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Diamondbacks’ First-Round Pick Matt McLain Will Not Sign

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First-round pick Matt McLain has informed the Diamondbacks that he will attend UCLA rather than sign with them, reports Jon Heyman of Fancred (via Twitter). The D-backs offered McLain the full slot value of $2,636,400 for the No. 25 overall selection, according to Heyman, but it appears he’ll forgo that considerable sum to play collegiate ball.

McLain, a high school infielder out of California, went considerably higher than most pre-draft rankings had forecast. None of Baseball America, Fangraphs, ESPN or MLB.com ranked him inside the Top 50 players in the draft class, though he was generally slotted into the 50 to 70 range.

Reports on McLain agree that he was one of the most polished high school bats in the draft, though there were concerns about his size (5’10”, 175 pounds), lack of plus speed and the potential that he’d need to move off of shortstop. Reports from both MLB.com and ESPN noted that his strongest advocates likened him to Alex Bregman, and certainly the Diamondbacks appear to have been among those teams most bullish on him, based on the aggressive selection in the first round.

Because McLain won’t sign, the D-backs will lose that $2,636,400 from their bonus pool. They will, however, be awarded a compensatory selection at No. 26 overall in 2019. That won’t do their lackluster farm system any immediate favors, but it’ll give the D-backs more opportunity to be creative in next year’s draft. They’re now the second NL West team who’ve been spurned by their top pick; right-hander J.T. Ginn announced last night that he would attend Mississippi State rather than sign with the Dodgers.

Technically, McLain has until 5pm ET to change his mind at the eleventh hour, though that outcome seems decidedly unlikely based on Heyman’s report.

Reds Select Dilson Herrera

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The Reds announced Friday that they’ve selected the contract of infielder Dilson Herrera from Triple-A Louisville. It’ll mark not only the Reds debut for the 24-year-old, but his first MLB action since a 2015 trial run with the Mets. Left-hander Cody Reed was optioned to Louisville in a corresponding move.

Herrera came to the Reds alongside left-hander Max Wotell (who was released yesterday) in the 2016 trade that sent Jay Bruce to the Mets. While Herrera was once viewed as a premium prospect, shoulder troubles have slowed his development in recent years — to the point where Herrera actually went unclaimed on waivers last year and was outrighted off Cincinnati’s 40-man roster.

So far in 2018, however, Herrera has made great strides in rebuilding his stock. He opened the season at Class-A Advanced as he eased his way back into things following 2017 shoulder surgery but quickly proved ready for a greater challenge, hitting .298/.359/.429 through 21 games in the Florida State League. The Reds then bumped Herrera back up to Triple-A, where he’s batted .297/.367/.465 with seven homers and 10 doubles through 208 plate appearances.

It’s been a long road back to the Majors for Herrera, and while there’s no immediate opening for him to receive everyday at-bats in Cincinnati with Scooter Gennett at second base and Eugenio Suarez at third base, that could change in the coming weeks. Gennett, after all, is a potential trade candidate given that he has just a season and a half remaining until reaching free agency. Herrera could also simply function as a bench piece, spelling both Gennett and Suarez occasionally while serving as a pinch-hitting option late in games. Whatever his role, Herrera will at the very least deepen the Cincinnati bench for the time being as he hopes to play is way into more prominent standing with the organization down the road.

Yankees, Others Reportedly Considering Moustakas As First Base Option

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Multiple teams, including the Yankees, have at least considered the notion of trading for Royals third baseman Mike Moustakas and shifting him across the diamond to first base, Jon Morosi of MLB.com reports. It’s worth noting that there’s no indication from the report that the Yankees’ interest is especially serious or extends anywhere beyond internal discussions at this point.

Moustakas, 29, stands out as one of the more obvious trade candidates in the league, given his standing as an impending free agent who is playing on an affordable contract (one year, $6.5MM) with a rebuilding Royals club that has already begun to trade away pieces (Kelvin Herrera, Jon Jay). He’s hitting .258/.312/.478 with 16 homers to this point in the 2018 season.

Of course, it should be asked just how much of an upgrade Moustakas would even represent for the Yankees. Despite Greg Bird’s woeful .200 average, his .306 on-base percentage only narrowly trails Moustakas’ .312 mark. Bird walks at a substantially higher clip than Moustakas and has also been more prone to getting hit by pitches in recent seasons, though he’s also much more strikeout-prone (27.3 percent to Moustakas’ 14.9 percent). Bird has also hit for slightly more power, sporting a .219 isolated power (slugging percentage minus batting average) to Moustakas’ .214.

