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Twins Interested In Retaining Fernando Rodney

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Considering the Twins are out of playoff contention and soon-to-be 42-year-old closer Fernando Rodney isn’t signed for guaranteed money past this season, he may be a logical August trade candidate. However, the Twins are interested in picking up Rodney’s option for 2019, according to the Star Tribune’s LaVelle E. Neal III, who writes that the team would only move him this month for “a very nice offer.”

Rodney is due another $1.3MM this year, which is an affordable figure, as Neal notes. Contenders in the market for relief help (perhaps including the Red Sox, who showed interest in Rodney last month) may claim him if he ends up on trade waivers, then, though the Twins aren’t in a position where they have to jettison the veteran. Rather, the Twins could retain Rodney this year and exercise their $4.25MM option over the right-hander in the offseason, as opposed to buying him out for $250K, and either keep him for next season or shop him over the winter.

When the Twins signed Rodney to a $4.5MM guarantee last December, they were coming off a playoff-bound campaign and had designs on another postseason trip in 2018. Eight months later, Minnesota has stumbled to a 50-58 record and a nine-game deficit in the AL Central, though its struggles haven’t exactly been Rodney’s fault. For the most part, Rodney has made good on his deal by pitching to a 3.24 ERA/3.91 FIP with 10.15 K/9, 3.89 BB/9 and a 44 percent groundball rate in 41 2/3 innings. Never the most trustworthy game-ending option, Rodney has saved 23 of 29 opportunities this year, giving the journeyman a 79 percent success rate that slightly trails his career mark (82 percent, 323 saves on 395 tries).

Should the Twins bring the hard-throwing Rodney back in 2019, it would give them one fewer area to address in the offseason. The Twins’ bullpen may nonetheless be a focal point for chief baseball officer Derek Falvey and general manager Thad Levine, though, given that the unit has posted the majors’ seventh-worst ERA in 2018. Minnesota’s relief corps has fared much better in terms of K/BB ratio (fifth) and fWAR (18th), though Ryan Pressly and Zach Duke played a role in that, and the team traded both hurlers prior to the non-waiver deadline on Tuesday. Thanks in part to those moves, Rodney clearly ranks as one of the best relievers who’s on track to return for the Twins next season.

Injury Notes: Snell, Dickerson, Fowler, Williams, Skaggs

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As expected, the Rays have activated left-hander Blake Snell to start tonight’s game against the White Sox. The first-time All-Star will be on a limited pitch count following a two-week DL stint for left shoulder fatigue. Following a trade of Chris Archer to the Pirates, Snell looks like the only reliable starter in a Rays rotation that continues to see relievers open games more often than the starters themselves. Snell’s pre-injury performance, of course, was phenomenal; his 2.27 ERA would be more than a run lower than his career best season.

Here are a few other disabled list transactions from around the league…

  • Pirates outfielder Corey Dickerson has been activated after a short stint on the disabled list; he’d been sidelined with a left hamstring strain. They’ll surely be glad to have him back after the club traded away notable outfield depth in the form of Austin Meadows at the July 31st deadline. While he’s active, Dickerson won’t be starting today’s game against the Cardinals (though he’ll presumably be available off the bench).
  • As expected after last night’s news, Cardinals outfielder Dexter Fowler will hit the DL after suffering a fractured foot. Fowler’s enduring a miserable season that’s by far his career worst; he’s managed to hit an absolutely wretched .180/.278/.298 across 334 plate appearances while playing middling outfield defense. Fangraphs rates him as being 1.2 wins below replacement level on the season after a 2.5 fWAR debut with the Cards last year.
  • Switch-hitting relief pitcher Taylor Williams is headed to the DL with right elbow soreness. It’s certainly bad news for a Brewers bullpen that’s seeing Corey Knebel struggle mightily of late. Williams has tossed 42 2/3 relief innings and managed to strike out 10.43 batters per nine innings, though he’s only managed to keep the ball on the ground 34.8% of the time and has walked a batter nearly every other inning on average. Williams is in the midst of his first full season in the majors after a 4 2/3 inning cup of coffee last year.
  • Angels hurler Tyler Skaggs is headed to the disabled list with a left adductor strain, the club has announced. Skaggs has described the injury as “extremely frustrating”, per Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register. He apparently sustained it during his last start. In his stead, the Angels have called up right-hander Taylor Cole. The Angels, of course, have already seen their rotation annihilated by injuries this year, with Garrett Richards, Shohei Ohtani, J.C. Ramirez and Matt Shoemaker among the affected starters.

Indians Pursued Ian Kinsler Trade

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Among many notes of interest in his deadline run-down (subscription link), Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic writes that the Indians made a run at Ian Kinsler before the Angels instead sent him to the Red Sox.

