his return to professional ball.

The Rockies cleared a spot on the 40-man roster yesterday when Double-A catcher Chris Rabago was claimed on outright waivers by the Yankees. Presumably, that spot will go to Holliday, who’ll give the Rockies an additional option in the outfield corners and at first base. A corresponding 25-man move will still need to be made.

Holliday spent the 2017 season with the Yankees and served as the team’s primary designated hitter for much of the season, batting .231/.316/.432 with 19 home runs and 18 doubles in 427 plate appearances during his lone season in the Bronx. In total, he’s a career .299/.378/.511 hitter with 314 home runs through 7916 plate appearances between the Rockies, Athletics, Cardinals and Yankees.

Tigers’ Artie Lewicki To Undergo Tommy John Surgery

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Tigers right-hander Artie Lewicki will undergo Tommy John surgery next week, manager Ron Gardenhire told reporters this morning (Twitter link via Evan Woodbery of MLive.com). The timing of the surgery makes it likely that the right-hander will miss all of the 2019 season. This will be the second Tommy John surgery of Lewicki’s young career, as MLBlcom’s Jason Beck notes (on Twitter), giving the organization all the more reason to employ a more conservative approach to his rehab.

Lewicki, 26, has a strong track record in Triple-A but has not yet had that success carry over to the big league level. He’s given the Tigers 38 1/3 innings in the Majors this season, recording a 4.89 ERA with 7.0 K/9, 3.3 BB/9, 0.93 HR/9 and a 40.3 percent ground-ball rate along the way. He posted a 2.03 ERA with terrific K/BB numbers in Triple-A last season, though, and owns an overall 3.79 ERA with 8.5 K/9 against 2.5 BB/9 in 92 2/3 innings at the top minor league level.

The injury to Lewicki seems likely to cost him his 40-man roster spot in the offseason, though it’s common in these instances for a player to be retained after clearing outright waivers and remain with the organization to continue his rehab work the following season.

Matt Harvey, Billy Hamilton Claimed On Revocable Waivers By Unknown Teams

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Aug. 23: Billy Hamilton has also been claimed by an unknown club, tweets Murray. Fancred’s Jon Heyman tweets that a trade involving Hamilton is “unlikely,” citing the fact that Hamilton is controlled through next season as the reasoning behind that thinking for the Reds.

The 27-year-old Hamilton is having a miserable season at the plate, hitting .236/.302/.317 through 440 plate appearances and is receiving less playing time than he has at any point in his big league career. But he’s still providing plenty of value on the basepaths and elite defense in center field while playing on an affordable $4.6MM salary. He’d be a great piece for a contending club to add to its bench in September and into the postseason, but the Reds have indicated in the past that they’re not keen on selling off pieces for the 2019 season when they aim to be competitive despite a largely unsettled rotation picture.

Aug. 22, 9:50pm: The Athletic’s Patrick Mooney tweets that the Cubs are not the team that claimed Harvey.

6:57pm: Reds right-hander Matt Harvey has been claimed off revocable trade waivers by an unknown club, per Robert Murray and C. Trent Rosecrans of The Athletic (Twitter link). It’s unclear when the claim was placed, but the claiming team would have 48 hours to work out a trade with the Reds. If no deal is reached, the Reds will have the option of either pulling Harvey back off waivers or merely letting him and the remainder of his salary go to the new team.

Harvey, 29, ranked checked in at No. 12 on MLBTR’s latest ranking of the top 20 remaining August trade candidates. He’s made 17 starts in Cincinnati since being flipped there by the Mets in exchange for Devin Mesoraco back in May. He’s had a few hiccups along the way, but Harvey has made significant gains in terms of velocity, swinging-strike rate and his chase rate on pitches out of the zone. Overall, he’s registered a 4.28 ERA with 6.9 K/9, 2.1 BB/9, 1.39 HR/9 and a 43.1 percent ground-ball rate in 90 1/3 innings with the Reds.

Given that Harvey is a free agent at season’s end, there’s little reason to believe he’d be claimed by any non-contending club. Revocable waiver priority is league-specific and ordered from worst record to best record, meaning Harvey would have to go unclaimed by every NL team in order to reach an AL club. The Dodgers represent the first realistic contender that would have the ability to claim Harvey in the National League — assuming that the Pirates, Nats and Giants are too far gone to consider adding pieces.

Harvey isn’t eligible to receive a qualifying offer after changing hands midseason (and wouldn’t be a candidate to receive one anyhow), so there’s plenty of incentive for the Reds to get a deal done. Even if the Cincinnati front office hopes to retain Harvey, there’d still be a strong case to flip him for even a modest minor league return and then try to hammer out a new deal when Harvey reaches the open market.

Injury Notes: Shoemaker, Cubs, Ozuna, Pineda, Villanueva

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Angels righty Matt Shoemaker underwent forearm surgery earlier this summer — an operation that repaired the pronator teres tendon and also decompressed a nerve in his right arm. While that sounded ominous and called the remainder of his season into question, Shoemaker has thrown a pair of simulated games recently and tells Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register that he’s aiming to return to the Angels in September. Shoemaker has been battling injuries for much of his career and has only pitched once in the Majors since last June. As he explains it, the tendon damage in his arm was not initially revealed on an MRI and was not detected during a 2017 operation because that surgery was performed a few inches away from the tendon damage. It took exploratory surgery for doctors to discover a “split tendon,” which Shoemaker believes to have been the root of his troubles.

