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Archives for August 2018

Rick Ankiel Planning Pitching Comeback

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AUGUST 6th: Ankiel has announced that he will indeed pursue a comeback, in an interview on FOX Sports Midwest (video available on Twitter).

AUGUST 2nd: Though he’s long removed from his days as an active major leaguer, former pitcher-turned-outfielder Rick Ankiel says he’s now “toying with” the idea of trying to return to the mound, as Tim Brown of Yahoo Sports reports. It seems the thought is still in its infancy, but it’s intriguing to consider nevertheless.

Ankiel, who recently turned 39, has already crafted a notable path in baseball. He was a phenom on the mound for the Cardinals, only to see his career crumble in stunning fashion owing to a case of the yips that never went away.

The highly valued young hurler placed second in the 2000 Rookie of the Year voting at twenty years of age. But he collapsed in the ensuing postseason and was never again a useful MLB pitcher. While he made it back to the majors briefly in 2004, Ankiel decided to rebuild himsef as a outfielder the following spring when the problems returned.

Ankiel ended up turning in seven seasons as a position player. While he was noted mostly for his defense — particularly, a rocket of a throwing arm — Ankiel also had plenty of power and ended up swatting 76 home runs and carrying a .240/.302/.422 slash in over two thousand career plate appearances. It was almost entirely a feel-good story, though a PED controversy arose in the middle of that time.

Needless to say, there’d still be quite a few hurdles to Ankiel’s potential return to professional pitching. But he is said to have reached the upper eighties with his fastball even before any dedicated work. He’s not outlandishly old; on occasion, pitchers still work into their forties. And given that he stopped pitching at 25 years of age, his arm hasn’t suffered anything close to the wear and tear of a typical big league hurler.

Given that the idea only seems to have been hatched recently, details remain scant. It may be that Ankiel won’t even follow through on the concept. But he indicated to Brown that he’d like to try working as a reliever in camp next spring. That’d surely make for a fascinating storyline to follow for those many fans that have wondered whether Ankiel still had one more run left in his powerful left arm.

Tigers To Purchase Contract Of Jacob Turner

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The Tigers will purchase the contract of righty Jacob Turner, Evan Woodberry of MLive.com tweets. He’s expected to start tomorrow in place of the just-traded Mike Fiers.

Turner, 27, has seen action in parts of seven seasons. But his career hasn’t gone as hoped when he debuted in Detroit at just twenty years of age. The former first-rounder has spent time with four other organizations since that time and owns only a 5.26 ERA over 368 career innings.

Most recently, Turner was knocked around in four outings with the Marlins earlier this season. The Tigers nabbed him on a minors deal and sent him to Triple-A Toledo. Turner has been effective there thus far, carrying a 4.01 ERA with 6.3 K/9 and 3.1 BB/9 in 58 1/3 frames over 11 starts.

Minor MLB Transactions: 8/6/18

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Here are today’s minor league moves, with the newest transactions at the top of the post…

  • The Mets outrighted Kevin Kaczmarski to Triple-A after the outfielder cleared waivers, according to MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo (Twitter link).  New York designated Kaczmarski for assignment last Thursday.  Kaczmarski, a ninth-round pick for the Mets in the 2015 draft, has an even .800 OPS (.301/.382/.418) over 1469 career PA in the minor leagues.  He made his big league debut this season, appearing in four games for the Mets.

Joe Mauer, Logan Morrison Clear Revocable Trade Waivers

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The Twins have passed two of their veteran hitters through the trade waiver process, as Mike Berardino of the Pioneer Press reports that Joe Mauer and Logan Morrison both went unclaimed by any of the 29 other teams.  Mauer and Morrison are now eligible to be dealt for the remainder of the season.

Mauer has a full no-trade clause that he could’ve used to block a move to another team, had he been claimed and the Twins elected to let the claim stand.  Still, it was a moot point since other clubs weren’t likely to make a move for a player who is owed significant money (roughly $6.92MM by Berardino’s calculation) for the remainder of the season, particularly since Mauer is hitting only .275/.357/.367 over 348 PA.

Once one of the league’s best players, Mauer has become only a decently above-average offensive contributor in the latter stage of his career, with a .277/.360/.387 slash line since the start of the 2014 season.  He has consistently managed to get on base despite declining power numbers, however, and is less than a year removed from a strong 2017 season.  Mauer is also a well-respected veteran who would add to any clubhouse’s leadership.