That move would have bumped incumbent second baseman Jason Kipnis into the outfield mix and perhaps precluded the Indians’ eventual acquisition of Leonys Martin. As things stand, the Cleveland organization still seems a plausible buyer of infield help on the August trade market (particularly considering Kipnis has hit a paltry .200/.217/.311 so far since the All-Star break), though they’re also likely to explore additional outfield upgrades as well.

With MVP candidate Jose Ramirez being a perfectly capable second baseman, the news that the Tribe pursued Kinsler implies that they might also be open to potential third base upgrades; the club was already known to be heavily in on Manny Machado before he was shipped to the Dodgers. That could include the likes of Josh Donaldson, should he return to health before the end of August. It’s worth noting that the Indians also have third baseman Yandy Diaz waiting in the minor-league wings, though his defense has a malignant impact on his value.

Then again, it could simply be that the Tribe saw Kinsler as a significant enough upgrade to pursue him ahead of most available outfield options. That being said, outside of Donaldson the outfield options who could potentially be had in August are far more interesting than any of the infield options who might clear waivers. Andrew McCutchen, Kole Calhoun and Avisail Garcia are some of the names who the Indians might be willing to pursue were they to stick with Kipnis at his natural position, though that’s simply my own speculation.

Rays Promote Brandon Lowe

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The Rays have officially promoted infielder Brandon Lowe to the major league roster, as Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times was first to report. Daniel Robertson has been placed on the DL to accommodate.

The 24-year-old Lowe is a homegrown product, having been selected by the Rays in the third round of 2015’s amateur draft. He’s dominated at every level of the minors since joining the organization, most recently posting a commanding .304/.380/.613 batting line at Triple-A with 14 homers in just 205 plate appearances. And while his 22.9% strikeout rate at that level is a bit high, it’s far from the levels of some of the power threats in today’s game. Overall, his performance was good for a 177 wRC+.

Baseball America ranked Lowe as the 16th-best prospect in a deep Rays farm system prior to the 2018 season, touting his above-average bat speed and penchant for being aggressive on pitches in the strike zone. At the midpoint of the season, MLB Pipeline has Lowe all the way up to ninth in the Tampa Bay organization. The publication raved about his hitting ability and “consistent pop to the gaps” with sneaky raw power and loads of patience. His ceiling will be limited by the likelihood that he becomes a solid yet unspectacular defender at second base.

Red Sox Place Ian Kinsler on DL, Pedroia To 60-Day DL

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The Red Sox have officially placed the recently-acquired Ian Kinsler on the disabled list and moved fellow second baseman Dustin Pedroia to the 60-day DL. Infielder Tony Renda has been added to the MLB roster to take Kinsler’s place.

Kinsler, of course, recently came to Boston by way of a July 30th transaction that sent a pair of minor leaguers to the Angels. The Red Sox also received about $1.83MM in the swap. The 36-year-old had already amassed four hits in just 11 plate appearances with the Red Sox and has enjoyed a strong season to date, accruing 2.1 fWAR across the 2018 season in part due to typically stellar defense.

It remains to be seen how the Sox plan to proceed in Kinsler’s absence. The “tight hamstring” probably won’t shelve the veteran for too long, but it’s not as though Boston has a host of capable keystone defenders. Following the removal of Kinsler from last night’s matchup, MVP candidate Mookie Betts shifted from the outfield to second base (his natural position, though one he hasn’t played since 2014).

As for Pedroia, it would appear that recent concerns were not without cause. Following offseason knee surgery, the veteran (and one of the long-time faces of the Red Sox franchise) hasn’t been able to make a clean comeback to the field. Of course, it’s worth mentioning that Pedroia has already been back on the disabled list for over 60 days, so this transfer won’t in and of itself affect his timetable to return to the field. Still, there’s been no word of any change to his status.

Padres Place Wil Myers On DL, Recall Franmil Reyes

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The Padres announced that they’ve placed outfielder Wil Myers on the 10-day disabled list with a “left foot contusion/bone bruise”, retroactive to yesterday. In his place, they’ve recalled fellow outfielder Franmil Reyes.

It’s been about six weeks since the club made the reverse transaction; that is to say, they activated Myers from the DL and optioned Reyes to Triple-A. Myers had been on the shelf with an oblique injury for about two months, and will now be out for a yet-to-be-determined amount of time.

There’s not a significant 2018 impact here for the 43-69 Padres, regardless of how long Myers is out. But it’s certainly a moral blow to a team that when 5-20 in July and hasn’t been able to find its footing in a tough NL West division that also features the Dodgers, Rockies, Diamondbacks and Giants. The silver lining is that a bone bruise probably won’t have a serious long-term impact on Myers’ ability to take the field, despite the fact that he’s got somewhat of an injury history.

