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Craig Stammen

Padres Designate Tayler Scott For Assignment, Activate Craig Stammen

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The Padres have announced a series of roster moves, with right-hander Craig Stammen reinstated from the 60-day injured list.  To create room on the active roster, righty Nabil Crismatt was optioned to Triple-A El Paso.  Right-hander Tayler Scott was designated for assignment to open a spot on the 40-man roster.

With Pierce Johnson and now Stammen coming off the 60-day IL in consecutive days, the Padres have bolstered their relief corps with a pair of solid right-handers.  For Stammen, he last pitched on July 4 before right shoulder inflammation led to an extended stint on the sidelines.

Now in his sixth season with the Padres, Stammen was delivering his usual solid work at the time of his injury.  The righty has a 3.34 ERA/3.27 SIERA over 32 1/3 innings, with a 51.5% grounder rate and an elite 3.6% walk rate.

Scott posted a 6.75 ERA over 12 innings for San Diego after his minor league deal was initially selected to the active roster in July.  This marked Scott’s first MLB action since 2019, as he has spent the last two seasons pitching in Japan for the Hiroshima Carp.  The righty has been on the 15-day IL since mid-August due to a finger laceration, so the Padres first had to activate Scott from the injured list before designating him for assignment.

Padres Place Craig Stammen On 15-Day IL, Dinelson Lamet Recalled

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The Padres placed right-hander Craig Stammen on the 15-day injured list due to right shoulder inflammation.  (The placement is retroactive to July 6.)  Righty Dinelson Lamet has been called up from Triple-A to take Stammen’s place on the active roster.

A fixture in San Diego’s bullpen for the last six seasons, Stammen is having another good year, with a 3.34 ERA/3.25 SIERA over 32 1/3 innings.  The home run ball has been a bit more of an issue for Stammen this season, yet the 38-year-old is still generating plenty of outs thanks to a lot of soft contact, a 51.5% grounder rate, and his typically excellent control.  Stammen’s 3.6% walk rate is in the 97th percentile of all pitchers, and he has been in at least the 91st percentile in each of the last five seasons.

With Steven Wilson, Robert Suarez, and now Stammen all on the 15-day IL, the Padres have lost some key arms from what has been a very solid relief corps.  None of the injuries are thought to be overly serious at this point, and Wilson and Suarez are already throwing bullpen sessions.

However, there is an opportunity for Lamet to re-establish himself as a player to watch.  A fourth-place finisher in NL Cy Young Award balloting in 2020, Lamet has struggled to stay healthy, and now may be ticketed for bullpen work in an attempt to avoid further IL trips.  Working only as a reliever this season, Lamet has a 9.72 ERA over 8 1/3 innings in the big leagues, but he has looked sharper in minor league action.

Given the close proximity to the trade deadline, Lamet’s recall might also be the Padres’ way of showcasing the righty to potential trade suitors.  San Diego was known to be discussing Lamet with other teams earlier this year, perhaps as a way of giving the Padres a bit of extra luxury-tax breathing room.

Padres Announce Several Option Decisions

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The Padres have announced that they exercised their club options over right-handed relievers Pierce Johnson and Craig Stammen for the 2022 season. Johnson will be retained for $3MM while Stammen will return on a $4MM salary.

While the two relievers offer differing skillsets, it was an easy call to hold onto both players for similar salaries. In 2021 Johnson posted a solid 3.22 ERA and again mystified the opposition with a 31.6% strikeout percentage that ranks as firmly above average. While the right-hander gives up too many free passes (11.1 BB%) and doesn’t induce many groundballs (33.3 GB%) he has proven adept at avoiding home runs when opponents are actually able to put the ball in play against him.

Stammen, meanwhile, rebounded nicely from an uncharacteristically poor 2020 season where he sported a 5.63 ERA after 24 innings. It’s worth noting that his performance there was impacted by some bad BABIP luck, as the durable reliever’s underlying peripherals largely resemble this year’s successful campaign. Regardless, this recent season saw the BABIP pendulum swing the other way while Stammen’s strikeout rate ticked upward and his 55.1% groundball rate remained typically robust. The 38-year-old will look to replicate this year’s 3.06 ERA next season in what will be his sixth season of a very strong Padres tenure.

They’ve also declined their options over right-handed reliever Keone Kela and outfielder Jake Marisnick. San Diego could have paid Kela $800K and Marisnick $4MM to stay aboard next season, but clearly felt between their respective injury and underperformance neither was worth the entirety of that investment. Marisnick will receive a $500k buyout before heading to free agency.

