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Archives for August 2019

Athletics To Select Seth Brown’s Contract

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The Athletics are set to select the contract of first baseman/outfielder Seth Brown from Triple-A Las Vegas, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle tweets. The club already has a full 40-man roster, so it’ll need to make a corresponding move.

The 27-year-old Brown will take the 25-man spot of outfielder Stephen Piscotty, who’s going on the injured list. Brown is now set for his major league debut four years after joining the Athletics as a 19th-round pick in 2015.

Currently in his first year of Triple-A ball, Brown is among many Pacific Coast League hitters who have feasted on opposing pitchers. He has mashed a whopping 37 home runs in 500 plate appearances at the level this year. The lefty-swinging Brown’s power has helped him to a terrific .297/.352/.634 batting line, which is 25 percent better than the league-average output, per FanGraphs’ wRC+ metric.

Braves Activate Dansby Swanson

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The Braves have activated shortstop Dansby Swanson from the injured list and optioned outfielder Adam Duvall to Triple-A Gwinnett, the team announced.

Swanson’s back after missing just over a month with a right heel issue. The former No. 1 overall pick had been amid his best season when he went down July 23, as he owns a .265/.330/.468 line with 17 home runs, seven stolen bases and 1.8 fWAR in 431 plate appearances.

Swanson’s absence initially led the Braves to turn to Johan Camargo as a fill-in at short, but the latter’s struggles have continued over the past few weeks. Likewise, fellow backup Charlie Culberson has gone through a brutal month at the plate, so Atlanta went outside the organization for help at the position Aug. 16, signing well-regarded defender Adeiny Hechavarria after the division-rival Mets parted with him. Hechavarria has been highly effective during his short Braves tenure, which has helped the NL East leaders to eight straight wins, but he’ll slide into a reserve role now that Swanson’s returning.

The 30-year-old Duvall began his major league season in white-hot fashion when the Braves recalled him from Gwinnett a month ago. The two-time 30-home run hitter smashed five dingers in his first six games after his call-up, but his bubble has burst since. With just one HR over the past three-plus weeks, Duvall’s line has sunk to .241/.289/.494 across 90 PA, owing in part to ugly strikeout and walk percentages (32.2 K%, 4.4 BB%).

Minor MLB Transactions: 8/26/19

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The latest minor moves from around baseball…

  • Former major league utilityman Ty Kelly retired over the weekend, he humorously announced on Twitter (h/t: Jon Heyman of MLB Network). Kelly ended his career as a member of the Angels’ Triple-A affiliate in Salt Lake after signing a minor league contract with the organization last winter. A 13th-round pick of the Orioles in 2009, Kelly ultimately saw major league action with the Mets and Phillies from 2016-18 – a 188-plate appearance span in which he batted .203/.288/.323 and racked up time at first, second, third and all three outfield positions. The 31-year-old wrapped up his Triple-A tenure with a .268/.368/.382 line across 2,353 trips to the plate.

Pirates To Prioritize Catcher Position In Offseason

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After he endured a concussion-marred few months, the Pirates released veteran catcher Francisco Cervelli last week. Including Cervelli’s numbers prior to his Pittsburgh exit, he and the Pirates’ current catchers – Elias Diaz and Jacob Stallings – have combined to record some of the lowliest production of any group of backstops in the league this year. Their minus-0.6 fWAR and 65 wRC+ each rank just 26th in the majors. With that in mind, general manager Neal Huntington will enter the offseason seeking help behind the plate, though he realizes it’s going to be difficult to find a solution.

Huntington told Rob Biertempfel of The Athletic (subscription) that “catching is the hardest position to come by,” adding: “We’ll take a look at what’s available in a trade and the free agent markets this offseason. And, hopefully, we’ll continue to push the guys who are here forward.”

Cervelli’s slated to hit the open market again after a few months with his new team, the Braves. The Pirates will “keep the door open” to re-signing him, according to Huntington, but Biertempfel points out that a reunion looks unlikely. Indeed, Pittsburgh would be hard-pressed to count on Cervelli again considering his meek 2019 output and extensive concussion history.

