Braves To Select Contract Of Jeremy Walker
The Braves will select the contract of right-hander Jeremy Walker, per MLB.com’s Mark Bowman (via Twitter). Walker will be activated for tonight’s contest, taking the place of optioned righty Wes Parsons.
Walker put himself on the MLB radar with a strong showing to open the year in the upper minors. Previously a starter, the former fifth-round pick has functioned in a multi-inning relief capacity this season.
The results have been fairly compelling. Through 69 2/3 innings over 26 total appearances, Walker carries a 2.84 ERA with 9.2 K/9 and just 1.0 BB/9. He has generated grounders on well over half of the balls put in play against him and allowed just a pair of homers this season.
While it seems Walker is well-positioned to take his first crack at the majors, and he’d have needed a 40-man roster spot next fall for Rule 5 protection, adding him now will certainly impact the number of slots the club has to work with as it tweaks its roster in advance of the trade deadline. Improving the back of the pen still seems like a priority. Whether the team will end up jettisoning some veterans and/or trading valuable youngsters from its 40-man remains to be seen.
A Buyer’s Guide To Stashing Depth At The Trade Deadline
Anyone that has found their way to this particular plot of internet land is surely familiar with the essentials of the classic summer baseball trade. Good teams acquire useful players from bad ones. Familiar readers have the next key elements down: teams are focused not only on player performance, but on contract rights (in a nutshell: how many years and for how much money?). Attentive MLBTR-ists are also aware of the importance of a whole host of other considerations.
No matter where you are on the spectrum, you probably know that baseball teams have 25 players in uniform at any given time. Most are likely at least vaguely familiar with the concept of the 40-man MLB roster, which consists of those 25 on the active roster along with others that are on optional assignment or the 10-day injured list.
Those basic roster tallies are some of the simplest concepts influencing the transactional market for MLB talent. They can also operate in subtle ways, particularly as they interact with other rules. This year’s most-visible off-field rule change was the creation of the One True Trade Deadline — which, as we explored in depth recently, appears to represent a complete and exception-free bar to the trades of MLB players after July 31st. Long before the explosion in importance of August trades in the seasons leading up to its banishment, the artist formerly known as the revocable waiver trade period provided an important backstop for contenders. You may not have sat back waiting for a major addition, but you knew you could snag a necessary depth piece if a need arose. Not so anymore.
This poses a bit of a dilemma for contenders. They can make educated guesses, but cannot foresee precisely what needs will arise beyond the month of July — after which time they will be limited to acquiring players on minor-league contracts via trade (a potentially useful backstop but rather limited in terms of quality) or MLB players via waiver claim (a complete crap-shoot and, in some cases, untenably expensive). Building depth is obviously of importance … yet teams also cannot stuff their MLB rosters beyond the bounds of the 25 and 40-man limits, thus limiting the volume of MLB-caliber players they can compile. And that’s all before considering the need to utilize 40-man spots on players who are only (or mostly) of value in the future.
So … with no do-overs, what can a contender do to make sure it’s covered? In structuring a slate of acquisition targets, teams will need to look for somewhat creative ways to build in a bit more depth now than they might have in years past. The details will obviously depend upon each organization’s preexisting slate of internal options, but all will share a general interest in obtaining readily stashable players.
Here are a few classes of players that might hold a bit more appeal than usual — or, at least, which might be mined for useful depth pieces that can be filed away in the recesses of the rosters …
[Background Reading: Understanding The New Trade Deadline Rules]
Optionable Players: This one’s sort of obvious in that non-core players are always more appealing when they can be optioned, thus allowing teams much greater flexibility in dealing with roster contingencies that arise. But the ability to send a 40-man roster member down to the minors now takes on even greater potential importance as a deadline strategy. It’s possible to imagine a team acquiring a solid, optionable middle reliever and stashing him right away at Triple-A, utilizing other players on the active roster until a need arises or rosters expand in September. Of course, such players necessarily still occupy valuable 40-man space, so they’re not truly stashed.
