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Blue Jays Release Gavin Floyd

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TODAY: Floyd has undergone yet another surgery, this one to repair his rotator cuff, per Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.ca tweets. The unfortunate news seemingly helps explain yesterday’s move.

YESTERDAY: The Blue Jays have released right-hander Gavin Floyd, according to Baseball America’s Matt Eddy. Floyd inked a minor league deal to return to Toronto this winter but didn’t pitch in big league camp. His 2016 season came to a close in June due to a strained shoulder capsule.

When he’s been healthy in recent years, Floyd has generally pitched well. Across his past 98 2/3 innings, he’s logged a 3.10 ERA with 7.5 K/9 against 2.3 BB/9. However, unfortunately for Floyd, his stretches of good health have been few and far between. After undergoing Tommy John surgery in 2013, most of Floyd’s 2014 season was wiped out by a fractured olecranon bone in his right elbow. Somewhat remarkably, he suffered the very same injury the next spring and subsequently missed the first five months of the 2015 season. Last year, he tallied 31 innings out of the Toronto bullpen with a 4.06 ERA and a 30-to-8 K/BB ratio before incurring his shoulder injury.

Dariel Alvarez Likely To Undergo Tommy John Surgery

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The Orioles had only just begun converting outfielder Dariel Alvarez into a pitcher, but it seems that move will be put on hold. Alvarez has suffered an elbow injury that is likely to require Tommy John surgery, Peter Schmuck of the Baltimore Sun reports on Twitter.

Alvarez, 28, began the move to the mound mid-way through camp. At the time, manager Buck Showalter explained that the reason for the timing was that the club wished to see what it had while Alvarez still had options remaining. Though he had two entering the season, he likely won’t be ready to pitch again until the 2018 campaign is already underway.

It’s unclear what the future holds for Alvarez in the Baltimore organization. He could make it back much sooner from the surgery if he were to return to playing the field, though obviously the club had soured on his prospects of contributing in that capacity. Though Alvarez cracked the majors briefly in each of the past two seasons, he hadn’t done enough with the bat in the upper minors to justify more than spot duty. (Last year, he slashed just .288/.324/.384 at Triple-A.)

Perhaps there’s a scenario where Alvarez returns as a hitter and then attempts to pitch again when he’s ready. Regardless, while the team can place him on the 60-day DL for the time being, it’ll be hard for the O’s to continue carrying him on the 40-man roster at the end of the current season.

Giants To Sign Drew Stubbs

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TODAY: The deal has been completed, Alex Pavlovic of NBC tweets. Stubbs will earn at a $1MM rate in the majors and $130K in the minors, with bonus money also available.

YESTERDAY: The Giants are nearing a minor league agreement with veteran outfielder Drew Stubbs, tweets Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News. As Baggarly notes, recent injuries to Mike Morse and Mac Williamson have thinned out the team’s outfield depth. Beyond that, center fielder Denard Span is day-to-day with some tightness in his left hip, manager Bruce Bochy told reporters (Twitter link via Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle).

San Francisco is currently utilizing an outfield alignment consisting of Hunter Pence in right field, Span in center field and a platoon of Jarrett Parker and Chris Marrero in left field. Gorkys Hernandez made the roster out of Spring Training as a reserve and can handle center in Span’s hopefully brief absence.

Stubbs, 32, was in camp with the Twins during Spring Training but didn’t crack the roster after logging a disappointing .139/.273/.278 with 15 strikeouts in 36 at-bats over the life of 15 games. Stubbs had a career year with the Rockies in 2014, hitting .289/.339/.482 with 15 home runs and 20 stolen bases — though the vast majority of his damage was done at the hitter-friendly confines of Coors Field. Since that season, Stubbs has struggled to a .207/.302/.365 batting line in 234 plate appearances between the Rockies, Braves, Rangers and Orioles.

Those recent struggles notwithstanding, Stubbs is capable of handling all three outfield positions and has a strong track record against left-handed pitching over the life of his career. In 952 plate appearances against southpaws, he’s a .272/.348/.444 hitter.

Outrighted: Hessler, Vargas, Yates

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Here are the latest minor moves of note from around the game:

  • The Padres announced that lefty Keith Hessler and righty Cesar Vargas have both been outrighted after clearing waivers. Both were designated for assignment recently; the former will head to the highest level of the minors, while the latter will go to Double-A. Hessler, 28, pitched to a 3.38 ERA last year but managed just nine strikeouts against 11 walks over his 18 2/3 frames. As for the 25-year-old Vargas, he’ll need to climb back to the bigs before he’ll get a shot to pick up where he left off last year, when he carried a 3.34 ERA over his first six starts — only to suffer a season-ending injury during his seventh.
  • Righty Kirby Yates has been outrighted by the Angels, per a team announcement. The 30-year-old hasn’t managed to hold down big league job in his prior opportunities, and will need to wait for another shot at Triple-A. He threw 41 1/3 frames last year, posting a 5.23 ERA with 10.9 K/9 and 4.1 BB/9. Yates has typically performed well in the upper minors, though, and ought to provide the Halos with some depth.

