• White Sox second baseman Nick Madrigal is scheduled to make his Cactus League debut Monday, according to manager Tony La Russa (via James Fegan of The Athletic). Madrigal missed about a month in 2020, his first major league season, with a left shoulder injury and then underwent surgery in October. The 23-year-old batted .340/.376/.369 in 109 plate appearances, and though he rarely struck out (6.4 percent), he also didn’t hit for any power (zero home runs, .029 ISO).
• White Sox catcher Yasmani Grandal is also sidelined at the moment, having suffered a twisted right knee last week. La Russa said Grandal is progressing in his recovery, but the team doesn’t have a target date for his return right now, Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times relays. Grandal turned in yet another strong season in 2020 – his first with the White Sox – as he slashed .230/.351/.422 with eight homers over 194 PA and was a finalist for the Gold Glove Award at his position. He’ll be all the more important to the White Sox this year with previous backup James McCann having signed with the Mets in free agency.
• The Rockies’ Antonio Senzatela has a right hamstring strain that will delay his Cactus League debut by two starts, manager Bud Black told Thomas Harding of MLB.com and other reporters Wednesday. Senzatela has been a regular in the Rockies’ rotation since he entered the majors in 2017, and the 26-year-old righty posted a career-best 3.44 ERA (albeit with a far less encouraging 5.02 SIERA) over 73 1/3 innings a season ago.
• Angels righty Gerardo Reyes is dealing with a UCL sprain in his pitching elbow, Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic relays. The Angels are determining next steps at the moment, Ardaya reports, but UCL injuries are always scary for pitchers. Reyes hasn’t taken the mound yet for the Angels, who acquired him from the Padres for catcher Jason Castro last August. The 27-year-old reliever made his big league debut in 2019 with 26 innings of 7.62 ERA ball, but he struck out 32.5 percent of the batters he faced and averaged 97 mph on his fastball.
• Red Sox righty Bryan Mata has triceps soreness and will undergo an MRI on Thursday, per Julian McWilliams of the Boston Globe. Mata, 21, ranks as one of the organization’s top prospects, with Baseball America placing him fourth overall and contending that he could be a No. 3/4 starter in the future. If healthy, a 2021 big league debut could be on the table for Mata, who has topped out at the Double-A level thus far.

Leake, who’ll turn 33 in a couple weeks, didn’t pitch in 2020 after becoming the first of several veterans to opt out of the season due to health and safety concerns. He made 10 starts for the D-backs in 2019 after coming over from the Mariners via trade, pitching to a 4.35 ERA with a 27-to-8 K/BB ratio in 60 innings.

Leake’s five-year deal didn’t at all go how the Cardinals envisioned — they ate a sizable portion of the deal to facilitate a trade to Seattle just a year and a half into the contract — but he was rather solid from 2017-19 under the deal. Leake made 94 starts in that time and logged a collective 4.19 ERA through 568 2/3 frames. He’s never been one to miss many bats, but Leake typically has excellent control and ranked sixth among all MLB pitchers in games started from 2011-19.

Rondon, once the Cubs closer, enjoyed a solid 2018-19 run with the Astros before scuffling through a disastrous 2020 season in Arizona. He tallied 20 innings of work but was clobbered for a 7.65 ERA in what will go down as his lone season with the team. In those 20 frames, Rondon yielded 17 earned runs on 25 hits (six homers) 11 walks with 23 strikeouts. He still has a career 3.49 ERA and 3.63 FIP even in spite of this year’s woeful results, so he should be able to get another look somewhere in 2021, his age-33 season — though it’d likely have to come on a non-guaranteed deal.

Guerra, who’ll turn 36 in January, notched a tidy 3.04 ERA in 23 innings this past season, although his 21-to-15 K/BB ratio and 5.03 SIERA tell another story. Guerra was a frequent contributor for the Brewers prior to signing in Arizona, as he pitched to a combined 3.78 ERA in 416 2/3 frames with Milwaukee from 2016-19. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projected a possible $2.8MM salary for Guerra via arbitration, and if the D-backs feel similarly, it’s not a surprise that they opted not to pay the full freight of his 2021 option.

