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Mariners Designate Ryan Garton For Assignment

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The Mariners announced Tuesday that they’ve designated right-hander Ryan Garton for assignment. His spot on the 40-man roster will go to right-hander Anthony Bass, whose previously reported Major League deal with the team has now been formally announced.

Garton, 29, joined the club just last week and has appeared in only two games since that promotion, during which time he’s allowed four runs on four hits and a walk with one strikeout in three innings of work. He’s been with the Mariners before, back in 2017, when he logged a 1.54 ERA in 11 2/3 frames. Garton has a 4.90 ERA with 7.0 K/9 against 2.5 BB/9 in 64 1/3 innings of work and owns a career 3.09 ERA and 10.6 K/9 in 145 2/3 innings at the Triple-A level. The Mariners will have a week to trade Garton or pass him through outright waivers. He’s been outrighted in the past, so he’d have the option of declining an outright assignment in favor of free agency.

Tyler Anderson To Undergo Knee Surgery

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Rockies lefty Tyler Anderson is scheduled to undergo surgery on his left knee, manager Bud Black tells reporters including MLB.com’s Thomas Harding (Twitter link). The outlook — including whether or not he’ll have a shot at making it back to the mound this season — will depend upon the precise work that ends up being done to the joint.

Anderson, 29, was the twentieth overall pick in the 2010 draft. It took him some time to establish himself in the majors, but he turned in a solid effort last year. With 176 innings of 4.55 ERA ball in 2018, Anderson set himself up for a $2,625,000 in his first season of arbitration eligibility.

Unfortunately, things turned south early this year as Anderson dealt with inflammation in the knee. He has taken five starts in the majors, coughing up 27 earned runs on 33 hits with a 23:11 K/BB ratio over 20 2/3 innings.

Though he was optioned down recently, Anderson had not appeared with a minor-league affiliate. Whether he’ll be placed on the MLB or minor-league injured list isn’t yet known. That status will have a notable bearing on his arbitration situation, as Anderson hasn’t yet reached four full years of MLB service.

Despite his tough start to the year, Anderson was obviously an important part of the Rockies’ rotation picture. Much like Anderson himself, the unit as a whole has struggled quite a bit on the heels of a strong 2018 season.

Mariners Place Dee Gordon, Ryon Healy On 10-Day IL

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The Mariners announced a lengthy list of roster moves today. Infielders Dee Gordon (right wrist contusion) and Ryon Healy (lower back inflammation) were placed on the 10-day injured list, while righty Parker Markel was optioned out.

Those departures cleared the way for a trio of additions. As already reported, lefty Tommy Milone was added to the 40-man and active rosters. He’ll be joined in the bigs by infielders Shed Long and Dylan Moore.

It doesn’t seem there’s much reason to fear lengthy absences from Gordon or Healy, though details aren’t yet known. Gordon has struggled since being hit by a pitch recently. Healy left last night’s contest with a back flare-up.

Nationals Place Jeremy Hellickson On 10-Day IL

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The Nationals announced today that righty Jeremy Hellickson has been placed on the 10-day injured list with a shoulder strain. His active roster spot will go to the recently claimed Javy Guerra.

It’s not entirely surprising to see some kind of move on Hellickson, who has endured a miserable start to the season. The 32-year-old has overseen a sudden walk spike, issuing twenty in 39 innings, while dropping a tick on his average fastball and turning in a personal-low 6.0% swinging-strike rate.

Unsurprisingly, the results haven’t been there. Hellickson has a 6.23 ERA that is more or less supported by ERA estimators. The one bright spot is a strong 27.3% soft-contact rate, though that’s more than offset by the fact that Hellickson has already coughed up nine long balls.

Hellickson joins Anibal Sanchez on the injured list, leaving the Nats in a bit of a bind. Erick Fedde is taking the ball tonight; the club will need to find another option to replace Hellickson on Friday. Kyle McGowin and Austin Voth appear the two likeliest candidates.

Notably, Hellickson’s contract contains a hefty incentives package tied directly to the number of games he starts. He has already racked up $600K in extra earnings. With his next start, Hellickson would take down another $200K. The deal maxes out at $4MM in incentives, which would be reached at thirty starts.

Nationals To Sign Kevin McGowan

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The Nationals have agreed to a minor-league deal with right-hander Kevin McGowan, according to Jesse Dougherty of the Washington Post (via Twitter). He’ll be assigned to Triple-A Fresno.

McGowan, 27, made eight MLB appearances with the Mets in 2017 but hasn’t been back since. He stumbled to a 4.68 ERA in 82 2/3 innings in the upper minors last year in the New York organization before qualifying for minor-league free agency last fall.

