Headlines

Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Archives for September 2021

Jack Flaherty Expected To Return Friday

By | at

The Cardinals, surging toward a playoff berth with a prodigious September winning streak, will get another boost to their postseason hopes this weekend. Opening Day starter Jack Flaherty is expected to be activated from the injured list to start the second game of Friday’s doubleheader, manager Mike Shildt told reporters tonight (Twitter links via Katie Woo of The Athletic). Flaherty isn’t fully stretched and will be more of an opener than a traditional starter, but his return is a notable development for a Cardinals club that now finds itself with a commanding lead on the second Wild Card spot in the National League.

Flaherty missed more than two months this summer with a severe oblique strain, and his return to the club lasted just three games before he went back on the shelf with a shoulder strain on Aug. 25. He’ll be returning without a minor league rehab assignment, though Flaherty has been throwing bullpen sessions as he works back toward the big league roster. Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat tweeted this past weekend that Flaherty had thrown around 30 fastballs in a recent session, and Shildt said just yesterday that Flaherty had warmed up in the ’pen before throwing 15 or so pitches to live hitters on the field (video link via Bally Sports Midwest).

It’d be a surprise to see Flaherty go more than a couple of innings, but Friday’s outing could help to build him up a bit more for a lengthier outing sometime next week. He may not be fully stretched out by the time a theoretical postseason series would start, but Flaherty would presumably be a multi-inning option in some capacity early on — with a chance to build up further should the Cardinals make a deep run on the heels of their recent momentum.

It’s been another strong year for Flaherty when he’s been healthy enough to take the mound. The 25-year-old owns a 3.08 ERA with sharp strikeout and walk rates — 26.1 percent and 7.7 percent, respectively — through 76 innings so far on the season.

In similarly encouraging news for Cards fans, Shildt revealed in tonight’s media session that Dakota Hudson was scratched from a scheduled rehab start in Triple-A Memphis in case the club needs to activate him from the injured list over the next 48 hours (link via Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch).

Hudson, who owns a 3.17 ERA in 241 big league innings dating back to his 2018 debut, hasn’t pitched this season after undergoing Tommy John surgery late in the 2020 campaign. He was viewed as a long shot to make it back this year, but he’s now pitched 18 2/3 innings of 0.96 ERA ball across three minor league levels. Hudson pitched five innings in each of his two most recent outings and tossed 68 pitches on Sept. 17 in his lone appearance at the Triple-A level so far. Given that workload, he’d seemingly be an option to make a more conventional spot start and work on a pitch count, if needed, although he could certainly work as a multi-inning relief option as well.

Orioles To Retain Manager Brandon Hyde

By | at

The Orioles will retain manager Brandon Hyde for at least the 2022 season, reports Dan Connolly of The Athletic. The 2021 season marked the final guaranteed contract on his original three-year deal to manager the O’s, but Connolly reports that the Orioles and Hyde quietly agreed to an extension last offseason that runs through at least the 2022 season.

There’d been at least some speculation about Hyde’s job status, given his original contract was set to expire. MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubatko wrote recently, however, that the “expectation” was for Hyde to return in 2022, and it appears that will indeed be the case.

Hyde’s first three seasons at the helm haven’t been punctuated by many victories. The Orioles are just 127-246 since he was hired. Of course, there’s little sense in judging a manager on wins and losses when it’s clear that the front office isn’t making much of an effort to put a winning product on the field. The Orioles set out on the early stages a rebuild in the final few months of former general manager Dan Duquette’s tenure, trading Manny Machado, Zack Britton and others in the summer of 2018. Duquette was dismissed not long after, and ownership tabbed Astros assistant general manager Mike Elias as his replacement.

Elias hired Hyde as a successor to former manager Buck Showalter, but he’s gone on to continue that rebuilding effort that was set in motion by Duquette & Co. The most notable moves under Elias’ watch have been trades of some of the few remaining veterans on the roster — Dylan Bundy, Mychal Givens and Alex Cobb among them. The only free agents the Orioles have signed to Major League deals under the current regime are Freddy Galvis, Jose Iglesias, Nate Karns and Maikel Franco (in addition to some minor league deals for veterans like Matt Harvey, Wade LeBlanc, Tommy Milone and Felix Hernandez). Both Galvis and Iglesias were traded before their contracts expired. (Karns and Franco surely would have been as well, had those signings panned out as hoped.)