D-backs general manager Mike Hazen has confirmed the decision, tweets Zach Buchanan of The Athletic. The details surrounding Leake’s decision aren’t known, nor need they be shared. As Hazen went on to tell reporters: “I think those conversations are personal in nature” (Twitter link via the Arizona Republic’s Nick Piecoro). Leake’s agent, Danny Horwits, offered the following statement (via ESPN’s Jeff Passan):

During this global pandemic, Mike and his family had many discussions about playing this season. They took countless factors into consideration, many of which are personal to him and his family. After thorough consideration, he has chosen to opt out of playing in 2020. This was not an easy decision for Mike. He wishes the best of luck and health for his Diamondback teammates this season and he’s looking forward to 2021.

Leake, 32, was in the final season of a five-year, $80MM contract originally signed with the Cardinals — although he’s since been traded to Seattle and then Arizona. He’d have earned a prorated $16MM salary this season — about $5.5MM — and had a $5MM buyout on an option for the 2021 season. MLB Network’s Jon Heyman tweets that Leake will not be paid in 2020, which suggests that his decision is not due to concerns about his own health but rather the health of close-proximity family and loved ones. Under the agreement reached between the league and union last week, only players who are deemed high-risk themselves are entitled to receive salary and service time after opting out.

Under the terms of Leake’s previous trades, the Cardinals were set to pay $4MM to the Mariners this season to cover a portion of Leake’s salary. The Mariners, meanwhile, were on the hook for as much of $9MM of Leake’s salary, which was to be paid to the D-backs in deferred installments. Those payments will now presumably be forgiven. As for the $5MM buyout on Leake’s 2021 option, that does not pertain to the 2020 season and should therefore still remain on the table. The Mariners are also responsible for that sum under the terms of last summer’s trade.

With Leake suddenly and unexpectedly out of the rotation picture in Arizona, the D-backs will likely rely on the quartet of Madison Bumgarner, Robbie Ray, Zac Gallen and Luke Weaver to lead the rotation. Merrill Kelly could be in line to retake the fifth spot, although he’ll face some competition from younger arms like Alex Young, Jon Duplantier and, if healthy, Corbin Martin. Arizona will also have a 40-man roster spot opened up with Leake no longer occupying a spot.

Opt-Outs

Back when the Marlins extended outfielder Giancarlo Stanton on a historic pact worth $325MM over 13 years in 2014, they included a one-time opt-out for next winter. Stanton has put up at least one phenomenal season since he signed that deal – he won the NL MVP and hit 59 home runs in 2017 – but injuries have hampered him on a regular basis. He’s now a member of the Yankees, who acquired him in a December 2017 deal, but Stanton played in just 18 games last season. He’ll still be owed $218MM for seven years after this season, and for at least the time being, it’s very tough to think of Stanton leaving that money on the table to test free agency.

Designated hitter J.D. Martinez, a member of the Yankees’ archrival in Boston, will have two years and $38.75MM remaining on his contract after this season. He’ll be 33 then, and will continue to be someone who’s known as a defensive liability, so should be opt out? It’s up for debate. The big-hitting Martinez remains an offensive standout, but his production last season fell (granted, he did still slash .304/.383/.557 with 36 home runs in 657 plate appearances). He subsequently chose not to opt out after last season, as doing so would have cost him his $23.75MM salary for this year.

One of Martinez’s former Tigers teammates, outfielder Nicholas Castellanos, will also have to choose whether to revisit free agency next offseason. Castellanos is another defensively challenged slugger, one whom the Reds guaranteed $64MM over four years this past winter. He’ll be 29 by the time the 2021 season rolls around, and by saying goodbye to his Reds pact, he’d be leaving $48MM on the table (including a $2MM buyout in 2024). It’s not easy to determine whether that will happen; some of it depends on how well Castellanos fares in 2020, if a season occurs. Carrying over the tremendous production he posted late last season after the Cubs acquired him from the Tigers may make Castellanos more inclined to try his luck on the market again, but his output at the plate has been more good than great throughout his career.

Mutual Options

For the most part, mutual options don’t get picked up. Either a player’s so effective that he opts for free agency or he’s not useful enough for his team to exercise the option. Rockies first baseman Daniel Murphy and reliever Wade Davis are among those who have mutual option decisions waiting after the season, but they’ve struggled in the club’s uniform so far. With that in mind, Murphy’s on track for a $6MM buyout (as opposed to a $12MM salary), while Davis figures to receive a $1MM buyout instead of a $15MM payday.

