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Rays, Indians Interested In Domingo Santana

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Domingo Santana has been drawing some attention as the trade deadline approaches, and MLB Network’s Jon Heyman (Twitter link) reports that the Rays and Indians are two of the teams showing some interest in the Mariners outfielder.

Santana has rebounded from a down year in 2018 to hit .273/.342/.475 over 446 plate appearances for the Mariners, and he recorded his 20th homer of the season in today’s 3-2 win over the Tigers.  Despite the impressive 120 wRC+, however, Santana has also struck out a league-high 135 times, and is a significant defensive liability as a corner outfielder.

The lack of glovework is particularly ill-suited to a Tampa Bay team that prioritizes defensive versatility, particularly since Tommy Pham and Austin Meadows have been so productive as the regular corner outfielders.  That said, the Rays may simply be willing to overlook Santana’s defensive shortcomings in the name of getting some extra pop in their lineup, which is middle-of-the-pack is most offensive categories leaguewide.  Santana and Meadows could more or less split the right field and DH duties, with prospect Nate Lowe perhaps returning to the minors until rosters expand in September.  It isn’t a perfect fit, on paper, though Mariners GM Jerry Dipoto and Rays GM Erik Neander have been such frequent trading partners that it isn’t a shock to see Tampa linked to any potentially-available Seattle player.

The Indians also aren’t strangers to trading with the Mariners, as they joined with the Rays for last December’s three-team that saw Carlos Santana go to Cleveland and Edwin Encarnacion to Seattle.  As with the Rays, Santana would give the Tribe’s offense a shot in the arm, especially since Cleveland is still looking for some consistent production from its outfield.  Rookie Oscar Mercado has solidified center field, and Tyler Naquin and Jordan Luplow have both hit well in limited action, though adding Santana as an outfielder/DH would certainly help matters.  Of particular note, Santana’s right-handed bat would greatly help a lineup that hasn’t done much damage against lefty pitching this season.

Santana’s struggles with the Brewers last year led to his modest $1.95MM 2019 salary in his first year of arbitration, so even though he’ll undoubtedly get a big raise this winter, he won’t earn enough to break the bank for the low-payroll Rays or Indians.  Since Santana has two-plus remaining years of control, of course, Seattle will be looking for a quality return in any trade.

Cubs Shopping Martin Maldonado

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The Cubs acquired catcher Martin Maldonado from the Royals just two weeks ago, though Chicago is already exploring the possibility of flipping Maldonado elsewhere, The Athletic’s Robert Murray reports (subscription required).  The veteran backstop “has been marketed in trade discussions….with the Houston Astros emerging as a particular team of interest,” The Athletic’s Patrick Mooney writes.

Willson Contreras hit the injured list at roughly the same time as the original Maldonado trade, and since Contreras is now back in action, Maldonado is something of an expendable piece on a Cubs catching depth chart that also includes Victor Caratini.  Maldonado has seen barely any action since coming to Wrigleyville, and is hitless (0-for-11) over 13 plate appearances in four games for the Cubs.

If Maldonado is dealt, it will be interesting to see what the Cubbies will net in return, given that they sent a fairly interesting asset in swingman Mike Montgomery to Kansas City for Maldonado in the first place.  Montgomery has struggled in 2019, though he has posted good results in the past and is under control through the 2021 season.

It isn’t any surprise that Houston is again linked to Maldonado, as the Astros were had interest in obtaining him from the Royals before he was dealt to Chicago.  If a deal was completed, it would mark the second straight year that the Astros picked Maldonado up in a trade deadline move; Houston nabbed him from the Angels last July.

Reaction & Analysis To The Marcus Stroman Trade

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It was widely assumed that the Blue Jays were going to trade Marcus Stroman before the deadline, and many rumors suggested that he could eventually wind up in New York.  Exactly where in the Big Apple Stroman landed, however, ended up being the surprise, as it was the Mets (they of the 55-60 record and the six-game deficit in the NL wild card standings) who landed the right-hander, rather than the AL-leading Yankees.  The Mets acquired Stroman from the Jays for Anthony Kay and Simeon Woods Richardson, two of the Amazins’ top pitching prospects.

