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Archives for July 2019

Angels Designate Adam McCreery For Assignment

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The Angels announced that they’ve designated left-hander Adam McCreery for assignment in order to open a roster spot for righty JC Ramirez, who has been activated from the 60-day injure list after missing more than a year due to Tommy John surgery.

McCreery, 26, didn’t pitch for the Angels at the MLB level after the Halos acquired him from the Dodgers in exchange for cash earlier this month. In fact, he made only two appearances with the Angels’ Triple-A club prior to today’s announcement, allowing a run on two hits and two walks with four strikeouts in 4 1/3 innings. McCreery has a spotty track record in the upper minors thanks to control issues, but he’s also averaged nearly 12 strikeouts per nine innings pitched throughout his minor league career.

Ramirez, 31 next month, came out of nowhere to give the Angels 24 starts and 147 1/3 innings of 4.15 ERA ball after bouncing all over the league prior to landing in Anaheim. He’ll be utilized out of the bullpen in his return to the MLB roster, but he’s eligible for arbitration in the winter and will likely reemerge as a rotation candidate for the Angels in 2019.

 

Trade Interest In Justin Smoak Escalating

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Trade interest in Blue Jays first baseman Justin Smoak is “picking up,” tweets Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet. MLB Network’s Jon Heyman connected the Indians to Smoak earlier today, and Nicholson-Smith adds the Rays as a team of interest as well. Several contenders have expressed interest in Smoak, per Nicholson-Smith. Notably, he’s not in the lineup tonight for the Blue Jays.

Toronto has been one of the few clear sellers on the summer market, having already departed with Marcus Stroman and David Phelps in the past 48 hours. The 32-year-old Smoak, a free agent following the 2019 season, is a logical player to deal away, too, even if the return on him doesn’t prove overwhelming. Smoak won’t be a candidate to receive a qualifying offer, so there’s added incentive to take the most appealing option presented between now and tomorrow afternoon’s trade deadline.

The switch-hitting Smoak’s batting average is down this season, but he’s walking at a career-best 16.7 percent clip and once again demonstrating above-average power. In 359 plate appearances, he’s hit .215/.357/.427 — good for a 110 OPS+ and a 108 wRC+ (which is to say he’s been about eight to ten percent better than league average from an offensive standpoint, even after accounting for his hitter-friendly home park). Smoak’s 19.8 percent strikeout rate is actually the lowest of his career, and he’s not popping up at an exorbitant level either. Rather, the key to his diminished average could be a fluky .220 average on balls in play (which checks in well south of his career .267 level).

Smoak is earning a reasonable $8MM salary in 2019 with about $2.71MM of that sum yet to be paid out between now and season’s end. With the Jays dealing away short-term assets, it seems likely that Smoak will be wearing a new uniform this time tomorrow.

Phillies Designate Mitch Walding For Assignment

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The Phillies announced Tuesday that they’ve designated infielder Mitch Walding for assignment. His spot on the roster will go to right-hander Blake Parker, whose previously reported signing has now been made official.

Walding, 26, was hitless in two plate appearances with the Phils and has struggled considerably with Triple-A Lehigh Valley in 2019. Through 346 plate appearances there, he’s batted .204/.350/.366 with a sky-high 38 percent strikeout rate. Strikeouts were an issue for Walding last season as well, but not to this extent. The first baseman/third baseman hit .265/.390/.474 with the IronPigs a year ago and collected his first MLB hit when he reached the Majors (though he received just 19 plate appearances). Walding has a minor league option remaining beyond the current season.

Noah Syndergaard Rumors: Tuesday

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The Mets have already added one of the most coveted starters on the trade market, but they’re poised to perhaps trade away one or two more. New York continues to listen to offers on righty Noah Syndergaard, who is still listed as the starter for tonight’s game. We’ll track today’s rumblings on him here and update throughout the evening…

