MLB Rumors - MLBTradeRumors.com

Baseball Blogs Weigh In: L. Castillo, Bellinger, Trout, Brinson

By Connor Byrne | April 27, 2019 at 9:11pm CDT

This week in baseball blogs…

Adkins On Sports delves into Luis Castillo’s early season excellence.
Chin Music Baseball highlights Castillo and six other pitchers with surging strikeout rates.
The Dugout opines that Cody Bellinger could be on the fast track to becoming MLB’s second-best player.
Foul Territory wonders why anyone would pitch to Mike Trout.
Fish Stripes makes a case for the Marlins to option struggling outfielder Lewis Brinson to the minors.
BaseballProspectJournal.com shares a first-round mock draft.
Chipalatta checks in on the projected AL superpowers.
Rox Pile looks ahead to the trade deadline for the Rockies.
Notes from the Sally scouts Braves pitching prospects Trey Riley and Victor Vodnik.
Joker Mag notes the adversity Julio Urias has overcome.
Pinstripe Alley lauds the Yankees’ starting pitching.
Everything Bluebirds argues that the Blue Jays’ rebuild appears “far ahead of schedule.”
Call to the Pen compares the Phillies and Mets.
A’s Farm runs down the top-performing pitching prospects in Oakland’s system.
Mets Daddy agrees with MLB’s decision to suspend Jacob Rhame.
Baseball Rabbi (podcast) discusses Domingo Santana, Boston’s 1975-80 outfield, and other topics.

Submissions: ZachBBWI @gmail.com

AL Notes: Givens, Astudillo, C. Frazier, Rangers

By Connor Byrne | April 27, 2019 at 7:05pm CDT

The Orioles are listening to offers for reliever Mychal Givens, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (video link). On a rebuilding, talent-deprived club that doesn’t have many enticing trade chips, the right-handed Givens stands out as someone who would draw plenty of interest on the market. Givens hasn’t been elite at preventing runs since last season, having posted a 4.06 ERA in 88 2/3 innings, but he has generally done well in that department (3.18 lifetime ERA) while logging appealing strikeout and walk rates (10.46 K/9, 3.34 BB/9) in 272 frames since his 2015 debut. The soon-to-be 29-year-old is also affordable ($2.15MM salary) and controllable through the 2021 season.

Blue Jays Sign Ben Revere

By Connor Byrne | April 27, 2019 at 5:50pm CDT

The Blue Jays have signed outfielder Ben Revere to a minor league contract, per Scott Mitchell of TSN. Revere will report to extended spring training by the end of the month.

This is the second stint in the Toronto organization for Revere, who first joined them in a trade with the Phillies in July 2015. At that point, Revere was a roughly league-average hitter who was among the majors’ top stolen base threats. Revere’s career has gone downhill since then, though, evidenced by his horrific .217/.260/.300 line with 14 steals in 375 plate appearances dating back to 2016.

Now 30, Revere hasn’t appeared in the majors since he was with the Angels in 2017, when he totaled 308 PA and slashed .275/.308/.344 with 21 steals. Revere’s a lifetime .284/.319/.343 hitter with 211 steals in 262 attempts since he debuted with the Twins in 2010. He was last with the Rangers, who signed him to a minors pact Feb. 17 but released him just over a month later.

Dodgers Activate Russell Martin

By Connor Byrne | April 27, 2019 at 5:10pm CDT

The Dodgers have activated catcher Russell Martin from the 10-day injured list and optioned fellow backstop Rocky Gale to Triple-A Oklahoma City, Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times tweets.

Martin’s return should be a welcome one for Los Angeles, whose primary catcher, Austin Barnes, has seen his numbers decline significantly over the past couple weeks. Barnes sported an otherworldly 1.110 OPS when Martin hit the IL with lower back inflammation on April 10, but he’s now down to .729 in that category. Martin, meanwhile, slashed an outstanding .333/.500/.600 with five walks against three strikeouts in 22 plate appearances prior to going on the IL. The well-respected 36-year-old is in his second stint with the Dodgers, with whom he stood out from 2006-10 before rejoining the team in an offseason trade with the Blue Jays.

