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Archives for August 2019

Yankees Claim Cory Gearrin, Release Domingo Acevedo

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The Yankees have claimed righty Cory Gearrin from the Mariners, according to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic (via Twitter). In a corresponding move, the New York club announced that it has released fellow right-hander Domingo Acevedo.

Gearrin is a well-established hurler who has seen action in eight MLB campaigns. He has long been effective despite uninspiring peripherals, with a career 3.59 ERA. That’s much the story again in 2019, as he owns a 3.92 ERA in 41 1/3 innings while carrying 8.5 K/9 against 4.6 BB/9 and a 46.6% groundball rate.

[RELATED: So, What Can Teams Do In August?]

As we explained in our recent listing of possible August waiver candidates — which included Gearrin and others — teams have a variety of possible motivations for exposing players to waivers at this time of year. With respect to a player such as Gearrin, who wasn’t dealt at the deadline, it’s likely the club considered factors such as salary savings, roster space for younger players, and a desire to allow a veteran a chance to play in a postseason race.

Acevedo, 25, has at times been considered a significant prospect. But he has had some health issues and was moved into a relief role this year. Evidently, the Yanks didn’t really love what they saw. Acevedo has maintained 9.4 K/9 against 2.4 BB/9 in his 51 2/3 total innings over 32 appearances, but has also allowed 11 long balls and 4.35 earned runs per nine in that span.

Nationals Secure Key Ruling In MASN Dispute

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The Nationals secured a key legal victory in their long-running TV rights fees battle with the jointly owned and Orioles-controlled Mid-Atlantic Sports Network (MASN), as Peter Schmuck of the Baltimore Sun was among those to report. The decision upholds an arbitration award in the Nationals’ favor, which was issued earlier this year.

This does not represent a final victory for the Nationals, as the Orioles (through MASN) will still be able to appeal on various issues. But there may now be an end in sight for the D.C. club, which lost at the trial-court stage when the O’s challenged the original arbitration decision in late 2015. That decision kicked off the complicated, multi-round process that is still unfolding.

The Nationals have cured the conflict-of-interest issue — relating to legal representation — that led to the initial ruling. This time, the O’s presented a theory that MLB could not serve as the arbitration forum because it had an interest in the outcome due to loans it made to the Nationals.

If the Baltimore legal team isn’t able to pull off another upset win at the appellate level, the team will ultimately owe a hefty bill to its southern neighbors. As discussed at the time of the arbitration panel’s decision, the expectation is that the Nationals will be due something in range of $60MM to $70MM once all the accounting is sorted out. The new ruling also requires the Orioles to pony up interest on the obligations — one of the matters that will surely be addressed on appeal.

There are still plenty of loose ends. As noted, there will be a direct appeal on several issues. The Orioles have also initiated a separate arbitration proceeding regarding the team’s decision not to distribute certain funds to the Nationals during the pendency of the initial dispute. And since the rights fees re-set occurs every five years, this particular litigation/arbitration covers the rights fees for only the 2012-16 seasons … meaning there’s an ongoing need to work out the numbers for the ensuing five-year periods.

Does MLB’s Options Structure Need To Change?

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Giants right-hander Jeff Samardzija recently crossed the 10-year threshold in terms of Major League service time and took the occasion to voice concerns about the difficulty today’s younger players will have in reaching that same milestone (link via Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle). More specifically, Samardzija wondered aloud how any young player can be expected to reach 10 years of big league service when modern front offices utilize the final spots on the MLB roster as a carousel of various relievers and bench players in an effort to keep their rosters fresh.

“These guys are being productive for our team but at the same time only getting 70 to 80 service days a season,” said Samardzija. “It’s going to take them till they’re 34, 35 or more to get six years, and then 40 to get 10 years. … We need to make sure one option can’t be 10 callups or call-downs where we can use them as swing guys who don’t accumulate any time.”