Brewers outfielder Ryan Braun ($15MM mutual option, $4MM buyout), Diamondbacks right-hander Mike Leake ($18MM mutual option, $5MM buyout) and Cubs lefty Jon Lester ($25MM mutual option, $10MM buyout) could also find themselves looking for new contracts next winter. The same goes for Mets reliever Dellin Betances, though it’s tougher to say in his case. The former Yankee barely pitched at all season on account of injuries, and if there isn’t a season in 2020, would he turn down a guaranteed $6MM in 2021? And would the Mets buy him out for $3MM? That’s one of the many interesting questions we could face next offseason.

Some rumblings from around the NL West…

• More than two weeks after suffering a fracture in his non-throwing wrist, Mike Leake hasn’t yet been cleared for game action, leading Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo to tell reporters (including Richard Morin of the Arizona Republic) that “it’s a possibility” Leake could miss some time at the start of the season.  “His clock hasn’t started yet, and we know that. He hasn’t got on a mound yet but he’s working hard to make that happen as soon as possible,” Lovullo said.  Any potential injured list wouldn’t be a lengthy one, yet it would keep Leake from at least two starts in Arizona’s rotation.  With less than a month until the Diamondbacks’ first game, Lovullo said that Leake is “approaching” the “danger zone” of not having enough preparation time to fully ramp up prior to Opening Day.
• “I don’t think options trump our best team,” Rockies manager Bud Black said, though the Denver Post’s Kyle Newman points out that Colorado face some out-of-options decisions within their group of rotation candidates.  Antonio Senzatela and Jeff Hoffman are both out of options, so they could be the most obvious candidates for the two open starting jobs if roster considerations are a big factor in the Rockies’ thinking, though Newman feels that right-handers Chi Chi Gonzalez and Peter Lambert “are near the top of the heap” for the fifth starter role.  With Senzatela favored to land the fourth starting job, that could leave Hoffman as a potential odd man out.
• Gonzalez is not as out of options candidate, as Newman writes that the righty has a fourth option remaining rather than the usual three.  It isn’t uncommon for players to be granted a fourth option after missing a lot of time on the injured list, and Gonzalez would certainly fit that description, as he missed all of the 2017 and 2018 seasons due to a UCL tear that required Tommy John surgery.  After signing a minor league deal with Colorado last offseason, Gonzalez returned to the mound and tossed 63 innings of 5.29 ERA ball for the Rockies in 2019, also posting a 1.39 K/BB rate and 6.6 K/9.

After being acquired from the Mariners in a trade deadline deal last July, Leake posted a 4.35 ERA and 3.38 K/BB rate over 60 innings (10 starts) for Arizona, though with a 4.1 K/9 and a whopping 2.3 HR/9.  Leake is tentatively penciled into the fifth starter role for the D’Backs this season, as the club hopes that he can provide his usual durability at the back of the rotation — the 32-year-old has averaged 188 innings pitched over the last nine seasons.

Some more from the desert….

• Stephen Vogt talked to Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle (Twitter link) about Vogt’s decision to sign with the Diamondbacks, with the catcher citing both logistical and contractual reasons.  Vogt liked being able to spend eight months in Arizona for both Spring Training and the season itself, and the D’Backs separated themselves from the Giants in contract talks by offering Vogt a vesting option for the 2021 season.  The Giants offered Vogt more in guaranteed money than the $3MM Vogt will receive from the D’Backs, though if his option vests and Vogt hits his contract incentives, he can earn up to $7MM over the two-year span.
• Archie Bradley’s arbitration hearing has been set for February 18, MLB.com’s Steve Gilbert reports.  Bradley is seeking a $4.1MM salary for the 2020 season, while the D’Backs filed for a $3.625MM number.  The 2019 season saw Bradley increasingly deployed as a closer, as he recorded 18 saves after having only four saves on his career ledger heading into the year.  Players haven’t had much luck going to hearings this year, as arbiters have ruled in favor of teams in five of the six arbitration hearings that have already taken place this month; the Dodgers’ Pedro Baez is the only player who has won his arb hearing.  You can follow along with all the results in MLBTR’s Arbitration Tracker.