As of last week, Mauer said he hadn’t been approached by the Twins about a potential trade, and it isn’t clear if Mauer would consider waiving his no-trade clause to join a contender — he said last winter that he would find it hard to play for any team besides the Twins.  Since Mauer’s contract is up after the season, however, Minnesota could look to re-sign Mauer in the offseason while giving him a shot at a championship over the last two-plus months of the 2018 campaign.

Morrison signed a one-year, $5.5MM deal with the Twins last winter with a $1MM buyout of a club option year for 2019.  That option vests if Morrison reaches 600 plate appearances, though that isn’t likely to happen given that the veteran first baseman/DH has struggled to a .195/.289/.387 slash line and 15 homers over 343 PA.  Morrison is just a season removed from a big 38-homer, .868 OPS season with the Rays, yet he had to settle for his modest contract from the Twins after not receiving much interest in free agency.  Morrison will face another crowded market of veteran bats on the trade market, and teams aren’t likely to show much interest in his services unless he gets hot at the plate.

Astros To Place George Springer On 10-Day DL

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The Astros will place outfielder George Springer on the 10-day disabled list due to a left thumb sprain, with MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart (Twitter link) and others reporting the news.  Derek Fisher will be called up to take Springer’s spot on the 25-man roster, as The Athletic’s Robert Murray tweeted earlier today.

Springer suffered the injury yesterday, when his thumb was clipped by the glove of Dodgers shortstop Chris Taylor while Springer was attempting to steal second base.  X-rays taken yesterday on Springer’s thumb were negative, and he is only expected to miss around two weeks, as he avoided a more serious UCL sprain.

[Updated Astros depth chart at Roster Resource]

Still, even two weeks without the star outfielder is an issue for an Astros team that is suddenly missing several of its most notable names due to injury.  Springer joins Jose Altuve, Carlos Correa, Chris Devenski, Lance McCullers Jr. and Brian McCann on the disabled list, with only Correa potentially close to a return.  Houston’s lead over the streaking Athletics in the AL West has shrunk to just four games, so the Astros could find themselves as active players in the August trade market to bolster themselves down the stretch.  Outfield depth could be of particular concern, as some combination of Fisher, Tony Kemp, and Jake Marisnick will be handling center field and mostly left field duties for the time being.  Utilityman Marwin Gonzalez could also see some action in left field (though he has been filling in for Altuve at second base), while Josh Reddick will hold the fort in right field.

Springer has 19 homers and a .250/.335/.436 slash line over 485 PA this season.  While still solid numbers, they represent the lowest wRC+ (115) over Springer’s five-year career, and a marked step down from his .889 OPS in 2017.  He was off to a strong start to the year before hitting a prolonged slump in mid-June, as Springer has hit just .175/.281/.312 over his last 180 plate appearances.  Some bad luck has been involved, as Springer’s .353 xwOBA is notably higher than his .331 wOBA.

Athletics Acquire Mike Fiers

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The A’s have acquired right-hander Mike Fiers from the Tigers in exchange for cash considerations or two players to be named later, the team has announced (Twitter link).  Left-hander Jeremy Bleich has been designated for assignment to create room for Fiers on Oakland’s roster.

Fiers drew attention from multiple clubs prior to the trade deadline, with the Athletics reportedly making a strong bid to land the 33-year-old on deadline day itself.  Less than a week later, the A’s finally landed the righty to help reinforce its injury-plagued starting staff, with Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reporting that Oakland put a claim on Fiers while he was on revocable trade waivers.

Mike FiersAfter being non-tendered by the Astros last winter, Fiers signed a one-year, $6MM deal with the Tigers and did a solid job of rebuilding his stock after a rough 2017 season.  Fiers posted a 3.48 ERA, 6.58 K/9, and 3.35 K/BB rate over 119 innings (21 starts) for Detroit, and has been particularly effective after a slow start to the season, as Fiers has a 2.57 ERA over his last 70 frames.

There are some red flags about his performance, however, most notably the career-low (over a full season) strikeout rate and swinging strike rate (8.3 %).  Fiers is getting away with allowing some hard contact, as evidenced by the gap between his .321 wOBA and his .345 xwOBA, and he has also benefited from an 83.1% strand rate and a .277 BABIP.  Advanced metrics such as FIP (4.66), xFIP (4.82) and SIERA (4.54) all sit over a run higher than his real-world ERA.

