Headlines

Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Drew Storen

Phillies Release Drew Storen, Matt Szczur

By | at

The Phillies announced they have released right-handed reliever Drew Storen and outfielder Matt Szczur. Both were among a large group of veterans in camp on minor-league deals this spring.

Storen is most famous for his run with the Nationals, where he combined for a 3.02 ERA/3.09 FIP in 334 relief innings between 2010-15. He fell on tough times after leaving Washington and hasn’t seen big league action since suiting up with the 2017 Reds, partially due to Tommy John surgery.

Szczur, meanwhile, hit well in limited time with the Diamondbacks’ Triple-A affiliate in 2019. Unfortunately, that wasn’t enough to earn him another shot in the majors, where he logged a bit of time every season from 2014-18. The 30-year-old has a career .231/.312/.355 slash (81 wRC+) in 667 plate appearances.

Quick Hits: Rays, Franco, Gibbons, Phillies, Harper, Storen

By | at

Wander Franco has apparently heard some of the positive chatter around his game. MLB Insider Hector Gomez tweets that Franco fully expects to have $300MM in front of him within four years. Of course, baseball economics make that a somewhat suspect goal, as there’s a decent chance Franco will not be arbitration eligible yet in that timespan, and even if he were, the largest contract given out by the Rays is the six-year, $100MM deal given to Evan Longoria. It’s hard to imagine them tripling that high overnight. And yet, if there were a guy to prompt such spending, Franco might be the one. The Rays’ 19-year-old shortstop has a hit tool that scouts are raving about in no uncertain terms. The youngster hit an absurd .318/.390/.506 in Single A last season against competition an average of more than 3 years his elder. Franco’s on-field performance thus far certainly merits bawdy talk, and in an open market, there’s no telling how much Franco might earn today. While Franco’s stock continues to appreciate, let’s check in elsewhere around the league…

  • Former Blue Jays manager John Gibbons has been vocal about his desire to get back into a major league clubhouse. He hasn’t gotten much traction, however, despite efforts on his part to dispel certain assumptions about his managerial style. Gibbons doesn’t agree with his reputation around the league, which considers him an old-school type, non-adept with analytics and better-suited to a veteran clubhouse. He had reached out to a number of teams with openings this offseason, but couldn’t even secure himself an interview. Not until the Astros’ position became available, writes The Star’s Gregor Chisholm. The role ultimately went to Dusty Baker, returning Gibbons to his current role as a scout for the Braves. Gibbons will continue to reach out to clubs with managerial openings.
  • Drew Storen has been through a lot in his baseball life, from an undefeated high school season alongside teammate Lance Lynn, to anchoring the bullpen on early Nats contenders that featured a young Bryce Harper, to Tommy John surgery in 2017 that stuck his career in the mud, writes Jim Salisbury of NBC Sports Philadelphia. While in camp with the Phillies this spring, Storen had a couple of major takeaways. First was how much he enjoyed playing the game. Second was how much Harper has grown as a leader since his early days with the Nats. And third was that Storen actually had a pretty decent chance of making the team. Being released by the Royals last June lit a fire for Storen, reminding him the type of urgency and intention it would take to return to the big leagues. He went to work at Driveline in an effort to build his arm enough to make a major league bullpen. Storen looked good this spring, with a 3.60 ERA over 5 innings with 5 strikeouts and zero walks.

Phillies To Sign Drew Storen

By | at

The Phillies have inked reliever Drew Storen to a minors deal, Bob Nightengale of USA Today tweets. He’ll earn at the $750K level if he’s able to crack the MLB roster.

This is another comeback bid for the 32-year-old Storen, who wasn’t able to progress last year in a similar effort with the Royals. He hasn’t pitched in the majors since 2017, when he threw 54 2/3 innings of 4.45 ERA ball with the Reds.

You have to go back quite a bit farther to find a time when Storen was a high-quality reliever: 2015, his final year with the Nationals. When that season drew to a close, he had compiled 334 frames of 3.02 ERA ball with 8.6 K/9 and 2.6 BB/9.