Some more health/injury notes from early on in camp…

• Diamondbacks right-hander Mike Leake is undergoing an MRI after experiencing soreness in his left wrist following a fall at his home, manager Torey Lovullo told reporters today (Twitter links via The Athletic’s Zach Buchanan). Lovullo described the MRI as precautionary in nature, so it doesn’t seem as though the organization is overly concerned at the moment. Leake, 32, landed in Arizona following a deadline swap with the Mariners and pitched to a 4.35 ERA in 60 innings (10 starts). Leake fanned just 27 hitters in those 60 frames but was quite stingy in terms of issuing free passes as well, surrendering just eight bases on balls. The ever-durable righty made at least 30 starts for the eighth consecutive season in 2019, eating up 197 innings between Seattle and Arizona.
• After missing the 2019 season due to Tommy John surgery, Royals stalwart Salvador Perez is ahead of schedule and expected to be ready for Opening Day, new manager Mike Matheny told reporters (link via MLB.com’s Jeffrey Flanagan). Perez is already throwing to second base without issue and is slated to meet with his doctors tomorrow for another check-in. Interestingly, Matheny suggested that Perez would not only see some time at designated hitter early in the season but also at first base, as the Royals look to be cautious with his throwing workload.
• Phillies right-hander Seranthony Dominguez managed to avoid Tommy John surgery last year after an elbow scare, and he now appears to be on track for Opening Day, tweets Matt Breen of the Philadelphia Inquirer. Dominguez resumed throwing in December and has now thrown three bullpen sessions — including one earlier today. The 25-year-old was lights out in his debut effort back in 2018 and took a step back in limited action in 2019 before hitting the injured list. In 82 2/3 innings between those two seasons, he’s pitched to a 3.27 ERA with 11.2 K/9, 3.7 BB/9 and 16 saves.

It’s been a precipitous drop for the 31-year-old Leake, who’s now accrued nearly 1,800 big-league innings since debuting straight from Arizona State in 2010. Leake’s walk and strikeout rates have remained mostly intact, but he hasn’t been able to withstand the league-wide homer onslaught this season, having allowed an easily-career-high 1.71 per nine in 137 IP thus far. His average fastball velocity’s cratered to a career-worst 88.3 MPH, though the always-crafty mix-and-match artist has adjusted: his cutter and changeup, long his go-to out pitches, have each seen an uptick in usage, with the former being deployed nearly 27% of the time at current.

Leake’s park-adjusted peripherals still place firmly in the fourth/fifth starter range – thanks mostly to a string of sterling outings in the latter half of this month – and his presence should stabilize the back half of a Diamondbacks rotation that’s leaned heavily on the mostly ineffective arms of Taylor Clarke and Merrill Kelly of late. After the trade of Zack Greinke to the Astros, Leake will line up with the newly-acquired Zac Gallen, the still-here Robbie Ray, and some combination of Clarke, Kelly, and rookie Alex Young, whose peripherals lag far behind the 2.51 ERA he’s posted in his first six big-league outings.

It’s perhaps a bit chastening for the M’s, who acquired the righty from the Cardinals in a now-defunct August swap two seasons ago, to recoup only $6MM from the some $25MM remaining (through 2020) on the his deal. Caballero, 22, didn’t assert himself as a top organizational prospect for the Snakes, so the swap mostly seems centered around the marginal amount saved and opportunity for the club to insert a young hurler, perhaps lefty Justus Sheffield, into its rotation for the remainder of ’19. Righty Matt Wisler, acquired after being designated for assignment by San Diego, should also be afforded a look: the one-time top prospect has finally flashed the bat-missing stuff that was so often absent from his repertoire in seasons past.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

While the Rangers have begun to operate as sellers, it’s also clear that Texas isn’t interested in a full-scale rebuild. President of baseball ops Jon Daniels and ownership surely want to field a competitive club as they open a new stadium next season, and while no one’s mistaking Leake for a top-of-the-rotation arm, he’d give them a stable option to take the ball every fifth day with generally competitive innings.

As for the Brewers, they’ve already picked up righty Jordan Lyles but have further rotation needs with Brandon Woodruff, Jhoulys Chacin, Jimmy Nelson and Corbin Burnes all sidelined. (Burnes has worked more in relief this season anyhow.) Chacin and Lyles will be free agents at season’s end, so there’s reason to look at adding an arm with additional control, even if the upside is limited.

6:41am: As a highly compensated member of a cellar-dwelling team, Mariners righty Mike Leake is a rather obvious trade candidate. But his full no-trade rights have complicated attempts to move him, and it has long been unclear whether a deal might be struck.