Gale, on the other hand, has done anything but thrive as a Dodger. The 31-year-old posted a matching and equally woeful .143/.143/.143 line in 14 trips to the plate after the Dodgers promoted him to replace Martin. Gale, who debuted with the Padres in 2015, owns an ugly .111/.111/.194 line in 36 major league PA.

Pirates Place Chris Archer On 10-Day IL

By Ty Bradley | April 27, 2019 at 3:59pm CDT

Per Mark Feinsand of mlb.com, the Pirates have placed righty Chris Archer on the 10-Day IL with right thumb inflammation. Righty Michael Feliz has been recalled to take his place.

Archer, 30, is off to his typical enigmatic start this season, striking out batters at an elite rate but ultimately failing to prevent runs at an ace-level pace. Concerning also are a slight uptick in walks – to a career-worst 4.00 per nine thus far – and a 32% grounder rate that’s dipped well below his career average. Archer’s average fastball velocity has also dropped nearly two miles an hour, to a career-low 93.4 MPH, though his swinging strike percentage has remained mostly stable.

Acquired in a controversial midseason trade last season that sent Austin Meadows, Tyler Glasnow, and prospect Shane Baz to Tampa Bay, Archer has long been the rare starting pitcher – along with perhaps Jon Gray of the Rockies – whose ace-level peripherals consistently lag behind their actual run prevention. Pittsburgh obviously bet heavily on the trend coming to an end, but thus far the profile looks like more of the same.

It’s unclear who’ll be Archer’s replacement in the Pittsburgh rotation – the team’s depth in the area is frighteningly thin – but the injury seems relatively minor, the club has a couple off-days upcoming, and the rest of the unit – spearheaded by Archer’s statistical inverse in Trevor Williams – has so far been brilliant.

Brewers Designate Jake Petricka For Assignment

By Ty Bradley | April 27, 2019 at 2:56pm CDT

Per a club release, the Brewers have designated righty Jake Petricka for assignment amidst a series of minor roster moves.

Petricka, 30, appeared in six early-season games for the club this season, posting a 3.38 ERA/4.61 FIP/6.04 xFIP in eight IP. The seven-year MLB vet hasn’t had much success of any kind during stints with the White Sox, Blue Jays, and now Milwaukee, but has consistently been afforded opportunities due to his preternatural grounder-inducing ability.

Petricka ranks 6th among all active relievers with at least 200 IP since 2013 with a 59.1 grounder rate, and should present an attractive end-of-roster option for a bandbox-housed team. He seemed an ideal fit for a Brewer pen already possessing of an elite back-end, though the club apparently felt his shoddy command and declining velocity wasn’t likely to rectify itself anytime soon.

The vaunted Milwaukee ’pen, stripped early on of key pieces Corey Knebel – out for the season after undergoing Tommy John surgery late last month – and Jeremy Jeffress, has struggled at the season’s outset. Offseason pickups Alex Claudio and Alex Wilson have each been shaky, and even the barely-mortal Josh Hader has proven vulnerable to the longball. Craig Kimbrel still waits, though perhaps not in the wings for the cash-strapped Crew.

Braves Activate Mike Foltynewicz, Option Bryse Wilson

By Ty Bradley | April 27, 2019 at 2:11pm CDT

Per a team announcement, Braves righty Mike Foltynewicz will be activated from the IL in time to make his first start of the season tonight against Colorado. Right-hander Bryse Wilson will head back to AAA-Gwinnett.

The hard-throwing Foltynewicz, 27, whose 96.4 MPH average fastball velocity was tops among all NL starters last season, was sidelined at the end of spring with a balky right elbow. Atlanta’ll hope his return quenches what’s been a parched Brave rotation in the early going – the club’s starters have thus far posted the NL’s highest walk rate, at 4.08 men per nine, with an ugly 4.50 xFIP that collectively ranks second-to-last in the Senior Circuit.

With shaky command from rookies Wilson, 21, Kyle Wright, and Touki Toussaint, plus the all-over-the-place nature of the recently demoted Sean Newcomb, Atlanta may need to move rotation help to the top of its mid-season shopping list.

