Zach Davies

Central Notes: Royals, Liriano, Cobb, Brewers

By Steve Adams | March 12, 2018 at 7:32pm CDT

The Royals would still like to add help in either the rotation or the bullpen, tweets USA Today’s Bob Nightengale, but their payroll is elevated to the point where they have very little room for further additions. As such, a reunion with still-lingering free agent Greg Holland seems “extremely remote,” Nightengale adds. Over the past couple of weeks, the Royals have signed Lucas Duda ($3.5MM), Jon Jay ($3MM) and Mike Moustakas ($6.5MM) in a late trio of additions, pushing their payroll up into the $122MM range.

Notable Roster Decisions: Friday

By Steve Adams | March 31, 2017 at 9:45pm CDT

As Spring Training draws to a close, the final determinations about each team’s roster will be continue to come into focus. Here are some of the day’s more notable roster decisions…

Prized righty Tyler Glasnow will take the final spot in the Pirates rotation, Stephen Nesbitt of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports on Twitter. He had been competing with Trevor Williams, who’ll head to the bullpen, Adam Berry of MLB.com adds on Twitter. With southpaw Wade LeBlanc also taking a job, that seems to set the stage for Rule 5 pick Tyler Webb to hit the waiver wire.
The Giants have nailed down their bench and rotation, as Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area reports. Aaron Hill and Chris Marrero will round out the bench. The veteran Hill figures to share the infield reserve duties with Conor Gillaspie, while Marrero will surprisingly open the season as a part of a left field platoon with the left-handed-hitting Jarrett Parker. Meanwhile, Matt Cain will keep a rotation spot, though Ty Blach will also make the club as a reliever — where he could often spell Cain in lengthier outings.
With injuries and young arms entering the picture, the Rockies’ pitching plans were interesting to watch this spring. As Nick Groke of the Denver Post tweets, the team will roll with lefty Kyle Freeland and righties Antonio Senzatela and German Marquez to fill out their starting staff. It seems likely that the former two will open the year in the rotation, with Marquez heading to the pen and staying on hand if a need arises.

Click to read earlier updates …

By optioning Ben Gamel and placing several relievers on the DL, the Mariners signaled their Opening Day Roster, as Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times reports (Twitter links). Guillermo Heredia will serve as a reserve outfielder, while both Dillon Overton and James Pazos are slated to take up spots in the bullpen.
Righty Oliver Drake has been named as the final member of the Orioles bullpen, Steve Melewski of MASNsports.com reports on Twitter. It had been suggested yesterday that Drake was placed on waivers, but it seems that was premature. Though he had a rough spring, Drake has shown an ability to induce lots of swings and misses with his deceptive pitch mix. The 30-year-old is out of options, so Baltimore had to carry him on the active roster to maintain control rights.
The Rangers made the surprising decision to option righty Keone Kela, as Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram tweets. Indications are that the move was related to off-field issues rather than performance questions or a need for roster space. Indeed, Kela was — and, perhaps, still is — expected to fulfill an important role in the Rangers’ pen. Though he dealt with elbow issues and struggled in the earned-run department last year, the 23-year-old was dominant this spring and seemed a good bet to bounce back.
A groin injury will land Matt Garza on the 10-day disabled list to open the season, meaning that the Brewers’ rotation will now consist of right-handers Junior Guerra, Zach Davies, Wily Peralta, Chase Anderson and Jimmy Nelson, reports Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. Left-hander Tommy Milone, who inked a one-year deal after being non-tendered by the Twins, had been in the mix for a rotation spot but will instead pitch out of the bullpen, Haudricourt adds. The 30-year-old Milone, who has made only 11 career relief appearances, will be the lone southpaw in Milwaukee’s bullpen (and on its entire pitching staff, for that matter).
Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union Tribune reports that Trevor Cahill and Luis Perdomo have won spots in the Padres’ rotation, thereby pushing Jarred Cosart to the bullpen. Cahill and Perdomo will be joined by Jhoulys Chacin, Jered Weaver and Clayton Richard in a reconstructed San Diego rotation that was pieced together in cost-effective fashion but still carries myriad question marks. Manager Andy Green didn’t rule out a return to the rotation or an eventual late-inning role for Cosart, but for the time being it sounds as if he’s slotted for long relief. Given the uncertainty that permeates the San Diego starting corps, that role could lead to plenty of innings for the 26-year-old Cosart early in the year.
The Yankees announced last night that right-hander Chad Green has been optioned to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. The 25-year-old Green had been in consideration for a rotation spot and turned in a strong 1.50 ERA in 12 spring innings, though that was accompanied by a less-encouraging 8-to-6 K/BB ratio. The Yankees aren’t planning to name a fifth starter before Opening Day and will utilize early off days to avoid needing a fifth starter for the early portion of April. Still, it’d be a surprise if Green didn’t at least enter the team’s rotation conversation at some point this season. For now, the team’s rotation will be comprised of Masahiro Tanaka, Michael Pineda, CC Sabathia and Luis Severino.
Jandel Gustave has won the Astros’ final bullpen spot, beating out fellow righty James Hoyt, per Jake Kaplan of the Houston Chronicle (Twitter link). The 24-year-old bounced to three different teams after being taken in the 2014 Rule 5 Draft before ultimately returning to the ’Stros. Gustave averaged 97.1 mph on his fastball in his brief MLB debut last season and turned in a 16-to-4 K/BB ratio in 15 1/3 innings of work.
Right-hander Austin Pruitt has beat out Chase Whitley and Jaime Schultz to make the Rays’ roster, reports Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. Injuries to Shawn Tolleson and Brad Boxberger likely helped to pave the way for Pruitt, 27, to break camp with the team. The 2013 ninth-round pick turned in a solid 3.76 ERA with 8.2 K/9 against 1.5 BB/9 in his first taste of Triple-A work last year. Manager Kevin Cash tells Topkin that delivering the news that Pruitt would make the Opening Day roster was “probably the best conversation all spring.” The manager also noted that a decision on the final bench slot may not come until Saturday (or even Sunday morning, Topkin adds via Twitter).