  • The Padres made what they considered a fair offer on Syndergaard — one that involved Major League players — but still aren’t close to coming to terms with the Mets, reports SNY’s Andy Martino (via Twitter). The Padres are widely believed to be willing to deal from their plethora of outfielders — Manuel Margot, Hunter Renfroe and Franmil Reyes are among the available names — and also possess one of baseball’s premier farm systems. San Diego’s interest in Syndergaard dates back to the offseason, and they’re still hoping to add a potential frontline starter to help them in 2020 beyond at this year’s deadline. While they’ve explored innumerable trade scenarios around the league, the Padres’ “most earnest” pursuit has been their ongoing effort to obtain Syndergaard, Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune reports.
  • Similarly, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic tweets that the Mets have been seeking current MLB talent in all of their Syndergaard talks — even from teams with highly regarded minor league systems. That meshes with last night’s report (from LaVelle E. Neal III of the Minneapolis Star Tribune) that the Mets had asked the Twins for center fielder Byron Buxton as part of the return for Syndergaard — an ask that Minnesota was rather obvious unwilling to oblige. (Buxton is hitting .259/.313/.508, good for a 108 wRC+, and is arguably baseball’s best outfield defender.)
  • “[W]hat they were asking it is not even worth a second conversation,” one executive tells Joel Sherman of the New York Post with regard to Syndergaard discussions with the Mets. “I’m not even sure it was worth the first. … [T]he Mets are not in the mode of meeting you in the middle of your offer and their ask, it is their ask or nothing.” As Sherman more broadly explores, Mets brass has no inclination to move toward anything but a win-now approach in 2020. General manager Brodie Van Wagenen was the only one of the dozen GM candidates for the Mets who did not recommend some level of rebuild to ownership, Sherman writes, and both he and the Wilpon family remain committed to constructing a roster they believe can compete in 2020. That seems to only further underline that the Mets would want multiple MLB or MLB-ready assets to part with Syndergaard.

Indians To Activate Danny Salazar

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The Indians will activate right-hander Danny Salazar from the 60-day injured list prior to Thursday’s contest, manager Terry Francona announced to reporters (Twitter link via Mandy Bell of MLB.com). Salazar, who is currently stretched out to about 70 pitches, will start that game and be followed by righty Adam Plutko if necessary. Cleveland will need to make a 40-man roster move to open a spot for Salazar.

Thursday will mark the first time Salazar has set foot on a big league mound in nearly two years. The talent possessed by the oft-injured righty is obvious, but shoulder troubles that ultimately necessitated surgery have put his career on hold for nearly 24 months. Salazar posted mixed results in that 2017 season, logging a pedestrian 4.28 ERA but averaging 12.7 K/9 in that 2017 season. From 2015-16, he notched a 3.63 ERA with 9.9 K/9 against 3.3 BB/9 in 322 1/3 innings.

Now 29 years old, Salazar returns to the Cleveland pitching staff as an x-factor. He long stood out as a potential top-of-the-rotation arm with the Indians, as many believed him just an adjustment or two away from elevating his performance to another tier. At the same time, given that he’s dealt with shoulder and elbow troubles dating back to the 2016 season, it’d be unrealistic to expect that Salazar simply bounces right back to form and locks down a spot in the Cleveland rotation. While such an outcome is a best-case scenario, banking on him doing so is rather ambitious after such a lengthy injury absence. There’s been prior talk of using Salazar in the bullpen as well, and that could eventually emerge as an option the organization chooses to explore.

The Indians have trimmed the Twins’ lead in the division back to two games, though Cleveland faces an imposing stretch on the schedule beginning tonight. They’re set to begin a three-game set against the Astros before moving onto series against the Angels, Rangers, Twins, Red Sox and Yankees in succession.

Salazar’s return comes at a pivotal time for the Indians, as they’ve reportedly been mulling trade offers for Trevor Bauer even as they climb back into the AL Central race. As the Indians determine precisely which course to chart with regard to Bauer, they’ll also be closely monitoring the status of two-time Cy Young winner Corey Kluber. Out for two-plus months due to a forearm fracture, Kluber is set to throw a simulated game this weekend (Twitter link via Ryan Lewis of the Akron Beacon-Journal). He could then progress to pitching in an actual game setting, though that next step will be dependent on how he feels following this weekend’s session.

Phillies To Sign Blake Parker

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The Phillies have agreed to terms on a Major League contract with right-handed reliever Blake Parker, Ken Rosenthal and Matt Gelb of The Athletic report (via Twitter). The 34-year-old Parker was recently designated for assignment by the Twins and ultimately opted for free agency over an outright assignment to Triple-A Rochester.

Parker rejecting his outright assignment with the Twins meant walking away from the remainder of his $1.8MM salary, but he’ll now land with the Phils on a new big league pact and immediately jump back onto a roster that is vying for a postseason berth. He’ll also be reunited with righty Mike Morin, whom the Twins designated for assignment and traded to the Phillies earlier this month.