There was some anticipation that Leake could be shipped out in advance of his start last night. Indeed, as MLB.com’s Alyson Footer reports, Leake says that the Seattle front office actually brought a trade possibility to his attention before he took the ball. While details remain unclear, it seems that Leake was not the obstacle to the completion of the negotiations. Rather, the veteran righty indicates that he never heard word of a completed deal and instead made his start as scheduled.

With the trade deadline now just hours away, Leake’s assumption is that he’s staying put — though that doesn’t mean he has been given any assurances. “There’s still a possibility, I’m sure,” says Leake. “Right now, I look at it as I’m not getting traded. At this point, I think I’ll plan on being a Mariner for the rest of the year.”

The Seattle organization has spent much of the season re-shuffling its roster, finishing the work it started in the prior offseason. With intentions of a quick rebound to relevance, it’s possible to imagine Leake staying on as a member of the 2020 rotation. But he may still be dealt — if not today, then over the winter.

Leake is employed by the M’s but still being paid in part by the Cardinals, who signed him as a free agent before shipping him to Seattle. The veteran hurler is earning $16MM this year, $5MM of which is covered by the St. Louis org, and $15MM in 2020, with $4MM the responsibility of the Cards. There’s also a $5MM buyout on a 2021 mutual option.

While those hefty obligations pose a theoretical barrier to a deal, the Mariners have shown a willingness to eat salary in other recent swaps and have obviously found willing trade partners. For those contenders looking for some stability in the back end of their rotation, few hurlers come with more stamped-and-sealed credentials as Leake. With eight more starts this season, he’ll hit the 30-start mark for the eighth-straight season.

It’s not exactly an exciting profile, but Leake remains a useful pitcher. He turned in a middling performance following the pre-game distraction yesterday, surrendering 10 hits and 5 earned runs in 5 2/3 innings. On the season, the 31-year-old has been about as steady as he’s always been, with a 4.40 ERA through 137 innings. His strikeout rates remain fairly pedestrian at 6.6 K/9, but Leake has never been better at limiting free passes and presently carries a league-best 1.2 BB/9 mark.

“I want to win,” said Leake, before adding, “I’m not at liberty to sit around and wait on a non-winning team.” True to that earlier Times report, which characterized league-wide interest in the pitcher as “minimal,” Leake admitted that he hasn’t to this point been presented with any trade proposals from the Mariners front office. Leake, who possesses a no-trade clause as part of the five-year, $80MM deal he signed with the Cardinals prior to the 2016 campaign, would need to approve any move to an acquiring club, but it remains to be seen whether anyone wants a stake in the well-compensated righty. Leake is still owed approximately $25.5MM before his contract terminates at the conclusion of the 2020 season, with the Cardinals still responsible for nearly $6.5MM of that total. He has a 4.27 ERA across 2o starts on the year (4.80 FIP).

More doings from around the West…

• In a piece for AZCentral.com, Nick Piecoro paints a picture of two young Diamondbacks hurlers heading in opposite directions (link). While rookie Alex Young has begun to earn the trust of manager Torey Lovullo in a starting role, fellow big league neophyte Taylor Clarke has begun to produce some organizational hand-wringing after a string of shoddy appearances. After being called up in late June to fill the club’s “fifth starter” role, Young has responded by throwing 18.2 nearly untarnished innings (0.96 ERA). Though never a widely lauded prospect, the 25-year-old is turning heads with this introductory performance. “I think every year there’s going to be certain surprises and Alex Young has definitely fit in that criteria right now,” Lovullo said. Clarke, meanwhile, owns an 8.20 ERA over his last eight starts, and Lovullo conceded to Piecoro that his performance is an “obvious concern” for the club.
• In other news concerning a concerned manager, the Rangers are troubled by the recent slump of Nomar Mazara–and skipper Chris Woodward has been cutting his playing time, as Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News points out (link). Though Woodward largely maintained that Mazara will still be a starter for the team moving forward, Saturday marked Mazara’s third time on the bench in eight post-break Texas games. Never an elite defender, Mazara holds a career-worst 83 wRC+ on the year and is walking at a 6.0% rate that also represents a personal low point. With just eight hits in his last 57 at-bats, it is unclear how Woodward will continue to divide outfield playing time between Mazara and a rejuvenated Danny Santana. Of Mazara’s performance, Woodward allowed only that, “We want to see the results be a little bit higher.”

