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Archives for August 2018
Mariners Acquire Kristopher Negron From Diamondbacks
The Mariners announced today that they’ve acquired infielder/outfielder Kristopher Negron from the D-backs in exchange for cash. He’s been assigned to Triple-A Tacoma for the time being.
Negron, 32, has seen MLB time in parts of five seasons, posting a combined .216/.297/.338 batting line in 304 trips to the plate. He appeared in a pair of games with Arizona earlier this season and 14 games last year as well, though he’d previously been outrighted off the 40-man roster and subsequently won’t require a 40-man spot on the Mariners’ roster (barring a September promotion).
Negron has big league experience at every position other than catcher and pitcher. He has nearly 5000 professional innings at shortstop under his belt but has also spent more than 1200 innings at second base and third base in addition to more than 1000 innings in the outfield corners and 998 innings in center field. He’s enjoyed a productive season in Triple-A Reno this year, hitting .283/.368/.477, though those numbers have come in an admittedly hitter-friendly setting. All told, Negron is a .249/.314/.392 hitter in parts of nine Triple-A campaigns.
Jerry Blevins Clears Revocable Trade Waivers
Mets left-hander Jerry Blevins has cleared revocable trade waivers and is eligible to be dealt to any team, reports Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic (via Twitter). It’s unclear whether Blevins only recently passed through waivers unclaimed or it happened earlier this month, but any interested parties would need to acquire Blevins before Sept. 1 (Saturday) in order for him to be eligible for the postseason. The veteran lefty joins a growing list of players reported to have cleared revocable waivers.
Blevins, 34, has pitched to a 3.86 ERA with 8.7 K/9, 4.1 BB/9, 1.01 HR/9 and a career-low 21.9 percent ground-ball rate through 35 innings. He’s had a strangely ineffective season against left-handed opponents, however, as same-handed batters have clobbered Blevins to the tune of a .297/.384/.508 batting line. That’s a significant departure from the norm for the veteran Blevins, who has held lefty batters to a putrid .212/.273/.319 slash (even including this year’s struggles).
A free agent at season’s end, Blevins is playing the 2018 season on a $7MM base salary. He’s still owed about $1.23MM of that sum over the final few weeks of the season — a steep sum for a handful of appearances for a specialist bullpen piece. However, now that Blevins has gone unclaimed, the Mets are also free to include some cash in a potential deal in order to help facilitate a trade.
Rosenthal also suggests that infielder Wilmer Flores, whom Joel Sherman of the New York Post reported to have cleared waivers last week, is another potential trade piece over the next 36 hours. Flores is controlled through next season, so there’s no real urgency to move him as there would be with Blevins, but he’s a solid bat capable of fielding multiple infield positions, making him a potential fit for contenders on the hunt for a right-handed hitter.
Brewers Designate Ariel Hernandez, Select Aaron Brooks
The Brewers announced Thursday that they’ve selected the contract of right-hander Aaron Brooks from Triple-A Colorado Springs and designated fellow righty Ariel Hernandez for assignment to open a space on the 40-man roster. Milwaukee also recalled Jacob Barnes from Triple-A and optioned right-handers Freddy Peralta and Taylor Williams.
The series of roster moves comes on the heels of a 10-inning, 13-12 slugfest last night, during which the Brewers burned through six pitchers, including both Peralta (the game’s starter) and Williams (who has now pitched on consecutive days). Both Peralta and Williams figure to be back with the club in the very near future.
Hernandez, 26, has bounced from the Reds to the Dodgers to the Brewers so far in 2018, showing a definitive knack for missing bats but also the same alarming control problems that have prevented the flamethrowing righty from making an impact at the big league level. Hernandez averaged 98 mph on his fastball last season in a 24-inning cup of coffee with the Reds, during which he racked up 29 punchouts but also issued 22 walks.
