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AL East Notes: Yankees, Headley, Blue Jays, Smith, Harvey, Britton

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Less than one-sixth of the season is in the books, but the Yankees already find themselves looking at a six-game gap in the AL East. GM Brian Cashman acknowledged that the start is concerning, telling Ken Davidoff of the New York Post that “we urgently need to stop the bleeding now.” But doing that is more a matter of minor adjustments and improvements than significant changes to the roster or field staff, the veteran executive suggests — at least for now. “We’ll continue to do the work necessary to put ourselves in position to succeed, and eventually that worm will turn. In the event things don’t turn I’m going to have to make it turn and be forced to do things that weren’t part of the game plan, whatever that would be,” Cashman said. “The best answer would come from this mix of players.”

  • Perhaps no Yankees player has scuffled as badly as third baseman Chase Headley, who has been among the worst regulars in baseball. In Cashman’s view, Headley isn’t so much a victim of batted ball luck as he is simply struggling to hit the ball with authority (as his lack of a single extra-base hit would suggest). “He’s getting his walks, and thank God for that because it would be worse [without them],” said Cashman. “He has not been able to impact the baseball like he’s capable of. We have problems all over, but … he’s definitely someone you can point to and say we have to figure it out. He’s struggling the most.” While Headley has dealt with back issues at times, Cashman says that’s “definitely not an issue” right now. Headley is in the second season of a four-year, $52MM free agent contract.
  • The Blue Jays are in better position than their division rivals from New York, but also have played beneath their high expectations in the early going. That doesn’t mean that manager John Gibbons is at risk, Jon Heyman of MLB Network tweets. Instead, Toronto’s new front office is focused on finding a way to improve the results from the bullpen, per Heyman. Gibbons is under contract through 2017 under a reworked deal he agreed to this winter.
  • The Red Sox are finally in position to call upon reliever Carson Smith, as he’s officially been activated from the DL. Smith has been expected to hold down a significant late-inning role since coming over this winter via trade, but first had to battle through a flexor strain. Boston will undoubtedly hope that Smith can avoid further elbow complications.
  • Orioles pitching prospect Hunter Harvey will be delayed yet again, Eduardo Encina of the Baltimore Sun reports, as he will undergo sports hernia surgery this week. Now, it’s not clear that Harvey will have a shot at making his next regular season, minor league appearance before passing the two-year anniversary of his last. Harvey is still just 21, and remains a highly-regarded prospect, but has yet to move past the Class A level due to a litany of injuries. He’s expected to begin working back to action in July.
  • Meanwhile, the Orioles got promising news on closer Zach Britton, as MLB.com’s Britt Ghiroli reports (via Twitter) that an MRI revealed no major cause for concern. The southpaw relief ace is hopeful that he’ll avoid the DL entirely after turning his ankle recently.

Quick Hits: Robinson, PEDs, Harvey

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Angels outfielder Shane Robinson has an upcoming opt-out, MLBTR has learned. On Monday, Robinson can request his release, and the Angels have to either promote to the big leagues or grant his request. Robinson was in camp this season with the Indians, but exercised an opt-out from his minor-league deal and signed with the Angels in late March. Since then, he’s hit .306/.348/.371 with Triple-A Salt Lake. The 31-year-old is a veteran of six big-league seasons, most recently hitting .250/.299/.322 while playing all three outfield positions for the Twins in 2015. Here’s more from around the league.

  • On FOX Sports today, Ken Rosenthal discussed players’ feelings on PEDs in the wake of the 80-game suspension to the Marlins’ Dee Gordon (video link). Rosenthal believes it is at least fairly likely that the next collective bargaining agreement will include stiffer PED penalties. He suggests, however, that it’s not likely those penalties will include voiding contracts, since the possibility of voided deals could raise suspicions about teams tampering with players who have albatross contracts — by, for example, putting something in a player’s drink to ensure he tests positive for PEDs.
  • 2013 Orioles first-round pick Hunter Harvey will see a specialist next week after having a setback in his recovery from a groin injury, according to reporters, including MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubatko. The injury isn’t healing as expected, and the team is concerned that there’s more going on than just groin discomfort — according to Dan Connolly of Baltimore Baseball, the specialist will try to determine whether Harvey actually has a sports hernia, in which case he will miss four to six weeks. Manager Buck Showalter does express optimism that Harvey will pitch this season. The 21-year-old Harvey hasn’t pitched since the middle of the 2014 campaign, when he was sidetracked by a strained flexor mass and then a fractured fibula. His pro career had previously been off to a terrific start, with a 2.87 ERA, 11.1 K/9 and 3.1 BB/9 in his first 113 innings in the low minors.