The Kela decision registers as the greater surprise here, as a strikeout-happy reliever with a career 3.33 ERA on its face seems like a bargain with a sub-$1MM price tag. Still, the 28-year-old is recovering from Tommy John surgery and wasn’t thought to be available until midway through next season. After tallying just 42 1/3 innings over the past three seasons, and some declining bottom-line results, the Padres clearly didn’t feel the fiery right-hander was worth the half-season gamble.

Marisnick, meanwhile, was a no-brainer to have his option declined after an ill-fated midseason deal with the Cubs landed him on the west coast. As a glove-first, center field-capable player Marisnick provided adequate production at the plate in Chicago, delivering a .731 OPS. That number cratered following the trade however, as a subsequent .472 OPS contributed to the Padres year-end skid and negated a good deal of the value Marisnick had built for himself earlier in the year.

Additionally, the team confirmed that utility-man Jurickson Profar has exercised his $7.3MM player option for the upcoming season while right-handed closer Mark Melancon has declined his $5MM player option in favor of a $1MM buyout and trip to free agency. The result of both player options are largely formalities at this point, considering the platform years both players posted.

By measure of bWAR Profar was the definition of a replacement-level player in 2021. The one-time top prospect bounced around five positions and upped his walk-rate to a cool 11.9% across 137 games. Unfortunately, that versatility was undercut by generally poor reviews of Profar’s glovework across 4 of his 5 positions. Furthermore, an inability to hit the ball with much authority meant those 137 games worth of plate appearances led to a punchless .227/.329/.320 slash line. Profar will look to tap into some of the upside that he’s shown flashes of throughout his career before making a call on next year’s $8.3MM player option.

Lastly, the 36-year-old Melancon proved to be one of last offseason’s thriftiest pickups. In return for a $3MM guarantee the veteran gave the Padres outstanding production at the back of their bullpen, leading the league with 39 saves in his fifth All-Star campaign. Some batted ball luck worked in Melancon’s favor this season, suggesting his 2.23 ERA is due for some regression, but a very strong groundball and home run rate— plus a spike in strikeout rate from last season— indicate that Melancon remains a plenty serviceable option as a high leverage reliever.

Padres Re-Sign Craig Stammen

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JANUARY 17: The Padres have announced the deal.

JANUARY 4: The Padres have agreed to a multi-year contract with free-agent righty Craig Stammen, reports Robert Murray. It’s a two-year deal that will guarantee Stammen $9MM through the 2021 season with a team option for a third year, according to The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal. If exercised, that $4MM option would raise Stammen’s earnings to a total of $12MM over three years—otherwise, he’ll collect a $1MM buyout. The deal, pending a physical, also includes $500K in yearly incentives (Twitter link), bringing the overall potential payout to $13.5MM. Stammen is represented by Paragon Sports International.

Stammen, 35, has spent the last three seasons with San Diego and has been an indispensable piece in a solid bullpen unit, with the Padres relying heavily on his right arm in the late innings: his 241 1/3 innings pitched since 2017 are the second most among all relievers during that span, with only Yusmeiro Petit pitching more in relief.

Not only has he been durable, but Stammen has quietly been one of the best bullpen arms in baseball since joining the Padres, posting a 3.06 ERA with the team; Fangraphs’ WAR metric ranks him as the 36th-best reliever over the last three years. He has served as a stellar second fiddle to relief ace Kirby Yates, with the pair anchoring a bullpen that was among the best in the National League in 2019.

Last year, Stammen notched a 3.29 ERA (4.12 FIP) in 82 innings for the Friars, striking out 73 batters and walking just 15. He’s proven to excel at preventing bases on balls, but he’s had some trouble preventing home runs, with opponents averaging 1.4 HR/9 against him. Not surprisingly, his best season came in 2018 when he allowed just three homers all year, but that was buoyed by a perhaps abnormally low 4.9% HR/FB rate.

The San Diego bullpen looks to once again receive top marks in 2020, with Stammen and Yates returning and free-agent signee Drew Pomeranz adding a solid lefty to the late-inning blueprint. There are a couple of wild cards in the mix, but the likes of Pierce Johnson, Matt Strahm, and Andres Muñoz have the potential to alleviate the workload of the high-leverage arms. If the offense, bolstered by Tommy Pham and (fingers crossed) a full year of Fernando Tatis Jr., can take a leap forward, one hopes that the likes of Yates and Stammen will more often be put in a winning position.