Samardzija’s precise wording is perhaps a bit embellished, but the sentiment is indeed reflective of today’s baseball climate. Players are optioned back and forth between the Majors and minors at a higher clip than ever before. The shift from a 15-day to a 10-day injured list — one that, notably, will be reversed for pitchers beginning in 2020 — in particular, has emboldened front offices to use brief trips to the IL as a means of resting pitchers and getting fresh arms into their bullpens or rotations when the need (often) arises. Rather than carrying a largely set seven- or eight-man bullpen, many clubs have only four to six set relievers and round out the final bullpen spots with a parade of changing faces.

As the league’s option structure is currently constructed, there’s nothing wrong with doing any of that. Maintaining that level of agility on a club’s roster is now generally viewed as a sound baseball practice, and with good reason. It’s easier to manage workloads in the minor leagues, and a constant churn at the back of the bullpen prevents clubs from having to trot the same pitcher out to the mound on three or even four consecutive days.

At the same time, the increased prevalence of optioning players in this fashion will eventually only increase the number of big leaguers who exhaust their minor league options, and that eventuality will the have the opposite effect of reducing teams’ roster flexibility. And for the players, of course, it does indeed become more difficult to garner substantial service time. The Yankees have sent left-hander Nestor Cortes Jr. back to Triple-A on seven different occasions this season. The Twins have done the same with Kohl Stewart. That’s a far better fate than merely sitting in the minors and not accruing any MLB time, but it’s also easy to see why players would argue that it’s a frustrating and suboptimal process that could be tweaked.

As things currently stand, players receive three option years (and, in rare cases stemming from significant minor league injuries, sometimes a fourth). Any player on the 40-man roster who is sent down to the minors and spends more than 20 days there is considered to have used an option year. He can be shuttled to and from the minors as often as the team deems fit that season all under the umbrella of that single option year.

As Schulman notes in the Samardzija interview, this very infrastructure is among the myriad topics being discussed as the league and the players’ union are in the early stages of collective bargaining negotiations. The current CBA runs through the 2021 season, so it’s unlikely that there’ll be any immediate changes to such a core component of roster construction, but the rising number of issues the players are bringing to the table in labor talks does seem like a portent for change in some respects. Surely, only a fraction of those issues will result in meaningful change, and the minor league option infrastructure is but one piece of the much broader topic of service time.

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Astros Release Brady Rodgers

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Aug. 23: Houston has released Rodgers, per the MLB.com transactions list. That was the only outcome for the right-hander following yesterday’s DFA; teams are no longer permitted to make trades involving players who’ve been on the 40-man roster this season, and Rodgers was on the minor league injured list, meaning he couldn’t be placed on outright waivers.

Rodgers will now have the opportunity to explore interest from new clubs, though Houston could very well have interest in re-signing him to a minor league deal as a depth piece — particularly with several members of the current big pitching staff ticketed for free agency this winter.

Aug. 22: The Astros announced today that they have designated righty Brady Rodgers for assignment, as Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle was among those to tweet. That creates roster space for the surprising promotion of prospect Abraham Toro.

Soon to turn 29, Rodgers has seen limited MLB action in two of the past three seasons. The game’s best hitters have not been gentle, rocking Rodgers for 23 earned runs in his 13 1/3 innings of action. He carries an ugly 7:10 K/BB ratio in the bigs.

Rodgers, a former third-round pick out of Arizona State, raced to the upper minors upon becoming a professional and has generally succeeded there. Through 365 1/3 innings of Triple-A pitching, over parts of seven seasons, he carries a 3.67 ERA with 7.1 K/9 and 1.9 BB/9. Rodgers has at times been ranked on the back half of Houston’s top 30 prospect rankings at Baseball America, though not since undergoing Tommy John surgery in early 2017.

Mets Sign Nick Rumbelow

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The Mets signed right-handed reliever Nick Rumbelow out of the independent Atlantic League this week, per an announcement from his now-former team: the Sugar Land Skeeters. He’ll head to New York’s Triple-A affiliate in Syracuse and give the club some additional depth in the ’pen.