East Notes: Ozuna, Gordon, Francoeur, Mets, O’s, Castro

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Marlins center fielder Marcell Ozuna has enormous upside, assistant hitting coach Frank Menechino said in an interview today on MLB Network Radio on Sirius XM (audio link). Menechino noted that Ozuna’s early success came despite the fact that he was quite raw, explaining that he’s had to learn on the fly — even as expectations, contract considerations, and other pressures were converging. Ozuna, of course, has long been seen as a trade chip, although momentum seems to be shifting away from that scenario.

More from Miami and some other news from the eastern divisions:

  • The Marlins ought to make a long-term deal with Dee Gordon a priority, argues Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. After all, he suggests, his agents at Beverly Hills Sports Council might well try to argue that Gordon’s marquee accomplishments — leading the league in batting average, hits, and stolen bases while picking up a Gold Glove — support an outside-the-box arbitration payday. While MLBTR projects a $5.9MM salary in his second of four turns through arbitration, Gordon and his reps could always file for more and take their chances. Of course, as MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz explained in a recent podcast appearance (at about the 20-minute mark), Gordon’s meager home run and RBI tallies limit his arb-earning upside despite his other big numbers.
  • While the Marlins have been fairly quiet this winter, they are still looking to add some players. Jon Heyman tweets that the club has its eye on some right-handed bats, with Jeff Francoeur among them.
  • Mets GM Sandy Alderson and the rest of the organization’s leadership have managed to upset a segment of the team’s fans despite last year’s World Series run, writes Ken Davidoff of the New York Post. Of course, as Davidoff explains, appeasing a “populist” sentiment in the fanbase (as Alderson put it) with a big signing would hardly guarantee on-field success.
  • Young Orioles righties Hunter Harvey and Dylan Bundy are participating in minicamp and appear to be in good health, Roch Kubtako of MASNsports.com reports. Both have had very tough runs of bad luck, and certainly the organization will be holding its collective breath to see how they feel as they ramp up this spring.
  • Orioles skipper Buck Showalter said today that he could imagine slugger Chris Davis waiting to sign until late in camp, Jon Meoli of the Baltimore Sun reports. “That’s not surprising at all the way that camp does business,” Showalter said. “It wouldn’t surprise me if it went to February. It wouldn’t surprise me if it goes to March.” It’s probably not worth reading too much into those comments, since Showalter is obviously not privy to the specific strategy of Davis and his agent, Scott Boras. But his words do seem to hint at some frustration in the organization at the inability to achieve resolution one way or the other.
  • If the Yankees need someone to step in at third base for Chase Headley, the club could well turn to Starlin Castro, GM Brian Cashman suggested today. As Chad Jennings of the LoHud Yankees Blog writes, the newly-acquired infielder is still likely to spend most of his time at second, but his experience on the left side of the infield (almost entirely at short) could increase the team’s roster flexibility. Meanwhile, Cashman emphasized that Alex Rodriguez will not see time in the field.

Duquette, Showalter On Pitching, Davis, Machado, Harvey

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Orioles executive VP of baseball operations Dan Duquette and skipper Buck Showalter addressed the media together yesterday, as Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun reports. The pair is set to continue on for 2016, with Showalter explaining that both are committed to putting the club back in contention after a somewhat disappointing year.

Here are some more highlights;