Outrighted Players: It’s generally presumed that a player who’s viewed as a trade chip should be showcased at the MLB level in advance of the deadline, but putting a guy on the 40-man can also kill his trade appeal. It goes without saying that a player who cleared outright waivers earlier in the season isn’t going to be seen as a major addition for a contender. But such players can be useful stashes — if, at least, they don’t need to be placed on the MLB roster of an acquiring team unless or until there’s a need. Consider Dan Straily, who was punted from the O’s 40-man and took up an assignment at Triple-A, where he has quietly turned in quality numbers through five starts in the tough International League. Or Diamondbacks catcher John Ryan Murphy, who’d be a worthwhile depth piece for teams worried about being caught thin behind the dish. The Yankees already made a move of this kind. Under the new deadline rules, outrighted MLB contracts (there’s a distinction from minor-league contracts) cannot be traded after July 31st.
Outright-able Players: No, we’re not suggesting that an under-water contract is a positive asset. But a big salary can help a player make it through outright waivers, before or even after the trade deadline (at which point such players can be claimed, but likely wouldn’t be if their contract is too expensive). The new deadline rules can in this sense function to make it more appealing for a contender to take on an underperforming contract to facilitate the acquisition of another player. Even if you don’t have immediate use for the overpriced player, he might be a useful depth option that wouldn’t otherwise be available if you outright and stash him after the deal goes through. For this scheme to work, such players would have to be ineligible to elect free agency while keeping their guaranteed money, meaning we’d be looking at guys with less than five years of MLB service. Players like Mike Montgomery, Travis Shaw, Delino DeShields Jr., and Adam Conley might represent possibilities. It’s admittedly a narrow opening, but that’s sort of what we’re looking for here — outside-the-box means by which teams can find just the right piece to squeeze in some post-July protection.
Players On 60-Day Injured List: This might be the most interesting possibility for a truly new angle on the deadline. In past years, players on the 60-day injured list would generally have been held back in hopes they’d return to action in August and morph back into a trade piece. Now, we could see them moved by the end of July, even if it’s not entirely clear when or even whether they’ll make it back in action down the stretch. You’re allowed to trade for injured players, even if it doesn’t typically happen very often. Indeed, such players can shift directly from the corresponding injured list of one team to that of another, which means that players on the 60-day injured list need not even temporarily occupy a 40-man spot. Clubs can assess injury expectations, in some cases by watching players on their rehab assignments, and reasonably project those players’ timelines and potential value as a depth option. A few conceivable options that are or could be put on the 60-day IL include Hunter Strickland (if he’s not activated before the deadline), Josh Harrison, Tyson Ross, Edinson Volquez, Nick Vincent, Nate Karns, and Luke Farrell. Some of the injured guys are also candidates to be outrighted, which adds to the roster-stashing options but obviously also suggests they aren’t going to be taken on unless other financial elements or other players are also involved.
Players On 10-Day Injured List: When contemporary baseball thinking met the 10-day IL, we saw an explosion in the number of players hitting the shelf. Now, names are constantly shuffling on and off the list of walking wounded. That can create some opportunities for attentive teams. Such players still require 40-man spots and would ultimately need to be restored to the active roster once they are healthy and have run through their rehab time. But with September active roster expansion not far off, and lengthy rehab clocks available to work with (20 days for position players, 30 for pitchers), a creative club might add a piece knowing that the new addition ought to be available down the stretch and won’t force the team’s hand from a roster perspective — even if they’re out of options. Such players can simply be designated or pushed to the 60-day IL as needed in August and beyond. Dee Gordon, Clayton Richard and Jesse Biddle are possible examples. Beyond the roster-stretching possibilities, players on the 10-day IL that are expected back in relatively short order — say, Zack Wheeler or Shawn Kelley, to take two prominent examples — are generally much likelier to be dealt in July despite their health status than would’ve been the case in years prior.
Underwhelmed? Well, that’s sort of the point. We’re looking in the margins here. Teams obviously aren’t going to be going wild chasing down these sub-groups of players. If they feel exposed in certain areas — organizational catching depth, say, or passable middle-relief arms — they’ll also look into dealing for players on minor-league deals (before or after the deadline), sign up the few available free agents, and/or mine the indy ball (or even international) leagues for players. Still, the above categories afford a few additional avenues for dealing with the new limitations in the era of the unitary trade deadline.