Rumbelow, 28 early next month, was released by the Mariners earlier this season on the heels of a disastrous performance at the Triple-A level. The former Yankees prospect pitched to an 8.17 ERA with a 22-to-15 K/BB ratio and two hit batters in 25 2/3 innings of work before being cut loose. However, whatever difficulties he had locating the ball in Tacoma have been largely remedied in his brief stop on the indie circuit. In 22 1/3 Atlantic League innings, Rumbelow posted a tiny 0.81 ERA with a brilliant 31-to-3 K/BB ratio.

Rumbelow also struggled in 17 2/3 MLB innings with the Mariners in 2018, but his numbers in Sugar Land are more in line with the sharp results he posted in Triple-A last year (17 2/3 innings, 2.04 ERA, 25 strikeouts, eight walks) and with the Yankees in 2017 (29 innings, 0.62 ERA, 30 strikeouts, eight walks). The righty’s career has been slowed by injuries, most notably including Tommy John surgery that effectively wiped out his entire 2016 season.

The Mets have been turning over the bullpen a bit with their recent signing of Brad Brach and the return of Paul Sewald (as Tim Peterson was designated for assignment for a second time this season). Right-hander Robert Gsellman, meanwhile, appears unlikely to return to the Mets in 2019 after reportedly being diagnosed with a partial lat tear. There’s no guarantee Rumbelow will get a look at the big league level, but rosters are set to expand next weekend.

White Sox GM Rick Hahn On 2020, Luis Robert

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This is Year 3 of an extensive rebuild for the White Sox, who, as expected, aren’t in contention. While the club was in the wild-card hunt at the midpoint of the season, owning a 42-44 record at the All-Star break, reality has set in during the second half. Chicago’s now 58-69, on its way to a seventh straight sub-.500 showing and an 11th consecutive season without a playoff berth.

As you’d expect, White Sox fans aren’t enamored of the franchise’s long-running skid, which general manager Rick Hahn addressed Thursday. Hahn told Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times and other reporters he understands the fans’ frustration, saying, “Oh, I get it it. We all get it. We all get the impatience. We feel the impatience.” At the same time, though, Hahn’s not audacious enough to promise a return to contention a year from now.

“Let’s talk in Glendale,” stated Hahn, referring to the team’s Arizona-based spring training headquarters. In Hahn’s view, there is “a lot to be excited about” in regards to what the White Sox are building, but he acknowledged there will be plenty of work ahead once the season ends. “In terms of putting ourselves in a position to contend, let’s get to the offseason and then set some priorities and see how good we are being able to convert on hitting those priorities before we assess it,” he said.

For now, the White Sox have  seen several major leaguers spring up as potential long-term cogs this season. The face of their position player cast, third baseman Yoan Moncada, has turned into the star the White Sox thought they were getting when they acquired him from the Red Sox in the 2016 Chris Sale blockbuster. Tim Anderson has further established himself as the White Sox’s solution at shortstop. Left fielder Eloy Jimenez hasn’t posted an eye-popping rookie season along the lines of, say, Yordan Alvarez or Pete Alonso, but he’s still an indispensable building block. And though he’s not particularly young (29), James McCann has been surprisingly effective this season, which could make him Chicago’s starting catcher again next year.

Turning to the rotation, Lucas Giolito – another of the fruits of the team’s ’16-17 offseason teardown – has morphed into a front-line starter at the age of 25. Meanwhile, Reynaldo Lopez (acquired in the same trade as Giolito) has put up a solid second half after a woeful first couple months of 2019. Those two and fellow past trade pickup Dylan Cease will return to Chicago’s rotation next season, while Michael Kopech and Carlos Rodon should factor in after recent Tommy John surgeries. The White Sox aren’t nearly as well off in the bullpen, but 25-year-old lefty Aaron Bummer at least gives the team another youthful, highly talented core member.

That’s an enviable group overall, though an injection of further talent remains necessary. For one, the Sox will need to address first base and-or designated hitter, whether that means re-signing pending free agent Jose Abreu or bringing in an outsider(s). Second base, where Yolmer Sanchez hasn’t provided much offense, has been a sore spot. The same applies to the outfield, while Chicago still must find more aid for its rotation and bullpen. But whether the franchise will open the coffers in the offseason to add high-priced talent remains to be seen.