NL Central Notes: Reds, Cardinals, Brewers

By Connor Byrne | March 4, 2017 at 4:37pm CDT

Reds first baseman Joey Votto turned in yet another all-world season at the plate last year, but that accompanied an uncharacteristically poor defensive campaign. After finishing with fewer than four Defensive Runs Saved in just one season from 2008-15, Votto logged a ghastly minus-14 DRS to finish worst among first basemen last year. In regards to his most recent output in the field, Votto told Zach Buchanan of the Cincinnati Enquirer: “I didn’t prepare properly. I had to do a lot of catching up during the season. The unfortunate thing of hitting versus defense is I’m probably a more natural hitter than I am a defensive player. When I don’t prepare to the utmost in one aspect of my game that’s not a strength, I’m way behind everybody else.” Votto wasn’t going to make the same mistake twice, so he spent the offseason doing unspecified work to improve his defense, relays Buchanan.

More on Cincinnati and two of its division rivals:

Jumbo Diaz was among the few Reds relievers who prevented runs at a respectable rate in 2016, when he registered a 3.14 ERA in 43 innings (that did mask an unappealing 5.24 FIP, granted), yet he’s not a lock to make their bullpen this year, writes Mark Sheldon of MLB.com. Diaz is out of options, so his four-year tenure with the Cincy organization could be in jeopardy. Having yielded six earned runs on eight hits in three spring innings, the 33-year-old is cognizant of the fact that he’s not in an ideal situation. “I know I am fighting for a spot here,” he told Sheldon. “So far in my outings, I’m not doing so well. But I think I’m throwing hard and can get on track and be ready for the season. I feel good right now. I think I will do everything I can [to get] ready for my outings every time I go to the mound.” Diaz will join the Dominican Republic team in Miami on Sunday for this year’s World Baseball Classic, and manager Bryan Price wonders if the right-hander will see enough work in the tournament. “My only concern is [that] he gets regular work in the Classic, and if they’re playing for a long time that he’s being used on a regular basis,” Price said.
After nearly three years as the Cardinals’ primary closer, right-hander Trevor Rosenthal is vying for a spot in the team’s rotation, though it’s unlikely he’ll end up a starter, suggests Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. The Redbirds “don’t really know” what Rosenthal’s role will be in 2017, per manager Mike Matheny, but given that they’re stretching him out, odds are he’ll end up as something between a starter and a closer, writes Goold. The hard-throwing 26-year-old could give the Cardinals their own version of Cleveland’s Andrew Miller – someone capable of handling high-leverage situations and tossing multiple innings in an appearance.
The Brewers had six starters throw at least 100 innings last season. While all of them remain with the organization, only righties Junior Guerra and Zach Davies are locks to crack the major league rotation again this season, according to manager Craig Counsell (via Barry M. Bloom of MLB.com). The others – 2016 innings leader Jimmy Nelson (179 1/3), Matt Garza, Chase Anderson and Wily Peralta – are competing with newcomer Tommy Milone for the Brewers’ final three starting spots. “It’s the best way,” said Counsell, who’s “happy” with the rotation depth Milwaukee possesses.