Even if a bit of regression is in order, Fiers will likely still represent an upgrade for an A’s rotation that has posted middling numbers over the course of the season (though they have been dominant as of late).  Fiers joins ace Sean Manaea and veterans Brett Anderson, Edwin Jackson, and Trevor Cahill in the Athletics’ starting five, and Fiers is also an option for the 2019 staff, as he is controlled via salary arbitration.  It’s worth noting that Fiers left his last start after just two innings after being hit in the shin with a line drive, though the injury isn’t thought to be particularly serious, and obviously the A’s weren’t concerned enough to hold off on making the trade.

As per Slusser, the Tigers have the option of taking money back for Fiers, or selecting two names from a list of prospects.  It’s safe to assume that none of Oakland’s top minor leaguers are on that list, though Detroit should still get some kind of decent return on their $6MM investment in Fiers in the offseason.

Bleich made his Major League debut this season, appearing in two games for the A’s though getting through just one-third of an inning.  A supplemental first-round pick (44th overall) for the Yankees in the 2008 draft, Bleich has pitched for five different organizations over 10 professional seasons and he also played for Team Israel in the 2017 World Baseball Classic.  Bleich has a 3.92 ERA, 7.2 K/9, and 2.06 K/BB rate over 601 1/3 career minor league innings.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Cardinals Place Tyler O’Neill On 10-Day DL, Promote Adolis Garcia

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The Cardinals will place outfielder Tyler O’Neill on the 10-day disabled list due to inflammation of the groin area, as the team announced on Twitter.  The placement was retroactive to August 4.  In a corresponding move, the Cards have selected the contract of outfielder Adolis Garcia.

Ranked as a top-100 prospect by both Baseball America and MLB.com in each of the last two seasons, O’Neill was acquired by St. Louis from Seattle in exchange for southpaw Marco Gonzales in July 2017.  O’Neill made his Major League debut this season, and has hit .309/.333/.491 with three home runs over his first 60 plate appearances in the Show.  In between a few different stints on the big league roster, O’Neill has been crushing Triple-A pitching, hitting .311/.388/.711 with 26 homers over 260 PA.  That slash line is impressive by any measure, though the high on-base percentage is a particularly encouraging sign for O’Neill, who had struggled with plate discipline in his pro career.  (Though the problem is far from solved, as 24 of O’Neill’s 60 MLB plate appearances have resulted in strikeouts.)

With Tommy Pham dealt to Tampa and Dexter Fowler on the disabled list, it looked as if O’Neill was in line for more playing time in the Cards’ outfield.  This injury opens the door for another young outfield prospect in Garcia, who was recently named the Cardinals’ minor league player of the month for July.  Garcia is hitting .269/.296/.531 with 21 homers over 372 Triple-A plate appearances this season, displaying some on-base issues himself.

The younger brother of former Braves third baseman Adonis Garcia, the 25-year-old Adolis signed with St. Louis as an international free agent in the 2016-17 offseason, landing a $2.5MM bonus.  The 2018 Baseball America Prospect Handbook ranked Garcia as the ninth-best minor leaguer in the Cardinals’ farm system prior to the season, citing his good hitting potential as well as plus baserunning skills and an elite throwing arm (earning “a borderline 80,” or the top scouting grade available) from right field.

AL Central Links: Drake, Pineda, Chernoff, Herrera, Tigers

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Oliver Drake earned an unusual spot in the record books upon making his Twins debut on Saturday, as the right-hander became the first player in history to pitch for five different MLB teams in a single season.  After three waiver claims and a trade, the well-traveled Drake has now taken the hill for the Twins, Blue Jays, Angels, Indians, and Brewers since the start of the 2018 campaign.  “It’s definitely been a long year,” Drake told MLB.com’s Rhett Bollinger and other reporters.  “It’s always a good thing to be wanted in this game. My wife definitely would appreciate being a little more settled. She’s been moving around a lot with me, and it’s kind of chaos. But it’s all part of it, it’s the lifestyle we live, and we’re just making the best of it.”  Drake had already taken a long journey of a different sense just to reach the Show, as he was a 43rd-round pick for the Orioles in the 2008 draft and didn’t crack the big leagues until 2015.  Ironically, Drake had a pretty stable run for much of his pro career, as he was a member of Baltimore’s organization until he was dealt to Milwaukee in April 2017.