For the time being it would seem as though Reyes will directly replace Myers in the outfield, with some combination of Travis Jankowski, Manuel Margot and Hunter Renfroe set to complete the picture. Reyes, for his part, has struggled to a .221/.270/.423 batting line in a small major-league sample so far, though he does come with a prolific power track record in Triple-A.

Greg Holland Rumors: Saturday

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Amidst the whirlwind of rumors and action leading up to the trade deadline, one notable transaction may have flown under the radar. After being released by the Cardinals, Greg Holland (he of a 7.92 ERA and as many walks as strikeouts) is officially a free agent and can be signed by any team… if they think he’s worth a roster spot.

Here’s the latest on the 2017 NL saves leader…

  • According to agent Scott Boras, Holland has “received five or six calls from teams” (h/t Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe). Of course, it’s not clear exactly what level of interest these teams might have in actually signing the right-hander, who can be added for just the pro-rated portion of the league minimum salary (leaving the Cardinals on the hook for the prorated portion of the one-year, $14MM contract they signed him to at the end of March).
  • Elsewhere in Boston media, Sean McAdam of the Boston Sports Journal reports that the Red Sox aren’t among the teams to have allegedly inquired on Holland. However, the club is “open to continuing to look at the relief market”, per McAdam. Boston’s bullpen has been one of the best in baseball so far this season, compiling a combined 3.35 ERA that ranks fifth-best in baseball thanks in part to excellent performances by Craig Kimbrel, Matt Barnes and Heath Hembree.

MLB Daily Roster Roundup: Matz, Miller, Pham, Pillar

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ROSTER MOVES BY TEAM
(August 3rd)

NATIONAL LEAGUE

—

AMERICAN LEAGUE

  • CLEVELAND INDIANS | Depth Chart
    • Activated from 60-Day DL: RP Andrew Miller
    • Designated for assignment: RP Zach McAllister
    • Injury news: OF Tyler Naquin is likely out for the remainder of the season after undergoing hip surgery. He is currently on the 10-Day DL.

—

FUTURE EXPECTED MOVES

Injury Notes: Deal Medicals, Matz, Devenski, Nicasio, Kinsler

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WEEI.com’s Rob Bradford took an interesting look at changes that have been made to the process of assessing health in trades. The 2016 Drew Pomeranz swap, and more particularly the fallout from it, sparked the development of a much more robust system for documenting and assessing medical matters. While thee’s obviously an advantage in enhancing the scrutiny, it also leads to what Bradford calls a “tremendously tedious process.”

Here’s the latest on some injury situations around the league:

  • The Mets announced today that they have placed lefty Steven Matz on the 10-day disabled list with a flexor pronator strain. That sounds a bit frightening, though indications are that it’s not a terribly concerning injury situation. Still, any arm troubles are somewhat more worrisome for a young hurler that has experienced so many already since his 2015 debut. Matz, who will be replaced on the active roster by right-hander Corey Oswalt, joins Phillip Evans on the shelf. The 25-year-old infielder suffered a non-displaced fracture of his tibia, though it is perhaps still possible he’ll be able to return to action this season.
  • The Astros have placed reliever Chris Devenski on the 10-day disabled list with left hamstring tightness, the club announced. He’ll be replaced on the active roster by southpaw Cionel Perez. Devenski had been cruising through another dominant season before he imploded very recently. Devenski had a 1.32 ERA as of July 1st, but has since allowed 13 earned runs in seven outings — including eight without recording an out over his past two appearances. Clearly, something isn’t quite right, so the ’Stros will give him a chance to get back to full health before the stretch run.
  • Also heading to the DL is Mariners righty Juan Nicasio, the team announced. He’ll be replaced by reliever Chasen Bradford. Knee problems have been an issue for the 31-year-old Nicasio this year. He’s now sporting a 6.00 ERA through 42 frames on the season, though he’s also carrying a sparkling 53:5 K/BB ratio.
  • Just-acquired Red Sox second baseman Ian Kinsler is likewise set to hit the DL after leaving tonight’s game with a tight hamstring, Bradford tweets. The seriousness isn’t yet apparent, but it doesn’t appear to be a major source of concern. Kinsler will be replaced for the time being by infielder Tony Renda.

Minor MLB Transactions: 8/3/18

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We’ll use this post to track the day’s minor moves:

  • The Athletics have outrighted right-hander Carlos Ramirez, who cleared waivers after being designated for assignment recently. Ramirez, 27, has allowed just eight earned runs on nine hits in his 25 MLB innings over the past two years. Of course, he also dished out nine free passes to go with only five strikeouts in 8 1/3 frames this season. Ramirez has spent most of his time of late in the upper minors. At Triple-A this year, in 32 1/3 innings with the A’s and Blue Jays organizations, Ramirez has worked to a 5.01 ERA with 9.2 K/9 against 5.6 BB/9.

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