  • Duquette talked about the club’s needs heading into the offseason, saying that “we need to focus on a stronger pitching staff.” As for whether the club can afford to upgrade its rotation and bring back slugger Chris Davis, he made no promises but left open the possibility: “I don’t know what the final market’s gonna be for Chris Davis, but having looked at some of the other contracts, it’s gonna be a lot of money. And we’re gonna have to weigh the competitiveness of the team and the need of the team to staff a strong pitching staff. I don’t know where the money’s going to end up, but we have enough resources in this market to field a competitive team and our aim is to do that again in ’16.”
  • Baltimore is assessing whether to make qualifying offers to Davis, Wei-Yin Chen, and Matt Wieters, per the report. “The qualifying offer is under consideration for all those players,” Duquette said. “The club has to decide that by the end of the World Series, so we’re currently working on that.” It still seems probable that all three will be recipients, though the backstop Wieters seems most likely to avoid the QO.
  • In terms of pursuing offensive additions, Duquette said the focus would be in acquiring players with good on-base skills.
  • While the Orioles would love to extend third baseman Manny Machado, Duquette says that pursuing a new deal with him is not atop the organization’s priority list, as Eduardo Encina of the Baltimore Sun reports. “It is heartening that Manny wants to play here, we’ve got him for three more years and that’s something we can consider in the offseason but I’ve got to tell you, we got a lot more work to do,” Duquette said. “We’ve got a lot more work to do and the fact that Manny’s gonna be here for the next three years under his current arrangement, doesn’t mean that’s a back-burner item, but we have a lot more urgent things to look at.”
  • Duquette also noted that he has had discussions with Machado’s reps in the past, but said that they “didn’t quite get to a deal.” It was wise of the O’s to try, because Machado’s combination of performance and age figure to make him exceedingly expensive to lock up, even after accounting for his somewhat worrying injury history.
  • Meanwhile, Duquette said that highly-regarded pitching prospect Hunter Harvey will not require surgery, at least for the time being. “The doctors are recommending based upon the healing they’ve seen, they’re recommending he continue to pitch,” said the club’s top baseball decisionmaker. “If he does throw four to six weeks from now and still has an issue, we can do the surgery then. But we’ve sent him to see several doctors and they’re all recommending he continue to throw.”

Injury Notes: Tulowitzki, Phegley, Harvey

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Here’s the latest injury related notes from around the league:

  • Blue Jays shortstop Troy Tulowitzki is making progress in his return from a cracked scapula, writes Jaime Ross of MLB.com. The 30-year-old is still a few days from learning his timeline for return. Initial estimates suggested he’d miss two to three weeks. He originally sustained the injury last Saturday. Tulowitzki reports that he can now lift his arm, but it’s unclear when he can begin baseball activities.
  • Athletics catcher Josh Phegley has a concussion, reports Chandler Rome of MLB.com. He sustained the freak injury yesterday during batting practice when a bat clipped the back of his head. Phegley was acquired by Oakland prior to the season as part of the Jeff Samardzija trade.
  • Orioles pitching prospect Hunter Harvey has been shut down with elbow discomfort, writes Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun. It’s a recurrence of an existing problem for the 20-year-old prospect. The club intends for him to visit Dr. James Andrews before setting a course of action, but the renowned surgeon is currently out of the country. Harvey entered the season as the second ranked prospect in the Orioles farm system per Kiley McDaniel of FanGraphs.

Dylan Bundy Shut Down Indefinitely

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Highly-regarded Orioles pitching prospect Dylan Bundy has been shut down indefinitely as he continues to deal with shoulder issues, manager Buck Showalter told reporters (press conference video and story via the Baltimore Sun). There is currently no schedule for the former fourth overall draft pick to return to action.

Bundy reached the majors briefly in his first full season as a pro at just 19 years of age, and entered the 2013 campaign rated as the game’s second best overall prospect. But he never threw a competitive pitch that season and ultimately required Tommy John surgery.

More recently, elbow issues have given way to shoulder concerns for the 22-year-old. Bundy experienced soreness about a month ago while working at Double-A and has not pitched since.

As the Sun’s Dan Connolly reports (links to Twitter), famed surgeon Dr. James Andrews found evidence of calcification in the back area of the shoulder. The incomparably experienced Andrews indicated to Bundy that he’d never before observed that type of calcium buildup in that area. Per the report, the calcium accumulation should at some point no longer cause pain, but Bundy will need to wait until then to get back on the mound.

That makes for an uncertain timeline. “Dylan throwing again is not imminent,” said Showalter. Details of Bundy’s path back to action remain sketchy, as Showalter explained that he’ll be “just kind of shut down for the near future, for a while, [to] kind of let everything calm down [and] see where we are. … He won’t be throwing for a little while, we’ll see how long that is.”

The latest medical evaluations may actually not be entirely negative, the skipper suggested, as he noted that he has not “heard surgery mentioned” as a possibility. Bundy himself added that there is no current thought that a surgical procedure will be necessary, as Connolly tweets. While Bundy says he hopes to be able to pitch again this year, he adds that a return that swift seems unlikely.

Notably, because Bundy signed a major league deal out of the draft (as is no longer permitted), he has already burned through all of his option years despite just one big league call-up, Connolly notes on Twitter. That obviously could complicate the team’s ability to retain him if he is not ready to contribute at the big league level come next spring.

Meanwhile, Showalter also noted that former first-round pick Matt Hobgood will need shoulder surgery. Hobgood, 24, went fifth overall back in 2009, but has never been able to harness his potential. He owns a 4.98 ERA over 325 career innings in the minors and has been working as a reliever over recent seasons.

