Mets Fire Pitching Coach Dave Eiland
4:11pm: The Mets officially announced the coaching changes, including the additional news that Jeremy Accardo has been named the team’s “pitching strategist,” a newly-created role. Accardo had previously been working as New York’s minor league pitching coordinator following two years as a pitching and bullpen coach in the Mets’ farm system.
2:35pm: Phil Regan will take over for Eiland, per Mike Puma of the New York Post (via Twitter). The former MLB hurler managed the Orioles for one season (1995) and has plenty of coaching experience. The 82-year-old has been involved with the Mets organization for some time and had been listed as pitching coordinator of the team’s minor league/player development group.
Ricky Bones will take over as the bullpen coach; he had served in that role last season but was replaced by Hernandez.
2:07pm: The Mets have parted ways with pitching coach Dave Eiland, per a report from James Wagner of the New York Times (via Twitter). Bullpen coach Chuck Hernandez is also on his way out, per Joel Sherman of the New York Post (Twitter link). Plans for replacements aren’t yet known.
Eiland had been hired in advance of the 2018 season. He was a key hire for the staff of then-rookie skipper Mickey Callaway, who was himself a former pitching coach. Before coming to New York, Eiland had long guided the hurlers for the Royals.
This move comes as the Mets continue to sink in the standings. Their rotation hasn’t been quite the exceptional unit it was expected to be, while the bullpen has been an unmitigated disaster. That’s obviously not entirely the fault of these pitching instructors, but they’ll take the fall in hopes that a mid-season shakeup can deliver improved results.
Angels Select Dustin Garneau, Place Kevan Smith On 10-Day IL
The Angels have selected the contract of catcher Dustin Garneau from Triple-A, the team announced today. Garneau will take over the backup catching role from Kevan Smith, who will hit the 10-day injured list due to a metacarpal strain in his left hand. Garneau will take the 40-man spot left open after Cody Allen was released on Tuesday; the Halos officially confirmed that release today.
This is the second time in a month that Garneau replaced an injured Smith, as the Angels made the same move in late May after Smith was placed on the seven-day concussion IL. Garneau was subsequently DFA’ed and then outrighted off Los Angeles’ 40-man roster after Smith returned. Signed to a minor league deal over the winter, Garneau has appeared in seven games for the Halos this season, hitting .250/.455/.313 over 22 PA.
Smith has swung an even mightier bat, with a .296/.387/.469 slash line over 93 plate appearances. While Smith posted roughly league-average production over 187 PA with the White Sox in 2018, his rather unexpected offensive outburst this year has been a boon for the Angels, who gave Smith more playing time as Jonathan Lucroy continued to scuffle at the plate.
Yankees To Activate Aaron Judge On Friday
The Yankees will activate star outfielder Aaron Judge off the injured list on Friday, MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch reports (Twitter link). Judge has already joined the team in New York as the Yankees begin an important four-game series against Houston starting tonight.
The slugger has spent the last week playing in Triple-A rehab games, as Judge puts the final touches on his recovery from a left oblique strain. That injury sent Judge to the IL back on April 21, interrupting what had been a strong start (.288/.404/.521 and five homers over 89 PA) to the 2019 campaign for the former Rookie Of The Year.
Judge now rejoins a Yankees lineup that, incredibly, barely seemed to slow down despite the long-term absences of several notable starters — despite missing Judge, Giancarlo Stanton, Aaron Hicks, Didi Gregorius for long stretches and losing Miguel Andujar to season-ending shoulder surgery, New York still ranks within the top ten in most team offensive categories. Between these returning star hitters and the newly-acquired Edwin Encarnacion, the Yankees now boast arguably the game’s most impressive lineup.
Cameron Maybin‘s continued roster status could now be in question with Judge returning, unless the Yankees choose to option a reliever to Triple-A and keep both Maybin and Brett Gardner as backup outfielders. The latter option would allow the Yankees to perhaps spell Judge and Stanton in the later innings to keep them fresh as they return from their long IL absences, since DH duty isn’t as much of an option now with Encarnacion in the fold. Maybin is playing on a minor league contract this season, and was acquired from Cleveland in late April as a response to the Yankees’ injury-depleted outfield. Maybin, for his part, has hit very well since donning the pinstripes, taking a .307/.383/.491 slash line over 128 plate appearances into today’s action.
Blue Jays Activate Ken Giles From Injured List
The Blue Jays have activated closer Ken Giles from the 10-day injured list, as noted by multiple reporters (including Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet.ca). Righty Justin Shafer was optioned to Triple-A in the corresponding move.