Athletics Place John Axford On 10-Day DL

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6:24pm: Axford first experienced discomfort while warming last night, Joe Stiglich of NBC Bay Area reports (Twitter links). He’ll undergo an MRI, but the hope is that he’ll be back in the minimum time — only a week, since the DL placement can be backdated.

4:17pm: The Athletics have placed righty John Axford on the 10-day DL, as MLB.com’s Jane Lee was among those to report on Twitter. He has been diagnosed with a strained shoulder.

It’s not clear at this point what kind of timeline the team anticipates for Axford to return. Oakland will pull up righty Jesse Hahn from Triple-A to take Axford’s spot on the roster for the time being.

[RELATED: Updated A’s Depth Chart]

Axford, 34, hadn’t appeared yet in game action but was seen warming up in the pen. He threw 7 2/3 frames in Spring Training, allowing three earned on ten hits and five walks while notching just three strikeouts.

The A’s still have some flux in their late-inning bullpen plans, but Axford would figure to fit in as a setup arm. Last year, he threw 65 2/3 innings of 3.97 ERA ball with 8.2 K/9 against 4.1 BB/9. Though that represented a falloff in the strikeout department, he was still working at 95.6 mph with his average fastball and managed a 10.6% swinging-strike rate that was the second-highest mark of his career.

Derek Jeter, Jeb Bush Headline Potential Marlins Bidding Groups

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Yankees legend Derek Jeter and former Florida governor Jeb Bush are both working to put together bidding groups to make a run at buying the Marlins, according to a report from Charlie Gasparino and Brian Schwartz of FOX Business. There is at least one other rival bidding group, per the report.

Jeter has already launched the popular Player’s Tribune website since hanging up his spikes, but could now seemingly embark upon another major business undertaking in advance of his likely Hall-of-Fame enshrinement in 2019. The former shortstop is said to be working with an investment banker who was previously affiliated with Morgan Stanley, though it’s not clear whether that firm is involved.

Meanwhile, Bush has lined up with Citigroup to weigh a proposal to take over the team from Jeffrey Loria, who is reportedly preparing to cash in on the organization at some point in the near future. And there’s a third known group as well; though it has no known headlining names, it’s said to have the backing of financial powerhouse Goldman Sachs.

Loria bought the team back in 2002 at a $158MM price tag. This time around, it figures to be worth quite a bit more, with some reports pegging the likely open-market value in the range of $1.4B to $1.7B. Whether or not it actually lands in that range remains to be seen, but Loria is positioned to cash in on both the publicly financed Marlins Park and the success of MLB Advanced Media — an entity that is co-owned by all thirty teams and has expanded its portfolio beyond the baseball realm.

Rockies Release Jason Motte

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April 5: The Rockies announced today that they’ve released Motte. He’s free to sign with any club and would only cost his new team the pro-rated portion of the league minimum for any time spent in the Majors, with Colorado remaining on the hook for the rest of his salary.

March 31: The Rockies have designated veteran reliever Jason Motte for assignment, the club announced. Colorado has selected the contract of infieler/outfielder Stephen Cardullo, who’ll take the open 40-man spot.

As the club fills out its roster, it evidently decided to go with Cardullo on the bench over Pat Valaika, who was optioned, and veteran minor-league signee Chris Denorfia, who was reassigned to minor-league camp. Cardullo will presumably help to fill in while Ian Desmond is sidelined.

Motte, 34, simply hasn’t performed as the team hoped when it promised him $10MM over two years over the 2015-16 offseason. The former closer missed time early with rotator cuff issues and ended the first year of that contract with a 4.94 ERA and 9.1 K/9 against 3.0 BB/9 over 23 2/3 frames.

While Motte still manage to average a healthy 94 mph with his fastball in 2016, that fell below his typical levels. And things didn’t improve this spring, as he allowed eight earned runs on 14 hits over 8 2/3 innings, recording just five strikeouts against two walks along the way.

White Sox, Mike Pelfrey Agree To Minor League Deal

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1:58pm: Heyman tweets that Pelfrey has agreed to a minor league deal. He’ll head to Triple-A Charlotte for the time being.