Given that Elias inherited a depleted farm and proceeded to strip down an already threadbare MLB roster, it’s not a surprise that Hyde doesn’t have much to show as far as wins and losses go. By all accounts, however, he’s been a steadying presence amid persistent roster turnover, and it’s certainly hard to ignore the manner in which some young players have begun to blossom under his watch and the watch of his coaching staff.

Cedric Mullins is in the midst of a breakout season and now looks like a possible cornerstone piece. Austin Hays had a productive August and has enjoyed a massive month of September thus far. Ryan Mountcastle recently swatted his 30th homer and could get some down-the-ballot Rookie of the Year votes, even if he’s not a favorite to actually win the award. John Means has broken out as a rock-solid starter to lead an otherwise inexperienced and struggling pitching staff. None of those successes can be pinned upon the manager/coaching staff alone — player development is an organization-wide effort — but it’s Hyde and his lieutenants who are working most directly with that blossoming young talent on a day-to-day basis.

Looking ahead, it seems unlikely that the 2022 season will be a turning point in terms of a return to contention. The Orioles aren’t expected to spend heavily in free agency this winter, and while they have several intriguing young players — and more on the very near horizon — the AL East is a stacked division. In all likelihood, the Orioles won’t be aiming to contend, in earnest, until 2023 at the earliest.

Still, it’s a vote of confidence in Hyde that he’s being entrusted with another key developmental season in 2022, when top-ranked MLB prospect Adley Rutschman is expected to debut along with other ballyhooed youngsters, including top-ranked pitchers DL Hall and Grayson Rodriguez. Time will tell whether the O’s decide he’s the right person to helm the ship as the rebuild draws to an actual close, but the new contract is ostensibly a step in that direction.

Giants Select Scott Kazmir

By | at

Sept. 22: The Giants have formally announced the selection of Kazmir’s contract. Righty Jay Jackson was optioned to Triple-A Sacramento to open a spot on the active roster.

Sept. 21: The Giants are planning to bring southpaw Scott Kazmir back to start tomorrow night’s game against the Padres, manager Gabe Kapler told reporters (including Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle). Kazmir is not on the 40-man roster, but San Francisco opened a spot by passing reliever Reyes Moronta through outright waivers this afternoon.

Kazmir returns for his second big league try this season. The veteran signed a minor league deal with San Francisco over the offseason and completed a remarkable comeback effort by earning a big league call in late May. He picked up his first big league action in five years this spring, but Kazmir made just three appearances (including two starts) before being designated for assignment. He worked seven innings over those three games, allowing five runs on eight hits (including three homers) and a walk while striking out seven.

After being outrighted off the 40-man roster, Kazmir joined the U.S. National Team at the Tokyo Olympics this summer. He made just one start there, tossing five scoreless innings in a win over the Dominican Republic. He returned to the Giants’ top affiliate in Sacramento after the conclusion of international competition and has made six starts for the River Cats over the past month. He’s worked 52 2/3 frames in Triple-A this season altogether, posting a 4.61 ERA with strikeout and walk rates (22.1% and 8.3%, respectively) not far off the league average.

Johnny Cueto remains on the injured list, leaving the Giants a man short in the rotation behind Kevin Gausman, Anthony DeSclafani, Logan Webb and Alex Wood. Kazmir will get another opportunity to step into that role. San Francisco entered play tonight up one game on the Dodgers in the NL West. They’ll close out the week with road series against the Padres and Rockies before returning home to host the D-Backs and Padres to end the regular season.

Dodgers Designate Shane Greene For Assignment

By | at

The Dodgers have designated right-hander Shane Greene for assignment in order to open a spot on the roster for AJ Pollock, who is returning from the 10-day injured list, per a club announcement.

Greene, 32, sat out until May this season before returning to the Braves on a one-year deal. The Atlanta reunion didn’t go well, however, as the former setup man struggled to the tune of 16 runs allowed in 17 innings (8.47 ERA) before being cut loose. Greene quickly latched on with the Dodgers, and while things went a bit better in nine games, there were still some red flags. Greene allowed only three runs in 6 2/3 innings (4.05 ERA), but he also walked five batters and hit three more.

Command hasn’t typically been a major issue for Greene, who entered the season with a career 8.3 percent walk rate. However, it’s clearly been an Achilles heel this year as he’s walked 12.4 percent of his opponents and plunked 3.5 percent of them. Couple that with the fact that a heater which once averaged 95.9 mph (2017) is now clocking in at a career-low average of 93.1 mph, and it’s perhaps not entirely surprising to see Green struggling at previously unforeseen levels.

