Blue Jays Place Ken Giles On Injured List
4:50pm: Giles doesn’t expect to miss more than the 10-day minimum, tweets Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.
3:24pm: Blue Jays closer Ken Giles is headed to the 10-day injured list due to inflammation in his right elbow, per a team announcement. The Jays also announced that right-hander Clay Buchholz was moved to the 60-day IL to clear a 40-man roster spot for righty Jordan Romano, whose previously reported promotion from Triple-A is now official.
It’s a blow to the Blue Jays on the field but also an unwelcome development given that Giles is among the team’s best trade chips as the July 31 trade deadline looms. There’s no indication that Giles will require an especially lengthy absence at this point, but any sort of recent elbow issue will be cause for some degree of concern when teams are discussing Giles as a trade candidate next month.
The 28-year-old Giles has been nearly automatic in 2019, pitching 25 innings with a 1.08 ERA and a gaudy 42-to-7 K/BB ratio. He’s earning $6.3MM in 2019 and is all the more appealing to contending teams due to the fact that he’s controlled through the 2020 season.
In Giles’ absence, the Jays seem likely to turn to Joe Biagini in save opportunities. He’s worked the eighth inning on 17 occasions in 2019 and is tied for the team lead in holds (seven). Daniel Hudson would be another option should the club prefer a more veteran alternative, but he’s averaging nearly five walks per nine innings pitched.
Astros Sign First-Rounder Korey Lee
The Astros announced Wednesday that they’ve signed first-round pick Korey Lee. The now-former Cal catcher will receive a $1.75MM bonus that checks in a bit more than $500K south of his No. 32 overall slot’s $2,257,300 value, per Jim Callis of MLB.com (Twitter link). He’s represented by the Boras Corporation, per Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle (Twitter link).
The selection of Lee, 20, came as a surprise to some. He wasn’t ranked as a likely first-rounder and drew varying reviews on pre-draft rankings from Fangraphs (No. 45), MLB.com (No. 119) and Baseball America (No. 173). Lee posted a whopping .340/.422/.619 batting line with 14 homers in his junior season, but he’d never hit close to that level in the past. He draws praise for his improved receiving, plus power and arm strength, though he’s considered a below-average runner.
Kiley McDaniel and Eric Longenhagen note in their report at Fangraphs that scouts got plenty of looks at Lee when they were on hand to watch his teammate, No. 3 overall pick Andrew Vaughn, and that some clubs picking near the top of the draft were eyeing Lee with their second pick. The Astros clearly were high on Lee themselves and may have feared that he wouldn’t last until their second selection; beyond that, the fact that he’s perhaps viewed as a reach surely helped the team to sign him to an under-slot deal, which will give them extra funds to sign their remaining picks.
Dodgers Sign Zac Rosscup To Minor League Deal
The Dodgers have signed left-hander Zac Rosscup to a minor league contract and assigned him to Triple-A Oklahoma City, per an announcement from Triple-A director of communications Alex Freedman (Twitter link). He’ll be active for tonight’s game.
Rosscup, who turned 31 this week, spent the 2018 season in the Dodgers organization and pitched 11 1/3 innings at the big league level. While he posted an unsightly 4.76 ERA in that time, Rosscup also racked up 20 strikeouts against just four walks. He’s split the 2019 season between the Mariners and Blue Jays thus far, showing similarly impressive strikeout capabilities but an alarming jump in walk rate (22-to-16 K/BB ratio in 15 innings).
Rosscup’s knack for missing bats and the huge swinging-strike rate he generates on his slider are tantalizing characteristics, but he’s been too prone to walks and home runs to find sustained success at the MLB level yet. He’ll vie for another shot in what has been a problematic Dodgers’ bullpen of late and could well get that opportunity if he pitches well in OKC, as both Scott Alexander and Tony Cingrani on the Major League injured list. Los Angeles currently has Julio Urias and Caleb Ferguson as southpaws in the ‘pen, but Ferguson has struggled quite a bit in his 18 1/3 innings this year.