There’s certainly an argument that moving Moustakas from the spacious Kauffman Stadium to Yankee Stadium and its notoriously short right-field porch would significantly boost his home run output. However, Moustakas’ lack of experience at first base, where he’s started just twice in his career, would likely result in a defensive downgrade over Bird.

Beyond all of that are the simple facts that Moustakas hasn’t hit much since mid-May and has been sidelined by back spasms this week. While he got off to a blistering start, Moose is hitting just .212/.292/.384 with six home runs over his past 40 games. He’s swung a bit better in his past five games, but the .299/.331/.531 slash he boasted in mid-May is now a distant memory.

Any trades the Yankees make, of course, need to be viewed through the lens of the competitive balance/luxury tax. New York was adamant about remaining under that $197MM threshold this past offseason and figures to stay on that same course on the summer trade market. The Yankees are roughly $16MM south of that line at this point, so it’s possible that they could add both Moustakas and a starting pitcher, which is rumored to be their top need. Depending on the specific rotation target, though, the Yankees may ask the opposing team to offset some of the financial load.

Alternatively, Morosi suggests a scenario in which the Yankees would ask another club to take on the remainder of Neil Walker’s $4MM contract in trades, which would have a similar effect on their bottom-line as relates to the luxury tax but would also require an improved prospect package. Indeed, the surprisingly poor play of Walker, who’d been a consistently solid offensive performer over the past eight seasons, is a large part of the reason the Yankees even need to entertain somewhat outside-the-box thoughts like adding Moustakas as a first-base option. Walker missed much of Spring Training while trying to find a deal in free agency and has never gotten on track in 2018, batting just .188/.268/.259 through his first 190 trips to the plate as a Yankee.

Ultimately, Moustakas doesn’t seem like a great fit for the Yankees or even a definitive upgrade over what Bird can bring to the table. The two have similar on-base and power numbers, with Bird representing a superior defensive option even if he’s more prone to strikeouts. Plus, if Bird’s .239 BABIP improves — which isn’t a given, considering his .251 career mark and extreme susceptibility to pull shifts in 2018 (56.9 percent pull rate) — he could even wind up with better OBP numbers than Moustakas.

Still, the fact that clubs are considering Moustakas as a first base option is nonetheless of note, as it could open the door for him to land with a club that might not have initially looked to be a fit at first glance.

Brewers Sign First-Round Pick Brice Turang

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July 6: Turang’s bonus with the Brewers is $3,411,100, reports Callis (via Twitter). That comes in nearly $400K over the slot value.

July 5: With less than 24 hours until the signing deadline, the Brewers have inked first-round pick Brice Turang, as Turang himself announced tonight (Twitter link). Bonus terms aren’t known, though Turang’s No. 21 slot came with a $3,013,600 slot value.

The 18-year-old Turang, a high school shortstop out of California, had been committed to Louisiana State but will instead forgo college to embark on his professional career. There’d been some debate as to whether he’d sign at all, with GM David Stearns telling reporters earlier tonight that there was still “nothing to report” on Turang (Twitter link via Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel).

Heading into the draft, Turang was ranked as the draft’s No. 14 prospect by the team at Baseball America. Kiley McDaniel and Eric Longenhagen rated him 18th at Fangraphs, while ESPN’s Keith Law ranked him 24th. Turang was ranked 25th by Jim Callis and Jonathan Mayo of MLB.com,

Scouting reports on Turang generally indicate that he wowed scouts throughout the country earlier in his high school career but didn’t impress as much last summer or in his junior season. Law calls him a potential 70 defender at shortstop with some power but questions his hit tool, while Callis and Mayo give him an above-average hit tool but below-average power. Given the discrepancy between Turang’s early work in high school and his more recent showings, opinions on him vary, but there’s no clear area where scouting reports universally indicate that he’s below average. The variance with prep players is always high anyhow, and the general feeling that Turang can stick at shortstop with plus speed creates plenty of cause for optimism even if his bat is less certain.

