The Indians designated third baseman Juan Uribe for assignment, according to an announcement from the team. The move clears a roster spot for new acquisition Brandon Guyer, acquired in a trade with the Rays today. Uribe, 37, posted a .206/.259/.332 line in 259 plate appearances for the Indians this year, tallying over 500 innings at the hot corner. The team had signed the beloved veteran to a $4MM free agent deal in February.
Relief Pitching Deadline Day Rumors
The market for relievers is always moving on deadline day, as teams look to add pen pieces that will bolster their depth down the stretch. Fernando Abad is off the board, having been traded to the Red Sox today. We’ll keep tabs on the remaining relievers here:
- The Orioles and Marlins are shopping for a low-end left-handed reliever, tweets Joel Sherman of the New York Post. Sherman feels the Braves’ Hunter Cervenka could be one such candidate, while ESPN’s Jayson Stark names Cervenka as a last-minute target for the Fish.
- Sherman also notes that the Rangers are among the teams looking at Braves righty Jim Johnson. The Braves have kicked around Johnson as well, tweets Marc Carig of Newsday, but nothing appears close.
- While they are also pursuing larger targets, the Giants have perused the second tier of the relief market, per ESPN.com’s Jerry Crasnick (Twitter link). While the top targets have perhaps mostly already been traded, San Francisco has scouted the Brewers’ strong group of relievers as well as increasingly valuable Rockies southpaw Boone Logan — though last we heard he may not be traded. Jeanmar Gomez of the Phillies is another name the Giants have checked, though he too isn’t sure to be dealt. And even as the Giants talk with the Rays on starter Matt Moore, the club has also watched right-handed swingman Erasmo Ramirez, per Crasnick.
- The Astros are kicking around some left-handed reliever options, ESPN.com’s Jerry Crasnick reports (Twitter links). That’s arguably the team’s biggest area of need. Some of the names mentioned include Logan and Jake McGee of the Rockies and the Brewers’ Will Smith — all of whom are at or near the remaining market for relief southpaws. It’s not immediately clear whether any are real options at this stage, as Crasnick notes that nothing has “materialized” to this point.
Indians Acquire Brandon Guyer
The Indians announced today that they’ve acquired outfielder Brandon Guyer from the Rays. Minor league outfielder Nathan Lukes is going to Tampa Bay, as is minor legaue right-hander Jhonleider Salinas.
Guyer, 30, will give the Rays a massive upgrade against left-handed pitching, as he’s crushed southpaws at a .344/.488/.594 clip in 82 plate appearances this season and has a career .283/.384/.464 slash when holding the platoon advantage. He can also provide manager Terry Francona with quite a bit of defensive versatility, as he’s capable of handling all three outfield positions. Guyer is earning $1.185MM this season and is arbitration eligible two more times before reaching the open market upon completion of the 2018 season.
Neither of the two names heading back to Tampa Bay in this deal cracked the midseason version of the Indians’ Top 30 prospects at MLB.com. Lukes, 22, recently moved up to Class-A Advanced after hitting .301/.375/.453 with five homers and 14 steals in 393 plate appearances in the Class-A Midwest League. The 20-year-old Salinas, meanwhile, has logged 30 innings in the Arizona Rookie League and compiled a 3.30 ERA with a 38-to-14 K/BB ratio in 30 innings of work.
Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times first reported that Guyer had been traded (via Twitter) and that Salinas was in the deal. FanRag’s Jon Heyman reported that Guyer was going to Cleveland and Lukes was part of the package.
Chris Sale Rumors: Deadline Day
There’s been rampant speculation on White Sox ace Chris Sale since mid-July reports that the South Siders would listen to offers on their ace. The asking price has been said to be staggering — as many as five highly regarded prospects/young MLB-ready players — but teams are of course intrigued by the possibility of adding a pitcher of Sale’s caliber that can be controlled through 2019 for about $41MM (including the remainder of this year’s salary).
We’ll house all of the day’s Sale news/rumors in this post and update as new info comes in…
- USA Today’s Bob Nightengale tweets that the White Sox are saying they’ll hang onto both Sale and Jose Quintana, barring a late dramatic change.
- Joel Sherman of the New York Post hears that the Red Sox aren’t actively discussing Sale with the White Sox (Twitter link).
Earlier Updates
- Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports tweets that the Red Sox are pushing the hardest of any team for Sale, but there’s no indication that a trade will acutally take place.