Turning to other free-agent possibilities, the small-budget Pirates don’t seem likely to pursue current Brewer Yasmani Grandal – who’s a strong bet to rake in the largest contract among available catchers over the winter. There will be some other potentially appealing choices who could come at affordable prices, though, with Jason Castro (Twins), Travis d’Arnaud (Rays) and Robinson Chirinos (Astros) among them. At least offensively, all three have logged better-than-average numbers this year with their present teams. As noted earlier, that hasn’t been the case for Diaz and Stallings.

It’s all the more damning for Diaz that he hasn’t made up for his subpar offense (64 wRC+) with stellar work behind the plate. While Diaz has caught a league-average 27 percent of would-be base-stealers, he ranks dead last out of 104 catchers in Baseball Prospectus Fielding Runs Above Average metric and has accounted for minus-18 Defensive Runs Saved. Stallings has been vastly superior in those categories (54% CS, 17th in FRAA, 8 DRS), not to mention with the bat (85 wRC+).

The soon-to-be 29-year-old Diaz and Stallings (30 in December) are without minor league options, making it eminently possible at least one won’t be with the Pittsburgh organization in 2020. However, in an ideal world, the Pirates will possess “three or four” viable backstops next year, Huntington said. The club does have two Triple-A catchers, Steven Baron and Christian Kelley, but the two of them have posted horrid numbers in the minors this season. That should further put the onus on Huntington to find outside help at the position in the coming months. Huntington suggested it’ll be a challenge, but the woeful production of the Pirates’ 2019 catchers means he won’t have a high bar to clear when it comes to landing an upgrade.

AL Notes: Rays, O’s, Alberto, Tigers, Hardy

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Let’s kick off the week with updates on a trio of American League clubs…

  • The wild card-contending Rays haven’t set specific timetables for the returns of injured starters Tyler Glasnow, Blake Snell and Yonny Chirinos, but the three figure to come back in that order, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times writes. Glasnow, who has been out since early May with a forearm injury and will finish 2019 as a reliever, could rejoin the team in the second week of September, per Topkin. Meanwhile, Snell is “probably 10 days behind [Glasnow] at least,” according to manager Kevin Cash. Snell, the reigning AL Cy Young winner, underwent arthroscopic surgery on his left elbow a month ago. Chirinos has been down for three weeks with an inflamed right middle finger – an injury that has thrown a wrench into a solid season for the 25-year-old.
  • Utilityman Hanser Alberto was waiver fodder last offseason, switching teams on multiple occasions before finally settling in with the Orioles for good in March. Since then, the 26-year-old has enjoyed what has easily been a career season. He’s slashing .314/.337/.440 with 10 home runs in 432 plate appearances, and the right-hander been downright dominant against lefties – whom he has victimized for a .402/.422/.540 line over 180 PA. A .446 batting average on balls in play has buoyed Alberto’s numbers versus southpaws, though, and Statcast isn’t really buying into his above-average production. Nevertheless, he’ll garner trade interest in the offseason, Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com hears. It’s up in the air whether the O’s will strongly consider moving Alberto, who has played second and third with regularity this year and will enter arbitration for the first time in the offseason.
  • Tigers lefty Blaine Hardy’s season came to an end two weeks ago when he underwent a platelet-rich plasma injection in his elbow. Looking ahead to the offseason, Hardy realizes his Tigers tenure could conclude next. “You know and I know I might not be in Lakeland next year,” the 32-year-old told Chris McCosky of the Detroit News, referring to the team’s spring training home in Florida. Hardy has been a fairly successful reliever in Detroit since he debuted in 2014, but after elbow issues helped limit him to a 4.47 ERA/5.72 FIP with 5.89 K/9 and 2.64 BB/9 in 44 1/3 innings this year, it’s possible the Tigers will non-tender the soon-to-be out-of-options hurler as he readies for his second trip to arbitration. Regardless, Hardy’s glad he decided to call it a year instead of trying to gut out his elbow problems through the season. The Tigers were on the verge of demoting Hardy to Triple-A Toledo before his PRP injection, leading him to tell McCosky: “I had so many people in my corner say it would’ve been career suicide if I decided to go down to Triple-A and keep pitching through this. If something happened, and they found the tear at Triple-A, it would have been hard to retro it back to a big-league deal.”