Does Brandon Woodruff’s Injury Affect Brewers’ Deadline Plans?
The Brewers will go without their best starter, Brandon Woodruff, for approximately six weeks after he suffered an oblique strain Sunday. Woodruff’s absence could make it all the more imperative for the Brewers to add a starter before the July 31 trade deadline, but general manager David Stearns conveyed a lack of urgency on the matter Tuesday.
Asked if the Brewers now feel more pressure to address their rotation, Stearns said (via Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel): “I don’t know that we can let his temporary absence impact how we manage the deadline. I have found that potential acquisition costs generally dictate what is reasonable and what is not.”
With only about nine weeks left in the regular season, it’s probably not reassuring to Brewers fans to hear their GM brush off Woodruff’s absence as “temporary.” Even before the emergent right-hander went down, there was a strong case Milwaukee needed to pick up another starter prior to the end of the month. For what it’s worth, the team did reportedly show interest in the Mets’ Noah Syndergaard–Zack Wheeler duo (links here) and the Giants’ Madison Bumgarner (link) back when Woodruff was healthy.
As for the Brewers’ current options, Zach Davies has prevented runs to an impressive degree, but his peripherals don’t inspire nearly as much confidence. Chase Anderson has turned in fine results, though he has only completed six innings in one start. Jhoulys Chacin‘s season has been calamitous. Gio Gonzalez just returned from an almost two-month absence because of a dead arm, and has only averaged five frames per outing when he has taken the ball. Adrian Houser had been in the rotation out of desperation before Gonzalez came back last weekend, but the production he has posted as a starter and reliever indicates he’s much better off in a bullpen role.
The flaws in the Brewers’ rotation have helped lead to several weeks of underwhelming play from the club, though it’s still smack dab in the playoff hunt. With a 53-46 record, the reigning NL Central champions are two games behind the division-leading Cubs and 1 1/2 out of a wild-card spot. Of course, it would have been a challenge for the Brewers to clinch their second straight playoff berth for the first time since 1982 even if Woodruff had avoided the IL. Now, if the team doesn’t adequately replace Woodruff in the next week, its chances of fading from the race seem likely to increase.
Marlins’ Trevor Richards, Sergio Romo Generating Interest
Marlins right-handers Trevor Richards and Sergio Romo are drawing interest in advance of the trade deadline, according to Joe Frisaro of MLB.com.
Neither player looks like a substantial difference-maker, but there is appeal in both cases. The 26-year-old Richards’ main selling point is likely his affordable control. He’s on a minimum salary now, won’t be eligible for arbitration until after 2021, and isn’t on track to reach free agency until the conclusion of the 2024 season. The battle-tested Romo, 36, could give a contender a credible late-game option down the stretch, and he presumably wouldn’t cost much to acquire.
An undrafted free agent in 2013, Richards has emerged as a back-end starter for the Marlins since he debuted in the majors last season. Dating back to then, Richards has pitched to a 4.51 ERA/4.39 FIP with 8.8 K/9 and 3.94 BB/9 in 235 1/3 innings and 45 starts. While the Marlins are open to trading starters if doing so would help improve their position player group, they may be hard-pressed to get a desirable, major league-ready hitter back for Richards – who has been useful but far from spectacular.
Romo, previously with the Giants, Dodgers and Rays, inked a $2.5MM guarantee with the Marlins in free agency last winter. At the time, non-contending Miami was likely hoping Romo would wind up bringing something back in an in-season trade. With a 3.68 ERA/3.96 FIP, 7.85 K/9 against 3.19 BB/9 and 16 saves on 17 chances in 36 2/3 innings, perhaps the three-time world champion has performed well enough to end the season with a playoff-caliber team.
As has been the case over the past few years, Romo has limited damaging contact despite velocity that only tops out in the 85 to 86 mph range. Romo ranks in the league’s 86th percentile or better in exit velocity, expected weighted on-base average against (.273, not far from a .280 actual wOBA), expected batting average against and hard-hit rate, per Statcast. His primary pitch – a slider – has held opposing hitters to a matching and minuscule .211 xwOBA and wOBA. It’s the second-best slider in the game among relievers, according to FanGraphs’ linear weights. Judging by teams’ interest in Romo, his go-to pitch just might factor into this year’s playoff race.