Opening the 2019 campaign in the rotation for the Sugar Land Skeeters, McGowan has pitched to a 2.29 ERA with an 18:8 K/BB ratio over 19 2/3 innings. He has mostly worked in a relief capacity in the upper minors but did work as a starter earlier in his career.

For the Nats, this move helps fill in some Triple-A innings after several promotions and departures. Most recently, the club parted with Austin Adams, who had loads of strikeouts at Fresno but didn’t get a shot with the relief-needy team in the majors. He has recorded seven Ks in three frames already at the MLB level for the Mariners.

Yankees Select Contract Of David Hale

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The Yankees announced today that they have selected the contract of righty David Hale. To create roster space, the club optioned Nestor Cortes Jr. and shifted Miguel Andujar to the 60-day injured list.

Hale appeared briefly in the majors last year, including a few outings with the Yankees, who actually designated the right-hander for assignment on three different occasions in 2018. However, he split most of the season between Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and Korea’s Hanwha Eagles.

To open the 2019 season, Hale moved back to the Triple-A rotation in the New York organization. He has made six starts this year, working to a 4.11 ERA with 8.5 K/9 and 2.1 BB/9 over 30 2/3 innings. The 2009 third-rounder has a career 4.49 ERA in 192 1/3 Major League innings and a 4.57 ERA in 403 2/3 frames at the Triple-A level.

Julio Urias Reinstated From Administrative Leave

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TODAY: Urias has indeed been officially reinstated by Major League Baseball. Outfielder Kyle Garlick was optioned to create roster space.

As Passan noted yesterday, the Dodgers are not permitted to take punitive action against Urias. The league’s announcement makes clear that “the investigation into a matter covered by the Joint Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault and Child Abuse Policy continues.”

YESTERDAY, 10:19pm: MLB decided not to extend the leave period because it was unable to acquire access to video of the incident, ESPN.com’s Jeff Passan reports. The player’s association and Urias were not willing to consent to an extended leave period. The investigation is still ongoing.

8:16pm: The Major League Baseball commissioner’s office is expected not to renew the administrative leave period of Dodgers pitcher Julio Urias when it expires tomorrow, according to Jorge Castillo of the Los Angeles Times (Twitter link). It appears the team will return the 22-year-old to its active roster.

Urias was placed on seven-day administrative leave last Tuesday after his overnight arrest. Per reports, he was arrested on suspicion of “misdemeanor domestic battery” after witnesses saw him “shove” a female companion “to the ground.”

Under the terms of the MLB-MLBPA Joint Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault and Child Abuse Policy, the commissioner has authority to place a player accused of a possible violation of the policy “on paid Administrative Leave for up to seven days while the allegations are investigated before making a disciplinary decision.” That placement, which removes a player from his team’s active roster but does not stop his paycheck, can be challenged “immediately.”

In past instances, commissioner Rob Manfred has issued successive, week-long leave periods. Why he has elected not to do so in this case is unknown at present. It could indicate that a decision on discipline has already been made, though the league office has typically taken quite a bit longer to allow facts to develop before provisionally clearing a player or issuing any fines or suspensions. It may instead simply reflect a decision by the commissioner that Urias ought to be allowed to play during the pendency of any further investigation, whether or not prompted by pushback from the player, team, or union.

We’ll need to await further word before it’s possible to assess the situation. For now, it seems that the 22-year-old pitcher will be eligible to return to his role with the team.

Jo Adell Hires Boras Corporation

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Top Angels prospect Jo Adell has hired the Boras Corporatino to represent him, according to Jon Heyman of MLB Network (via Twitter). As always, you can find the latest agency information in MLBTR’s Agency Database.

Adell was chosen tenth overall in the 2017 draft. When he inked a deal that came with a $4,376,800 bonus, the consensus was that Adell would need a fair amount of time to hone his evident tools into MLB-ready skills.

As it turns out, Adell has moved much more quickly than anticipated. He finished the 2018 season at the Double-A level despite spending his entire first pro campaign at rookie ball.

The 20-year-old’s progress has made him one of the game’s best-graded overall prospects. Baseball Prospectus was especially bullish, ranking him second among all pre-MLB players leaguewide.

Unfortunately, Adell still hasn’t started his 2019 campaign owing to an ankle and hamstring injury suffered this spring. While he could resume his swift rise in short order, Adell likely won’t have a chance at forcing his way onto the MLB roster until relatively late in the 2019 season — if at all.

The 10 Most Expensive One-Year Free Agent Starters

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Many different types of free agents end up receiving relatively expensive, one-year deals. Some are looking for the right opportunity to earn a nice single-season paycheck while (hopefully) building up to a multi-year deal in the ensuing winter. Others settle for a solo campaign after trying and failing to find more. Some are younger players who have enough upside to draw a significant offer despite a rough platform campaign. Others are steady veterans that are being paid more for their floor than their ceiling. All such players necessarily receive only a limited commitment from their new teams; those that end up with non-contenders must be prepared for a mid-season scramble for new lodging in the event of a swap.