The White Sox made some attempt to sign $300MM-plus free agents Manny Machado and Bryce Harper last winter, though their efforts ultimately came up well short. To this point, despite its big-market status, Chicago hasn’t inked a player to a larger deal than the six-year, $68MM contract it gave Abreu going into 2014. If it wants to make an earnest effort to sign, say, ace Gerrit Cole in free agency, it’ll likely need to make an offer worth at least triple the value of Abreu’s pact.

Fortunately for the White Sox, they do have yet another enticing prospect knocking on the major league door in outfielder Luis Robert. Hahn touched on Robert’s status (via Bruce Levine of 670 The Score), saying he’s “doing fantastic” with Triple-A Charlotte, but the executive expressed uncertainty as to whether the 22-year-old will make his major league debut this season.

Keeping Robert down until next year would benefit the White Sox from a service-time standpoint, as Levine notes. Should Robert reach the majors this year, he’d be on pace to become a free agent after 2025, whereas holding off on a call-up into mid-April of next season would keep him in the fold through ’26. Regardless, Robert has justified his status as one of the game’s premier prospects this year. Robert crushed High-A and Double-A pitching to start the year and has done the same since a promotion to the minors’ highest level, where he has slashed .310/.364/.665 (150 wRC+) with 13 home runs in 176 plate appearances.

Robert’s among a slew of young White Sox who could help the club return to relevance soon. In the meantime, Hahn & Co. will work this offseason to augment the roster around Chicago’s core.

Dave Roberts Discusses Kenley Jansen

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By Dodgers closer Kenley Jansen’s lofty standards, this has been a difficult season. In his latest appearance Wednesday, the 31-year-old allowed a ninth-inning solo home run en route to a blown save against the Blue Jays. The juggernaut Dodgers still went on to another victory, but Jansen’s seemingly one of their few players who hasn’t enjoyed a stellar season.

Jansen has already surrendered the second-most homers of his career (eight) and racked up his second-highest total of blown saves (six, in 32 chances) through 48 2/3 innings in 2019. And while most relievers would be satisfied with Jansen’s 3.70 ERA/3.58 FIP, those numbers rank among career worsts for a hurler who has logged a stingy 2.32 ERA/2.24 FIP since debuting in 2011.

Jansen’s dip in performance (which dates back to last year) is among the reasons the Dodgers’ bullpen has been shaky at times this season. But there’s no imminent end-of-game change coming for Los Angeles, manager Dave Roberts explained to Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register, saying he’s “not tempted” to remove Jansen as closer. The two did, however, have a “long” meeting after Wednesday’s game, reports Plunkett, who writes that Jansen also met with Dodgers president Andrew Friedman. Jansen indicated Roberts and Friedman gave him votes of confidence, but Roberts acknowledged that if things don’t turn around in the coming weeks, “then there should be a conversation and then I will have to make a decision.”

For now, Roberts is betting on improvement from the three-time All-Star, as is Jansen himself. “I’m going to be there” in the ninth, said Jansen, who insisted he’s not worried about his status. Despite his issues this year, Jansen has still posted some of the top numbers of anyone in LA’s bullpen. When it comes to regular Dodgers relievers, only Pedro Baez and Julio Urias have bettered Jansen at preventing runs (though Joe Kelly has overcome a rough start to dominate in recent weeks), and no one on the team rivals Jansen’s wealth of game-ending experience.

Back in 2017, Jansen enjoyed one of the single greatest seasons any reliever has ever delivered. He fired 68 1/3 innings of 1.32 ERA/1.31 FIP ball, recording 14.36 K/9 against 0.92 BB/9 with 41 saves on 42 tries. That near-unbeatable version of Jansen also registered a career-best 18.2 swinging-strike rate, relying on his signature cutter 85.4 percent of the time (per Statcast) to stymie the opposition. That pitch is no longer as formidable, though, and Jansen has turned to it less as a result. He has gone to it at a 76.7 percent rate this year, filling in the other 23.3 percent with a four-seamer and a slider that he has relied on to almost matching extents.