White Sox Grant Donn Roach His Release To Pursue Opportunity In Japan

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Right-hander Donn Roach has been granted his release by the White Sox in order to pursue an opportunity in Japan, the team’s Triple-A affiliate in Charlotte announced. The move comes after Roach was named the club’s minor league pitcher of the month for June and after he’d been selected to the International League All-Star team.

There’s no official word as to which club will be signing Roach, though multiple reports out of Japan have suggested that the Orix Buffaloes have been showing interest in the 28-year-old right-hander. Roach becomes the second player to be released from a Triple-A club in order to pursue a job in Japan, joining now-former Mariners lefty Ariel Miranda.

Roach hasn’t pitched in the Majors since 2016 with Seattle and has just a 5.77 ERA with 20 strikeouts and 18 walks in 39 innings as a big leaguer. But he’s notched a much better 3.68 ERA in 453 innings at the Triple-A level, albeit with a pedestrian 4.8 K/9 mark against 2.2 BB/9. Roach also spent the 2017 season pitching for the KT Wiz of the Korea Baseball Organization, posting a 4.69 ERA through 165 innings of work.

That led Roach to the White Sox organization, where he’s turned in a terrific season to date. Through 95 innings, he’s logged a 2.65 ERA with 5.8 K/9, 2.0 BB/9, 0.28 HR/9 and a 56 percent ground-ball rate, with all but one of his 16 appearances coming out of the rotation. While the ChiSox aren’t exactly enjoying quality results from their rotation in the Majors, it also seems unlikely that Roach would’ve been a long-term answer for them at the big league level — especially given his lack of missed bats. This arrangement will allow Roach to earn more than he’d been earning in the States (and possibly set him up for a raise in a second season in Japan) while providing the Sox with some financial compensation for granting Roach his release.

MLB Daily Roster Roundup: Cueto, Richards, Souza, Torres, Zunino

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ROSTER MOVES BY TEAM
(July 4th-July 5th)

NATIONAL LEAGUE

  • WASHINGTON NATIONALS | Depth Chart
    • Activated from 10-Day DL: 1B/OF Matt Adams 
      • Adams played 1B and batted 5th on Thursday.
    • Placed on 10-Day DL: SP Erick Fedde (shoulder inflammation)
    • Promoted: P Jefry Rodriguez
      • Rodriguez is a leading candidate to take Fedde’s rotation turn on Monday.
    • Designated for assignment: RP Tim Collins
      • Collins cleared waivers and accepted an outright assignment to Triple-A.

—

AMERICAN LEAGUE

  • NEW YORK YANKEES | Depth Chart
    • Placed on 10-Day DL: 2B Gleyber Torres (strained hip)
      • A corresponding 25-man roster move will be made prior to Friday’s game.

—

FUTURE EXPECTED MOVES

Giants Release Roberto Gomez

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The Giants have released right-hander Roberto Gomez to open a spot on the 40-man roster for Johnny Cueto’s reinstatement from the 60-day disabled list, tweets Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area. The team had already announced earlier tonight that Kelby Tomlinson was optioned to Triple-A in order to open a spot on the 25-man roster.

Gomez, 28, has been on the minor league disabled list since early May. Because injured players can’t be outrighted during the season, the Giants instead opted to release Gomez in order to clear a spot on the roster. It’s not uncommon in this type of situation for the player in question to strike up a new minor league contract with the organization, so it’s possible that he could yet return to the Giants’ minor league ranks.

Gomez ha pitched a total of 14 2/3 innings for the Giants over the past two seasons, and while he hasn’t yet found success in the Majors (13 runs allowed in that time), he does have an impressive 14-to-2 K/BB ratio in the big leagues. Gomez also has a solid track record at the Triple-A level, where he’s worked to a 3.93 ERA with 8.0 K/9 against 3.5 BB/9 over the course of 103 innings.

Dodgers’ First-Round Pick J.T. Ginn Will Not Sign

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Dodgers first-round pick J.T. Ginn, the No. 30 overall selection in last month’s draft, announced tonight (via Instagram) that he will not sign. Rather, the young right-hander will honor his commitment to Mississippi State. Writes Ginn:

After being drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the first round, I had a lot to think about over the last month. My ultimate goal is to one day play in the Major Leagues, and the draft provided one path to that goal. College baseball offered another path. I am grateful for both opportunities, and after giving it a lot of thought I have decided to pursue my lifelong dream of playing college baseball for the Mississippi State Bulldogs!!!