Some more injury news from around the league…

  • The Cubs put Addison Russell on the disabled list today as a corresponding move for the activation of newly acquired Daniel Murphy. As MLB.com’s Carrie Muskat writes, the official announcement stated that a sprained left index finger was prompting the DL placement, but Russell has also been bothered by inflammation in his right shoulder. He’ll get some needed rest from the current DL stint, though there’s no indication that he’s expected to miss a prolonged period of time. There’s less certainty regarding closer Brandon Morrow, Muskat continues, explaining that the right-hander is headed for more tests on his ailing right biceps Friday and isn’t expected to return until September. Morrow has been sidelined since mid-July.
  • The Cardinals announced today that left fielder Marcell Ozuna has been placed on the disabled list due to inflammation in his right shoulder. It’s a tough loss for the Cards, even if it’s only an abbreviated stint, as Ozuna had hit safely in 22 of his past 27 games, batting a combined .315/.356/.532 with six homers, four doubles and a triple in that span of 118 plate appearances. Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch writes that Ozuna’s shoulder has been problematic dating all the way back to last season. The Cardinals were aware of the issue when trading for him, Goold writes, and the team has tried to limit Ozuna’s throwing outside of a game setting throughout the season in order to lessen the stress on said shoulder.
  • Michael Pineda is slated to make two more starts for the Twins’ Triple-A affiliate before joining the big league club in September, Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer Press reports. Signed to a two-year, $10MM deal that pays him $8MM in 2019, Pineda is in the final stages of recovering from 2017 Tommy John surgery and is expected to be an important piece in Minnesota’s rotation next season. Manager Paul Molitor wouldn’t rule out giving Pineda a start or two in September but said he doesn’t plan to get him too stretched out. Berardino suggests that Pineda won’t top 75 pitches in any appearance this year.
  • Padres third baseman Christian Villanueva has been diagnosed with a fractured finger and is headed to the 10-day disabled list, tweets AJ Cassavell of MLB.com. Villanueva wasn’t in today’s lineup due to some swelling in his hand after taking a tough grounder yesterday, and further testing appears to have revealed the fracture. A corresponding move will be announced tomorrow. It’s not clear how long Villanueva will be out. The 27-year-old Villanueva has utterly demolished left-handed pitching this season, hitting at an absurd .336/.392/.736 clip with 14 home runs through 113 plate appearances when holding the platoon advantage. Unfortunately, he’s mustered a feeble .189/.255/.319 slash against right-handed opponents.

Andrew McCutchen Clears Revocable Trade Waivers

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Giants outfielder Andrew McCutchen has cleared revocable trade waivers and is now eligible to be traded to any team, reports Robert Murray of The Athletic (on Twitter). It’s at least a mild surprise to see McCutchen clear, though he’s still owed a fairly notable $3.155MM of this season’s $14.75MM salary. He landed atop MLBTR’s most recent list of the top 20 remaining August trade candidates.

At the time he was placed on waivers, The Athletic’s Andrew Baggarly tweeted that there was a “very good chance” that the Giants would deal McCutchen, given the team’s increasing deficit in the NL West and the Wild Card race. McCutchen isn’t in the starting lineup for the Giants tonight, though skipper Bruce Bochy told reporters prior to first pitch that it was just a standard day off for the outfielder (link via Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area).

McCutchen, 31, has turned in a .255/.353/.412 slash with 14 homers, 26 doubles and a pair of triples in his first and quite possibly only season with the Giants. That’s a far cry from the brilliant production that earned him National League MVP honors a few years back, though his bottom-line numbers have undoubtedly been weighed down a bit by his extremely pitcher-friendly home park. Context-neutral stats like OPS+ (108) and wRC+ (113) suggest he’s been anywhere from eight to 13 percent better than a league-average offensive player.

With McCutchen free to be traded anywhere, the Giants should find multiple teams with interest, and they’ll now be able to include some cash considerations to help offset a partial portion of his remaining salary. The Indians are reported to be in the market for outfield upgrades but are already well north of their franchise-record payroll, so perhaps they opted to pass on claiming him for fear of being stuck with an additional $3MM+.

The Yankees, meanwhile, are currently without Aaron Judge and are unable to play Giancarlo Stanton in the outfield due to hamstring issues that are limiting him to DH. Neil Walker has been playing right field for the first time in his career given that pair of injury issues. While both Judge and Stanton are expected back healthy by season’s end, adding McCutchen would give the team another solid bat and provide some cover while Judge, Gary Sanchez and Didi Gregorius mend.

That’s just a pair of clubs with obvious outfield needs, of course, and there could certainly be additional interest in McCutchen throughout the league. The Athletics stand out as another speculative on-paper fit, and yesterday’s trade of Daniel Murphy from the Nats to the Cubs serves as a reminder that teams are more keen than ever on stockpiling depth even if it means a short-term acquisition of a player who may not look like a clear fit when his new team’s roster is at full strength.

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