- The Red Sox and White Sox had some late-night talks pertaining to Sale, reports USA Today’s Bob Nightengale (on Twitter). Nightengale adds that if Sale is moved — and that is a huge “if,” it should be noted — the Red Sox and the Dodgers are likely destinations. Jon Paul Morosi said in appearance on the MLB Network this morning that he considers the Red Sox to be the likeliest destination for Sale, though a trade is very far from a sure thing.
- FanRag’s Jon Heyman tweets that the Red Sox have indeed talked to the White Sox on Sale recently, but Chicago is seeking “at least” four young players from Boston, including “three of [their] best.”
- Heyman wrote this morning that the Red Sox, Rangers and Dodgers are seen as three of the most likely landing spots in the event of a trade due to the strong farm systems and bulk of MLB-ready talent that each has to offer. However, he also tweeted earlier that the Rangers and White Sox haven’t spoken about Sale recently. Notably, the Rangers have been focused on other trade options, including Jonathan Lucroy.
Dodgers Acquire Josh Reddick, Rich Hill
The Dodges and A’s have officially struck a deal that will deliver Josh Reddick and Rich Hill to Los Angeles. In return, per reports, Oakland will pick up an appealing trio of young righties: Frankie Montas, Grant Holmes, and Jharel Cotton.
With the move, the Dodgers have filled two evident needs even as they seek to overtake the Giants in a tightly-contested NL West. With Andre Ethier a question mark and Clayton Kershaw still facing his own uncertainties, now was the time to strike. The move may also help free the team to deal away talented but struggling outfielder Yasiel Puig, who has increasingly seen his name churn through the rumor mill.
[Related: Updated Los Angeles Dodgers and Oakland Athletics Depth Charts]
Los Angeles chose to fill its desire for a left-handed-hitting corner outfielder and an added starter in a single stroke, and did it without paying for future years of control. Both Reddick and Hill are set to reach the open market after the season — which they’ll now do without any threat of a qualifying offer hanging over their heads. Neither is an expensive piece, but the Dodgers will presumably take over the rest of the contracts; Reddick is playing on a $6.575MM deal, while Hill’s free agent contract promises him $6MM for the season, leaving just over $4.3MM combined on the tab.
There’s an argument to be made that the Dodgers pulled in the two best pure rental pieces on the market. Reddick, 29, has improved upon already-strong results in the prior two seasons, running out a .296/.368/.449 slash over 272 plate appearances on the year. Though he doesn’t generally deliver huge counting stats, Reddick is usually good for double-digit home run and (occasionally) steal tallies, and is playing at that kind of pace again this year.
Reddick did miss time earlier in the year with a broken thumb, though that was suffered on a hit-by-pitch and he seems fully recovered. It should be noted that, while Reddick comes with a solid pedigree with the glove, defensive metrics aren’t as enamored of his work in right as they once were.
As for Hill, the injury concerns are slightly more present. He recovered from a groin strain, but is currently on the disabled list after a finger blister failed to recover as hoped. It is believed to be a minor issue, but Hill isn’t immediately available for the Dodgers — which possibly leaves added space for the team to chase another arm.
There were indications late yesterday that the A’s could be looking into a late-breaking extension with Hill to avoid trading him at a reduced rate. Instead, the team managed to create a package arrangement to maximize his value. In addition to the minor injury questions at present, Hill has dealt with durability issues in the past. And most notably, he hadn’t been a useful pitcher for quite some time before his sudden breakout at the tail end of 2015 with the Red Sox.
Oakland clearly made out well on the calculated gamble to sign Hill over the winter. Over his 76 frames on the year, he carries a 2.25 ERA with 10.7 K/9 and 3.3 BB/9 to go with a 50% groundball rate. Hill has allowed just 55 hits and two home runs in that span. He has obviously been quite difficult to square up despite relying most heavily on just two pitches — a four-seam fastball and curve, with a slider and change also mixed in.
That duo didn’t come cheaply, of course. Montas, Holmes, and Cotton have all been considered quality young hurlers for quite some time. While it’s not entirely clear that any or all will stick as starters in the majors, they possess quality arms and gobs of control that should serve Oakland for many years to come.