Stammen will play the 2020 season at age 36, so while he will no doubt remain a key cog in that San Diego ’pen, it’s reasonable to expect a slightly lighter workload for the veteran moving forward. He missed nearly all of 2015 with an elbow injury, but he’s quelled any lingering concerns about his durability with a weighty role in recent years. His new contract falls right about in line with the two-year, $10MM deal MLBTR projected for Stammen at the beginning of the offseason, and he’ll of course have the chance to tack on another year if he can keep up his current production.

FA Rumors: Ozuna, Braves, J. Castro, Stammen, Peraza, Grandy

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The Braves are interested in free-agent outfielder Marcell Ozuna, Jon Morosi of MLB.com tweets. This isn’t the first connection between the sides, as Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported last month that the Braves were one of the clubs in on Ozuna. Now, though, it seems the Braves are willing to aggressively pursue the 29-year-old qualifying offer recipient. In the event third baseman Josh Donaldson leaves Atlanta for another team, the Braves would regard Ozuna as a viable fallback option, Morosi suggests. MLBTR predicts Ozuna will reel in a three-year, $45MM guarantee, and if he lands anywhere near that neighborhood, he should fall well short of Donaldson’s next contract. That said, replacing Donaldson’s bat with Ozuna’s would still leave a sizable hole at third base for the Braves.

Here’s the latest on several other free agents…

  • The Angels, Astros, and Rangers are among the organizations with interest in backstop Jason Castro, per MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand (via Twitter). With Yasmani Grandal and Travis d’Arnaud off the market, the 32-year-old Castro could be the best catcher left on the board. The pitch-framing savant’s coming off a strong season in Minnesota, where he batted .232/.332/.435 in 275 plate appearances and earned positive grades in Baseball Prospectus’ Fielding Runs Above Average metric.
  • Several teams appear to be in the market for reliever Craig Stammen. The right-hander’s most recent team, the Padres, as well as the Astros, Diamondbacks, Reds, White Sox, Blue Jays and Cardinals have all expressed interest, per Morosi (Twitter links). Stammen, whom MLBTR projects for a two-year, $10MM guarantee, has put together a strong career divided between Washington and San Diego. The 35-year-old logged a 3.29 ERA with 8.01 K/9, 1.65 BB/9 and a 50.8 percent groundball rate in 82 innings last season as a Padre.
  • The Reds are one of the teams with interest in Japanese center fielder Shogo Akiyama, president of baseball operations Dick Williams revealed (via Bobby Nightengale of the Cincinnati Enquirer). Clubs have until Dec. 19 to sign Akiyama, who had an impressive run with the Seibu Lions from 2011-19. It’s unclear what a potential Reds-Akiyama union would mean for Nick Senzel, their starting center fielder last season. Senzel could perhaps move to the corner outfield, which does look like a need area for the Reds.
  • The Cardinals are interested in re-signing backup catcher Matt Wieters, according to general manager Michael Girsch (via Goold). Whether it’s Wieters or someone else, the team seems intent on adding a veteran to play behind Yadier Molina. Wieters could wind up in Oakland if he doesn’t go back to St. Louis, as Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports that the Athletics have shown interest in the 33-year-old to back up Sean Murphy. This is the second straight offseason in which Wieters has landed on the A’s radar.
  • The Orioles and Indians are two of the four teams that have shown interest in infielder Jose Peraza, per MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand (via Twitter). The Reds non-tendered Peraza last week on the heels of an unproductive season, but he’s only a year removed from a respectable showing. The 25-year-old’s also controllable via arbitration through 2022.
  • Although he hopes to play next season, there has been little interest in outfielder Curtis Granderson, Joel Sherman of the New York Post writes. The soon-to-be 39-year-old Granderson is a revered clubhouse presence who has enjoyed an outstanding career, but he’s a free agent at an inopportune time. Granderson struggled to a .183/.281/.356 line with minus-1.4 fWAR in 363 plate trips with the Marlins last season.