Here’s more from around the AL Central…

  • Also from Bollinger’s piece, Michael Pineda will officially begin his rehab assignment with the Twins’ Gulf Coast League affiliate today.  This will mark the right-hander’s first action since undergoing Tommy John surgery in July 2017.  Minnesota signed Pineda to a two-year, $10MM contract last winter, with $8MM of that deal owed in 2019 as the team sees him as a potential rotation contributor when healthy.  If all goes well in his rehab, Pineda is slated to get some Major League innings under his belt when rosters expand in September.
  • Indians GM Mike Chernoff talks to The Athletic’s Zack Meisel (subscription required) about how a front office prepares for the trade deadline, as well as managing the hectic, last-minute flurry of calls and messages from other teams on deadline day itself.  Cleveland had already acquired Brad Hand and Adam Cimber to reinforce the bullpen earlier in July, leaving the team with one less positional target to worry about as July 31 approached.  “There have been times at the deadline where we’ve had multiple needs and you’re juggling a lot of different things at the same time….Because we addressed the bullpen much earlier in the process, we could really shift our focus to, ’How do we help the outfield?’ “, Chernoff said.  The piece is well worth a full read for an insight into the many factors that every team must juggle as it looks to make any trade, let alone multiple deals at the busiest time of the year for transactions.
  • Rosell Herrera’s rookie season has seen him go from the Reds to the Royals on a waiver claim, though now the 25-year-old looks to be shaping into a useful asset for his new club, the Kansas City Star’s Maria Torres writes.  Herrera hasn’t shown much at the plate (.257/.291/.358 over 159 PA with Cincinnati and Kansas City), though he has displayed some versatility, lining up at second base, third base, and all three outfield spots this season.  Torres details how Herrera, once a top-100 ranked prospect coming up in the Rockies’ system, first started playing the outfield since Colorado already had Nolan Arenado and Troy Tulowitzki on the left side of the diamond, and how wrist problems slowed his ascent through the farm system.
  • The trade that sent J.D. Martinez to the Diamondbacks in July 2017 was the first of six major deals made by the Tigers as they began their rebuilding process, and MLive.com’s Evan Woodbery looks back on the prospect haul that Detroit has collected in those swaps.  While it will obviously be several years before the impact of these deals can be fully assessed, the trade that sent Justin Wilson and Alex Avila to the Cubs at the 2017 deadline is already “a big win for the Tigers” since Jeimer Candelario has become a lineup regular.

AL East Notes: Sale, E-Rod, Red Sox, Orioles, Davis

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After suffering a four-game sweep at Fenway Park, the Yankees are now 9.5 games behind the Red Sox for first place in the AL East.  New York has posted only a 18-20 record over its last 38 games, and this slump has not only seemingly put the division title out of reach, but also raised some concern that a turn-around is needed just to ensure a wild card berth.  As the New York Post’s Joel Sherman puts it, “the Red Sox are no longer the Rivals in 2018. The A’s and Mariners are.”  The Yankees are just 2.5 games ahead of the red-hot Athletics for home field advantage in the wild card game, while Seattle (who also been struggling lately) is 2.5 games behind Oakland.  It’s worth remembering, of course, that the Yankees are still 68-42 on the season and one rough series doesn’t write them off as World Series contenders, particularly since the club will eventually get key players like Aaron Judge and Gary Sanchez back from the disabled list.