With about a quarter of the season in the books, we’re looking at how things are shaping up for the highest-paid rental free agents. We already performed this exercise for position players. Now, we’ll take a look at the ten most expensive one-year starters (and, later, relievers):

Matt Harvey, Angels, $11MM: The priciest arm on this list, Harvey hasn’t come through as the Halos hoped. He’s averaging just five frames per outing in nine starts and has limped to a 6.35 ERA. Though his velocity is fine, Harvey isn’t getting many swings and misses (9.7% swinging-strike rate) and has given up a lot of loud contact (40.6% hard contact vs. only a 9.8% soft contact rate). He’s likely performing better than his results, but Harvey is showing no signs of returning to anything approaching his former performance levels at thirty years of age.

Trevor Cahill, Angels, $9MM: I’ll be honest, I thought this deal would turn out well for the team. Cahill has been good when healthy and seemed to be an interesting risk. Unfortunately, he has managed only 44 innings of 6.95 ERA pitching over nine starts. Like several other struggling hurlers on this, he has been ravaged by the long ball, allowing nearly one every three innings.

CC Sabathia, Yankees, $8MM: An offseason heart procedure seemed ominous, but the outcomes have been sparkling since since Sabatahia returned to the hill. He’s now through 36 1/3 innings of sub-3.00 ERA pitching to open the year. Unfortunately, it may only be a matter of time before opposing hitters expose his act. Sabathia carries only 6.7 K/9 go with 3.7 BB/9 and has been torched for 2.23 home runs per regulation game. His FIP number is over twice his ERA.

Derek Holland, Giants, $7MM: Another hurler that settled for a single season despite having a case for multiple years, Holland ended up being knocked to the bullpen after seven starts. That move sparked a clubhouse flare-up reflective of the club’s rough opening stretch to the season. Holland has improved his strikeout rate but otherwise added walks and dingers, leading to an unsightly 7.17 ERA in 37 2/3 innings. While the Giants never expected world-beating results from Holland, the overall run of events is about the opposite of what they hoped for.

Tyson Ross, Tigers, $5.75MM: Elbow nerve issues have put Ross on the shelf. Perhaps they also help explain the rough start he had authored. Through 35 1/3 innings in seven starts, the veteran hurler carries a 6.11 ERA with 6.4 K/9 and 4.6 BB/9. While he has moved back toward his former strengths with a sturdy 51.3% groundball rate, he’s also permitting home runs at a 22.6% HR/FB clip.

Wade Miley, Astros, $4.5MM: Many were surprised to see the Houston organization settle for Miley, but it made sense to go with a short-term hurler of this sort with so much upper-level talent in the system. Plus, Miley had an odd but legitimately interesting 2018 showing. He hasn’t maintained quite the home run-suppression rates he did last year, but is still getting a good number of grounders and turning in quality results despite underwhelming K/BB numbers (15.9% K rate vs. 5.6% BB rate).

Marco Estrada, Athletics, $4MM: The Oakland org was well aware of Estrada’s back issues when it signed him. Unfortunately, the risk hasn’t paid off, as he has made only five starts and struggled through 23 2/3 innings. Worryingly, ERA estimators (including FIP, xFIP, and SIERA) take even dimmer views of Estrada’s showing to date than his 6.85 ERA suggests. He managed only an 11:8 K/BB ratio and 7.6% swinging-strike rate (his lowest since his brief 2008 debut) before hitting the IL.

Martin Perez, Twins, $3.5MM: This signing looks like the best one on the list to this point. It seems the Minnesota org had good reason to believe it could unlock something from Perez, who is throwing harder (at or above 95 mph with both fastballs) and exhibiting much more swing and miss (11.4% swinging-strike rate) than ever before. He has used a newfound cutter to devastating effect. Best of all for the Twins, the deal includes a club option for 2020.

Matt Shoemaker, Blue Jays, $3.5MM: It seemed that Shoemaker was authoring a nice bounceback tale in Toronto. Through five starts, he worked to a 1.57 ERA with 7.5 K/9, 2.8 BB/9, and a 51.4% groundball rate. There was some regression in store, to be sure, but generally it seemed as if he had finally turned the corner after some injury-riddled campaigns in Los Angeles. While arm health wasn’t an issue, a freak knee injury left the 32-year-old with a torn ACL and back on the IL for the remainder of the year.

Clay Buchholz, Blue Jays, $3MM: This one isn’t working out for the Jays either. After opening the year on the injured list, Buchholz made it through only five starts before he was diagnosed with a grade 2 shoulder strain. And he hasn’t been good when on the hill, either, with a 6.57 ERA in 24 2/3 frames.

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