Injury Notes: G. Sanchez, Domingo, Gallo
A few late-breaking injury notes from Tuesday night’s action…
- The Yankees won an instant classic over the Twins, but New York received unwelcome news immediately after the game. Catcher Gary Sanchez, who left early, could be on his way to the IL with a groin injury, manager Aaron Boone told Bryan Hoch of MLB.com and other reporters. Sanchez has been in a brutal slump of late, but his .229/.299/.508 line (105 wRC+) with 24 home runs in 328 plate appearances is still clearly above average for his position. Backup Austin Romine hasn’t been close to that effective, while third-string catcher Kyle Higashioka hasn’t hit at all in the majors dating back to 2017. The Yankees also have veteran Erik Kratz at the Triple-A level, but he’s not on their 40-man roster.
- Mariners outfielder Domingo Santana will undergo an MRI on his right elbow, Corey Brock of The Athletic tweets. The 26-year-old’s elbow has troubled him since the All-Star break, Brock notes. Santana has drawn trade interest with the July 31 deadline coming up, but the Mariners’ chances of dealing him could evaporate with an IL placement. Regardless, he has been one of the non-contending M’s top hitters in 2019, having slashed .273/.342/.472 (119 wRC+) with 19 HRs across 437 PA. Santana’s also cheap ($1.95MM salary) and eligible for arbitration for another two years. However, Santana’s atrocious work in the outfield (minus-15 Defensive Runs Saved, minus-14.4 Ultimate Zone Rating) would surely tamp down his trade value.
- Rangers outfielder Joey Gallo is battling right wrist soreness and is likely to undergo an MRI on Wednesday, Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News reports. An X-ray didn’t reveal a break, though Gallo’s wrist “has been bothering him for a while,” Grant writes. That would help explain Gallo’s significant decline in production in July. Gallo owned an incredible 1.109 OPS at the end of June, but he’s down to a still-great .987 in that category.
Mariners Release Eric Young Jr.
The Mariners released outfielder Eric Young Jr. over the weekend, Tacoma Rainiers broadcaster Mike Curto reports. Young had been with the Mariners’ Triple-A club in Tacoma after inking a minor league contract in late March.
The speedy Young entered 2019 having logged major league action in each season since he made his debut in 2009. But the 34-year-old never reached the bigs with the Mariners, instead struggling through a nightmarish stint in Tacoma. Young only managed a .236/.296/.362 line, good for a 57 wRC+, with two home runs and three stolen bases in 142 plate appearances before exiting the Rainiers’ roster. Historically, however, Young has been a solid contributor in Triple-A ball. He’s a .289/.371/.413 hitter with 29 HRs and 167 steals across 2,480 PA at that level.
Young has amassed just under 2,000 PA in the majors, where he has combined for 1,926 with the Rockies, Mets, Braves, Yankees and Angels. He has batted .245/.312/.332 with 13 homers and 162 steals in MLB.
Braves Among Teams Interested In White Sox Relievers
There are “numerous teams,” including the Braves, interested in members of the White Sox bullpen, Bruce Levine of 670 The Score tweets. Closer Alex Colome and setup man Aaron Bummer are unsurprisingly drawing plenty of attention. Beyond those two, lefty Jace Fry and resurgent righty Evan Marshall stand out as Sox relievers who could have trade value to the Braves and others. However, Levine reported Monday that Chicago’s not inclined to deal Bummer or Fry.
Levine also relayed Monday that the White Sox, despite their dismal record, aren’t motivated to sell before the July 31 deadline. But unless Chicago’s highly confident it’s going to contend next season, there’s a legitimate case for it to part with Colome. The soon-to-be 31-year-old is only under control through 2020, when he’ll earn an arbitration raise over his $7.325MM salary, and currently looks like a strong candidate for regression.