Today’s stunner of a deal has already led to quite a bit of reaction and speculation about what moves could come next.  The highlights…

  • The Mets have “hijacked the [pitching] market” with the trade, ESPN.com’s Jeff Passan tweets.  The Mets’ plan is to keep Stroman, and “the likelihood is strong they deal at least one of” Noah Syndergaard or Zack Wheeler.  Reports from earlier this week suggested that New York could try to sign Wheeler, a pending free agent, to a contract extension, though Passan feels a long-term deal with Wheeler is “increasingly unlikely.”
  • The Padres have been heavily linked to Syndergaard since the offseason, though USA Today’s Bob Nightengale reports that San Diego is “not optimistic” about landing the righty, since the Mets’ trade demands for Syndergaard are so high.  ESPN.com’s Buster Olney tweeted earlier today that Manuel Margot had been discussed as part of the Mets/Padres talks.
  • Seth Lugo is another Mets pitcher “gaining late interest” in trade talks, the New York Daily News’ Deesha Thosar reports (Twitter link).  Lugo has been the Amazins’ best reliever this season, posting a 2.77 ERA, 11.94 K/9, and 5.15 K/BB rate over 52 innings.  Lugo is under control through the 2022 season, so he’d cost a hefty price in a trade, and one wonders if the Mets would even consider moving such a relatively inexpensive long-term asset since they’re planning to contend next year.  (Plus, Lugo becomes even more valuable to the pen if the Mets were to deal Edwin Diaz.)
  • Chris Hemsw….er, that is, Syndergaard himself poked fun at the trade speculation in a tweet of his own.
  • Several of The Athletic’s baseball writers (subscription required) joined forces for a roundtable discussion about the Stroman trade, with Jayson Stark perhaps summing things up with this comment that “Nobody can confuse an entire industry like the Mets.”  Multiple writers pointed out that the Mets’ poor infield defense doesn’t suit Stroman’s grounder-heavy attack.  If Stroman is the first step to flipping Syndergaard, it’s still an odd tactic for a team in win-now mode — as Tim Britton puts it, “New York is replacing [Syndergaard] in 2020 with someone [Stroman] older, with less team control, and whose track record is not quite as good.”  From the Blue Jays’ perspective, Kaitlyn McGrath notes that adding Kay and Woods Richardson meets Toronto’s desire for pitching depth, given the relative lack of young arms in the system.
  • Today’s deal ends Stroman’s often-controversial tenure with the Jays, as the Toronto Star’s Gregor Chisholm chronicles the multiple instances when the “fractured relationship” between Stroman and the Jays become public.  While a trade may have always been inevitable given the Blue Jays’ rebuild, “bad blood on both sides is one reason why a team desperate for pitching opted to trade one of its most talented arms,” Chisholm writes.
  • Stroman (via his Twitter account) did leave with grateful words for fans in Toronto and Canada, while also expressing excitement at returning to play for his hometown team.

Mets Acquire Marcus Stroman

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8:08PM: The deal has been officially announced.  The Mets will also receive $1.5MM in cash considerations from the Jays, Joel Sherman of the New York Post tweets.

5:41PM: The Mets and Blue Jays have reached an agreement on a trade that will send Blue Jays right-hander Marcus Stroman to New York, according to Jon Morosi of MLB Network. The deal is pending medical review. According to The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal, minor-league pitchers Anthony Kay and Simeon Woods Richardson will be sent to Toronto in the deal.

Stroman emerged as perhaps the most coveted starting pitcher on the market, with contenders like the Yankees, Braves, and Astros linked to the New York native. In a surprise development, though, the Mets entered the fray as a seemingly unlikely suitor given their competitive state. However, Mets brass have been staunch in their belief that the team, while likely out of the race this season, can contend in 2020 and beyond. For that reason, general manager Brodie Van Wagenen and the front office have targeted controllable pitchers like Stroman, who will remain under team control next season.