Quick Hits: Brewers, Cubs, Rays, Mariners

By Connor Byrne | April 27, 2019 at 11:43am CDT

Brewers right-hander Jimmy Nelson last took a major league mound Sept. 8, 2017, when he suffered a partially torn labrum that derailed a breakout season. Almost 20 months later, it appears Nelson is nearing a return to the majors. The 29-year-old, who has been pitching in extended spring training, will begin a rehab assignment Sunday at the Triple-A level, Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports. In another piece of encouraging news for the Brewers’ struggling rotation, righty Freddy Peralta could rejoin the team after his Double-A rehab start Saturday, manager Craig Counsell said. Peralta went to the IL on April 16 with a shoulder issue. The 24-year-old has only managed a 7.13 ERA/5.82 FIP with a 21.1 percent groundball rate in four starts this season, though he also logged 11.21 K/9 against 3.57 BB/9 during that 17 2/3-inning span.

Here’s more from around the majors…

The Cubs shut down injured reliever Brandon Morrow a week ago, but he’s nonetheless optimistic he’ll pitch this year, Jesse Rogers of ESPN.com reports. Biceps and elbow problems have prevented Morrow from taking the hill since last July, adding to the unfortunate array of injuries the 34-year-old has dealt with during his career. “Every injury I’ve come back the same or better,” Morrow told Rogers. “Frustrating it’s going to be a little longer but just needs a little more time to heal.” Morrow will have a Synvisc injection Monday to “lubricate and help to protect the area around my elbow,” though Rogers notes it’s not a permanent solution. In the event Morrow doesn’t come back this season, it’s possible he has thrown his last pitch with the Cubs. They’ll have a chance to buy him out for $3MM in lieu of a $12MM vesting option over the winter. In the meantime, their bullpen has clearly missed a healthy Morrow this season, having posted a 4.84 ERA with 5.63 BB/9.
Rays second baseman Joey Wendle’s fractured right wrist will shelve him for at least six to eight weeks, according to manager Kevin Cash (via Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times). This season has been an injury-riddled nightmare for Wendle, who previously missed three weeks on account of a left hamstring strain. Wendle hasn’t gotten to properly follow up last year’s impressive rookie showing as a result. The first-place Rays have held their own without him, though, thanks in part to second base replacement Brandon Lowe.
Longtime major league center fielder Mike Cameron has accepted a coaching job in the Mariners organization, Greg Johns of MLB.com reports. The 46-year-old Cameron will work with Mariners outfielders on defense and baserunning, largely at the minor league level. Cameron excelled in those two areas during his MLB career, which spanned from 1995-2011 and included a tremendous four-year run in Seattle from 2000-03. He was a key cog on the ’01 Mariners, who won 116 regular-season games and still stand as the franchise’s most recent playoff team.

Brewers Sign Gio Gonzalez

By Jeff Todd | April 27, 2019 at 10:00am CDT

APRIL 27: The Brewers have announced the signing, adding that they’ll make a corresponding move later today.

APRIL 24: The Brewers have agreed to a deal with lefty Gio Gonzalez, according to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic (via Twitter). He’ll earn $2MM for his work the rest of the season with up to $2MM more in available incentives.

The incentives package reflects changes in modern pitching usage. It’s a points-based system, as Jon Heyman of MLB Network first tweeted. Gonzalez can earn two points every time he makes an appearance of three or more innings and one point for all other appearances. He’ll receive $333,333 upon accumulating his 25th, 30th, 35th, and 40th points and then $333,334 with his 45th and 50th, Robert Murray of The Athletic explains on Twitter.

Gonzalez, who recently moved to CAA Baseball, triggered an opt-out clause in the minor-league deal he signed late in camp with the Yankees. When the New York club declined to add him to its MLB roster, Gonzalez returned to the open market. While his new contract won’t come with the same amount of upside that was available in the prior one, it will put him back in the majors and provide some guaranteed earnings.

Gonzalez should be ready to step right into the Brewers’ rotation. He worked 15 innings over three starts with the Yankees organization, allowing ten earned runs but posting a solid 19:6 K/BB ratio. The Brew Crew obviously liked what it saw well enough to commit some resources to adding Gonzalez to its staff.