Baltimore did get somewhat more promising news on another young arm, Hunter Harvey. Showalter said that the 20-year-old right-hander will soon begin a throwing program after being diagnosed with a flexor mass strain in his forearm earlier in the year. Harvey entered the season as a consensus top-100 prospect.

AL East Notes: Kelly, Cueto, Whitley, Harvey

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Red Sox righty Joe Kelly had the luxury of having Yadier Molina call his games with the Cardinals, yet Kelly is now having to manage his own games, WEEI.com’s Rob Bradford.  Kelly has gotten off to a rough start in Boston, and he admits “my stats don’t show, but I feel like I’m better at” reading situations and recognizing what pitches to throw at the right times.  Here’s some more from around the AL East…

  • Twenty scouts were in Cincinnati to watch Johnny Cueto’s start tonight, Hal McCoy of the Dayton Daily News reports.  The group included high-ranking evaluators from the Blue Jays and Padres.  Cueto delivered another impressive start (7 IP, 2 ER, 5 H, 3 BB, 9 K) for his audience in a no-decision in the Reds’ 4-3 victory over the Giants.
  • Yankees right-hander Chase Whitley left tonight’s game after just 1 2/3 innings due to an elbow injury.  Whitley will undergo an MRI tomorrow and he told reporters (including Chad Jennings of the LoHud Yankees blog) that he has been coping with the injury for a while but hadn’t told the club about it until tonight.
  • Orioles prospect Hunter Harvey will visit Dr. James Andrews next week in regards to his injured right elbow, Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun reports.  Harvey underwent an MRI yesterday and O’s executive VP Dan Duquette said the club believes the injury is a flexor mass strain in Harvey’s right forearm.  Duquette is hopeful the injury won’t require surgery and Harvey can return to action this season after a rest period, though these plans will likely change if Andrews disagrees with the initial diagnosis.  Harvey, the 22nd overall pick of the 2013 draft, drew high placements in preseason prospect rankings from ESPN’s Keith Law (16th), MLB.com (41st) and Baseball America (68th).
  • The Orioles have ten players scheduled for free agency this winter, and if MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubatko were to set an over/under of three players re-signed by the team, he would “take the under if pressed to wager today.”  The free agent trio represented by Scott Boras (Wei-Yin Chen, Chris Davis and Matt Wieters) may potentially be the likeliest to depart, and Kubatko says “you’ll find plenty of people in the industry, and at least a few in the Orioles organization, who are making that assumption.”  Kubatko does stress that it’s still far too early to guess with any certainty about who could be leaving or staying, however — in Wieters’ case, for instance, he has yet to even hit the field this season.

AL Notes: Iwakuma, Masterson, Red Sox, Harvey

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Mariners righty Hisashi Iwakuma has been shut down for ten days to two weeks after experiencing continued upper back tightness, Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times reports. “He’s going to be pushed back, so to speak,” said manager Lloyd McClendon. “His rehab has not gone as well as we thought it would have gone. He’s still experiencing some stiffness.” The longer Iwakuma is delayed, the more it begins to look like another arm might be a trade deadline consideration for Seattle.

  • Meanwhile, the Red Sox rotation woes worsened last night with a rough outing for Justin Masterson. As Gordon Edes of ESPNBoston.com reports, manager John Farrell indicated that there is cause to believe there is more to be concerned with than the poor results. “The last two times out for Justin have not been anywhere close to what he’s shown this year — set aside prior to the start of 2015,” said Farrell. “Clearly, he’s not right. Whether that’s physical, whether that’s delivery-wise, the ball is not coming out of his hand as he’s shown the better part of the year. We’ve got to gather information, we’ve got to check on him in the morning, get a full workup, get a better assessment of where things are.”
  • Of course, it’s far from clear that there is any realistic possibility of an outside addition to the Red Sox staff in the immediate future. As Alex Speier of the Boston Globe explains, utilizing the MLBTR Transaction Tracker, history teaches that starters (at least, impactful ones) are rarely dealt in the season’s first two months. Regardless, the club figures to be at or near a breaking point with its current starting five, and it would be surprising if internal replacements — Eduardo Rodriguez, most interesting among them — are not at least given a chance as the summer draws near.
  • The Orioles are holding their breath after 20-year-old prospect Hunter Harvey left an outing with elbow tightness, as Eduardo Encina of the Baltimore Sun reports. The rising Harvey, who is coming back from a shin fracture suffered this spring, already was shut down late last year with some elbow concerns and now is set for an MRI. His health and progress is critical to the organization, particularly with Dylan Bundy dealing with his own elbow problems and with the aforementioned Rodriguez shipped out at last year’s trade deadline.