Minor MLB Transactions: 6/12/19
Here are Wednesday’s minor moves from around the league…
- The Rockies announced that lefty Chris Rusin cleared waivers after being designated for assignment last week. He’s been sent outright to Triple-A. As a player with more than three years of MLB service, Rusin has the right to reject the assignment in favor of free agency, but because he has fewer than five years of service, doing so would mean forfeiting the remainder of this year’s $1.69MM salary. It’s likely that Rusin, who struggled to a 6.09 ERA in 54 2/3 innings a year ago and allowed four runs in his lone MLB frame in 2019, will indeed head to Triple-A Albuquerque and hope for another look later this season. Recent struggles notwithstanding, Rusin was a valuable member of the Colorado staff in 2016-17 when he turned in a combined 169 1/3 frames of 3.19 ERA ball with averages of 7.4 K/9 and 2.2 BB/9.
Rangers Move Drew Smyly To Bullpen
The Rangers have decided to bump lefty Drew Smyly to the bullpen, the club informed reporters including Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News (via Twitter). A replacement starter has yet to be named.
It’s not surprising to hear this news, as the club strongly hinted a change would be made after another exceedingly rough outing from Smyly, who turns 30 tomorrow. There had been some suggestion that an ankle injury might lead to an injured-list placement, but the Rangers decided instead to slide him into a relief role for the time being.
Smyly has simply been tagged this year. Through 45 innings, he has coughed up 15 home runs and carries a 44:31 K/BB ratio. Opposing hitters are spitting on pitches out of the zone (22.4% chase rate) and destroying those in it (43.1% hard-hit rate). Though Statcast indicates he has been a bit unfortunate (.419 wOBA-against versus .385 xwOBA-against), it’s scant consolation.
This decision hints at the tough questions facing the Rangers, who’ve run out to a 36-30 record that seems tough to sustain. The rotation has received a bit of a boost from Adrian Sampson and Ariel Jurado, but it’s hard to count on either to provide even solid results the rest of the way. Even assuming those two can keep up reasonably useful production, and there aren’t any injuries, there’s a need for at least one additional rotation piece behind Mike Minor and Lance Lynn.
It’s also rough news for Smyly, who had hoped to be in the midst of a return to his prior form at this stage of the season. He missed all of 2017 and 2018 owing to serious elbow problems that resulted in Tommy John surgery. He’ll be a free agent again at season’s end.
Phillies Agree To Sign Aussie Hurler Josh Gessner
The Phillies struck a $850K deal with right-hander Josh Gessner, according to MLB.com’s Jesse Sanchez (via Twitter). It seems the move was already known about overseas, as Cleve Dheensaw of the Times Colonist reported the decision a few days back.
This move comes days after the Phils added bonus pool money in a swap with the Orioles. With little time left in this year’s international signing window, that swap only paid dividends because the Philadelphia club had a clear idea how it’d use the funds.
Gessner had been committed to attend Tulane University. There aren’t many details available about the Aussie hurler, though he obviously drew MLB scouts and impressed enough to take down a significant bonus.
Blue Jays To Promote Jordan Romano
The Blue Jays will select the contract of righty Jordan Romano, according to Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.ca. It’s not yet clear how the team will create the necessary roster space, which includes a 40-man spot.
Romano, 26, is a 2014 tenth-rounder who hasn’t yet cracked the majors. That’s not to say he wasn’t on the MLB radar. The Canadian hurler was selected in the Rule 5 draft last winter, with the Rangers (who had acquired his rights from the White Sox) ultimately deciding to send him back to Toronto.
Through 31 frames at Triple-A this year, Romano carries only a 6.10 ERA. But most of the damage came during his early work as a starter and in one abysmal performance in mid-May. More importantly, Romano has trended up in the strikeout department, posting 12.5 K/9 against 3.8 BB/9 on the year.
Rangers GM Jon Daniels On Deadline Approach
Rangers GM Jon Daniels offered a balanced take on his organization’s planning for the 2019 trade deadline, as Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram was among those to report. There’s a full transcript available at the link, but we’ll cover a few highlights.
Daniels emphasized that the club’s pleasant surprise isn’t just good fortune. Quality play has led to a surprising 36-30 record. At the same time, the organization remains realistic about its near-term prospects and hasn’t seen anything that substantially changes its high-level strategy.
