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Top Prospect Promotions: Travis, Lamet

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Here are the latest top prospect promotions of note:

  • The Red Sox have announced that first baseman Sam Travis has been called up for his first taste of the majors. The team demoted righty Hector Velazquez to create roster space. Travis, 23, missed much of last year with a torn ACL. He has hit well in 139 plate appearances this year at Triple-A, though, slashing .286/.353/.452 with four home runs while taking 13 walk against 24 strikeouts. Travis, a right-handed hitter, was taken in the second round of the 2014 draft out of Indiana University — where he was a teammate of young Cubs outfielder/catcher Kyle Schwarber — and currently rates third among Red Sox prospects in the eyes of MLB.com.
  • Meanwhile, the Padres will get their first look at interesting pitching prospect Dinelson Lamet, per Craig Mish of Sirius XM (Twitter links). He’ll start on Thursday, per the report. Lamet, 24, has shown well in his first full attempt at the highest level of the minors. After streaking through the system last year, he has started the current campaign with 39 innings of 3.23 ERA ball on the back of 11.5 K/9 against 4.6 BB/9. He opened the year rated tenth among Padres’ prospects, according to MLB.com, which noted that his ability to improve his command will likely dictate whether he can stay in the rotation for the long run.

AL Notes: Romney, Brantley, Hamilton, O’s, Frazier, Red Sox

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After moving on from a potential effort to buy the Marlins, Mitt Romney and his family are eyeing the purchase of a share of the Yankees, according to Jon Heyman of Fan Rag. In this case, though, the high-profile politician and businessman would only be looking at obtaining a small portion of the franchise’s highly valuable ownership stake.

Here’s more from the American League:

  • There’s ongoing concern in the Indians organization regarding the health of outfielder Michael Brantley, Heyman futher reports. Though Cleveland is expressing at least some degree of optimism publicly, the most important steps remain to be taken. Hopes that Brantley could be ready to take the field on Opening Day “have waned just a tad,” says Heyman, though clearly the most important issue isn’t so much when he’s ready as it is ensuring that there isn’t another major setback when he does return to action.
  • It seems that Josh Hamilton will be able to resume his quest to crack the Rangers roster, as he T.R. Sullivan was among those to tweet that a knee exam yesterday revealed no new structural damage. For the time being, it seems, the discomfort will slow him down somewhat, though presumably he’ll be back in action as soon as the oft-injured joint allows.
  • The Orioles continue to receive positive signs on two key pitchers who are dealing with some early-spring health questions, as Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com reports (Twitter links). Though Zach Britton still has “a little discomfort in [his] left side,” he says it’s getting better. And starter Chris Tillman says that his right shoulder “feels great” as he continues to throw long toss. It’s not yet clear when the two hurlers will get back on the mound.
  • White Sox third baseman Todd Frazier, meanwhile, is dealing with what he describes as a minor oblique issue, as Dan Hayes of CSN Chicago reports. Frazier, who is considered day-to-day for the time being, says he’ll likely just sit for a few days while the tightness hopefully subsides. “It’s something I’ve dealt with before,” says Frazier, who remains a potential trade chip in his final year of team control. “But at the same time, from what I’ve heard they’re not anything to mess with. So let’s take a couple days and see how it is after a couple days and go from there.”
  • As the Red Sox have moved to cash in prospect assets for talented major leaguers since the arrival of president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski, the remaining young players have seemingly taken on added importance to the club’s future. As Rob Bradford of WEEI.com writes, the Sox refused to part with third baseman Rafael Devers in the deal that ultimately netted Chris Sale. He and first baseman Sam Travis — who missed a significant chunk of 2016 due to knee surgery — aren’t expected to head north with the club out of camp, but could play a major role not long from now. As Dombrowski observes: “The best clubs are constantly breaking in young players on a consistent basis, year in, year out. And you also need it from a cost basis perspective.”

East Notes: Rodriguez, Braves, Red Sox

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FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal reported Saturday that Braves utilityman Sean Rodriguez will miss three to five months as a result of shoulder surgery stemming from a January car crash. But Atlanta expected Rodriguez to be ready for spring training as recently as Friday morning, according to MLB.com’s Mark Bowman, who notes that newfound concerns over his health helped lead to the team’s acquisition of second baseman Brandon Phillips (Twitter links). David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution classifies Rodriguez’s situation as “not good,” meanwhile, and backs up Rosenthal in reporting that he could sit out most or all of the season.