The right-handed Colome has pitched to a sterling 2.33 ERA with 21 saves on 22 tries in 38 2/3 innings this season. He has been the beneficiary of a .153 batting average on balls in play and an 82.7 percent strand out, however, and has seen his strikeout rate plummet. After fanning upward of 9.5 batters per nine last season, Colome’s K/9 has shrunk to 6.98. He’s also giving up more hard contact and less soft contact than ever, per FanGraphs, and Statcast shows a 102-point gap between the .228 weighted on-base average Colome has allowed and his expected wOBA of .330.
“Bummer” may be what opposing hitters have muttered this year when the left-handed Bummer has come out of Chicago’s bullpen. The 25-year-old Bummer is similar to Colome in that he’s getting by with help from a low BABIP (.213), an ERA that’s significantly better than his FIP and a sizable wOBA/xwOBA gap. Having said that, Bummer’s 1.73 ERA, 3.17 FIP and .262 xwOBA (compared to a .232 wOBA) are all easily above average. While Bummer’s not a strikeout-heavy pitcher, having notched 8.67 against 2.72 walks per nine, he has stymied lefty and righty hitters alike with his remarkable ability to induce ground balls. At 68.5 percent, Bummer trails only longtime grounder master Zack Britton among relievers.
Incidentally, Luke Jackson – one of the Braves’ best relievers – happens to be right behind Bummer on the grounder leaderboard. Jackson’s success is one of the reasons the Braves hold a healthy advantage in the National League East, but their bullpen has been fairly shaky. Aside from Jackson, Anthony Swarzak, Sean Newcomb and the currently injured Jacob Webb, no one from their ‘pen has prevented runs at an especially excellent rate. The Braves have been in the market for late-game help as a result, and could wind up swinging a deal with the White Sox to bolster their relief corps.
Rays Interested In Jesus Aguilar
The Rays, continuing their search for a right-handed slugger, have shown interest in Brewers first baseman Jesus Aguilar, Mark Feinsand and Juan Toribio of MLB.com report. Tampa Bay was previously connected to other notable right-handed hitters in the Rangers’ Hunter Pence and the Tigers’ Nicholas Castellanos (links: 1, 2).
Unlike Texas and Detroit, Milwaukee doesn’t look like a potential seller going into the July 31 trade deadline. The Brewers are a game back of wild-card position and two behind the first-place Cubs in the National League Central. As such, it’s far from a sure thing the Brewers will trade Aguilar. If they do, it would have to benefit them immediately, per Feinsand and Toribio.
Considering Aguilar hasn’t been the integral piece of the Brewers’ roster that he was during a division-winning 2018, he does look more expendable now than he did at the outset of the season. Aguilar slashed .274/.352/.539 with 35 home runs over 566 plate appearances last year to serve as one of the majors’ fiercest sluggers. That production now looks like a distant memory.
So far this season, Aguilar has hit a meek .230/.328/.385 with eight HRs and a massive drop in ISO (from .264 to .155). The 29-year-old has raked in July (.342/.395/.684 in 43 PA), but it’s the sole month in which Aguilar has registered above-average production at the plate. He and the lefty-swinging Eric Thames, who’s having a much better season, have been platooning at first for the Brew Crew.
For all the faults in Aguilar’s bottom-line production, there are reasons for hope. For one, he remains something of a Statcast favorite. There’s a wide chasm between Aguilar’s weighted-on base average (.312) and expected wOBA (.351). He ranks in the league’s 72nd percentile in xwOBA and checks in similarly well in expected slugging percentage (65th) and exit velocity (66th). And contrary to many other power hitters, Aguilar’s not overly prone to striking out. He has fanned a reasonable 22.9 percent of the time (with a better-than-average 12.3 percent walk rate), posted a decent 11.3 percent swinging-strike rate and chased out-of-zone pitches less than most hitters.
Should the Brewers part with Aguilar, an acquiring team would be landing a player who’s cheap now and under control for a while. Aguilar, currently on a near-minimum salary, is slated to take his first of three potential arbitration trips during the upcoming offseason.
Pirates Reinstate, Suspend Keone Kela
TUESDAY: The Pirates suspended Kela after he got into an altercation with Hector Morales, their director of cultural readiness and peak performance coach, Tim Brown of Yahoo Sports tweets.