The Dodgers will now place Greene on outright waivers or release waivers within the next few days. Greene has the service time to reject an outright assignment anyhow, so this seems likely to end his time with the club. Given the limited number of days remaining on the regular-season calendar, it could also spell the end of Greene’s 2021 season. He’ll be a free agent again this offseason and perhaps look for an earlier deal so as to allow himself a full Spring Training this time around. He’ll likely have to settle for a minor league pact, but given Greene’s track record, there should be several clubs willing to take that flier on him.

Orioles Designate Cesar Valdez For Assignment

By | at

The Orioles announced Wednesday that right-hander Cesar Valdez has been designated for assignment for a second time this season. Baltimore also recalled second baseman Jahmai Jones and righty Konner Wade from Triple-A Norfolk, optioned right-hander Joey Krehbiel to Norfolk and placed infielder Ramon Urias on the 10-day injured list due to a right adductor strain.

Valdez, 36, only had his contract selected back to the big league roster yesterday. It’ll be a daylong stint on the MLB roster for the righty, who pitched two-thirds of an inning in last night’s game and surrendered two runs (one earned) on a hit and a walk. Valdez has now been scored upon in six of his past seven Major League appearances and 12 of his past 19 dating back to June 1.

Up to that point, Valdez had emerged as an unlikely closer in Baltimore. The journeyman right-hander notched eight saves for the O’s through the season’s first five weeks and carried a 1.23 ERA into mid-May before a swift collapse cost him the closer’s gig and eventually his spot on the roster. Dating back to May 11, Valdez has been tagged for 28 earned runs on 51 hits and 11 walks with 28 strikeouts through 31 1/3 innings. The O’s will either place him on outright waivers or release waivers within the next couple of days.

Given the timing of the Urias IL placement, it seems quite possible that this injury will end his season. He’s somewhat quietly had a nice run as a utility option with the O’s since making his MLB debut last summer, as the 27-year-old has batted .286/.365/.425 with eight home runs and 16 doubles in his first 323 big league plate appearances. A .376 average on balls in play has surely helped his cause, but Urias also owns an impressive 25 percent line-drive rate and a 42.9 percent hard-hit rate.

Urias has split his time between second base, shortstop and third base, although he doesn’t have particularly strong grades. Still, his solid showing at the plate to date suggests he could be a bat-first utility option for the O’s moving forward.

Marlins Designate Taylor Williams For Assignment

By | at

The Marlins have designated right-hander Taylor Williams for assignment and selected the contract of fellow righty Luis Madero from Triple-A Jacksonville, tweets Jordan McPherson of the Miami Herald.

Williams, 30, was a waiver claim out of the Padres organization earlier this month. He appeared in six games with the Fish, yielding a total of six runs (five earned) on nine hits and five walks with three strikeouts through 3 1/3 innings. That rough showing bumped his season ERA to 4.63, albeit in a tiny sample of 11 2/3 frames overall.

A fourth-round pick by the Brewers back in 2013, Williams has seen time in parts of five big league seasons. Through 98 2/3 frames, most of which have come with Milwaukee, he’s compiled a 5.29 ERA with a 23.3 percent strikeout rate and a 10.9 percent walk rate — both a bit worse than the current league averages. The Marlins will either place Williams on outright waivers or release waivers within the next few days. If he goes unclaimed, he can be outrighted to Jacksonville, although Williams has enough service time that he can reject the assignment or elect free agency at season’s end if he wishes.

Madero, 24, has had multiple stints with the Marlins this year, totaling six innings in the big leagues. He’s allowed seven runs over those six frames, but Madero has had a nice run down in Jacksonville. Through 57 Triple-A innings, he’s notched a 2.84 earned run average with a 24.2 percent strikeout rate and a 10 percent walk rate.

Yankees Activate Domingo German; Jameson Taillon Begins Rehab Assignment

By | at

The Yankees have reinstated right-hander Domingo Germán from the 10-day injured list. Outfielder Estevan Florial was optioned to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre in a corresponding move. Additionally, New York announced that Jameson Taillon will begin a minor league rehab assignment with Scranton this evening.