The Rangers entered the year with the viewpoint that it did not want “to place limits on the club,” Daniels says, rejecting the idea of an all-in/all-out dichotomy. It still plans to “stay true to our mind-set of trying to balance, continue to place a priority on the next few years.”
At the same time, Daniels says he’ll “be open-minded to the way the club’s played and respect that.” He will be looking for opportunities over the coming weeks, though the broader vision also certainly shapes the still-developing approach.
When asked about the possibility of shipping out prospects to improve the immediate roster, Daniels responded: “Most likely if we were to do that it would be for someone with control beyond next year.”
That’s not really a new approach, Daniels emphasized. When asked about the concept of pursuing controllable starting pitching, Daniels said that’s something the club “explored … this winter” already. Continuing to do so seems natural given that the team is performing above expectations.
So, what will drive the decisionmaking? It seems Daniels plans to serve the organization’s overarching vision rather than reacting too strongly to the in-season developments. While the Texas GM acknowledged that it’s necessary to “factor” in the likelihood of competing in the division versus only challenging for a Wild Card, that won’t drive the bus. “There’s value in giving the team an opportunity,” he explained.
Daniels says that the next month of play likely won’t substantially change the club’s approach. “Listen, overall we know which direction we’re going in,” he said. “… We have a pretty good sense of where we want to go over the next few years.”
While it’s tough to divine much from these comments, it seems fair to presume that the Rangers won’t be heavy in the rental market barring a truly stunning turn of events in the next six weeks. But the organization’s intended competitiveness in the next several seasons will certainly require outside additions, especially in the pitching department. It stands to reason that opportunities of that ilk will hold appeal — with the Rangers seeing at least some added value in boosting the 2019 outlook.
Is There A Trade Market For Edwin Encarnacion?
In last week’s chat, I was asked which MLB player would be the next to be moved via trade. My mind immediately went to one place: the Mariners. GM Jerry Dipoto’s reputation precedes him. And he’s in a dealing mood, having already swung one deal on an expensive veteran and tried to work out another. But when it came to naming the specific player, it seemed too pedestrian to guess starter Mike Leake, who has already come up in talks, or pick an easy-come, easy-go reliever.
Instead, I went with veteran slugger Edwin Encarnacion, a long-time star who has been out of the spotlight of late. He’s hitting well, sure, but does EE even have a strong market right now? Let’s take a closer look.
The M’s ended up with Encarnacion when the music stopped on a dizzying game of lumbering slugger musical chairs over the offseason. It seemed at one point he’d be shipped elsewhere over the winter, but that didn’t come to pass. He is earning a $20MM salary this year. There’s also a $5MM buyout on a 2020 option, though the complicated trade that brought Encarnacion to Seattle included a $5MM payment to cover that amount.
With that kind of coin still owed, Encarnacion’s contract is unquestionably under water. He’s 36 years old and was merely good at the plate last year. He has mostly been limited to DH duties in recent seasons, though he has lined up at first base thus far in 2019 with palatable metrics.
On the other hand, Encarnacion can really hit. He’s back in business thus far, making the ’18 output look like a minor blip. Through 283 plate appearances, Encarnacion carries a .246/.360/.542 slash — that’s good for a healthy 143 wRC+ — and leads the American League with 21 round-trippers.
The M’s won’t shed all the remaining money owed, but they could well dump a significant portion of it. There’s even an argument to be made that the ’20 club option could be worthwhile; given the hefty buyout price, the $20MM rate of pay is effectively a $15MM decision. The Twins spent $14.3MM on Nelson Cruz this past winter and certainly don’t regret it.
The supply situation seems generally favorable for Seattle. For teams looking for serious lineup punch, there’s a relative dearth of obvious targets. The market hasn’t yet settled out, but it’s tough to imagine a better win-now DH/1B candidate being made available at this stage of the season (if at all, at least at a palatable price).
How much money the Seattle org will save, and/or what it can achieve in terms of prospects, will depend upon Dipoto’s ability to drum up interest from multiple teams. So how do things look from the demand side?