Now the latest from Boston:

  • Along with Eduardo Rodriguez, Red Sox hurlers Steven Wright and Drew Pomeranz are set to vie for the fifth spot in the club’s rotation this spring, but it could be at least a week before the latter two are ready to throw off a mound, manager John Farrell revealed Sunday (via Jason Mastrodonato of the Boston Herald). Wright still hasn’t returned to full strength since suffering a right shoulder injury as a pinch-runner last August, while Pomeranz received a stem cell injection on his ailing left elbow in October. Rodriguez hurt his right knee in December, but he got a clean bill of health in a recent checkup, per Ian Browne of MLB.com.
  • On the offensive end, the Red Sox didn’t attempt to replace retired designated hitter David Ortiz with another big bat in the offseason. Farrell explained why Sunday, telling reporters – including Scott Lauber of ESPN.com – that the team didn’t want to make a long-term commitment to a right-handed-hitting veteran and block prospect Sam Travis. The Red Sox instead wanted a lefty-swinger, which led them to reel in Mitch Moreland on a one-year, $5.5MM deal. Moreland is no Ortiz, of course, but Farrell regards the longtime Ranger as an “ideal fit” for the Red Sox considering both his handedness and defensive prowess. Boston still feels it’ll have a high-end offense without Ortiz, so it prioritized upgrading its defense and went after Moreland.

Red Sox Notes: Hazen, Sawdaye, Rodriguez, Travis

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Red Sox president Sam Kennedy spoke to MassLive.com’s Jen McCaffrey about the team’s loss of executives Mike Hazen and Amiel Sawdaye, who signed on the become the new general manager and senior vice president/assistant general manager of the D-backs, respectively, last week. Kennedy acknowledged that both are big losses to the organization but doesn’t feel that president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski’s leadership style had anything to do with their exit from the organization. “I think the opportunities that have come up are a real credit to the Boston Red Sox,” Kennedy told McCaffrey. “The Arizona Diamondbacks had a need at general manager and the top baseball operations job was open and they contacted us right away because they know the Red Sox have talented folks.”

Kennedy went on to discuss the decision not to name a new GM, noting that the GM title and president of baseball ops title can be interchangeable, and the most important element is to have one person accountable for baseball operations, which for the Red Sox, is Dombrowski. As McCaffrey notes, both Hazen and Sawdaye were integral parts of the Sox’ player development efforts, with Sawdaye overseeing the 2011 draft that netted Mookie Betts, Jackie Bradley, Blake Swihart, Matt Barnes, Travis Shaw and Henry Owens.

More on the BoSox…

  • The Boston Globe’s Alex Speier revisits the Andrew Miller for Eduardo Rodriguez swap that the Red Sox made with the Orioles in July 2014. In light of Miller’s emergence as perhaps baseball’s best reliever and the fact that Rodriguez has yet to develop into a consistent rotation piece, Speier spoke to five rival talent evaluators about the deal, and each of them firmly voiced the opinion that it was still a good trade for then-GM Ben Cherington. Two used the term “no-brainer” to describe the Red Sox’ end of the deal, and each expressed confidence that Rodriguez can still be at least a third or fourth starter in the Majors. Speier also spoke to Red Sox special assistant Mark Wasinger, who in 2014 was a special assignment scout that contributed to the decision to target Rodriguez. Wasinger says improvements in Rodriguez’s command and to his breaking ball actually give him a higher ceiling now than when Boston initially acquired him. As Speier points out, the 23-year-old Rodriguez posted a 3.24 ERA with 9.2 K/9 and 3.2 BB/9 in a vastly improved second half of the season.
  • The improbable return of Kyle Schwarber to the Cubs’ World Series roster serves as motivation for his friend and former college teammate Sam Travis, writes WEEI.com’s Rob Bradford. Travis, one of Boston’s more well-regarded prospects, suffered a torn ACL just a month and a half after Schwarber earlier this season, causing him to miss the majority of the year. Travis discussed with Bradford the excitement he feels for his friend as he pursues a World Series ring but also expressed confidence that he’ll be fully healthy and ready to compete for a Major League roster spot in Spring Training. Bradford points out that Travis had a huge Spring Training last year and now with David Ortiz’s retirement, an opening to split time with Hanley Ramirez at first base and DH could present itself. “That’s the stuff you dream about and the stuff you live for,” said Travis. “…It’s definitely a great opportunity coming up and I’m looking forward to take advantage of it.”

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