While Storen’s tenure in D.C. was generally successful, it included quite a few ups and downs. And it came to an end on the heels of a disastrous late-2015 run for both him and the Nats. After a strong first half, Storen stumbled down the stretch after being replaced in the closer’s role by mid-season acquisition Jonathan Papelbon. (The ensuing spectacle of Papelbon assaulting young star Bryce Harper was as memorable as it was unwelcome.)

Storen ended up being shipped to the Blue Jays in the ensuing offseason. He struggled in Toronto but picked things up after a mid-season swap to the Mariners. The Reds gave him a $3MM contract but weren’t really rewarded for the investment, as Storen’s velocity decline increased. His 2017 campaign ended with Tommy John surgery and he hasn’t been back to full strength since.

Royals Release Drew Storen

By | at

The Royals have released right-handed reliever Drew Storen, according to Jeffrey Flanagan of MLB.com. Storen had been with the organization since it signed him to a minor league deal in February.

The Royals assigned Storen to the Double-A level in May, which was a sizable step forward in his rehab process from the Tommy John surgery he underwent as a Red in September 2017. However, the 31-year-old Storen then gave up nine earned runs on 15 hits and five walks (with 12 strikeouts) in 10 1/3 innings, which caused the Royals to get rid of him.

Storen, best known for his stint as a Nationals reliever from 2010-15, will now seek another big league organization. Also a former Mariner and Blue Jay, Storen has pitched to a 3.45 ERA/3.44 FIP with 8.52 K/9, 2.7 BB/9 and a 46.1 percent groundball rate in 440 1/3 innings at baseball’s highest level. Storen has also converted 99 of 123 save chances, though his days as a closer appear long gone.

Royals Assign Drew Storen To Double-A

By | at

Drew Storen’s comeback bid took another step forward this week, as the Royals have assigned him to Double-A Northwest Arkansas, per Paul Boyd of the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette (Twitter link). Storen, who signed a minor league contract back in February, opened the season building up arm strength in extended Spring Training with the Royals.

It’s been nearly 21 months since Storen set foot on a Major League mound. The longtime Nationals reliever spent the 2017 season with the Reds but made his final appearance on Sept. 1 that year, learning two weeks later that he would require Tommy John surgery. The timing of that procedure unsurprisingly wiped out his entire 2018 season and relegated interest in him to minor league offerings this past winter.

At his best, Storen sat near 95 mph with his fastball and demonstrated above-average swinging-strike, ground-ball and walk rates while serving as the Nationals’ closer. A former first-round draft pick, the now-31-year-old Storen owns a career 3.45 ERA with 99 saves, 8.5 K/9, 2.7 BB/9, 0.78 HR/9 and a 46.1 percent ground-ball rate. His results dropped off in 2016-17 in a pair of mediocre seasons split between the Blue Jays, Mariners and Reds, as his fastball experienced a precipitous decline (90.2 mph average in 2017).

It’ll be interesting to keep an eye on Storen’s progress and velocity as he begins to work at the minor league level. There’s ample space in the Kansas City bullpen should he either restore some of that lost life on his heater or simply demonstrate an ability to work with a diminished fastball. Despite strong showings from Scott Barlow, Jake Diekman and a revitalized Ian Kennedy, Royals relievers as a collective unit rank 25th in the Majors in ERA (4.98), 22nd in FIP (4.58) and 18th in xFIP (4.55).

Pitching Notes: Keuchel, A. Miller, Cards, Orioles, Royals

By | at

Left-hander Dallas Keuchel reportedly sought a six- to seven-year contract worth upward of $25MM per annum at the outset of the winter, which may explain why he’s still available a week into the regular season. Now, though, it appears Keuchel’s asking price has dropped significantly, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports hears (video link). An executive’s “under the impression” the 2015 AL Cy Young winner wants a one-year deal worth more than the $17.9MM qualifying offer he turned down from the Astros or a long-term contract at a lower salary, per Rosenthal. Nevertheless, there aren’t any signs that the 31-year-old is close to finding a team, and as Rosenthal points out, the longer Keuchel sits out, the more money he’ll give up on a prorated pact. Although Keuchel has been throwing 95-pitch sim games every five days as he waits for a contract, he still may not be ready to immediately step into a team’s rotation upon signing.