Parker logged a 4.21 ERA in 36 1/3 innings with the Twins but struggled more than that number would indicate. His velocity dipped to its lowest mark since 2014 (91.5 mph average fastball), and he averaged four walks per nine innings pitched — the worst mark of his career excluding a small 17-inning sample in 2016. Parker’s overall strikeout rate, swinging-strike rate and first-pitch strike rate were all down from his 2017 peak with the Halos, and he gave up far too much hard contact; Statcast put his 42.9 percent opponents’ hard-hit rate in just the 10th percentile among MLB pitchers and felt that he was actually fortunate to escape with a .246/.331/.442 opponents’ batting line (based on the quality of the contact he allowed).

All that said, Parker has a decent big league track record and plenty of high-leverage experience, making him a logical fit for a Phillies bullpen that has been torn asunder by injuries in 2019. In his last 170 MLB innings, Parker has a 3.18 ERA with 10.1 K/9, 2.7 BB/9, 1.38 HR/9 and a 40.7 percent ground-ball rate. Much of that production came during the aforementioned career year in 2017, but there’s minimal downside to the Phillies taking an inexpensive look at Parker as a means of helping to patch a beleaguered relief corps.

Parker has fewer than five years of Major League service but will soon cross that threshold. As such, if he acquits himself well in his new environment, he can be controlled through the 2020 season via arbitration.

Cardinals Claim Adalberto Mejia

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The Cardinals announced that they’ve claimed left-hander Adalberto Mejia off waivers from the Angels. Infielder Jedd Gyorko was moved from the 10-day IL to the 60-day IL in a corresponding 40-man roster move. St. Louis also announced the previously reported demotion of Harrison Bader and promotion of fellow outfielder Lane Thomas.

Mejia, 26, was only with the Halos briefly. He appeared in four games there, allowing a run on four hits with a 6-to-1 K/BB ratio before being designated for assignment a second time this season. The former top 100 prospect had been with the Twins since Minnesota acquired him in the 2016 deal that sent Eduardo Nunez to San Francisco, but he was ultimately cut loose after significant struggles both with injuries and performance.

A former starter, Mejia shifted to a bullpen role on a full-time basis this season but has been tagged for 17 runs on 20 hits and 13 walks with 21 strikeouts in 19 2/3 innings of work. Mejia has a solid track record in Triple-A but can’t be sent there to continue sorting things out, as he’s out of minor league options. He’ll take a spot in the Cardinals’ bullpen for now, but depending on what moves St. Louis is able to make between now and tomorrow afternoon’s trade deadline, his stay with the Cards could prove even more abbreviated than his time with the Angels.

Cubs Acquire David Phelps

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The Cubs have added another fresh face to the bullpen, announced Tuesday that they’ve acquired right-handed reliever David Phelps and cash from the Blue Jays in exchange for minor league right-hander Thomas Hatch. Chicago moved Xavier Cedeno to the 60-day injured list to open a 40-man roster spot for Phelps. There are other changes afoot in the Chicago bullpen as well, as ESPN 1000’s David Kaplan reports that righty Pedro Strop is headed to the IL and will be replaced by right-hander Duane Underwood, who is being recalled from Triple-A Iowa (Twitter link).

David Phelps | Dan Hamilton-USA TODAY Sports

Phelps, 32, was a high-quality setup piece for the Marlins and Mariners in 2016-17 but missed the 2018 season due to Tommy John surgery. He hit the open market last winter and latched on with the Blue Jays on an incentive-laden one-year contract that promised him a $2.5MM base salary. Toronto quite likely made the deal with this very type of scenario in mind, as Phelps has returned to post solid numbers through his first 17 1/3 innings of action: a 3.63 ERA with an 18-to-7 K/BB ratio.

A swingman with the Yankees from 2012-14, Phelps broke out with the Marlins in the bullpen and has now logged an impressive 2.82 ERA with 10.9 K/9 against 4.0 BB/9 in his past 159 2/3 innings at the MLB level (129 relief appearances, six starts). He’s only appeared in 17 games this season but will see a $250K bump in salary upon reaching each of his 25th, 30th and 35th games pitched. He’ll also earn an extra $350K upon 40, 45, 50, 55 and 70 appearances on the year.