Giles will end up missing only the 10-day minimum after being sidelined with elbow inflammation. While obviously the good health news is appreciated by both the player and the club, Giles’ quick return could also have an impact on his status as a trade candidate. The closer has been almost untouchable over 25 innings this season, with a 1.08 ERA, 6.00 K/BB rate, and a stunning 15.1 K/9. Between these excellent numbers and the fact that Giles is controllable through the 2020 season, the rebuilding Jays will look to extract a nice return on the right-hander before July 31.
Orioles Designate Dan Straily, Place John Means On IL
The Orioles have designated right-hander Dan Straily for assignment, as per a team announcement. The move is one of a series of transactions for the O’s, as the club also placed southpaw John Means on the 10-day injured list (retroactive to June 17) with a left shoulder strain, reinstated Dwight Smith Jr. from the 10-day IL and recalled righty Evan Phillips from Triple-A.
Today’s news ends Straily’s brief time in Baltimore after 47 2/3 innings and a disappointing 9.82 ERA. After the Marlins surprisingly released Straily near the end of Spring Training, the O’s inked the righty to a $575K one-year deal to fill a hole in their shaky rotation. Unfortunately, Straily simply never got on track either as a starter or as a reliever, as his career-long flyball tendencies bit him especially hard at Camden Yards. Straily has already allowed a whopping 22 homers during his brief time on the mound this season — for perspective’s sake, Dylan Bundy allowed a league-high 41 homers in 2018, though that was over 171 2/3 innings.
There was enough interest in Straily after his release from Miami that you would figure he’d get some looks now that he is on the market again, as the veteran posted decent numbers for the Reds and Marlins from 2016-18. Another Major League contract doesn’t seem as likely, however, as Straily seems like a candidate for a minor league deal with a team that will try to iron out his flyball problems down on the farm.
In terms of pure results, Means has been the lone bright spot on the Orioles’ struggling rotation this year, with a 2.67 ERA, 2.81 K/BB rate, and 7.5 K/9 over 70 2/3 innings. ERA indicators (4.08 FIP, 5.07 xFIP, 4.67 SIERA) hint at some serious regression, though Means hasn’t allowed much in the way of hard contract, with only a .309 xwOBA and .299 wOBA.
MLB Authorizes Rays To Explore Montreal Season Split
3:04pm: St. Petersburg mayor Rick Kriseman does not sound quite as enthused by the idea as Sternberg. He says he previously informed the club that the city would not authorize talks with Montreal, John Romano of the Tampa Bay Times tweets.
12:46pm: In an eyebrow-raising development, Major League Baseball has granted authorization to the Tampa Bay Rays to explore the possibility of becoming a two-city franchise. The approval will allow the organization to pursue concepts in which the team would split its home games between Florida and Montreal. Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times first tweeted the news and has more in a story.
Notably, this does not mean that the Rays necessarily will move to Montreal. Even a part-time move would likely not occur for several seasons. Rather, commissioner Rob Manfred says there’s a “broad grant” for Rays owner Stu Sternberg to build out options, as Evan Drellich of The Athletic tweets.
In a statement, Sternberg says he remains “committed to keeping baseball in Tampa Bay for generations to come.” But he says he also believes “this concept” — referring to some kind of Montreal split — “is worthy of serious exploration.”
It’s hard to fathom a situation where a Florida/Montreal split represents a long-term solution. Presumably, that’d mean building (or rehabbing) and operating facilities in both cities, creating untold logistical hurdles on top of those that already exist.
As things stand, the Rays are contractually obliged to play at the Trop through the 2027 campaign. Getting local authorities to release even a portion of home games seems like a challenge. League owners and the MLBPA will surely want to see details and have quite a few questions answered. And with conceivable two-market opportunities come vast potential inefficiencies.
Montreal has a storied history with the game of baseball. But the club lost the Expos to D.C. after the 2004 season and hasn’t hosted a big-league club since. The city has hosted some late-spring contests at Olympic Stadium, but that venue poses many of the same issues presented by the Rays’ current home at Tropicana Field.
While this development does more to create possibilities than answer questions about the club’s future, it comes with immediate consequences. The Rays have struggled to gain traction in stadium talks in the St. Petersburg/Tampa area. Recent plans for an Ybor City complex fell flat, leaving Sternberg and company looking for new options — and, no doubt, also some leverage.
Marlins Designate Peter O’Brien
The Marlins have designated corner infielder/outfielder Peter O’Brien for assignment, per a club announcement. His roster spot was needed to make way for righty Zac Gallen, whose promotion is now official.