1:51pm: Heyman reports that the two sides have agreed to a deal, though he doesn’t specify whether it’s a minor league pact that’ll send Pelfrey to Triple-A Charlotte for the time being or a Major League deal that will place Pelfrey directly onto the 25-man roster.

1:22pm: The White Sox are closing in on a deal with right-hander Mike Pelfrey, according to Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports (Twitter link). The 33-year-old Pelfrey was released by the Tigers last week.

The Tigers cut bait on Pelfrey prior to the start of the season, electing to jettison the struggling righty rather than stick with him in hopes of salvaging some value out of the ill-fated two-year, $16MM contract signed by Pelfrey in the 2015-16 offseason. Detroit will be on the hook for the entirety of Pelfrey’s $8MM salary in 2017, minus the pro-rated portion of the league minimum for any time the right-hander spends in the Majors with the White Sox (or any other club).

Pelfrey’s lone year in Detroit resulted in a lackluster 5.07 ERA with 4.2 K/9, 3.5 BB/9 and a 52.2 percent ground-ball rate. His 92.8 mph heater and solid grounder rate do create some mild cause for optimism, but Pelfey’s struggles weren’t confined to his 2016 season in the Motor City. In fact, since undergoing Tommy John surgery that sidelined him for nearly the entire 2012 season, Pelfrey has logged an unsightly 4.97 ERA in 460 innings with the Twins and Tigers.

While not an exciting addition to the White Sox’ depth chart, Pelfrey can give the club an option at the back of a rotation that is currently rife with uncertainty. Following the trade of Chris Sale this offseason and an injury that will sideline Carlos Rodon up to six weeks (possibly more), the Chicago rotation features Jose Quintana, James Shields, Derek Holland, Miguel Gonzalez and Rule 5 pick Dylan Covey (with swingman Anthony Swarzak also waiting in the wings). Pelfrey, if nothing else, can eventually surface in the Majors and simply function as an innings eater and a bridge to some of the Sox’ electric young arms — including Lucas Giolito, Michael Kopech and Reynaldo Lopez.

Brewers Claim Nick Franklin, Designate Michael Blazek Fror Assignment

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The Brewers have claimed infielder/outfielder Nick Franklin off waivers from the Rays, reports Roger Mooney of the Tampa Bay Times (Twitter link). The Rays had designated the 26-year-old Franklin for assignment over the winter. Milwaukee announced the move, somewhat surprisingly adding that righty Michael Blazek has been designated for assignment in order to clear a spot on the 40-man roster.

Franklin enjoyed a productive year for the Rays in a limited sample of 191 plate appearances last season, hitting .270/.328/.443 with six homers and six stolen bases. However, the former top prospect never settled into an everyday role with Tampa Bay or even a regular position. Last year, Franklin saw time at shortstop, second base, first base, right field and left field, though the majority of his work in the Majors has come at second base.

That defensive versatility figures to play well for the Brewers in the National League, as the switch-hitting Franklin will give manager Craig Counsell a jack-of-all-trades type to utilize in a variety of capacities. While there don’t appear to be everyday at-bats for Franklin anywhere in Milwaukee, he can join speedster Hernan Perez in bouncing all over the diamond and could, of course, take on a larger role in the event of an injury.

Blazek’s DFA is a bit of a surprise, if only because he’s just one year removed from a terrific season out of the Milwaukee ’pen. While the 28-year-old Blazek limped to a 5.66 ERA in 41 1/3 innings last year, he logged an outstanding 2.43 ERA with 7.6 K/9, 2.9 BB/9 and a 47.4 percent ground-ball rate across 55 2/3 innings in 2015. Blazek maintained his velocity in 2016 (average fastball of 93.0 mph), but he did see his walk, home-run and ground-ball rates all trend in the wrong direction. Blazek does have a minor league option remaining, so any club that either claims him on waivers or acquires him via trade would be able to send him to Triple-A without needing to pass him through waivers.

While Franklin didn’t pan out with the Rays and Drew Smyly has since been traded to the Mariners, there’s still plenty of talent left in the Rays organization as a result of the team’s trade of David Price to the Tigers. In addition to Franklin and Smyly, Tampa Bay landed infield prospect Willy Adames in that deal, and the 21-year-old Adames is widely considered to be one of the top 50 or so prospects in Major League Baseball. The Rays also have Mallex Smith and minor leaguers Ryan Yarbrough and Carlos Vargas to show for their trade of Smyly to Seattle, creating further residual value from that 2014 blockbuster.

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