Jansen’s velocity on his cutter, four-seamer and slider has fallen in comparison to his dream ’17 season, but that’s not to say hitters have teed off on any of them. In fact, according to Statcast, Jansen has produced above-average results with each offering. Unsurprisingly, the .287 weighted on-base average hitters have managed against him trumps his .263 expected wOBA – the latter of which ranks in the majors’ 93rd percentile. Jansen’s also near the summit of the league in strikeout percentage (91st percentile; he has fanned 11.04 per nine while walking only 2.03), fastball spin (96th percentile), hard-hit rate allowed (97th percentile) and average exit velocity against (99th percentile; 84.5 mph).

By Statcast’s metrics, not to mention Jansen’s 17th-ranked swinging-strike percentage (16.1), he’s still either an elite reliever or close to it. Although he’s not the Jansen who steamrolled hitters two years ago, “He doesn’t need to be the ’17 Kenley,” according to Roberts. “He needs to be the best of what he is today and going forward.” 

AL Notes: O’s, Davis, Yanks, Happ, Angels

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Orioles first baseman Chris Davis has lost his role as a regular, at least for now, Joe Trezza of MLB.com writes. Manager Brandon Hyde said he’ll “continue to pick my spots” when it comes to playing Davis, who’s nearing the conclusion of a second straight horrific campaign and the end of the fourth season of a seven-year, $161MM contract. The rebuilding Orioles are aiming to give more at-bats to young players and a possibly returning Mark Trumbo than Davis, owner of a .179/.270/.312 line in 300 plate appearances this season. Notably, the 33-year-old Davis got into a dugout altercation with Hyde on Aug. 7, and has started just five games since. But Hyde complimented Davis on Thursday, saying that “he’s been a pro the entire way — 100% pro. He understands. He’s been in the dugout supporting our guys. He’s been real great in the clubhouse and he’s handled this situation really well.”

More from the AL…

  • After re-signing with the Yankees on a two-year, $34MM contract last winter, left-hander J.A. Happ has trudged through a rough season. The Athletics pummeled the 36-year-old on Wednesday over four innings, scoring five runs on four hits (including two homers) and a pair of walks. Factoring in that performance, Happ has pitched to a sky-high 5.58 ERA/5.69 FIP over 129 innings this season. “I haven’t struggled like this in a while,” Happ admitted after the Oakland loss, though he and manager Aaron Boone expressed hope the hurler will be able to right the ship this season (via Ken Davidoff of the New York Post). Even though Happ has been undependable, the World Series-contending Yankees have no choice but to run him out there, as they’re lacking better alternatives, Davidoff observes. Happ’s woes are among the reasons New York appears set to enter the playoffs with an iffy-looking rotation.
  • Angels righty Keynan Middleton is nearing a return to their bullpen, Maria Torres of the Los Angeles Times tweets. Middleton hasn’t pitched in the majors since May 2018, when he underwent Tommy John surgery, and has dealt with multiple setbacks during his recovery process. Just last month, mild ulnar neuritis forced Middleton to temporarily shut down his rehab. When healthy from 2017-18, Middleton looked like a potential building block for the Halos’ bullpen. The hard-throwing 24-year-old owns a 3.43 ERA/4.24 FIP with 9.36 K/9 and 3.2 BB/9 in 76 major league innings.
  • Meanwhile, injured Angels shortstop Andrelton Simmons could rejoin the club for its weekend series in Houston, though he’s not a lock to be activated then, Torres reports. A left ankle sprain and a bone bruise have prevented Simmons from playing since Aug. 2. He also missed a little over a month earlier this season with a sprain in that ankle, but the nature of the injury isn’t the same this time. While Simmons was durable from 2017-18 – arguably the two best offensive seasons of the defensive master’s career – his production at the plate has gone backward during this injury-plagued year. Simmons will try to improve on the .274/.315/.382 line he has put up across 305 PA when he returns.