  • Southpaw Andrew Miller looks more like the second coming of Greg Holland than the savior the Cardinals’ bullpen was hoping for this season, Ben Frederickson of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch observes. Signed to a two-year, $25MM contract over the winter, Miller has given up six runs (four earned) on five hits (three homers) and four walks, with just two strikeouts, in his first 3 1/3 innings as a Cardinal, thereby mimicking the awful performance Holland registered last season after inking a one-year, $14MM deal. While it’s clear Miller has looked nothing like the dominant force he was with the Red Sox, Orioles, Yankees and Indians from 2012-17, it’s obviously far too soon to write him off as a bust. Fortunately, both Miller and Cardinals president of baseball operations John Mozeliak insist the 33-year-old is healthy after knee, hamstring and shoulder injuries plagued him in Cleveland last season.
  • Right-hander Nate Karns began the season in the Orioles’ rotation, but he’s now shifting to their bullpen on a full-time basis in favor of lefty John Means, Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com writes. Means may not be long for the starting five, however, considering the just-signed Dan Straily figures to head to the rotation in short order. A starter in 56 of 66 career appearances, Karns made his first relief appearance of the season Saturday against the Yankees, who collected three hits off him in just a third of an inning. The 31-year-old Karns made two starts before that, though he functioned as an opener in both outings and didn’t go past the two-inning mark in either. After recovering from 2017 thoracic outlet syndrome surgery, the journeyman joined the Orioles in free agency this past winter on an $800K contract.
  • It appears reliever Drew Storen is still far away from potentially joining the Royals’ bullpen, Jeffrey Flanagan of MLB.com tweets. Storen, who’s on his way back from 2017 Tommy John surgery, is currently building up arm strength in extended spring training. The 31-year-old signed a minors deal with the Royals in February, meaning he was never guaranteed to crack their bullpen. However, if the horrendous performance Kansas City’s relief corps has turned in thus far is any indication, Storen could get a chance in if he returns to health.

Royals To Sign Drew Storen

By | at

The Royals have announced a minor-league deal with veteran righty Drew Storen, as Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic first reported (via Twitter). He’ll earn at a $1.25MM level if he makes it to the majors, per Jon Heyman of MLB Network (via Twitter), with $900K in incentives also available, per MLB.com’s Jeffrey Flanagan (Twitter link).

The deal includes an invite to participate in MLB camp. It also allows Storen to opt out on March 25th if he has not been added to the 40-man roster, Flanagan adds on Twitter.

Storen is still working back from Tommy John surgery, which he underwent in September of 2017. He missed all of the ensuing campaign. Now, nearly a year and a half removed from the procedure, Storen will look to get back on track.

There’s more than just health to overcome for the former first-round pick, who’s now 31 years of age. Storen hasn’t been effective since wrapping up his time with the Nationals, a six-year run in which he threw 334 innings of 3.02 ERA ball with 8.6 K/9 against 2.6 BB/9. In the following two seasons, he managed only a 4.82 ERA in 106 1/3 innings.

The biggest change over the years has been a precipitous drop in velocity. While he once sat in the mid-nineties with his pair of fastballs, Storen dropped about 2 mph between 2015 and 2016 and did so again in the ensuing season. That led him to move away from his four-seamer in favor of his sinker, change and slider. While Storen was able to generate grounders on about half of the balls put in play against him in 2016 and 2017, he also lost swinging strikes and allowed more long balls. Without the threat of his full-throated heater to keep hitters honest, Storen got far fewer swings and misses on pitches out of the zone and coughed up a career-high 3.8 walks per nine in his most recent campaign.

Quick Hits: Arenado, Int’l Prospects, Jones, CarGo, Bauer, Storen, Marlins

By | at

Nolan Arenado’s extension talks with the Rockies could create a big impact around baseball, MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand writes in an exploration of both the short-term and long-term effects of an Arenado deal.  Most obviously, an extension would remove arguably the biggest name from the 2019-20 free agent class, which would be a boon to other stars who will be hitting the open market — in particular, Anthony Rendon would see his biggest competition in the third base market disappear.  (Of course, Rendon could also ink his own long-term deal to stay with the Nationals.)  More immediately, an Arenado extension could also set a new benchmark for Bryce Harper and Manny Machado, should Arenado and the Rockies come to an agreement before Harper or Machado land contracts this winter.