Quick Hits: Lux, Morrison, Bogaerts

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Some stray items from around the baseball world…

  • It still isn’t clear if the Dodgers will call up infield prospect Gavin Lux this season, as FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal (video link) said the team is “not ruling out” the possibility that Lux could yet make his big league debut.  The potential upside is obvious, as Lux is hitting .407/.493/.747 with 12 homers over 213 Triple-A plate appearances and clearly has nothing left to prove in the minors.  If Lux was called up and installed at second base, however, that would leave L.A. with a logjam of A.J. Pollock, Chris Taylor, Enrique Hernandez, and Joc Pederson between two outfield positions, as Max Muncy would then become the regular first baseman and Cody Bellinger would play every day in either center or (more likely) right field.  And that’s not even counting other bench options like Matt Beaty, Jedd Gyorko, or how currently-injured players like Alex Verdugo or David Freese would fit back into the roster.  Further developments (injuries, slumps, etc.) could change the situation in the coming weeks, of course, so there’s still time for the Dodgers to decide whether not to make Lux a part of their late-season and postseason plans.
  • Coming off an injury-shortened 2018 season, Logan Morrison went through a quiet offseason of offers before taking a minor league deal with the Yankees in April, and then opting out on July 1 and then catching on with the Phillies on another minors contract.  This has led to appearing in seven MLB games for the Phils, though Morrison tells Fangraphs’ David Laurila that he is considering playing in Japan or South Korea due to both interest in a new cultural experience for he and his family, as well as recognizing his limited future opportunities in North American baseball.  “You look at rosters and know that you’re better than guys, but at the end of the day it doesn’t matter because of the economic situation,” the 32-year-old Morrison said.  “Having someone under control for six years is more important than them actually being good. The game has turned into where being young is a tool. If you ask baseball people, and fans who want their teams to win, that shouldn’t be the case. Unfortunately it is.”  While a lack of contractual interest wasn’t surprising following Morrison’s rough 2018 campaign, he also faced a cool market in the aftermath of a 2017 season that saw him hit .246/.353/.516 and 38 homers for the Rays.  That big year only led to a one-year, $6.5MM guarantee from the Twins, with a club/vesting option that could have added another season and $10MM to the contract.
  • Xander Bogaerts (and his twin brother Jair) signed with the Red Sox on August 23, 2009, and in commemoration of a decade passing since that key signing, Alex Speier of the Boston Globe looked back at the circumstances that led the Sox to the superstar shortstop.  The team was only starting to expand its developmental base in the Caribbean, and it was when scout Mike Lord held Boston’s first workout in Aruba that Lord met Jair, only to learn that this impressive young prospect’s brother was an even better player.  Since Xander was absent from the tryout due to chicken pox, Lord arranged for a later private workout, and a film of Xander’s session quickly impressed Boston’s front office.  A handshake deal was reached to sign both twins within the week, and though teams like the Yankees, Mariners, Braves, Astros, and Reds all tried to top Boston’s offer, the Bogaerts brothers stuck to their initial agreement with the Red Sox.  The rest is history, as Xander has emerged as one of the game’s best players.

Pirates Likely To Exercise 2020 Option On Chris Archer

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Pirates GM Neal Huntington discussed Chris Archer’s future with the team both during his Sunday morning radio show and in conversations with reporters today (including Nubyjas Wilborn of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and MLB.com’s Adam Berry), and strongly implied that the Bucs were going to pick up their $9MM club option on the righty for the 2020 season.  Though Archer is currently on the IL with inflammation in his throwing shoulder, Huntington said that Archer’s current health status didn’t impact the Pirates’ decision on his option, and spoke as though he expects Archer to be part of Pittsburgh’s rotation mix next season.

“There’s a lot to like with Chris Archer. We want to make sure that we do the right thing by him,” Huntington said.  “We don’t want him to feel like he has to come back out to earn his spot. We see some really positive signs. We recognize the issues and challenges, but we see some really positive signs and expect Chris is going to be a really good major league pitcher again next year.”