Fancred’s Jon Heyman reports (via Twitter) that the Dodgers offered Ginn around $2.4MM, which would’ve topped his No. 30 slot value of $2,275,800 by roughly $125K. That, however, didn’t prove to be incentive enough to steer Ginn away from pursuing a collegiate career. Ginn entered the draft generally ranked in the 30-50 range, placing 33rd on MLB.com’s rankings, 39th at Baseball America and 47th at Fangraphs. As Jim Callis of MLB.com notes, he’ll be eligible to enter the draft again after his sophomore season, when he’ll be 21 years of age in 2020.

Because the Dodgers won’t be signing Ginn, they’ll receive a compensatory pick at No. 31 overall in next year’s draft. For the time being, they’ll lose the $2,275,800 from their overall draft pool. Callis points out that despite the loss of that sum, they’ll likely have enough money to offer around $300K above slot to second-rounder Michael Grove, who has also yet to sign. The deadline for 2018 draftees to sign is tomorrow afternoon at 5pm ET.

Royals Claim Enny Romero

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The Royals announced that they’ve claimed left-hander Enny Romero off waivers from the Pirates. Right-hander Blaine Boyer was transferred from the 10-day disabled list to the 60-day disabled list in order to open a spot on the 40-man roster for Romero.

The 27-year-old Romero opened the season with the Nationals but was designated for assignment after just two innings of work. The Pirates plucked him off waivers but tried to designate him a second time just weeks later, but it turned out that Romero had an impingement in his left shoulder that resulted in him being placed on the disabled list. Upon sufficiently rehabbing the injury, Romero was activated and subsequently designated for assignment.

Romero was among the harder-throwing lefty relievers in the league for the Nationals last season but saw his average fastball velocity drop from 98 mph in 2017 to 95.1 mph in 2018. That, granted, came in a small sample of six innings, but Romero’s velocity was never at this low of a point throughout the 2017 season. To this point in the year, he’s yielded five runs on a dozen hits and four walks with seven strikeouts in six innings.

The 2017 season was a solid one for Romero, however, as he worked to a 3.56 ERA with 10.5 K/9, 3.7 BB/9, 1.13 HR/9 and a 39 percent ground-ball rate through 55 2/3 innings of relief. In 142 career innings at the MLB level, Romero has a 4.69 ERA with plenty of missed bats (9.7 K/9) but far too many walks (4.6 BB/9). Unlike many lefty relievers, Romero has been more effective against right-handed batters (.240/.325/.379) than he has against left-handed batters (.312/.392/.463).

Romero entered the season with just over two years of Major League service time, so if he can turn things around in Kansas City, he’ll be a controllable bullpen piece for the Royals through the 2021 season. He’d be eligible for arbitration this winter. Romero is out of minor league options, however, so he’ll need to hold down a spot on the big league roster or else clear waivers before he can be sent to Triple-A.

Minor MLB Transactions: 7/5/18

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Here are Thursday’s minor moves from around the game…

  • Left-hander Tim Collins cleared waivers and has been assigned outright to Triple-A Syracuse by the Nationals organization, reports Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post (Twitter link). The southpaw had enough service time to reject the assignment in favor of free agency, but Janes adds that Collins will indeed go to Syracuse. The 28-year-old returned to the Majors for the first time since 2014 this season, having missed significant time due to a pair of Tommy John surgeries. He posted a 2.77 ERA that looks strong at first glance but was accompanied by 14 hits allowed and six walks against just eight strikeouts through 13 innings.
  • The Reds’ Rookie-level affiliate announced today that lefty Max Wotell has been released by the organization. The 21-year-old Wotell was traded alongside Dilson Herrera from the Mets to the Reds in exchange for Jay Bruce back in 2016, but his control evaporated immediately upon being dealt to the Reds. At the time of the swap, Wotell had a 3.94 ERA with a respectable 31-to-12 K/BB ratio in 29 2/3 innings in Rookie ball. He walked seven batters in six innings to close out that season with the Reds, and the following year, he walked 14 batters in just 17 1/3 innings between two levels. This season, Wotell had a combined 10.45 ERA with 17 walks against 11 strikeouts in 10 1/3 innings between A-ball and Rookie ball.

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