Phelps’ club option came with a tiny $1MM base salary but will jump to $3MM if he reaches 30 appearances, $5MM if he appears in 40 games and $7MM for appearing in 50 games. Obviously, he’s not likely to reach the top tier of his incentives and option escalators after missing the first two and a half months of the season, but it’s certainly plausible that he could push that 40-game threshold in 2019.

Phelps gives the Cubs an immediate boost in the ’pen — even if he’s not a dramatic upgrade — and also presents them with a relatively affordable option in 2020 due to that floating club option. Payroll constraints have been an ongoing obstacle for the Cubs’ front office dating back to the winter, but they’ll have a huge slate of free agents off the books this winter (Cole Hamels, Brandon Morrow, Strop, Steve Cishek, Brandon Kintzler and Brad Brach among them), which will render any decision on Phelps’ option a fairly small-scale consideration.

Hatch, 24, was the Cubs’ third-round pick back in 2016 and has spent the 2019 season in his second trip through the Double-A level. He’s tossed 100 innings of 4.59 ERA ball over the life of 21 starts, averaging 8.4 K/9, 3.3 BB/9 and 1.17 HR/9 to go along with a 35.2 percent ground-ball rate. He didn’t crack the Cubs’ top 30 on Baseball America’s recent re-ranking of their system, but he landed at No. 26 on Fangraphs’ summer update of Chicago’s farm system. There, Kiley McDaniel and Eric Longenhagen noted that he hasn’t developed the control one would want to see to keep him in the rotation but could find success in the ’pen. Entering the season, MLB.com ranked him 29th in the Cubs’ system and actually gave him the potential for three average or better offerings while expressing similar concerns about his control. The Jays may well see if Hatch has the ability to start in the short-term, as there’s little harm for a rebuilding club to try it out.

Shi Davidi of Sportsnet first broke the news of the Phelps deal (via Twitter). Joel Sherman of the New York Post added that the Jays were sending cash in the deal (Twitter link).

Ken Giles Receives Cortisone Shot, Won’t Pitch Before Trade Deadline

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Blue Jays closer Ken Giles received a cortisone injection in his right elbow today and won’t pitch prior to tomorrow’s trade deadline, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports (on Twitter). A visit to Dr. Keith Meister and an MRI exam cleared Giles of any structural damage, but it’s still not a good update with regard to Giles’ trade value.

Giles, 28, was considered to be one of the top trade candidates in the game for much of the summer. Through 35 innings this season, he’s given the rebuilding Blue Jays a dominant 1.54 ERA with 14.9 K/9 against 2.8 BB/9. The only reliever in all of Major League Baseball who has topped Giles’ stunning 20.4 percent swinging-strike rate is Milwaukee star Josh Hader. Between that excellence and the Blue Jays’ clear long-term approach at the moment, Giles was as obvious a candidate to change hands as there is in the game. He’s earning an affordable $6.3MM in 2019 and is controlled via the 2020 season through arbitration.

While the latest injury news doesn’t technically eliminate the possibility of a trade, it’s also tough to see the Jays extracting maximum value for a pitcher whose status is somewhat up in the air. President Mark Shapiro, general manager Ross Atkins and the rest of the staff will surely continue to field offers as they gauge how the now-diminished offers stack up against what they might receive in the offseason for a single year of Giles. Toronto will also have to consider the possibility that Giles misses significant time in the final two months and sees his value further deteriorate. It’s a tricky and unenviable situation for the club to suddenly itself in, particularly considering how strong the market for Giles was expected to be a few weeks ago.

Orioles Claim Jose Rondon

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The Orioles have claimed infielder Jose Rondon off waivers from the White Sox, per a club announcement. The corresponding active roster move isn’t yet known, but someone will have to be moved off of the 25-man to make way for the out-of-options Rondon.

It seems possible that this move will connect to another, as-yet-unknown transaction. Rondon would be a possible roster replacement for several of the O’s trade candidates.

The 25-year-old Rondon has struggled quite a bit this year in Chicago, compiling an ugly .197/.265/.282 batting line in 156 trips to the plate. He fared better in a smaller sample last year, and did swat 18 long balls at Triple-A in 2018, but generally does not have an especially promising minor-league track record with the bat. Rondon comes with a reputation for quality glovework, though metrics haven’t been overly impressed to this point.

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