Some more from around the AL East…

  • While Chris Sale won’t be activated from the disabled list as soon as he’s eligible, Red Sox manager Alex Cora told reporters (including the Boston Herald’s Jason Mastrodonato) that the delay isn’t due to any setback with Sale’s shoulder.  The team was simply lining up its rotation so that Sale wouldn’t be starting, and thus batting, during an interleague series in Philadelphia next week.  The ace left-hander will likely make his return to start against the Orioles on August 11 or 12, Cora said.
  • In other Red Sox health news, Eduardo Rodriguez threw 30 pitches off a mound on Sunday and came away “feeling good,” he told reporters (including Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe).  While it isn’t yet certain what the next step in the left-hander’s recovery process will be, or even if Rodriguez will be able to return before August is through, Sunday’s throwing session was a good sign given that Rodriguez looked to have suffered a particularly severe ankle sprain back in mid-July.  Rodriguez hopes to come back as a starter but is open to pitching out of the bullpen; Abraham notes that returning as a reliever would likely mean a shorter rehab process.  One would think that Rodriguez (3.44 ERA, 9.5 K/9, 3.44 K/BB over 104 2/3 IP) has pitched well enough that the Sox would want him back in the rotation, but with Nathan Eovaldi now in the fold, Rodriguez may have more value in a Boston bullpen that currently lacks any left-handers.
  • With the Orioles now in full rebuild mode, MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubatko looks ahead to what the team might have in store for the offseason.  The O’s could quite possibly continue to move veterans such as Mark Trumbo or Tim Beckham if any trade partners could be found, or potentially keep a familiar face around to serve as an experienced clubhouse voice on what is shaping up to be a much younger roster in 2019.
  • It also remains to be seen if the Rule 5 Draft will continue to be a significant part of the Orioles’ offseason strategy.  The O’s have put a notable focus on acquiring young talent via the Rule 5 Draft in recent years, including selecting three players last winter.  One player the O’s considered but didn’t select last winter was left-hander Austin Davis, Kubatko reports.  Davis has since made his MLB debut and posted some strong results (3.38 ERA, 4.33 K/BB rate, 26 strikeouts in 21 1/3 IP) out of the Phillies’ bullpen this season.  Given that the Orioles and Phillies were heavily involved in trade talks for such players as Manny Machado and Adam Jones in the lead-up to the July 31 deadline, it’s fair to wonder if Baltimore again tried to acquire Davis as part of negotiations.

Quick Hits: Padres, Cano, Relievers

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Ronnie Freeman came close to his first stint on a Major League roster today, as Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle details how the Giants minor leaguer was on hand this weekend in case Buster Posey had to be placed on the seven-day concussion DL.  Posey left Friday’s game after taking a foul ball off his catcher’s mask, but passed his tests and returned to the lineup today as a first baseman.  This left Freeman watching the Giants play from the comforts of the clubhouse, as he wasn’t officially allowed to the join the team in the dugout since he was never selected for the roster.  Freeman, a fifth-rounder in the 2012 draft, had spent his entire pro career in the Diamondbacks’ organization before signing with the Giants last spring, and he’ll have to wait at least a bit longer before he makes his proper big league debut.

Here’s more from around the baseball world…

  • The Padres let Tyson Ross and Jordan Lyles respectively go to the Cardinals and Brewers on trade waivers earlier today, moves that San Diego general manager A.J. Preller told reporters (including The Athletic’s Dennis Lin) were made to create more room for up-and-coming pitchers on the Padres’ roster.  “From our standpoint, it’s an eye toward next year and turning the page right now to give us a head start at looking at some guys we think could be in the bigs with us next year,” Preller said.  Right-hander Trey Wingenter had his contract from Triple-A El Paso today, and rookie Brett Kennedy is slated to make his MLB debut in a start on Wednesday.  Lin’s piece names some other Padres minor leaguers that could debut between now and season’s end, with the team also taking future roster organization and 40-man protections into consideration given the glut of young talent in San Diego’s system.
  • Robinson Cano has been working out as a third baseman in his preparations to return from his PED suspension, which Mariners manager Scott Servais tells reporters (including the Tacoma News Tribune’s TJ Cotterill) is indicative of how Cano’s “just wants to help any way he can.  If that means giving Kyle [Seager] a day off at third, or helping at first base, playing a game at second base, he’s going to play wherever we need him to play.”  Cano has only played 16 games at third base in his pro career, and none since 2005 when he was in the Yankees’ minor league system.  With Dee Gordon stepping in at second base and Nelson Cruz locked into DH duties, the assumption was that Cano would mostly take time away from first baseman Ryon Healy, who has struggled to consistently hit in his first season in Seattle.  Seager, however, is actually going through a rougher season at the plate, hitting only .231/.280/.421 with 18 homers (including two today) over 447 plate appearances.
  • More position players than ever are being called on for emergency mop-up work as relief pitchers, with ESPN.com’s Buster Olney calculating that a record 39 players have made 49 appearances out of the pen this year.  With the trend showing no signs of slowing down, Olney wonders if the MLBPA should make a point of exploring the issue in the next round of collective bargaining agreement talks, given the additional risks faced by players in the unfamiliar role of pitcher.

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