It’s been much of the same this year in the minors, as he has a 54-to-40 K/BB ratio in 55 1/3 innings of work across three organizations and two minor league levels. He’d only landed in Milwaukee via waivers about three weeks ago and appeared in just five games with their Triple-A affiliate before being designated once again today.
As for Brooks, the 28-year-old will be returning to the big leagues for the first time since the 2015 season with today’s promotion. Back in 2015, he was traded alongside Sean Manaea as the second piece traded sent from the Royals to the A’s in exchange for Ben Zobrist. Brooks spent a season-plus with the Cubs before the Brewers picked him up, and he’s enjoyed a solid 2018 campaign despite pitching in an enormously hitter-friendly environment. Through 99 1/3 frames in Colorado Springs, he’s notched a 3.35 ERA with 6.7 K/9, 2.5 BB/9, 0.72 HR/9 and a 55.1 percent ground-ball rate.
2019-20 MLB Free Agents
The following players are currently free agents. Numbers in parentheses represent the age at which the player will play the 2020 season. We generally use a cutoff of 50 plate appearances of 20 innings pitched in the Majors in 2019 for inclusion on the list.
If you see any notable errors or omissions, please contact us.
Updated 2-24-20
Catchers
Russell Martin (37)
Jesus Sucre (32)
First Basemen
Lucas Duda (34)
Second Basemen
Scooter Gennett (30)
Addison Russell (26)
Devon Travis (29)
Ben Zobrist (39)
Shortstops
Tim Beckham (30)
Addison Russell (26)
Third Basemen
Jung Ho Kang (33)
Left Fielders
Melky Cabrera (35)
Center Fielders
Jacoby Ellsbury (36)
Right Fielders
Melky Cabrera (35)
Yasiel Puig (29)
Ben Zobrist (39)
Designated Hitters
Lucas Duda (34)
Hanley Ramirez (36)
Mark Trumbo (34)
Starting Pitchers
Clay Buchholz (35)
Andrew Cashner (33)
Marco Estrada (36)
Matt Harvey (31)
Clayton Richard (36)
Danny Salazar (30)
Aaron Sanchez (27)
Jason Vargas (37)
Right-Handed Relievers
Matt Albers (37)
Victor Alcantara (27)
Andrew Cashner (33)
Sam Dyson (32)
Luke Gregerson (36)
Shawn Kelley (36)
Collin McHugh (33)
Pat Neshek (39)
Wily Peralta (31)
Addison Reed (31)
Fernando Rodney (43)
Arodys Vizcaino (29)
Steven Wright (35)
Left-Handed Relievers
Buddy Boshers (32)
Tony Cingrani (30)
Zach Duke (37)
Tony Sipp (36)
Daniel Stumpf (29)
Jonny Venters (35)
Wei-Chung Wang (28)
Rangers Move Martin Perez To Bullpen
The Rangers have moved left-hander Martin Perez to the bullpen for the remainder of the season and have informed his camp that the team is not currently planning on picking up his $7.5MM club option for the 2019 season (Twitter links via Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News). MLB.com’s T.R. Sullivan quotes Texas GM Jon Daniels on the matter (Twitter link):
“We told Martin that if the decision had to be made today, we probably wouldn’t exercise the option. It’s possible we could still work something out for him to continue his career here. We want to take this time to evaluate him in a bullpen role.”
It’s not hard to see why the Rangers are strongly leaning toward paying Perez a $750K buyout, as the lefty has been rocked for a 6.95 ERA in 68 2/3 innings this season. The 27-year-old also missed a significant portion of the season while recovering from surgery on his right (non-throwing) elbow that he underwent this past offseason.
Perez does have somewhat of a track record in Texas, having pitched to a 4.37 ERA over the life of 638 innings from 2013-17. But while Perez was a source of serviceable innings prior to the 2018 season while earning a relatively modest $16.8MM during his current contract, he’s also never lived up to the fanfare that led to him widely being considered a top 50 (and, at one point, top 20) prospect in the game.