Marcus StromanAt first glance, it’s a somewhat puzzling acquisition for a team that doesn’t boast an especially deep farm system and yet isn’t in a position to contend immediately. However, there may be more moves on the horizon. As has been speculated, Noah Syndergaard, Zack Wheeler, and Edwin Diaz will be in high demand for contenders, meaning that New York could strengthen the farm system by dealing away those assets. Adding Stroman affords increased flexibility to sell off Major League talent while remaining competitive.

Syndergaard in particular would likely command a more impressive prospect haul than Stroman, so perhaps the Mets’ thinking is that, in trading Syndergaard and acquiring Stroman, the improvements to its prospect pool will offset any dropoff in pitching and allow the team to remain comptetive while capitalizing on the value of existing assets. Of course, the Mets may demand Major-League ready pieces in exchange for Syndergaard, supporting the notion that the club plans to avoid a rebuild.

Wheeler is in his last year of team control and is slated to hit free agency at season’s end, making him perhaps the most obvious trade candidate from the Mets’ impressive crop of starters. It’s possible that, in hopes of contending next season, the team could hang on to Wheeler and vie to keep him around for the foreseeable future. If he departs in free agency, they can collect a compensatory draft pick, and if he stays, they would boast one of the National League’s most formidable starting rotations on paper, with Jacob deGrom, Wheeler, Stroman, and Syndergaard.

After a disappointing 2018 season in which injuries limited Stroman to making just 19 starts, he has bounced back considerably this season, returning to the form that he showed in 2017, his best season. In 124 2/3 innings this year, he’s posted a 2.96 ERA, good for fifth-best in the American League. The 28-year-old is undeniably not a strikeout machine, but he makes his living by inducing weak contact and ground balls: in 2019, he’s conceded just 0.7 home runs per nine innings, which is all the more impressive given the homer-happy league environment. That ground ball style has driven a solid 3.52 FIP despite average walk and strikeout numbers.

In Kay, the Blue Jays will receive the Mets’ 4th-ranked prospect and top-ranked pitching prospect, according to MLB Pipeline. The Mets’ first-round draft selection in 2016, Kay is a 24-year-old left-hander who is pitching in the upper minors, a proximity arm who could earn a promotion this season. After dominating Double-A and earning a promotion to Triple-A, he has encountered some difficulty, as evidenced by his 6.61 ERA after seven starts. Still, this is a prospect who is on the brink of cracking the Majors, and is viewed long-term as a back-end starter—a nice contrast with the second pitcher headed to the Blue Jays in the deal.

Woods Richardson, meanwhile, was the Mets’ No. 6 prospect and 2018 second-round draftee. Just 18 years old, he has risen up prospect lists after sriking out 97 batters in 78 1/3 innings at Low-A ball. His 4.25 ERA is not a sterling mark, but a 5.6 K:BB ratio in 2019 indicates that there is potential that perhaps has yet to be unlocked. MLB Pipeline touts his ceiling, noting that no “pitcher in the system can rival the young right-hander’s upside.” Between him and Kay, the Blue Jays will boost their minor-league pitching with a combination of Major-League readiness and high upside.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Huntington: Pirates “Looking At Adding To Future Clubs” At Deadline

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With the trade deadline less than three days away, Pirates GM Neal Huntington said that his front office “in the process of looking at adding to future clubs” rather than buying for a late run at a postseason berth in 2019.  The Pirates have posted a nightmarish 2-14 record since the All-Star break, sending the team spiraling down the NL Central standings and leaving Huntington accepting his share of the blame.

“We haven’t overcome the challenges presented to us, and somebody has to be accountable for that — and it falls on me,” Huntington said during his KDKA-FM radio show this morning (hat tip to Nubyjas Wilborn of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette).  “I am accountable for everything that goes on in baseball operations.  When it doesn’t work, we have to address why it doesn’t work.  At the end of the day, this is a club I felt good about when we put it together.”