Germán returns after missing nearly two months due to shoulder inflammation. He’d been a reliable back-of-the-rotation option for the Yankees over the season’s first few months, tossing 97 innings of 4.45 ERA ball over 21 appearances (including 18 starts). The 29-year-old has posted solid strikeout and walk numbers, contributing to a more appealing 4.02 SIERA, but he’s been a little too prone to the home run ball.

While Germán served almost exclusively as a starter earlier this year, he seems likely to work from the bullpen for the stretch run. With the regular season dwindling, the Yankees sent Germán on a rather brief rehab assignment in which he made two appearances with the RailRiders. He topped out at 35 pitches in his last outing, so he seems likely to occupy a similar multi-inning relief role to the one Luis Severino took on last night.

Taillon has only been away from the club for two weeks because of a partially torn tendon in his right ankle. Given that shorter absence, it wouldn’t be a surprise if he’s back in the majors after a lone rehab start. Acquired from the Pirates over the offseason, Taillon has a 4.41 ERA/4.29 SIERA in his first year in the Bronx.

The Yankees enter play tonight half a game back in a jam-packed American League Wild Card race. After tonight’s series finale against the Rangers, they’ll play road series against the two clubs directly ahead of them in standings — the Red Sox and Blue Jays — before closing out the year at home against a Rays team that looks likely to have clinched the AL East by that point.

Reds Extend Manager David Bell Through 2023

By | at

The Reds and manager David Bell have agreed on a contract extension that runs through the end of the 2023 season, Bell himself told reporters (including Mark Sheldon of MLB.com). Bell anticipates his entire coaching staff will return next season as well.

Bell has led the Cincinnati dugout for the past three seasons, with the team posting a cumulative 184-190 record (.492 winning percentage). Before landing his first managerial gig, he’d worked in a few different capacities, serving on Mike Matheny’s coaching staff with the Cardinals for five years before spending a season as the Giants’ vice president of player development.

The Reds hired Bell in October 2018, signing him to a three-year guarantee. That deal contained a club option for the 2022 season. Rather than exercise the option and potentially enter next season with Bell in a lame duck capacity, Cincinnati struck early to guarantee Bell’s position for another two years. It’s not clear whether his new deal also contains options beyond 2023.

At the time of Bell’s initial hiring, the Reds were still amidst a multi-year rebuild. They’d posted below-average records in each of the five prior seasons, finishing last in the NL Central every year from 2015-18. The club dismissed skipper Bryan Price early in 2018, with Jim Riggleman taking the reigns on an interim capacity for the remainder of the year.

The team made some progress in Bell’s first year at the helm. After winning between 64 and 68 games in each of the prior four seasons, the Reds went 75-87 in 2019, surpassing the Pirates to get out of the basement of the division. They flipped the switch completely into win-now mode late in the year, acquiring Trevor Bauer at the trade deadline with an eye towards 2020 and pushing payroll to a franchise-record height that winter. The front office signed Mike Moustakas and Nick Castellanos to matching $64MM guarantees and also added Shogo Akiyama and Wade Miley on multi-year deals.

The organization clearly envisioned 2020 as the opening of a new competitive window. Obviously, the pandemic-necessitated shortened season threw a wrench in those plans, but the Reds did at least finish 31-29 last year to earn a spot in the expanded playoff. That snapped a six-year postseason drought, but Cincinnati was quickly dispatched by the Braves in the Wild Card round. The club then had a relatively inactive offseason, entering this year with a significant question mark at shortstop and some concerns about the relief corps.

Those issues impacted the club’s early-season play, particularly as Eugenio Suárez struggled badly in an attempt to move from third base to shortstop. Cincinnati hovered right around .500 through the season’s first half before catching fire coming out of the All-Star Break. Not too long ago, they looked as likely as anyone to claim the NL’s second Wild Card spot, but the club has stumbled to a 7-12 record in September. Coupled with the Cardinals’ recent surge, Cincinnati now sits four games back of St. Louis for the final playoff spot. According to FanGraphs, their postseason odds are down to 5.9%.

Missing the playoffs would certainly be a disappointing outcome for a Cincinnati club that expected to contend this season. GM Nick Krall and the front office nevertheless believe in Bell’s ability to lead the club back to the playoffs over the coming years. Despite their up-and-down play this season, the Reds have seen homegrown, controllable players like Jesse Winker, Jonathan India and Tyler Stephenson emerge as above-average regulars during Bell’s tenure. That trio will work with the resurgent Joey Votto and a talented pitching staff led by Luis Castillo, Sonny Gray and Tyler Mahle to form what the club hopes to be a competitive core in 2022 and beyond.