Perez has made just six relief appearances in his career — all coming back when he was a rookie in 2012. It seems unlikely that a month of relief work, no matter how encouraging, would convince the Rangers to pay that fairly hefty sum. Perhaps, however, an encouraging performance could lead the two sides to hammer out a new contractual arrangement that would give Perez the chance to remain in the organization at a lower rate. If not, he’ll reach free agency for the first time this winter, albeit on the heels of the worst season of his seven-year career in the Majors.
Mark Trumbo To Undergo Knee Surgery
Aug. 29: Trumbo will indeed undergo season-ending surgery, Showalter told reporters Wednesday (Twitter link via Jon Meoli of the Baltimore Sun). Trumbo received opinions from the Orioles’ medical staff and Dr. James Andrews, among others, before ultimately electing to go under the knife.
Aug. 24: Orioles slugger Mark Trumbo is weighing knee surgery that would end his season. Indeed, he indicated today that he’s leaning toward undergoing a procedure, as Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com was among those to tweet.
While it seems increasingly likely that Trumbo will have the work done, that has still yet to be decided conclusively. He’s still planning to receive further medical opinions and manager Buck Showalter suggested there’s still some possibility that he’ll suit up this year, as Dan Connolly of The Athletic reports on Twitter.
It’s still not fully clear just what the issue is, or what kind of procedure is under consideration, but Trumbo is said to have been dealing with issues in the joint all year long. Presumably, the hope is to avoid any further damage and to give him a head start on an offseason recovery program.
The balky knee hasn’t stopped Trumbo from turning in a productive run at the plate in August. On the year, he’s carrying a solid .261/.313/.452 slash with 17 home runs, though that’s not really the level of output Trumbo needs to be a productive player given his deficiencies in other areas.
The knee troubles, perhaps, are showing up primarily in the field. The 32-year-old has never been regarded as a very good fielder, of course. But his metrics reached a new low this season. In just 152 1/3 innings in right field, Trumbo ran up -7 defensive runs saved and graded at -31.1 UZR/150. Understandably, the Orioles have preferred to utilize him as a DH.
Since signing a three-year, $37.5MM contract to return to Baltimore in the 2016-17 offseason, Trumbo has played below replacement level in the aggregate. He’s owed hefty $13.5MM for 2019. While partial no-trade protection presents one barrier to a deal, the larger issue for the rebuilding O’s is that few other teams are likely to have much interest in taking on any significant portion of that salary. These health issues don’t help. Whether or not surgery is required, it seems all but certain that the Orioles will have to hope that Trumbo has a productive run to open the 2019 season and can be flipped at some point next summer.
NL Central Notes: Murphy, Garrett, Finnegan, Brewers
Fans and pundits alike were surprised when Daniel Murphy fell to the Cubs on revocable waivers, and that was the reaction of the Cubs’ front office as well, GM Jed Hoyer explains to Jesse Rogers of ESPN. Hoyer says the Cubs had been claiming anywhere from one to as many as “eight or nine” players per day without much to show for it and were indeed “surprised” to learn they’d been awarded the claim on Murphy. (Interestingly, Rogers notes that the Cubs also tried to claim Bryce Harper, though the Dodgers reportedly blocked other contenders from succeeding in that regard.) Hoyer delves into negotiations with the Nationals a bit and reveals that the Murphy trade came together all of two minutes before his waiver period was set to expire.
Rogers’ column gives interesting insight into the mechanics behind the waiver process from the team perspective, explaining how clubs go about placing claims and learning when they have or have not succeeded in claiming a player. Rogers also chats with Murphy himself about the waiver process and the transition from the Nationals to the Cubs. Those looking to learn more about August trade maneuverings and the nuts and bolts behind these claims will want to check out the column in full to gain some additional perspective. And, of course, we’d be remiss to not thank Murphy for his readership, as the veteran infielder tells Rogers he “frequents” MLBTR and first learned of his placement on waivers right here.