Jon Lester Rumors: Thursday

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As of late last night, the Pirates and the Cardinals were said to be the two teams most aggressively pursuing Jon Lester, who was scratched from Wednesday’s scheduled start. At one point yesterday, the Orioles looked close to a deal, but conflicting reports emerged on the severity of those negotiations. Regardless, Baltimore does seem to be in the mix, and a late-to-the-party mystery team was revealed to be the Athletics. We’ll keep track of the final stages of the Lester sweepstakes in this post…

Earlier Updates

  • Hall of Fame reporter Peter Gammons tells WEEI’s John Dennis and Gerry Callahan that the Dodgers aren’t in the mix to acquire Lester at this point (Twitter link).

Stark’s Latest: Price, Phillies, O’s, Royals, Pirates

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Jayson Stark of ESPN.com has a new Rumblings & Grumblings column posted in which he runs down a plethora of trade-related topics. You’ll need to read the full post to get all the information and analysis, but here are some of the highlights …

  • The Rays are waiting until next week to make any decisions on whether or not to trade ace David Price. However, as Stark points out, it could still be a difficult judgment call as to whether or not the Rays are close enough to go for it or far enough back to sell. Tampa is currently seven games back of the division lead and four and a half games back from a Wild Card berth.
  • One executive tells Stark that he’s convinced the team will move Price if they get a big enough offer. Said the exec, “They’ve really built their team by making these kinds of deals. But if the return they can get now is something they think they can get this winter, they’ll hold him.” Another exec tells Stark that waiting until the winter could reduce the return in a trade by 30 to 40 percent.
  • Stark runs down the possible landing spots for Price, calling the Dodgers the favorite, but noting that L.A. has said it will not part with both Joc Pederson and Corey Seager, even in a Price trade. The Mariners are the second choice, he notes, with the Cardinals listed third followed by the Giants and Blue Jays (both of whom are painted as long shots by Stark).
  • If the Rays do sell Price, they’ll be open for business and listen on a number of other players, including Ben Zobrist, Matt Joyce and Yunel Escobar. Their preference is to deal Price and Zobrist in separate trades, if that comes to pass.
  • The Phillies are the next team that everyone is watching, with nine players that could be moved but contractual problems surrounding many of them. Most execs feel the Phillies will eat money to facilitate deals and aren’t looking to just dump players on other clubs. Specifically, the team is in need of position-player prospects, one exec who has spoken with Philadelphia tells Stark.
  • Marlon Byrd is the most likely to be dealt, with the Mariners, Royals and Reds scouting him. The Reds, however, may not be able to take on Byrd’s remaining $3MM in 2014, and the Mariners and Royals are on his no-trade list.
  • Jonathan Papelbon and Cliff Lee aren’t likely to be dealt, executives tell Stark. In Lee’s case, they feel he’s a lock to clear waivers. One exec tells Stark that he’d be more inclined to take a chance on Lee were he a free agent, but his contract is too risky at this point.
  • Cole Hamels isn’t likely to be dealt either. It’s not that the Phillies aren’t willing to move him, it’s just that the prices they’ve specified consist of packages “that no one would possibly give up.”
  • A.J. Burnett’s preference is indeed to return to the Pirates, but Pittsburgh would need assurances that he’s not going to exercise his player option for 2015. The Orioles’ interest is said to be lukewarm, while the Phillies asked the Yankees and were told, “No thanks.”
  • At least half a dozen teams are in on Antonio Bastardo, whom Stark concretely says will be traded in the next week.
  • The Orioles aren’t looking for a closer upgrade over Zach Britton, but they’re looking for a rotation upgrade and a lefty reliever that’s more than just a left-on-left specialist. They’ve shown no interest in dealing Hunter Harvey or Dylan Bundy.
  • The Royals have called on virtually every right-handed hitter on the market, but they’re look specifically at right fielders, including Byrd, Alex Rios, Chris Denorfia and Dayan Viciedo. The first two of those options still look most likely.
  • Stark would be surprised if the Pirates didn’t add at least one pitcher, if not two in the next week, but it’d have to be at least a No. 3 option in terms of starters. On the relief front, they’re looking at seventh-inning arms, as they’re content with Tony Watson in the eighth and Mark Melancon in the ninth.
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