As a soon-to-be 32-year-old on a team that’s not contending now and probably won’t during the next season or two, Leake is an obvious trade candidate. Leake does have a full no-trade clause, though, which makes his apparent eagerness to leave the Mariners all the more noteworthy. That said, a willingness to waive your no-trade protection obviously doesn’t matter if teams aren’t interested in your services.

For the most part, Leake has been a steady, durable rotation piece since his career began with the Reds in 2010. Also an ex-Giant and Cardinal, Leake came into the year with a 3.99 ERA/4.11 FIP, 6.07 K/9, 2.06 BB/9 and a 50.8 percent walk rate over 264 starts and 1,627 1/3 innings. But Leake hasn’t done anything to boost his trade stock through 115 1/3 frames this year, even though he has bettered his typical strikeout/walk numbers with 6.63 K/9 against 1.4 BB/9.

Walks have been hard to come by against Leake, whereas batters haven’t had much trouble collecting hits or home runs off him. Just two starters have coughed up more hits than Leake (133), whose HR/9 (1.87) also sits third from the bottom and ranks as a career worst. The .349 weighted on-base average and .346 xwOBA he has allowed are also nearer to the low end of the totem pole than the top. With those facts in mind, it’s unsurprising Leake’s 4.60 ERA and 4.99 FIP are among the highest of his career.

The 2019 version of Leake has been a back-of-the-rotation innings eater, which does carry some value. However, the fact that Leake’s still on the five-year, $80MM deal he signed with the Cardinals prior to the 2016 campaign complicates matters. He came into 2019 with two guaranteed years and $36MM left on the pact, and though the Cards are chipping in $5MM this season and $4MM in ’20, it’s still too rich for other teams. The Mariners are willing to eat a significant amount of the money they’re paying Leake in order to move him, per Divish, but that hasn’t helped them find a taker yet.

Zack Greinke, RHP, Diamondbacks: K/BB ratio: 7.13

• Even though he’s 35 years old and has a fastball that clocks in just below 90 mph, Greinke remains one of the majors’ preeminent starters. Greinke has fanned 8.02 batters per nine this year and walked a paltry 1.13, helping him to a 2.95 ERA/3.20 FIP across 128 frames. Plus, in a game where home runs are becoming more prevalent, Greinke has yielded under one per nine. If the Diamondbacks go into sell mode, Greinke is theoretically someone who’d draw plenty of interest. However, his contract could serve as a major roadblock. Not only is Greinke owed roughly $79MM through 2021, but his partial no-trade clause gives him the right to say no to 15 teams.

Matthew Boyd, LHP, Tigers: K/BB ratio: 6.33

• A glance at Boyd’s MLBTR page shows no shortage of teams in pursuit of the breakout 28-year-old, who has evolved into a K/BB master this season. Boyd has struck out 12 per nine and issued just 1.89 BB/9 at the same time, though a low groundball percentage (37.1) has played in a part in recent difficulties preventing home runs. Boyd has allowed 10 in seven starts dating back to the beginning of June, when he owned a 3.01 ERA. He has now posted a 3.95 mark in 114 innings this year, albeit with a 3.47 FIP/3.35 xFIP and the majors’ 11th-highest swinging-strike rate (14 percent). Considering Boyd’s 2019 production, his $2.6MM salary and his three remaining seasons of arbitration control, it’s no wonder teams are lining up for him.

Jacob deGrom, RHP, Mets: K/BB ratio: 5.14

• Despite their awful 42-51 record, the Mets probably aren’t going to trade deGrom, the reigning NL Cy Young winner whom they signed to a four-year, $120.5MM extension entering the season. The 31-year-old hasn’t been the otherworldly force he was in 2018, but that’s far more of a compliment to his work a season ago than a knock on what he has done in 2019. To this point, deGrom has pitched to a sparkling 3.21 ERA/3.12 FIP with 11.27 K/9 and 2.19 BB/9 over 115 innings. Should the Mets at least consider trading him? Many of you think so, but general manager Brodie Van Wagenen’s unlikely to pull the trigger.

Madison Bumgarner, LHP, Giants: K/BB ratio: 4.84

• It’s true Bumgarner isn’t the ace he was in his halcyon days, but the 29-year-old’s K/9 (9.33) and BB/9 (1.93 BB/9) are befitting of a front-line arm. His 3.86 ERA and 3.80 FIP tell another story, though they’re certainly not subpar. The multi-time playoff hero has drawn tons of interest in advance of the deadline, and is likely the top rental starter in the rumor mill. For a while, Bumgarner has looked like a surefire trade candidate for the Giants, but a recent hot streak has put them just three games back in the National League’s wide-open wild-card race. Still, odds are that they’ll move Bumgarner for a solid return in the next two weeks.