Deadline Day Bullpen Rumors: Padres, Diekman, Halos

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It’s a buyers’ market for bullpen help with just over two hours until the non-waiver trade deadline, as there’s a significant supply of arms thought to be available on the market. Here’s some of the latest chatter as contenders look to bolster their relief corps:

  • The Cubs had scouts on hand to watch the Padres — likely relievers Kirby Yates and Craig Stammen — last night, tweets Dennis Lin of The Athletic. Chicago was tied to Brad Ziegler recently but didn’t land the submariner, as he instead went to the D-backs recently. Lin’s colleague, Ken Rosenthal, tweets that the A’s also have interest in Stammen. Rosenthal also tweeted earlier today that the Pirates watched Yates before acquiring Keone Kela. The addition of Kela could take them out of that market, of course, but the Pirates could speculatively still be in the market for another arm. Both relievers are controlled beyond the 2018 season.
  • The Rangers have accelerated their efforts to move lefty reliever Jake Diekman, tweets Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News. Texas has already moved Cole Hamels, Jesse Chavez and Kela in the days leading up to the deadline, and Diekman represents perhaps the top remaining trade chip they have — certainly the top remaining rental, especially with Adrian Beltre unlikely to approve a deal. Fancred’s Jon Heyman tweeted recently that the Phillies have checked in on Diekman.
  • USA Today’s Bob Nightengale tweets that the Angels are drawing “serious interest” in lefty Jose Alvarez and Blake Parker, though as Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register pointed out earlier today, it’d be tough for the Halos to part with either controllable reliever (Twitter links). The Angels hope for better health and a return to contention in 2019, and each of Alvarez, Parker and Cam Bedrosian could factor prominently into those plans. Fletcher notes that perhaps the organization would be more apt to move one of those relievers if it meant landing a nar-MLB commodity at a thin position such as catcher.

Deadline Chatter: Beltre, Outfielders, Starters, Bucs/Friars, Romo

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Here are the latest rumors from around the game on the eve of the non-waiver trade deadline:

  • The Red Sox and Braves have each at least held talks with the Rangers on third baseman Adrian Beltre, per Evan Drellich of NBC Sports Boston and Morosi. It’s not at all clear, though, that either club is going to push hard enough to get Texas to move the veteran. Indeed, talks with Atlanta may already have sputtered, MLB.com’s TR Sullivan tweets. He adds that there is some indication the Red Sox aren’t actually all that inclined to go after Beltre, so much as the future Hall of Famer likes the idea of going back to Boston, and Rob Bradford of WEEI.com hears there’s not much of a connection between the clubs (Twitter link). In addition to other hurdles, Beltre’s no-trade rights present an obstacle. ESPN.com’s Jerry Crasnick notes on Twitter that Beltre may not wish to go somewhere if he isn’t going to receive regular playing time. In any event, to this point, Beltre has not been presented with any possible trades to consider, Joel Sherman of the New York Post tweets.
  • When it comes to rental outfielders, there aren’t a huge number of appealing options. But there are certainly some veterans drawing interest. The Yankees and Phillies have put out feelers on Curtis Granderson of the Blue Jays, per Morosi (Twitter link). Granderson isn’t the only notable name on the Phils’ radar, as Heyman connects the organization to the Mets and Jose Bautista, via Twitter. Meanwhile, the Marlins are still dangling outfielder Cameron Maybin, per Jon Heyman of Fancred (via Twitter). Among the clubs that are at least considering him are the Indians, Yankees, and Mariners.
  • Some of the most interesting potential trade candidates, of course, won’t end up going anywhere. Indications are that some top hurlers will stay at home. It does not appear that any rivals have made a real push to force the Mets to part with righty Jacob deGrom, per Jon Heyman of Fancred (on Twitter). Despite “some late action” on Noah Syndergaard, Andy Martino of SNY.tv tweets, it still seems there’s nothing brewing there. Meanwhile, the Orioles don’t appear to have been enthused with trade offers for top pitchers Kevin Gausman and Dylan Bundy (or their other controllable players), Heyman indicates in a tweet.
  • The Pirates and Padres appear to have quite a lot to talk about, as Ken Rosenthal and Rob Biertempfel of The Athletic report (in a tweet) that the Pittsburgh organization has “aggressively pursued” pitching from San Diego. It’s not evident which hurler the Bucs are eyeing, though Rosenthal suggests that veteran Craig Stammen could be a sensible target. Stammen and Kirby Yates appear to be the likeliest remaining trade chips in the Padres’ pen, owing to their quality output and relatively short remaining control rights (one year and two years, respectively).
  • While the present focus is on another member of the Rays pitching staff, reliever Sergio Romo is drawing quite a lot of looks, per Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times (via Twitter). Romo is affordable ($2.5MM salary), battle-tested in October, and still capable of getting outs in the majors at 35 years of age. Romo’s swinging-strike rate is down to 12.6%, his lowest since 2009, but he’s carrying a 3.69 ERA through 46 1/3 innings on the season.
  • If you’re looking for more reading, check out the latest column from Jerry Crasnick of ESPN.com. He runs through a variety of situations, including the Giants’ in-between position, the Twins’ struggles to market Brian Dozier, and more. Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports also has quite a bit of chatter in his latest column, some of which we’ve already highlighted on the site. Among other items of interest, Passan checks in on the Brewers’ efforts to find a starter, suggesting they are a prime suitor for Zach Wheeler of the Mets.