Pablo Sandoval Could Be Done For Season

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Giants third baseman Pablo Sandoval went to the injured list Aug. 14 with bone chips in his right elbow, which may prove to be a season-ending issue. There’s a “fair” chance Sandoval won’t return in 2019, Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle writes.

If Sandoval doesn’t come back this year, it’s possible we’ve seen the last of the fan favorite in a San Francisco uniform. The 33-year-old is set to become a free agent in the offseason, when the Red Sox are sure to pay him a $5MM buyout in lieu of a $17MM club option for 2020. Sandoval’s on the cusp of wrapping up the ill-fated deal he signed entering 2015 with Boston, which handed him a five-year, $95MM guarantee. His tenure with the Red Sox went so poorly that they paid him to go away in July 2017, but Sandoval was effective as a Giant before then and has again turned into a useful major leaguer since re-signing with the club shortly after returning to free agency two years.

While left-handed pitchers toyed with Sandoval in previous years, the Kung Fu Panda has offered respectable numbers against them and righties this season. As a result, Sandoval has put up an above-average line of .269/.314/.509 (109 wRC+) with 14 home runs and a personal-best .240 ISO in 295 trips to the plate. Statcast largely backs up Sandoval’s output, crediting him with a .338 expected weighted on-base average that aligns with a .342 real wOBA.

Along with providing the Giants quality work at the dish this season, Sandoval has logged 20-plus appearances at both third and first. There has been talk of outgoing manager Bruce Bochy giving the versatile Sandoval an opportunity to appear at every position in a game this season, but the chances of that occurring may be gone.

NL East Notes: Mets, Nationals, Marlins

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Mets infielder/outfielder Jeff McNeil started a rehab assignment with Triple-A Syracuse on Thursday, Deesha Thosar of the New York Daily News reports. McNeil went to the injured list Aug. 14 with a hamstring strain, making him eligible to return Saturday. It’s not clear whether he’ll come back this weekend, though, as the Mets first “want to see him ranging and running down balls just to make sure he’s totally healthy,” according to manager Mickey Callaway. Meanwhile, although right-hander Marcus Stroman left his start early on Wednesday with left hamstring tightness, he doesn’t expect to miss any time (via Tim Britton of The Athletic). “I’m going to make that start against the Cubs on Tuesday,” Stroman said of his next scheduled outing.

Here’s more on a couple other NL East clubs…

  • It looks as if Nationals righty Joe Ross will make his scheduled start Saturday, Mark Zuckerman of MASNsports.com writes. Ross left his most recent start this past Monday in the fourth inning after taking a 110 mph comebacker off the right leg. Even though Nationals ace Max Scherzer finally returned from a weeks-long absence Thursday, the club doesn’t plan to lift Ross from its rotation. The 26-year-old helped Washington weather the temporary loss of Scherzer by delivering an incredible 21 1/3 innings of one-run ball in his first four starts of the month, though Ross only managed a 13:9 K:BB ratio in that span.
  • More from Zuckerman, who observes that the Nationals’ signing of Asdrubal Cabrera has worked out brilliantly for the club. The Nationals brought in Cabrera on a low-paying deal Aug. 5 after the Rangers released the 33-year-old infielder, who underwhelmed in Texas over the season’s first few months. However, since joining the Nats, Cabrera has slashed .324/.422/.622 with a pair of home runs over a small sample of 45 plate appearances. Cabrera attributes some of his success to hitting coach Kevin Long, whom he has reunited with in Washington after the two were with the Mets from 2015-17. “He knows me,” Cabrera said. “I played for him two years, and he knows when my swing is good or when it’s not.”
  • Marlins righty Pablo Lopez could return to their rotation before the month’s out, per Joe Frisaro of MLB.com. Lopez has been out for just over two months with a shoulder issue, having gone on the injured list June 19. The 23-year-old impressed over 14 starts before then, notching a 4.23 ERA/3.56 FIP with 8.57 K/9, 2.11 BB/9 and a 48.8 percent groundball rate in 76 2/3 innings.

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