Mike Leake, RHP, Mariners: K/BB ratio: 4.72

• Leake’s inclusion on this list comes as a surprise in light of the other hurlers on it, and he’s definitely not part of it because of an impressive strikeout total. To the contrary, Leake has fanned a meager 6.63 batters per nine over 115 1/3 frames. On the other hand, his 1.4 BB/9 is outstanding. The same can’t be said for Leake’s 4.60 ERA/4.99 FIP or his 88.2 mph average fastball velocity, though. As a back-end starter who’s owed the balance of $36MM through 2020 (including $9MM from his prior team, the Cardinals, and a $5MM buyout in 2021), there isn’t much trade value here despite Leake’s placement in this top five.

Considering the way the Mariners’ season began, this probably isn’t the news their fans were expecting in April. Although the Mariners retooled in the offseason and weren’t supposed to contend this year, they emerged as the story of baseball amid a blazing 13-2 start. The club has dropped 42 of 59 since then, though, now own the majors’ sixth-worst record (30-44) and is on track to increase its playoff drought to 18 years.

With no hope to push for relevance this season, the question now is which veterans will follow Encarnacion (and the previously departed Jay Bruce) out of Seattle. It’s “likely” the Mariners would prefer to deal right-hander Mike Leake and second basemen Dee Gordon more than anyone else, Heyman reports.

There have already been talks regarding Leake with at least one team – the Diamondbacks – though those discussions didn’t reach advanced stages. As a longtime innings eater who has typically prevented runs at a league-average rate, Leake could hold value to some team whose rotation needs shoring up. However, Leake’s still owed around $29MM through 2020 – including $9MM that his previous team, St. Louis, is paying him and a $5MM buyout for 2021 – and has a full no-trade clause. Therefore, even if the Mariners eat a sizable portion of Leake’s remaining deal, there’s no guarantee the 31-year-old would sign off on a deal.

Gordon, also 31, won’t be able to block a trade anywhere. The trouble is that the speed merchant has been little more than a replacement-level player since 2018. To make matters worse, Gordon still has about $20MM coming his way through next season (including a $1MM buyout for 2021), so there’s limited appeal in his case.

Other than Leake and Gordon, third baseman Kyle Seager, lefties Yusei Kikuchi and Wade LeBlanc, outfielder Domingo Santana, infielder Tim Beckham, and relievers Cory Gearrin and Hunter Strickland are each earning in the millions.

The Mariners won’t find a taker for the once-great Hernandez, an injured, sharply declining soon-to-be free agent on a $27MM-plus salary. Seager’s set for guaranteed salaries of $18MM-$19MM through 2021, and essentially has a poison pill contract that may be impossible to move. Seager would be able to convert his $15MM club option for 2022 into a player option if dealt. He’d no doubt exercise it.

Kikuchi hasn’t stood out during his first season in Seattle, but it’s hard to imagine the team cutting the cord on the Japanese import just a few months after he was a ballyhooed offseason addition. LeBlanc’s 34 and making $2.3MM this season, the last guaranteed year of his deal. He’s not pitching like someone who’d be able to help a contender, though.

Santana has been one of the Mariners’ best players in 2019, his first year with the club. It’s up in the air whether it would deal him, but as someone who’s only under control for two more years after this one, it could happen if Seattle doesn’t think it will contend by then. Santana, 26, would warrant a solid return considering his performance, control and current salary ($1.95MM).

Beckham has fallen off dramatically since a hot start to the beginning of the season, which has caused him to lose significant playing time. But the 29-year-old impending free agent may pique teams’ interest as cheap infield depth ($1.75MM).

Gearrin’s making a shade less than Beckham ($1.5MM), and because he has generally been a useful major league reliever, the Mariners may be able to trade him without a lot of trouble. Meantime, Strickland still hasn’t returned since suffering a right lat strain March 30. The former Giant could have been a trade chip this season had he shown well, as he’s making a mere $1.3MM and comes with arbitration eligibility through 2021. As of now, however, it appears he’ll say put this summer.

Aside from Santana, whom Seattle may want to keep as a building block, valuable commodities are hard to find among its million-dollar players. The Mariners combined for savings in the neighborhood of $10MM in the Encarnacion and Bruce deals, but continuing to cut payroll to a large extent will be difficult when the majority of their most expensive players aren’t producing.