Jake Faria Elects Free Agency

By | at

The Diamondbacks announced last night that Jake Faria has cleared outright waivers and elected free agency. Arizona designated him for assignment over the weekend.

It’s possible Faria latches on elsewhere in the coming days, but it seems likelier the move brings an end to his 2021 campaign. There are a little less than two weeks to play in the regular season, and Faria is ineligible for postseason play since he’s been let go after August 31. The 28-year-old will presumably field minor league offers with Spring Training invitations from clubs this winter.

Faria began this season on a minors deal with his hometown Angels. He didn’t make it to the big leagues in Anaheim but signed a major league contract with the D-Backs shortly after being released in mid-June. Faria spent the next three months in the desert, posting a 5.51 ERA across 32 2/3 innings (all but three of his appearances coming in relief). The righty threw a decent amount of strikes, but he posted below-average swinging strike and ground-ball rates.

It has been a few seasons since we’ve seen Faria at his best. He broke into the majors with an impressive 3.43 ERA/4.26 SIERA across 86 2/3 frames with the Rays in 2017. He hasn’t been able to consistently build off that promising rookie showing in the years since, owning just a 5.65 ERA since the start of the 2018 season. Faria has a more consistent track record of productivity in Triple-A, pitching to a 3.99 ERA over five seasons with an impressive 27.9% strikeout rate.

Reds Select Dauri Moreta, Place Mike Moustakas On Injured List

By | at

The Reds announced they’ve selected reliever Dauri Moreta to the big league roster. (Héctor Gómez of Z 101 previously reported Moreta’s impending call-up). Infielder Mike Moustakas has been placed on the 10-day injured list, retroactive to September 21, due to plantar fasciitis in his right foot. To clear space on the 40-man roster for Moreta, Cincinnati designated R.J. Alaniz for assignment.

Moreta is up for his first call after spending six years in the minors. He signed with the Reds as a 19-year-old (three years older than most international amateur prospects) during the 2015-16 signing period. Moreta has worked exclusively out of the bullpen since signing, and immediately racked up huge strikeout totals. He partially offset that massive swing-and-miss stuff by issuing too many free passes early in his career, but Moreta has made significant strides as a strike-thrower in recent years.

In High-A in 2019, Moreta walked only 4.1% of opponents. That was half his walk percentage from Low-A the season prior and nowhere near the untenable control issues he’d shown in rookie ball. Moreta has retained that improved command even after the lost minor league campaign in 2020. He’s split this year between Double-A Chattanooga and Triple-A Louisville, combining for a 1.02 ERA with a 29.1% strikeout percentage and just a 4.5% walk rate. Moreta’s strikeout tally fell precipitously after he made the jump from Double-A to Triple-A, but he’s continued to post highly effective bottom line results against top minor league hitters.

Adding Moreta to the bullpen mix bumps Alaniz from the roster. Signed to a minor league deal over the offseason, the 30-year-old was promoted to the majors in mid-July. He’s worked just 2 2/3 big league innings this season, bringing his career total to 18 1/3. Alaniz has an 8.35 ERA at the big league level with worse than average peripherals.

While he’s yet to find big league success, the right-hander has had a nice season with Louisville. Across 39 frames of relief with the Bats, Alaniz owns a 3.46 ERA with a solid 26.9% strikeout rate and an average 10.2% walk percentage. Alaniz has previously been outrighted in his career, so he’d have the right to elect free agency and explore opportunities elsewhere if he passes through waivers unclaimed.

Moustakas winds up back on the injured list with a right foot issue for the second time this season. In mid-May, he was placed on the IL due to a heel contusion. He suffered a setback during a minor league rehab appearance and wound up missing more than two months.

With just a week and a half left in the regular season, it’s possible this latest injury ends Moustakas’ season. The Reds have fallen four games behind the Cardinals in the NL Wild Card race, making them increasingly unlikely to reach the playoffs. Moustakas is hitting a career-worst .208/.282/.372, including a .177/.225/.313 line since he returned from the injured list. He’s guaranteed $38MM over the next two years (including a buyout on a 2024 club option). With Jonathan India having locked down second base, Moustakas and Eugenio Suárez — who’s having a very poor season himself — could be in line to split time at the hot corner moving forward.

MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

hide arrows FOX Sports Engage Network scroll to top