It’s a nice move at this stage of the season for the Brewers, who’ve had several rotation issues crop up early. Gonzalez is assuredly not the pitcher he once was at 33 years of age, but has still been capable of solid mound work in recent years. He’s also one of the game’s most durable starters. While he’s not exactly known for his inning-to-inning steadiness, Gonzalez is a good bet to make his scheduled starts and eat up some frames.

Gonzalez has taken the ball 283 times since the start of the 2010 season, a track record bettered by only a few other starters. Over seven seasons with the Nationals, Gonzalez turned in over twelve hundred innings of 3.62 ERA pitching with 8.7 K/9 against 3.5 BB/9. His best seasons came earlier in his tenure, though he did slip in one final gem of a year in 2018 — overcoming the underwhelming peripherals that suggested some good fortune and regression in the ensuing season.

While he did indeed take a step back in 2018, Gonzalez was still capable of 171 frames of 4.21 ERA ball. He was particularly effective in his final five outings, which came with Milwaukee, turning in 25 1/3 innings over which he allowed just six earned runs on 14 base hits with a 22:10 K/BB ratio.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

AL Injury Notes: Andujar, Eloy, Rangers, Jays, Royals

By Connor Byrne and Jeff Todd | April 27, 2019 at 8:50am CDT

The Yankees will open a seven-game homestand May 3, at which point injured third baseman Miguel Andujar could rejoin their lineup, manager Aaron Boone said Friday (via George A. King III of the New York Post). Whether that happens will depend on how Andujar fares in extended spring training and minor league rehab games over the next several days. For now, though, Boone is “cautiously optimistic” about Andujar’s torn right labrum, which looked like a potential season-ending injury when he went on the IL on April 1. The 24-year-old is one of a whopping 15 Yankees who have landed on the injured list this season, but the reserve-laden club has weathered the storm with a 15-11 start. Third base subs DJ LeMahieu and Gio Urshela have performed well along the way, helping to ease the burden of Andujar’s absence.

White Sox left fielder Eloy Jimenez exited Friday’s game with a right ankle sprain and was wearing a walking boot afterward, per James Fegan of The Athletic (subscription required). X-rays on Jimenez’s ankle came back negative, but he’ll undergo an MRI on Saturday. An IL stint seems like a distinct possibility for the 22-year-old phenom, who’s just 85 plate appearances into his career.
Rangers lefty Taylor Hearn endured a rough debut start. Now, he’s headed to the 10-day IL with elbow tightness. That’s not how the club drew things up when it called upon one of its most promising young pitchers to join the MLB roster. Hearn’s outlook isn’t yet known. That was just one of several moves, as fellow hurler Jeffrey Springs and infielder Patrick Wisdom were optioned out. Second bagger Rouned Odor was activated from the IL while pitchers Ariel Jurado and Wei-Chieh Huang were called up to provide some fresh arms.
Standout Blue Jays infield prospect Bo Bichette is down with a broken left hand, but general manager Ross Atkins said Friday he won’t require surgery, as Scott Mitchell of TSN tweets. The Jays expect a four- to six-week recovery time for the 21-year-old Bichette, who’s regarded as one of the game’s premier prospects.
The Royals have placed first baseman Lucas Duda on the 10-day IL, retroactive to April 24, and recalled third baseman Kelvin Gutierrez from Triple-A Omaha, according to Pete Grathoff and Sam McDowell of the Kansas City Star. Duda’s dealing with a lumbar strain, which continues a rough start to the season for the 33-year-old. The free-agent pickup has hit a miserable .174/.304/.326 in 56 trips to the plate. Meanwhile, Gutierrez batted an impressive .333/.443/.439 in 79 PA prior to his promotion, and he’s now in line for his first major league action. The Royals acquired Gutierrez, 24, from the Nationals last June as part of a deal centering on reliever Kelvin Herrera. Gutierrez currently ranks as KC’s 14th-best prospect at MLB.com.

« Previous Page

Load More Posts

Headlines

Navigation

MLBTR INFO

Connect