Pending free agents stand out as the most logical trade candidates, though “just because a player is on an expiring contract that doesn’t mean there isn’t an opportunity to retain that player,” Huntington said.  “That doesn’t mean it’s the right thing just to grab a nickel if that’s all you can get.  The player may have more value to us if he continues to perform.  There is still a value you need to get on a deal; otherwise, it may be best to hold on to that player.”

In terms of potential free agents, Jordan Lyles, Corey Dickerson, Melky Cabrera, and Francisco Liriano are players who have been mentioned in trade rumors and have value to 2019 contenders.  Chris Archer is under control via a $9MM club option for 2020, though it seems unlikely that Pittsburgh would sell low on the struggling right-hander just a year after paying a huge price to acquire Archer from the Rays.  Starling Marte is also in the last guaranteed year of his contract, as he is controlled on club options for 2020 and 2021, though there hasn’t been any indication that the Pirates would make a huge move like dealing a cost-controlled outfielder with Marte’s high ceiling.

It should be noted that Huntington didn’t confirm whether the Bucs could be both sellers and buyers, as building for the future could also entail adding pieces to help the Pirates contend as early as 2020.  The Archer trade, for instance, plus last summer’s addition of Keone Kela from the Rangers, were meant to help a struggling Pirates team turn things around this year.  It’s probably somewhat less likely that Huntington and company will make such a big splash of an addition again at this deadline, but by the same token, Pittsburgh also seems likely to hang onto players like Marte or oft-mentioned trade target Felipe Vazquez since they want to compete soon.

“If we were not intending to be a competitive club, then the right move would be to explore trades for Felipe. But, we like our young core,” Huntington said.  “We like what we have coming up in the minor leagues. We feel that can add to this club appropriately in the offseason, and Felipe will play a key role in that.”

Giants Designate Nick Vincent For Assignment

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The Giants have designated right-hander Nick Vincent for assignment, as per multiple reports (including Kerry Crowley of the Bay Area News Group).  Vincent was activated from the 60-day injured list before being DFA’ed.

Vincent had struggled to a 5.58 ERA over 30 2/3 innings before hitting the IL on May 29 with a pectoral strain.  Much of the damage came in Vincent’s last four outings before his IL stint, as 13 of his 19 total earned runs on the season came over his last 6 2/3 frames of work.  Still, despite some solid peripherals like an 8.8 K.9 and a 3.75 K/BB rate, Vincent was susceptible to the long ball, allowing seven homers over his 30 2/3 IP.

The 33-year-old Vincent joined San Francisco on a minors deal over the winter.  This season’s results have been a damper on an otherwise quietly solid career for Vincent, as he amassed a 3.17 ERA over 332 innings for the Padres and Mariners from 2012-18.  With this track record, he is likely to get some attention from one of the many teams looking for relief help at this time of year.

Indians Acquire Hunter Wood, Christian Arroyo

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6:41PM: The two teams have officially announced the trade.  Jefry Rodriguez will move to the Indians’ 60-day injured list to create roster space.  The Rays will get $250K in international bonus funds, MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand tweets.

5:16PM: The Indians have acquired right-hander Hunter Wood and infielder Christian Arroyo from the Rays in exchange for minor league outfielder Ruben Cardenas and some international signing money.  Yahoo Sports’ Tim Brown (Twitter link) was the first to report that Wood was being dealt to Cleveland, while Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times (via Twitter) added the other particulars of the swap.

Wood, who turns 26 next month, has a 2.48 ERA, 7.4 K/9, and 3.43 K/BB rate over 29 innings for the Rays this season.  ERA predictors such as FIP (4.19), xFIP (5.10) and SIERA (4.52) are much less impressed with Wood’s work, perhaps due to his lack of strikeouts and large amount of fly balls generated, as Wood has only a 29.4% grounder rate.  On the plus side, Wood is allowing less hard contract and issuing fewer walks than he did in his 2018 rookie season.  While not a premium reliever, he’ll add even more depth to a Tribe bullpen that is already one of the game’s best.