• The Mariners and Diamondbacks discussed a potential trade earlier this week that would’ve sent Mike Leake to Arizona, though in the words of FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal (video link), these negotiations “never got serious.”  As we heard on Thursday, Leake was never contacted about the trade, which would’ve been a necessary step since Leake has a no-trade clause in his contract.  Given that the M’s have shown a willingness to eat money in trades of their veteran players, Leake could have been (and perhaps even still is) a particularly attractive option to a D’Backs team that doesn’t have a ton of payroll room.  In Leake’s case, Seattle would also be sharing the financial burden with the Cardinals.  As per the terms of the trade that brought Leake to the Mariners from the Cardinals, St. Louis was responsible for $9MM of the $36MM owed to Leake over the 2019-20 seasons.
• In the words of one Padres official, there is still an “outside chance” that the club could ink 23rd-round draft pick Maurice Hampton, Jeff Sanders of the San Diego Union-Tribune writes, despite Hampton’s commitment to play both baseball and football at LSU.  Hampton reportedly wanted a $2.75MM bonus to begin his pro baseball career, and while the team believes this asking price may have dropped, it still represented a hefty enough demand that Hampton fell to the 23rd round despite a consensus top-50 prospect ranking in the eyes of draft evaluators.  Since Hampton was taken beyond the top ten rounds, any contract he signs worth more than $100K would see that excess money subtracted from San Diego’s $10,758,900 draft pool, leaving the Padres with less money to sign their other picks.  However, the team has been trying to create extra financial space within their pool — the Padres took four college seniors (who have less negotiating leverage) with their picks in the seventh thru tenth rounds, and saved almost $543K when sixth overall pick CJ Abrams agreed to a below-slot bonus.
• Yordan Alvarez enjoyed a dream debut in the majors today, going 1-for-3 with a walk and his first MLB home run, a two-run blast that proved to be the winning score in Houston’s 4-0 win over Baltimore.  The young Astros slugger is considered one of the game’s most promising young bats, though there is far from a consensus on his overall value as a prospect, The Athletic’s Jake Kaplan writes (subscription required).  Alvarez is largely seen as a bat-only player, with limited defensive value as a left fielder or first baseman despite some solid athleticism for a man of his size (6’5″, 225 pounds).  “Any projection of Alvarez’s future value will take a hit by an evaluator who doesn’t believe he can stick in left,” Kaplan writes, and he speaks to several writers from sites such as Baseball America, Baseball Prospectus, Fangraphs, and MLB.com about why Alvarez received a pretty wide range of rankings.

Hazen suggested Arizona’s main priority is upgrading its starting staff, saying, “We’re looking at any way we can to continue to improve and help both our depth and our rotation in general.”

Injuries to Luke Weaver and Taijuan Walker, not to mention Zack Godley’s demotion to the bullpen, have left Arizona’s rotation without any clear answers after Zack Greinke, Robbie Ray and Merrill Kelly. The club’s on the lookout for help as a result, and it tried to swing a deal with the Mariners for right-hander Mike Leake earlier this week. Now, though, those talks “appear to have gone dormant,” Piecoro writes.

Assuming a trade for Leake or another starter doesn’t come together imminently, the D-backs seem inclined to continue with Jon Duplantier and Taylor Clarke at the back of their rotation. Duplantier, MLB.com’s 62nd-ranked prospect, has turned in 10 innings of nine-hit, five-earned run ball and notched 11 strikeouts against three walks in two starts since the Diamondbacks recalled him from Triple-A Reno. Clarke hasn’t been that successful as a starter this year, having compiled a 5.12 ERA/4.55 FIP with 6.05 K/9 against 3.26 BB/9 in 19 1/3 frames.

On the position player side, Arizona has been without corner infielder Jake Lamb for almost the entire season. The 28-year-old went to the injured list with a quad strain April 5, but he’ll begin a rehab assignment Saturday at the Triple-A level, Piecoro reports. A third baseman from 2014-17, Lamb entered this season as the D-backs’ primary first baseman in the wake of Paul Goldschmidt’s exit via trade. The lefty-swinging Lamb’s injury opened the door for the righty-hitting Christian Walker, who excelled in April but has come back to Earth since. Those two seem likely to form a platoon upon Lamb’s return.