MONDAY: The Pirates announced today that they have reinstated righty Keone Kela from the 60-day injured list. He’ll move directly onto the suspended list, however, with the team also announcing a two-game suspension for an unstated violation of the Uniform Player’s Contract.
The UPC (see it here) allows clubs to “suspend the Player without salary for a period not exceeding thirty days” upon a “violation by the Player of any regulation or other provision of this contract.” Written notice must be given to the player and the MLB Players Association.
It’s rather unusual to see such team-issued discipline, even if it is contemplated by contract. In some cases, collectively bargained agreements vest sole disciplinary authority for certain matters in the commissioner’s office. The Joint Drug Agreement, for instance, specifically forbids “any adverse action pursuant to a Uniform Player’s Contract” owing to violations of the terms of that agreement.
There’s no indication as of yet as to what led to Kela’s suspension. Neither is it evident whether he will attempt to challenge it in any way.
Kela, 26, has missed much of the season with shoulder issues. He carried a 4.63 ERA with 11 strikeouts and four walks through 11 2/3 innings before hitting the shelf. Kela had been expected to function as a key late-inning arm for the Bucs. He turned in a strong run last year after being acquired at the trade deadline.
It’s not clear whether there’s any realistic chance that Kela could be dealt, but it’s at least hypothetically possible — especially if he’s able to show good health upon his return and the Pirates decide to move some assets. Kela is earning $3.175MM this year and comes with another season of arbitration eligibility.
Cardinals Eyeing Lefty Relievers
The Cardinals haven’t been as frequently mentioned on the rumor circuit as some of their NL Central counterparts, but that doesn’t mean they’ve been sitting idly by. In an appearance on Dan McLaughlin’s podcast (audio link), president of baseball operations John Mozeliak made clear that in an ideal world, he’d add at least one reliever — likely a southpaw — to his current bullpen blend.
“We’re pretty comfortable with [the bullpen],” said Mozeliak, “but as we enter the trading deadline, I think we would look to see if there’s an upgrade on the left side of the bullpen to complement [Andrew] Miller. It’s not something that we feel like if we don’t do, we have failed, it’s just something we’re exploring.”
While that isn’t exactly a declaration of aggressive buying, left-handed relief does indeed look to be an area of need in St. Louis, where Miller is the only stable option the Cards have had for much of season. Beyond Miller, who has rebounded from a slow start to the season, the only other southpaws to log innings in the Cardinals’ bullpen have been Tyler Webb, Genesis Cabrera and Chasen Shreve, who was designated for assignment earlier today.
There are plenty of lefties whose names have been bandied about the market, including Will Smith, Tony Watson, Jake Diekman and Roenis Elias. What’s not clear, though, is whether the Cardinals will be after that group. Beyond the fact that the surging Giants are no longer locks to sell off their rental assets, Mozeliak expressed an interest in perhaps pursuing some less-obvious trade candidates who offer greater flexibility over a longer term.
“…I think the key thing for us, when you’re looking at bullpen help right now, would be to try to acquire people also with options so you have some flexibility,” Mozeliak said. “We are getting to a point now where our hands are a bit tied in some areas, so to try to create a little flexibility would make sense.”
Those types aren’t generally headline-grabbers, but most rebuilding clubs have at least one reliever who could fit the bill. Speculatively speaking, Baltimore’s Paul Fry, Miami’s Jarlin Garcia and Toronto’s Tim Mayza are a few such arms who could be looked at more as flexible depth options than late-inning staples. That might sound uninspiring to onlookers, but it’s also true that with the elimination of this year’s August trade waiver period, having additional depth on hand is more important than ever. Clubs can no longer turn to the waiver market next month in order to add help as injuries arise, so having a stock of optionable arms in the upper minors is paramount.
It’s certainly not out of the question that the Cards could add a high-profile arm while still deepening the fringes of their 40-man roster with some optionable ‘pen pieces. The Cards could also trim from the edges of their own 40-man — say, by dealing impending free agent Michael Wacha to a team in need of a fifth starter — either adding a bullpen piece in that kind of deal or using the newly vacated spot to add someone who, unlike Wacha, can be shuttled back and forth between Memphis and St. Louis.