As a young arm controlled through the 2024 season, Wood isn’t an insubstantial piece for the Rays to be giving up, particularly to a Cleveland team who is currently battling Tampa for a wild card position.  Still, the Rays had to open up a 40-man roster spot for the newly-acquired Eric Sogard, and Wood wasn’t a critical member of the relief corps.  The righty was one of several members of the Tampa-to-Durham taxi squad over the last two seasons, as the Rays frequently shuffled pitchers back and forth between the majors and Triple-A.

Sogard’s arrival makes Arroyo even more expendable, as Arroyo already wasn’t going to be a factor for Tampa until mid-August due to a 60-day injured list placement due to forearm tendinitis.  It wasn’t long ago that Arroyo was ranked as one of the more highly-touted prospects in the sport — MLB.com ranked Arroyo within their top-90 prospect list every year from 2016-18, topping out at 81st prior to the 2018 season.

Originally drafted 25th overall by the Giants in 2013, Arroyo was the centerpiece of the prospect package sent from San Francisco to Tampa in the 2017-18 offseason for Evan Longoria.  Unfortunately for Arroyo and the Rays, his two seasons at Tropicana Field have been plagued with injuries, and he has appeared in just 16 games in a Rays uniform.  Arroyo is still only 24, and with only 251 career MLB plate appearances to go on, there’s still plenty of time for him to realize his potential.

Arroyo has played mostly second and third base in recent seasons after beginning his pro career as a shortstop, so the Indians have some flexibility in how they choose to deploy Arroyo at the big league level.  It could be that the Tribe simply uses Arroyo as a multi-position player, or they could direct him more specifically towards second base (if Jason Kipnis’ club option isn’t exercised for 2020, as expected), third base (if Jose Ramirez is moved back to second base to replace Kipnis) or potentially even shortstop, if Cleveland explores the big splash that would be a Francisco Lindor trade in the offseason.

Cardenas was a 16th-round pick for the Tribe in the 2018 draft.  The Cal State Fullerton product wasn’t ranked by MLB.com as a top-30 prospect in Cleveland’s system, though Cardenas is off to a nice start in his pro career, hitting .292/.366/.469 with 10 homers over 524 plate appearances.  He has spent all of this season at the Indians’ A-ball affiliate in Lake County.

Rays Acquire Eric Sogard

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6:16PM: The trade has been officially announced.  Toronto will indeed receive two players to be named later.

1:20PM: The Blue Jays have traded infielder Eric Sogard to the Tampa Bay Rays, per Joel Sherman of the New York Post. Sogard was a late scratch from Sunday’s game, with Jon Morosi of MLB Network first reporting that a trade was “imminent.” The deal is pending a physical.

According to Scott Mitchell of TSN Sports, it appears that the Blue Jays will receive two players to be named later in the deal, though he notes that the deal has not yet been finalized and details have yet to be confirmed. The Rays will need to clear a spot for Sogard on the 40-man roster.

As one of just a few utility options on the trade market, the 33-year-old attracted the interest of a number of teams, having been linked to the Cubs and Giants, though in the end it was the Rays who made the most compelling proposal. With the Blue Jays playing out the finale of a series against the Rays, Sogard won’t have to travel far to join his new team. He’ll depart the Toronto dugout and travel to Boston with his new teammates.

With more than eight years of MLB experience under his belt, Sogard is not an unknown commodity. That said, no one—perhaps not even the Blue Jays—could have expected the veteran to transform himself into a coveted trade target. The club inked Sogard to a minor-league contract in December after his market didn’t develop in free agency. Now, though, president Mark Shapiro and company will turn that small investment into a prospect that better fits their timeline for contention.

Though the Rays certainly don’t have a glaring need on the infield, depth and versatility are imperative for contending clubs as the postseason approaches. A number of injuries have already thinned the Tampa infield, with Brandon Lowe, Daniel Robertson, Yandy Diaz, and Christian Arroyo all currently on the injured list. With Joey Wendle struggling to replicate last season’s success and still no timetable for Lowe’s return, per Marc Topkin, Sogard looks like a solid candidate to fill in at second base for the time being, with the potential to slide into a depth/utility role when Lowe gets healthy. While Sogard has spent the bulk of his career at second base, he has played sparingly at shortstop, third base, and in the outfield in 2019.