As things stand at present, Holmes probably rates at the top of the group at present. A first-round pick from the 2014 draft, Holmes has shown some swing and miss stuff and currently owns a 4.02 ERA with 8.5 K/9 vs. 3.7 BB/9 over 105 1/3 frames at the High-A level. He sits within the recent mid-season top-100 prospect rankings of Baseball America (#60) and MLB.com (#82).
Montas may well be rated even higher — BA has him at 82nd — but he has been limited by a rib problem for much of the season. He came over in the three-team Todd Frazier deal over the winter after briefly reaching the majors last year, and was impressive in his 16 frames on the year, but remains a bit of an injury question.
As for Cotton, it had seemed he was knocking on the door after streaking up the ranks of the Dodgers’ farm last year. But he has put up only a 4.90 ERA in his first full run at Triple-A. Still, he has racked up 11.0 K/9 against 3.0 BB/9 while allowing only 80 hits. Trouble is, 17 of those have gone for homers in the hitter-friendly PCL, but there’s good reason to believe that Cotton will be a major league contributor.
Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reported the swap via Twitter. Rosenthal (Twitter links) and Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports (in a tweet) detailed the prospect package.
Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Marlins Trade Colin Rea Back To Padres Following Elbow Injury
12:57pm: The Marlins announced that Rea has indeed been traded back to San Diego in exchange for Castillo. In essence, then, last Friday’s swap boils down to Miami acquiring Cashner and Guerrero in exchange for Cosart, Naylor and Capps.
12:52pm: The Marlins will be getting Castillo back from the Padres, tweets Rosenthal.
12:49pm: In a fairly stunning bit of news, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reports that the Marlins will send right-hander Colin Rea back to the Padres (links to Twitter). Rea left his Marlins debut with an elbow injury and was quickly placed on the 15-day disabled list with an elbow sprain. Yahoo’s Jeff Passan tweets that the Marlins were “absolutely livid” and felt as though they were traded damaged goods by the Padres. Rosenthal notes that the exact structuring of the deal isn’t exactly clear, but the Padres will effectively trade Rea back to San Diego in a separate deal and keep Andrew Cashner, who came to Miami along with Rea in Friday’s seven-player trade.
Rea fired off 3 1/3 shutout innings in his Marlins debut, allowing just a lone hit and no walks with four strikeouts before departing with the aforementioned elbow injury. It’s not clear precisely how Miami will be compensated in this instance, as the swap is virtually unprecedented in nature. The Marlins sent first base prospect Josh Naylor, hard-throwing Class-A righty Luis Castillo, injured reliever Carter Capps and right-hander Jarred Cosart to the Padres in that deal in exchange for Rea, Cashner and right-hander Tayron Guerrero.
Red Sox Acquire Fernando Abad
The Red Sox have struck a deal with the Twins to acquire left-handed reliever Fernando Abad in exchange for hard-throwing right-handed relief prospect Pat Light, the teams announced.
[Related: Updated Boston Red Sox Depth Chart]
Abad, 30, joined the Twins on a minor league deal this offseason and has performed quite well with Minnesota, pitching to a 2.65 ERA with 7.7 K/9, 3.7 BB/9 and a 45.2 percent ground-ball rate in 34 innings of work. He’s admitted to having been bothered by a minor back issue in early July/late June, but the medicals clearly checked out in this case. That’s perhaps not surprising, as Abad never landed on the disabled list and has been used frequently by the Twins as of late, suggesting that any such troubles are behind him.
Left-handers are batting a woeful .163/.192/.265 against Abad this season, so he’ll provide manager John Farrell with a legitimate weapon against lefty bats in late-game settings. And, while he’s been markedly worse against righties, Abad has held his own against opponents that hold the platoon advantage, limiting them to a .257/.360/.351 batting line. While the OBP is a concern there, he hasn’t allowed right-handed hitters to generate much power against him. Abad is earning $1.25MM this season and is under club control through the 2017 campaign via arbitration, so he represents more than just a rental pickup for president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski, who has now bolstered his roster with summer pickups of Aaron Hill, Drew Pomeranz, Brad Ziegler and Abad.