Some stray items from around baseball as we head into the new week…

  • Ten of the top names available in the 2019-20 international signing market are profiled by Baseball America’s Ben Badler, all of whom have teams already unofficially attached to their services even though the market doesn’t properly open until July 2.  Dominican outfielder Jasson Dominguez and Dominican shortstop Robert Puason are projected for the highest bonuses, each expected to land something around $5MM, with Dominguez linked to the Yankees and Puason connected to the Athletics.
  • While the Indians are still looking for outfield help, the team isn’t currently “aggressively pursuing” Adam Jones or Carlos Gonzalez, MLB.com’s Jon Paul Morosi reports.  Both veterans were only moderately productive in 2018, both with below-average offensive numbers (as per wRC+) and Jones with some of the worst defensive metrics (minus-18 Defensive Runs Saved, -14.8 UZR/150) of any center fielder in baseball.  That said, both players could still represent an upgrade for Cleveland’s shaky outfield, though it appears the Tribe is checking other options for now.
  • Trevor Bauer’s arbitration hearing took place on Friday, Cleveland.com’s Paul Hoynes reports, so details should soon emerge about the outcome.  There was a $2MM gap between Bauer and the Indians in exchanged figures, as Bauer’s camp is looking for a $13MM salary in 2019 and the team is aiming for an $11MM salary.  This will be the second arb hearing in as many years between the two sides, as Bauer defeated the Tribe in the hearing last winter to land his desired $6.525MM salary for the 2018 season.  Like Kluber, Bauer has also been a major figure in trade rumors this offseason.  He has one less year of team control than Kluber and a less-extensive track record, though Bauer is also almost five years younger than his rotation mate.
  • The Royals have interest in veteran righty Drew Storen, The Athletic’s Jayson Stark reports (Twitter link).  Storen didn’t pitch last season after undergoing Tommy John surgery in September 2017.  The 31-year-old was a key figure in the Nationals’ bullpen from 2010-15, though he suffered through a disastrous half-season stint with the Blue Jays in 2016 before righting the ship after a July trade to the Mariners.  Prior to his injury, Storen had a 4.45 ERA, 7.9 K/9, and 2.09 K/BB rate over 54 2/3 innings out of the Reds’ bullpen in 2017.  Storen won’t carry a heavy price tag as he makes his return from TJ surgery, making him a target for payroll-conscious Kansas City.
  • “Every trade, we’re trying to get back international money,” Marlins president of baseball operations Michael Hill told reporters, including Barry Jackson and Jordan McPherson of the Miami Herald.  It’s clear that the international market is a cornerstone of Miami’s rebuilding process, and the club has been successful in landing extra money for their int’l draft pool in recent trades with the Astros, Reds, Nationals, and (as part of the J.T. Realmuto trade package) Phillies.  These extra funds have already paid dividends, as the Marlins signed highly-touted Cuban brothers Victor Victor Mesa and Victor Mesa Jr. last October.

Drew Storen To Undergo Tommy John Surgery

By | at

Reds reliever Drew Storen will undergo Tommy John surgery, C. Trent Rosecrans of the Cincinnati Enquirer reports (on Twitter). A right elbow strain has prevented Storen from taking the mound since Sept. 1, which will go down as his final appearance of the year, and the injury led the Reds to place him on the disabled list a week ago.

In addition to ending his 2017 campaign early, the procedure is all but guaranteed to take Storen out of play for next season. The 30-year-old is due to hit free agency during the upcoming winter, but both the injury and his underwhelming production in recent seasons will work against him on the open market.

Storen, whom the Reds signed to a one-year, $3MM deal last January, pitched to a 4.45 ERA in 54 2/3 innings this season and posted some of the worst strikeout and walk rates of his career (7.9 K/9 and 3.79 BB/9). He also saw his velocity dip for the second straight year, which happened to be his second subpar season in a row. As a member of the Blue Jays and Mariners in 2016, Storen combined for 51 2/3 frames of 5.23 ERA ball. Only five qualified relievers have prevented runs at a worse rate than Storen’s 4.82 ERA over the past two years.