Archer has posted subpar numbers since coming to the Bucs at the 2018 trade deadline, posting a 4.92 ERA, 2.78 K/BB rate, 1.7 HR/9, and 10.6 K/9 over 172 innings in the black-and-gold.  It’s a far cry from the controllable, front-of-the-rotation arm the club felt it was getting from the Rays, especially given that the Pirates gave up a collection of young talent that now looks like an absolute steal.  Austin Meadows has developed into a very good everyday player for Tampa, Tyler Glasnow was pitching like an ace before being sidelined with injuries, and even Shane Baz (the somewhat overlooked third member of the prospect package) is rated by MLB.com as the sixth-best prospect in the Rays’ farm system.

In part because letting Archer go for nothing would make this trade seem even more lopsided, there was little question the Pirates would be picking up that $9MM option, regardless of his struggles.  It was Archer’s controllable years that made him such an attractive trade commodity in the first place.  The original six-year, $25.5MM extension Archer signed with Tampa Bay in March 2014 also contained the $9MM option for 2020 (with a $1.75MM buyout) and an $11MM club option for 2021 ($250K buyout).

The Pirates’ rotation will already miss Jameson Taillon next season since Taillon will be recovering from Tommy John surgery, so beyond hoping that at least a couple of their younger arms emerge, Pittsburgh will likely be on the lookout to add at least one more veteran arm to the pitching mix this offseason.  $9MM for one season is a decent price for a league-average starter, so if Archer’s salary isn’t exorbitant if he can pitch to even an adequate level next year.

As to whether Archer will pitch again in 2019, Huntington said the right-hander will be re-evaluated in seven to 10 days after receiving a second opinion about his shoulder.  While Archer is out, Dario Agrazal will continue to fill his spot in the rotation, with Huntington noting that the rookie right-hander is one of many young players who have an opportunity to show their wares as the Pirates play out the stretch.  “Dario is going to do everything in his power to earn a rotation spot going forward,” the GM said, adding that he sees Agrazal as a starting pitcher rather than a reliever.

Tigers Sign Matt Wotherspoon To Minors Deal

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The Tigers signed right-hander Matt Wotherspoon to a minor league contract, MLB Daily Dish’s Andersen Pickard tweets.  Wotherspoon will join the roster at Triple-A Toledo.  Detroit originally drafted Wotherspoon as a 20th-round pick back in 2013, though he chose to remain in college for another year, not turning pro until the Yankees took him in the 34th round of the 2014 draft.

The 27-year-old Wotherspoon made his Major League debut earlier this season, tossing 4 2/3 innings over two games with the Orioles without much success, as he posted a 15.43 ERA over his brief taste of the Show.  He was also twice outrighted off Baltimore’s 40-man roster before being released by the O’s last week.  Over 455 1/3 career innings in the farm systems of the Orioles and Yankees, Wotherspoon has a 3.62 ERA, 9.5 K/9, and 2.93 K/BB rate, though he has struggled to 5.54 ERA over 65 frames at Triple-A Norfolk this season.

Didi Gregorius Day-To-Day With Bone Bruise In Right Shoulder

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Yankees shortstop Didi Gregorius suffered what the team described as a right shoulder contusion after Gregorius was hit by a Clayton Kershaw pitch during a first-inning plate appearance.  The shortstop was removed from the game in the third inning.  Manager Aaron Boone told reporters (including MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch) that Gregorius is day-to-day with a bone bruise after x-rays were negative.

It isn’t yet known if the problem could require an injured list placement, as some bone bruises have been known to cause lingering discomfort.  The Yankees are all too familiar with injuries both great and small this season, as virtually every player on their roster has spent at least some time on the IL in 2019.  This includes Gregorius himself, as his recovery from a Tommy John surgery last October delayed his season debut until June 7.

Since taking the field, Gregorius has been essentially a league-average player, with a 97 wRC+ from a .263/.293/.479 slash line over 249 plate appearances.  The shortstop has 13 homers and is still showing a lot of the power he displayed over much of his Yankees tenure, though his on-base numbers are a concern and his .296 xwOBA is well below his .322 wOBA (both of which are below the league average).  It isn’t the platform year Gregorius was hoping for as he enters free agency this winter, though assuming this injury doesn’t sideline him, there’s still time for him to recoup some value in September and throughout what could be a lengthy Yankees postseason run.

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