Light, 25, was the 37th overall pick in the 2012 draft and made his big league debut with Boston this season, tossing just 2 2/3 innings in a pair of relief appearances. Light was rocked for seven earned runs in that time but is a fairly well-regarded prospect within the Red Sox ranks, rating 10th on Baseball America’s midseason rankings and 14th on MLB.com’s same version of that list. Light’s fastball reaches triple digits on occasion and sits in the 94-98 mph range, per MLB.com’s report, and BA calls his fastball a “special” pitch. His control remains a work in progress, but MLB.com notes that the addition of an above-average splitter has helped his results take off in the minors. Light has a 2.32 ERA with 36 strikeouts in 31 innings at Triple-A this season but has also walked 17 hitters (one unintentional) in that time.
Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports first reported that the Red Sox were getting Abad. (Twitter link). Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer Press reported that the Twins were receiving Light in return (via Twitter).
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Latest On Joe Smith
The Cubs are discussing a trade with the Angels for reliever Joe Smith, tweets Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. The Cubs are considering other possibilities as well, according to Rosenthal. As you can see on our Cubs depth chart page, Theo Epstein and company have already augmented their bullpen with the acquisitions of Aroldis Chapman and Mike Montgomery, as well as the activation of veteran Joe Nathan.
In addition to the Cubs, the Angels are talking about Smith with two other teams, according to Rosenthal. He has previously been linked to the Mets, Indians, Mariners, and Cardinals. The 32-year-old righty has been OK this year, with a 3.82 ERA, 6.0 K/9, 3.1 BB/9, 0.96 HR/9, and 54.8% groundball rate in 37 2/3 innings. Smith has about $1.8MM remaining on his contract, after which he’ll be eligible for free agency.
Athletics Likely To Trade Rich Hill, Won’t Reach Extension
TODAY: Hill won’t reach a deal with the A’s on a new contract, Rosenthal tweets, making him likely to be dealt today.
YESTERDAY: The A’s are discussing an extension with left-hander Rich Hill while also discussing trade scenarios with other teams, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (Twitter link).
Hill has been one of the most talked-about names on the trade market all season long but has scarcely been able to pitch since late May due to a groin strain and, more recently, a blister on his left middle finger. The latter of those two maladies landed him on the disabled list yesterday, and while the stint is expected to be minimal, it does cast a shadow on the club’s ability to trade Hill. Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle characterized a Hill trade as a “long shot” today due to his placement on the disabled list, but she noted that the Blue Jays, Tigers, Dodgers and Orioles have all scouted Hill extensively (though Baltimore has reportedly struck a deal with the Mariners to acquire Wade Miley). The club would be happy to hang onto Hill even after tomorrow’s deadline she writes, adding that the club would consider a qualifying offer for Hill at season’s end. FOX’s Ken Rosenthal added the Astros, Rangers and Pirates to the list of clubs with interest in Hill (Twitter link).
That, of course, would represent a massive offer to a player that, prior to 2016, had never earned more than $1MM in a given MLB season. But, Hill has upped his game dating back to last September and pitched brilliantly thanks to an increased use of his curveball, pitching to a sterling 2.06 ERA with 10.8 K/9, 2.8 BB/9 and a near-50 percent ground-ball rate. Durability is a factor both in trade talks and extension talks, to be sure, but Hill’s recent results are difficult to ignore. Hill’s age figures to limit the length of any contract — more than two years would be a major surprise — but the fact that he hasn’t earned much in his career (relative to most of his peers) might actually play into Oakland’s favor, as any type of significant contract offer would figure to carry quite a bit of weight for Hill.
White Sox Interested In Yasiel Puig
The White Sox have interest in Dodgers outfielder Yasiel Puig, according to ESPN.com’s Buster Olney (via Twitter). Chicago had checked in on Puig over the winter but he wasn’t available at the time, per Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times (via Twitter), who says that’s quite the opposite at present.
Puig, 25, has undeniably had a down year on the field even as he is said to be improving in his attitude and approach. Though he remains a quality defender, Puig is running out a below-average batting line that falls well shy of the top-notch production he put up earlier in his career. He does remain controlled beyond the year, of course, though he can opt into arbitration — which means the cost of those years could float with his performance.
Those teams have reportedly at least engaged on Chicago’s top starters, Chris Sale and perhaps also Jose Quintana, though it’s entirely unclear at this point how the interest in Puig could relate. Indeed, Los Angeles could conceivably have interest in a variety of the South Siders’ players — including starter James Shields, closer David Robertson, outfielders Adam Eaton and Melky Cabrera, and third baseman Todd Frazier. To be clear, none of these players has been connected directly to Los Angeles; I’m pointing them out only because the trade possibilities seem wide open at present.