NL News & Rumors: Cueto, Padres, Maybin, Dodgers

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Giants right-hander Johnny Cueto missed two-plus months earlier this season on account of a a sprained pitching elbow. Now, less than a month after his return from the disabled list, Cueto may be headed back to the shelf. After making his fourth straight subpar start on Saturday, when he allowed four earned runs in as many innings in a loss to Milwaukee, the 32-year-old told Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area and other reporters that his elbow issues haven’t subsided. “I keep telling you guys and keep telling myself I’m fine, but in reality I’m not,” said Cueto, who will meet with doctors Sunday, per Pavlovic.

In the early stages of his DL stint in the spring, Cueto feared he’d require Tommy John surgery. That wasn’t the case then, but it’s now unclear whether he’ll continue to be able to avoid the procedure. Needless to say, elbow surgery would be a disastrous outcome for Cueto and the Giants, who signed him to a six-year, $130MM guarantee entering 2016. Cueto then racked up his third straight 200-inning season in the first year of the deal, during which he posted a 2.79 ERA across 219 2/3 frames, though injuries have beset him since then. He only tossed 147 1/3 innings of 4.52 ERA ball in 2017, and while Cueto has been much better at preventing runs this season (3.23 ERA), he has totaled just 53 frames and registered his highest FIP (4.71) since his rookie year in 2008.

More from the National League…

  • Padres relievers Craig Stammen and Kirby Yates have drawn attention from Red Sox scouts, Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe reports. Boston’s among many teams eyeing Stammen and Yates, it seems, as Dennis Lin of The Athletic (subscription required) relays that interest in the two pitchers is “significant.” That’s to be expected, as both Stammen and Yates have been tremendous this year and come with affordable team control. Stammen’s in the first season of a two-year, $4.5MM contract, while Yates is making a bit over $1.06MM and still has a couple of arbitration trips remaining. Trading one or both of them would continue a major bullpen makeover for the Padres, who sent relievers Brad Hand and Adam Cimber to the Indians for catcher prospect Francisco Mejia earlier this month.
  • Unsurprisingly, the rebuilding Marlins have made pending free-agent outfielder Cameron Maybin available for trade, according to George A. King III of the New York Post. Whether teams are interested in Maybin isn’t clear, but he has been useful for the Marlins this season after signing for $3.25MM during the winter. The 31-year-old has taken 284 plate appearances in 2018 and batted .250/.338/.339 with three home runs and eight stolen bases (though he has also been caught five times). Defensively, Maybin has seen time at all three outfield spots and shined overall, having recorded eight Defensive Runs Saved, a 4.7 Ultimate Zone Rating and five Outs Above Average.
  • The Dodgers plan to use left-hander Julio Urias as a relief weapon when he returns in the coming weeks, Andy McCullough of the Los Angeles Times tweets. In the meantime, the 21-year-old Urias is continuing to work back from June 2017 shoulder surgery, and the Dodgers “have no idea” what they’ll get from him when he rejoins them, McCullough writes. Before undergoing that serious procedure, Urias had been among the game’s highest-regarded young hurlers, particularly in 2016 – a 77-inning debut in which he pitched to a 3.39 ERA/3.16 FIP with 9.82 K/9 against 3.62 BB/9 over 18 appearances and 15 starts.

Trade Rumblings: Hand, Dodgers, Dozier, Heaney, Skaggs

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Though the Phillies lost out to the Dodgers in the Manny Machado sweepstakes, they’re far from done looking for upgrades to their ballclub. Dennis Lin of The Athletic tweets that the club is interested in Padres reliever Brad Hand. As Lin notes, there are certainly many other clubs in competition for the lefty’s services; he’s easily one of the most talented bullpen arms in the game. As one might expect, however, San Diego’s asking price for Hand remains very high, as he can be controlled through the 2021 season at a very reasonable cost. The Yankees, Indians and Cubs are among the other teams who’ve been connected to Hand, who owns a 3.03 ERA and 13.20 K/9 on the season.