Here’s more from the division…
- The Reds announced this afternoon that lefty setup man Amir Garrett has been placed on the 10-day disabled list due to a bone bruise in his foot. Righty Jackson Stephens was activated from the 10-day DL and added to the roster in his place. As Bobby Nightengale of the Cincinnati Enquirer examines, the situation illustrates just how far Brandon Finnegan’s standing within the organization has fallen. Interim skipper Jim Riggleman suggested to reporters that the team wouldn’t bring up a lefty in the short term and, asked specifically about Finnegan, wouldn’t commit firmly to a September call-up for the 25-year-old. Finnegan was very arguably the headliner of the 2015 trade that sent Johnny Cueto to Kansas City, but he’s struggled immensely in 2018 and, since being moved to the bullpen in Triple-A, has an ERA north of 7.00 with 19 walks against 20 strikeouts.
- Brewers fans are growing increasingly restless as they clamor for the team to make some kind of upgrade between now and month’s end, and general manager David Stearns addressed his lack of activity to this point in an appearance on MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM earlier today (Twitter link, with full audio). Stearns made clear that he has confidence in the Brewers’ current pitching staff and suggested that expanded September rosters will allow Milwaukee to take pressure off the rotation by shortening games, but he also plainly stated that he’s staying active in trade discussions as he seeks upgrades. “You generally know who has cleared waivers,” said Stearns. “At this point, most of the guys have gone through. We are having conversations. I think most contending clubs are having conversations.” Stearns added that the limited rental period for impending free agents acquired this time of season makes the cost of acquisition even more crucial but said the Milwaukee front office is still “out there looking to improve the team if we can find the right match.”
Albert Pujols Undergoes Knee Surgery
The Angels announced Wednesday that Albert Pujols will miss the remainder of the season after undergoing an arthroscopic debridement of his left knee. The procedure comes with a recovery timetable of six to eight weeks, per the announcement.
It’s the latest in a long line of injuries for Pujols, who at 38 looks like a shell of his former self. While he’s still hit with some power in recent seasons and rarely strikes out, he’s posted a combined .243/.287/.397 slash with 42 homers in 1134 plate appearances dating back to Opening Day 2017.
Pujols is in the seventh season of a mammoth 10-year, $240MM contract that calls for him to earn $28MM in 2019, $29MM in 2020 and $30MM in 2021. In addition to the remaining $87MM in guaranteed money beyond the current campaign, he also earned a $3MM bonus upon reaching 3,000 hits earlier this season.
Giants Place Steven Duggar On DL, Select Gregor Blanco
The Giants announced Wednesday that they’ve placed rookie outfielder Steven Duggar on the 10-day disabled list due to a shoulder injury and selected the contract of veteran outfielder Gregor Blanco in his place. Buster Posey, who underwent season-ending hip surgery earlier this week, was moved to the 60-day DL to open roster space for Blanco.
The exact nature of Duggar’s injury isn’t yet clear, as he’s headed for an MRI for further evaluation, per Andrew Baggarly of The Athletic (Twitter links). The 24-year-old sustained the injury while diving back into second base in yesterday’s game and appearing to dislocate the shoulder (before having it popped back into place). Baggarly notes that it could be a subluxation — an injury that could put an end to the young outfielder’s debut season.
Through 152 plate appearances on the season, Duggar has batted .255/.303/.390 with a pair of homers, 11 doubles, a triple and five steals (in six tries). Though the Giants are all but eliminated from postseason contention, a season-ending injury to Duggar would sting all the same. San Francisco’s hope is that the former sixth-round pick (2015) can be its center fielder of the future, and the month of September would’ve been an important evaluation period for the promising prospect.
In Blanco, the Giants will welcome a familiar face back to the roster. The 34-year-old spent time with the Giants earlier this season and was also a mainstay on their roster from 2012-16. In all, he’s strode to the plate 2183 times as a Giant (excluding postseason play), hitting a combined .258/.335/.359 along the way.