At his best, Storen was one of the game’s most effective relievers from 2010-15, when he worked as a setup man and a closer in Washington. Storen, whom the Nationals chose 10th overall in the 2009 draft, amassed 334 innings of 3.02 ERA pitching in D.C. and recorded 8.65 K/9 against 2.59 BB/9.

Trade Chatter: Iglesias, Reds, Royals, Asdrubal, Mariners, Dodgers, Astros

By | at

Though Raisel Iglesias’ name has somewhat frequently been mentioned on the rumor circuit, Reds general manager Dick Williams tells Zach Buchanan of the Cincinnati Enquirer that he’s not marketing his closer to other teams. That doesn’t mean that Williams won’t listen to offers on the 27-year-old, but the GM’s comments suggest that a trade isn’t especially likely “[I]f somebody really gave you an opportunity to improve your franchise, you’d have to consider it,” said Williams of listening to offers on Iglesias. “But I really like a lot of the pieces we have, and I see us not that far from being competitive if we can get some of these young pitchers to turn the corner. If I were to trade him, you’d want something back that could help us real soon.”

Some more trade chatter to kick off Thursday morning…

  • From that same piece, Williams tells Buchanan that he’s more open-minded when it comes to dealing impending free agents such as Zack Cozart, Drew Storen and recently injured Scott Feldman. The knee injury that landed Feldman on the disabled list seems particularly unfortunate, as Buchanan reports that the Reds had received trade interest in Feldman prior to that issue. His timetable for a return isn’t yet known. There’s technically time for him to be activated before the deadline if it proves to be short-term in nature, though one can imagine that most interested parties would prefer to see him make a start before moving forward with a trade. Buchanan also speculates on the possibility of a Tony Cingrani trade, noting that he’s pitching well and controlled for two more seasons, while Cincinnati has quite a few younger arms it’d like to take a look at in the ’pen.
  • The Royals are once again struggling, having dropped seven of their past 10 games, but ESPN’s Buster Olney hears that they’re not deviating from their course as deadline buyers. Kansas City has been hopeful of adding two “cost-efficient” starting pitchers and are also looking into adding a reliever. It’d take a total collapse between now and the deadline for the Royals to change course and sell off their impending free agents, Olney adds.
  • Olney also tweets that the Mets would improve their chances of finding a trade partner for Asdrubal Cabrera by playing him at third base. Rival evaluators are hopeful of seeing him at that position before making a determination, per Olney, and it now appears likely that the Mets will accommodate them. Newsday’s Marc Carig reports that Cabrera is set to begin taking grounders at the hot corner, and manager Terry Collins confirmed as much to Carig’s colleague, David Lennon (Twitter link).
  • The Mariners “appear willing” to trade outfield prospect Tyler O’Neill this summer, reports Bob Dutton of the Tacoma News Tribune. The 22-year-old O’Neill entered the season ranked among the game’s 50 or so best prospects on several notable lists (Baseball America, MLB.com, Baseball Prospectus) but got off to a poor start to the season in Triple-A. He’s recovered with a 1.127 OPS over his past 26 games to bring his batting line back up to a respectable .241/.326/.462, but Dutton notes that the emergence of Mitch Haniger and Ben Gamel has the M’s more open to a deal. Despite the presence of that duo, however, Seattle hasn’t shown an inclination to deal top organizational prospect Kyle Lewis.
  • ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick writes that the Dodgers and Astros have put themselves in such strong position that neither strongly needs to make a move prior to the trade deadline. However, both Dodgers president Andrew Friedman and Astros GM Jeff Luhnow are viewed as extremely opportunistic types and figure to look at ways to upgrade their roster anyhow. Crasnick classifies the Dodgers’ interest in Orioles closer Zach Britton as “legitimate” but notes that they’re a bit cautious due to his 2017 forearm issues. Ken Rosenthal wrote yesterday that L.A. is reluctant to part with prospects Alex Verdugo and Walker Buehler in trades, and Crasnick echoes that statement while also adding righty Yadier Alvarez to the list. While the three aren’t quite “untouchable,” none of the three seems especially likely to go. As for the Astros, they’ll continue looking for a starter that could join the playoff rotation behind Dallas Keuchel and Lance McCullers, though they, too, could look instead to a late-inning lefty like Britton or Detroit’s Justin Wilson.
Show all

MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

hide arrows scroll to top