More rumors and rumblings from around the league…

  • The Dodgers aren’t done yet, either, Bob Nightengale of USA Today Sports reports, as they’ll now pursue a reliever to help closer Kenley Jansen at the back end of their bullpen. It’s worth noting that Los Angeles will sit just a few million dollars below the luxury tax threshold following the acquisition of Machado, so any bullpen additions will likely come cheap, or send a player (such as Logan Forsythe) back to a trade partner in order to offset some of financial burden involved. In addition to Hand, Jeurys Familia, Zach Britton, Kirby Yates, Craig Stammen and Raisel Iglesias are just a few names who could be available.
  • Also in the aftermath of the Machado sweepstakes, the Brewers are left looking to acquire an infield upgrade. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports that they’re expected to explore trading for Twins second baseman Brian Dozier. With Minnesota all but out of the the AL Central race already and Dozier set to become a free agent at season’s end, he makes plenty of sense as a potential trade target for the Brewers, despite a down season so far. The Brewers are also expected to explore pitching upgrades, Rosenthal adds.
  • Also from Rosenthal, the Angels aren’t likely to trade young starters Andrew Heaney and Tyler Skaggs, despite previous reports that the club might consider doing so. The Angels see the two young southpaws as key components during a 2019 season in which they hope to contend. Rather, Rosenthal notes, the club is more interested in trading some of their relievers (he lists Jose Alvarez, Blake Parker, Cam Bedrosian and Justin Anderson), though they’d want a good enough return to justify giving up controllable players.

Trade Chatter: Machado, Tepera, Braves, Padres

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The Diamondbacks have once again checked in with the Orioles on Manny Machado, primarily as a matter of due diligence, tweets Jon Morosi of MLB.com. There’s little surprise there, given that the Snakes were oft-linked to Machado in the offseason and were reportedly one of the more interested parties in obtaining his services. Beyond that, Arizona has received limited offensive contributions from both the third base (.216/.313/.394) and shortstop (.232/.296/.442) positions so far in 2018. The D-backs are currently hanging onto a 1.5 game lead over the Dodgers in the NL West, and adding someone of Machado’s caliber would be reminiscent of last season’s J.D. Martinez acquisition, though Machado has more defensive value even with poor ratings at shortstop so far in 2018.

More trade talk from around the league…

  • Morosi also tweets that Blue Jays righty Ryan Tepera is generating trade interest. It stands to reason that virtually every player of even modest value on Toronto’s roster will draw inquiries, of course, considering that the team is 16 games out of first place in the AL East and is facing a similarly bleak outlook in the Wild Card standings. Morosi notes Tepera’s career-best K/9 rate in 2018, though in this instance, that hardly seems like a reason to expect his value to increase; Tepera’s 9.5 K/9 mark is only nominally higher than last year’s 9.4 K/9, and his overall 26.8 strikeout percentage compares favorably to last year’s 25.4 percent mark. Tepera has made modest gains across the board in terms of fastball velocity (95.3 mph), swinging-strike rate (13.9 percent) and chase rate (34.2 percent), but his greater appeal is simply one of club control. He’s arbitration-eligible for the first time this offseason and controlled cheaply through the 2021 season. Tepera will turn 31 this winter, which won’t enhance his appeal, but he’s a hard-thrower with a 3.27 ERA and 137 strikeouts against 51 walks in his past 132 MLB innings.
  • The Braves didn’t make a strong effort to acquire Kelvin Herrera before he was traded to the division-rival Nationals, tweets David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. While the Atlanta front office liked Herrera’s arm very much, O’Brien notes that assuming his remaining $4.4MM salary (which the Nats were willing to do) would’ve burned through the majority of the funds the team has available to upgrade via trade this summer. That would seem to suggest that the Braves may struggle to land any big-budget players as the non-waiver trade deadline approaches. Certainly, given the team’s place atop the NL East standings, they’ll look to improve to whatever extent possible, but it appears that finances will be a fairly notable factor in any moves the team does make.
  • There’s a widespread expectation that the Padres will sell some pieces this summer, but Dennis Lin of The Athletic (subscription link) takes a deeper look at a factor that could push the Friars into activity: the Rule 5 Draft. San Diego has more than a dozen prospects who’ll be Rule 5 eligible this offseason, Lin observes, which could create further motivation to open some spots on the 40-man by moving assets that are controlled beyond the 2018 season. Brad Hand, Kirby Yates and Craig Stammen all fit that bill and have all already drawn trade interest, Lin writes, and the Padres could also shop outfielders Hunter Renfroe and Travis Jankowski to other clubs as well. Lin speaks with general manager A.J. Preller at length about the upcoming roster crunch in a thorough look at some of the decisions the club will face in the not-too-distant future.
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