O’Brien had been on optional assignment for much of the year. To clear an active roster spot, the team optioned hurler Jeff Brigham.
While the Fish entered the year resolved to give O’Brien a shot, he just didn’t hit enough to stay in the big leagues. The 28-year-old carried a 135 wRC+ in a 22-game stint last year but dropped to 45 in his 47 plate appearances in the present campaign. He was slashing a healthier .278/.361/.556 with five home runs in 61 trips to the dish at Triple-A.
Royals Place Adalberto Mondesi On 10-Day IL, Designate Ben Lively
The Royals announced a series of roster moves today. Shortstop Adalberto Mondesi is headed to the 10-day injured list with a groin injury. His placement is backdated to the 19th.
To replace Mondesi on the active roster, the club selected the contract of infielder Humberto Arteaga. Righty Ben Lively was designated for assignment to open a 40-man spot.
The Royals are going nowhere fast in 2019, and there doesn’t appear to be any long-term concern, so the loss of Mondesi should be only a temporary blip. The 23-year-old switch-hitter hasn’t been quite as good with the bat this year as last, but he has been close enough to league average at the plate and good enough in the field and on the bases to rack up 2.2 fWAR.
Lively was knocked around in his only MLB outing of the year. He carries a 4.07 ERA in 42 frames at Triple-A, with a 41:19 K/BB ratio. The 27-year-old as had his share of chances over the years but has not yet managed to hold down a steady big league job.
Hal Steinbrenner On Yankees’ Spending & Deadline Plans
At the recent owners’ meeting, Yankees boss Hal Steinbrenner chatted about the summer trade period, as David Lennon of Newsday was among those to report. Unsurprisingly, Steinbrenner made clear he expects starting pitching to be the focus for the Yanks now that slugger Edwin Encarnacion is in the fold. But his most interesting comments were related to the team’s financial approach.
Notably, the top organizational decisionmaker expressed some willingness to consider deals that’d put the team into a higher luxury tax bracket. Estimates put the Yanks at about $15MM of salary (as calculated for competitive balance tax purposes) shy of the $246MM payroll line, at which point a team would pay 62.5% tax on spending over the first luxury line and see its next top draft choice fall by ten spots.
Steinbrenner says he’d okay a decision that triggers those penalties, “if I really felt we needed that deal, that it takes us over the top.” That’s a bit of a different position than was enunciated recently by GM Brian Cashman, who indicated that the team wass “trying to stay under the second luxury tax penalty” when it capped its offer to free agent starter Dallas Keuchel.
That’s not to say that Steinbrenner necessarily expects to need to make such a call. He noted that the club has “a decent amount of cushion” before it’d reach the top tax bracket. That’s true, though there are certainly some high-end players who’d be of potential interest that would require the Yanks to do some soul-searching — or find creative means of shedding other salary.
If you don’t want to take on money, you typically have to give up good young talent. The Yankees’ current roster is loaded with bats, leading many to wonder whether outfielder Clint Frazier will be dangled. Steinbrenner said he believes Frazier has a “great career a head of him” and expects the youngster to be “a big part of this team going forward,” though he certainly also left conceptual room for a deal.
Rangers Designate Drew Smyly
The Rangers announced today that they have designated veteran pitcher Drew Smyly for assignment. His 40-man and active roster spots will go to fellow lefty Locke St. John, whose contract was selected.
In a pair of other moves also involving southpaw hurlers, the Texas club called up Kyle Bird and optioned Joe Palumbo.
While rehabbing from Tommy John surgery, Smyly signed a two-year, $10MM deal with the Cubs in anticipation of a full and productive 2019 season. The Rangers acquired that contract last fall, installing the lefty in a rotation full of salvaged former quality starters.
Unfortunately, Smyly’s attempt to come back after two missed campaigns has simply not gone as hoped. He has been torched for 8.42 earned runs per nine in 51 1/3 innings on the season, with his struggles continuing after a move to the bullpen.
Though Smyly is back to his customary 91 mph fastball range, he’s having a hard time coaxing hitters to offer at pitches out of the zone (22.4% chase rate). With batters not being fooled by the breaking stuff, they’re having an easy time drawing walks (just under six per nine) from the typically under-control Smyly. And they are teeing off on his mistakes, having already launched 19 long balls against him.
Still only thirty years of age, Smyly may well have a second act left. He was at times a highly effective starter with the Tigers and Rays. If he’s to get back on track, though, it’ll likely mean spending some time working on things at an extended spring facility and then earning another shot at the big leagues through some time in the minors.