Sogard has enjoyed a career year at the dish, turning in career-best power numbers and displaying on-base skills that have made him a viable leadoff option for Toronto. In 73 games, He’s posted a .300/.363/.477 slash line to go with ten homers and six stolen bases. Prior to this year, Sogard had never hit more than three home runs in a single season. Defensively, his -5 DRS paint him as a below-average second baseman.

For the Blue Jays, it seems likely that Sogard’s departure will usher in a frenzied couple of days as they look to sell off Major-League pieces before the trade deadline. Marcus Stroman is perhaps the crown jewel of this trade season, and Ken Giles should receive attention from nearly every contending team. Daniel Hudson won’t draw as big a return as the aforementioned pair, but teams that can’t afford big-name relievers could pursue Hudson instead.

Blue Jays To Promote Bo Bichette

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The Blue Jays are calling top prospect Bo Bichette up to the majors, Sportsnet.ca’s Shi Davidi reports (Twitter link).  The promotion seemed imminent after multiple reports stated that Bichette was pulled from his Triple-A game today, and Toronto created an infield vacancy when Eric Sogard was dealt to the Rays this afternoon.

With Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Cavan Biggio already in the big leagues, Bichette is the latest of the Jays’ top prospects to get his first taste of Major League action in 2019.  A second-round pick in the 2016 draft, Bichette has developed into a consensus choice as one of the sport’s best minor leaguers — in midseason prospect rankings, Bichette received top grades from ESPN.com’s Keith Law (who ranked him fourth in all of baseball), Baseball America (sixth), MLB.com, and Baseball Prospectus (both eighth).

Bichette’s stock hasn’t dimmed even despite a somewhat abbreviated 2019 season, as he has been limited to just 55 Triple-A games (and four high-A ball rehab games) due to a broken hand.  He was off to a slow start in April prior to the injury, though he has been heating up since his return to Triple-A, hitting .287/.343/.503 with seven homers and 12 steals (out of 15 chances) in 181 plate appearances.  Had it not been for the broken hand, Bichette might have made his Jays debut much earlier, though Toronto first had to make some room in the middle infield since Sogard and Freddy Galvis were both playing better than expected.

While Galvis is still around at shortstop and Bichette has 30 minor league appearances as a second baseman under his belt, it seems likely that Bichette will be spending much of his time at short.  MLB.com’s scouting report cites some difference in opinion amongst scouts as to whether Bichette will stick at shortstop over the long term, though he made strides with his defense last year and “he has the requisite above-average arm strength for the [shortstop] position.”

Hitting, however, is Bichette’s bread-and-butter.  Baseball Prospectus describes Bichette as having “among the most [bat speed] in organized baseball, and he pairs it with plus barrel control to make his long, violent swing work despite not being the platonic ideal of a plus hit/plus power stroke.”  On the 20-80 point grade system, Baseball America gave Bichette a 70 for his hit tool and a 55 for power.  While he has yet to entirely break out at the Triple-A level, Bichette has hit .322/.380/.515 over 1443 total PA in the minors.

Service time-wise, Bichette is well past any possible Super Two cutoff point.  Assuming he isn’t sent back to the minor leagues at any point, Bichette is under team control through the 2025 season, joining Guerrero and Biggio as what the Blue Jays hope will be the core of their next contending team.

Rangers Return Rule 5 Pick Kyle Dowdy To Indians

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The Rangers have returned right-handed pitcher Kyle Dowdy, who was chosen in December’s Rule 5 Draft, to the Indians, per a club announcement. He had been designated for assignment on Thursday and was offered to his original club after clearing waivers.

Originally chosen by the Mets in the Rule 5 Draft, Dowdy was subsequently claimed off waivers by the Rangers. Before landing on the injured list with an elbow impingement, he contributed 22 1/3 innings, including one start, for the Rangers, striking out 17 batters but walking 18.

Dowdy, 26, will return to the Indians organization and has been assigned to Double-A Akron.

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