American League teams make for a natural fit, given Encarnacion’s defensive limitations. But it’s possible that NL clubs will also consider him, particularly since they’ve had a chance to see him play first base extensively this year. Most plausibly, the Brewers could pull the plug on the struggling Jesus Aguilar and replace him with Encarnacion. Some would argue the team should prioritize pitching, but there’s real potential for improvement here as well. Plus, it’d answer the rival Cubs’ recent signing of Craig Kimbrel — and give the Brew Crew a big righty bat to slot in against the Cubbies’ lefty-heavy rotation. You really have to squint to see any other National League outfits matching at present, but several could make sense depending upon injuries and other developments over the coming weeks.
Turning to the AL side of the ledger, Encarnacion would actually match up nicely with the team that just dealt him away. Carlos Santana has thrived since making his own return to the Indians, but the team still desperately needs more punch and could hand the DH slot right back to EE. While he fits on the roster, Encarnacion probably won’t squeeze into the payroll.
There’s perhaps also an argument for the Rangers to take a look. If they’re going to slug their way into the Wild Card, they may as well go whole-hog, and Ronald Guzman has been below-average at the plate. But it’d be a bit of an odd move for a team that is desperate for starting pitching and likely doesn’t want to expend too much cash (and certainly won’t want to give up future value) on a season that may well fizzle out.
The Yankees haven’t received the bounce back they hoped for from Kendrys Morales, but he’s also just a temporary fix. It’d be an unexpected splurge to go for Encarnacion with Luke Voit holding down the fort at first, multiple major bats on the rehab trail, and needs elsewhere.
What about the scuffling defending champs? The Red Sox are actually a somewhat interesting fit, but only if they’re willing to utilize Encarnacion at first base and further boost their league-high spending levels. Steve Pearce has collapsed at the plate. Mitch Moreland has hit well from the left side but is hurt. Michael Chavis has hit a lull; he’d also still be an option at second base with the addition of Encarnacion.
How about the Rays, who are tied atop the AL East with the Yanks and will need to max out their resources down the stretch? The Tampa Bay org is getting solid value from Ji-Man Choi at first base, with Yandy Diaz sliding over from third to handle lefties. There’s not a huge DH need since the club has a bit of a corner outfield surplus with Avisail Garcia, Tommy Pham, and Austin Meadows. That said, there’s some window for a deal since Choi and top hitting prospect Nate Lowe are both lefty hitters. The club will surely also consider putting its money and prospects to work to add pitching, but a move for Encarnacion is well worth considering.
The Astros may be the best fit, all things considered. It’s a team that sometimes seems to have it all, but there are caveats. Right now, the ‘Stros aren’t healthy, and it’d be preferable to ensure the offense keeps producing while the team awaits the returns of some star players. More importantly, there is a rather notable roster opening in the slugger department. Encarnacion was reputedly on the Houston radar before the season and he ought to be an even bigger target now, with Yuli Gurriel and Tyler White both producing at subpar rates. Even if Yordan Alvarez grabs hold of the DH spot, Encarnacion could step in at first base. This possibility is especially tempting to contemplate since it could help the Houston organization form up a historically exceptional lineup in time for the postseason.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Latest On Brett Cecil
Cardinals reliever Brett Cecil says he’s pleased thus far with the results of his carpal tunnel surgery, as Rick Hummel of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch writes. The southpaw is preparing to throw from a mound for the first time since his procedure in early April.
Cecil ended up going under the knife when he experienced a loss of sensation in his fingers this spring. That was only the latest in a line of woes for the veteran hurler, whose tenure in St. Louis has not gone as hoped when the team gave him a rare four-year deal in advance of the 2017 campaign. He’s earning $7.5MM this year and $7MM next, with full no-trade rights.
Last season, Cecil experienced shoulder and foot problems — along with notable declines in velocity, swinging-strike rate, and chase rate (among other things). Simply put, he wasn’t fooling opposing hitters. Cecil walked more of them than he struck out en route to 32 2/3 innings of 6.89 ERA pitching.
It’s anyone’s guess whether Cecil will ever be anything close to the stud setup man the Cards thought they were getting. But they’ll soon get a sense of his post-surgical form. If all goes well, Cecil could launch a rehab assignment not long after his 33rd birthday in early July and perhaps even make it back to the MLB mound by the end of the month.