Minor MLB Transactions: 4/16/16

By charliewilmoth and Connor Byrne | April 16, 2016 at 9:30pm CDT

Here are today’s minor moves from around the game.

The Rangers sent lefty reliever Andrew Faulkner to Triple-A and recalled righty Nick Martinez, according to John Henry of MLB.com. Prior to the move, Faulkner tossed 4 1/3 innings for the Rangers and allowed four earned runs, five hits and three walks while striking out just one batter. Martinez logged extensive time in the majors last season, totaling 125 innings of 3.96 ERA ball with Texas. ERA estimators like FIP (4.98) and xFIP (4.99) thought far less of his performance. He’ll serve as a long reliever and spot starter for the Rangers.
The Brewers have called up righty Zach Davies from Triple-A Colorado Springs to make a spot start against the Pirates on Sunday, per Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (Twitter link). In a corresponding move, they sent outfielder Keon Broxton down to Colorado Springs. Davies, whom the Brewers acquired from the Orioles last year, fared respectably in his first big league action in 2015. In six starts (34 innings), he put up a 3.71 ERA to go along with a 6.35 K/9 and 3.97 BB/9. Broxton went without a hit and struck out 11 times in 18 plate appearances before the demotion.
The Orioles have released righty Todd Redmond, their Triple-A Norfolk Tides affiliate tweets. The 30-year-old Redmond pitched a combined 152 innings for the Blue Jays in 2013 and 2014, appearing as both a starter and as a reliever, but spent most of last season with Toronto’s Triple-A team. The O’s signed him to a minor-league deal in November, but he struggled after being sent to Norfolk, allowing 15 runs in five innings there. In his big-league career, Redmond has a 4.25 ERA, 7.9 K/9 and 3.3 BB/9 in 171 1/3 innings.

Matt Garza Out At Least Four To Six Weeks With Lat Strain

By Steve Adams | April 5, 2016 at 5:23pm CDT

Brewers right-hander Matt Garza learned today that a strained lat muscle will sideline him for the next four to six weeks, he told reporters, including Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel (Twitter link). Garza has been dealing with some tightness in his shoulder, but based on his comments, he wasn’t anticipating anything overly serious from his medical examinations. Via MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy (Twitter link), Garza told the media: “I’m not afraid of work, it just wasn’t what I was looking forward to at the beginning.”

Garza, 32, was expected to return to the Brewers’ rotation after losing his spot late last season, but he’ll now spend the foreseeable future on the disabled list instead. Right-hander Zach Davies stands out as a likely candidate to step into the rotation alongside fellow right-handers Wily Peralta, Jimmy Nelson, Taylor Jungmann and Chase Anderson, although top prospect Jorge Lopez received some Major League experience in 2015 as well. And, as McCalvy further tweets, the Brewers won’t need a fifth starter through the first 11 games due to scheduled off days, so there’s no immediate need to promote a starter in Garza’s place. For the time being, righty Tyler Cravy will be promoted to take Garza’s roster spot.

While the rebuilding Brewers aren’t expected to contend this season, it’s nonetheless a disappointing way to begin the season. After losing potential closer Will Smith to a freak LCL tear, Garza’s injury thins out the pitching depth a bit more and also eliminates the possibility of the once-excellent veteran rebuilding some trade stock with a strong early showing. While Garza could, of course, do so upon his return in what appears to be May or June (based on the presented timetable), he already has a fairly lengthy injury history under his belt, and a recent shoulder issue won’t do his stock any favors come July even if he’s pitching well. Last season, Garza struggled to a career-worst 5.63 ERA in 148 2/3 innings.

Garza is entering the third season of a four-year, $50MM contract with Milwaukee which also contains a complex fifth-year option that is largely dependent on the health of his right arm. (The $5MM club option turns into a $13MM vesting option if Garza throws 110 games over the course of the contract’s first four seasons but also shrinks to just a $1MM option if he spends more than 130 days of a season on the disabled list.) The Brewers owe Garza a combined $25MM between the 2016 and 2017 seasons, which is spread out evenly by annual salaries of $12.5MM.

In further injury news, the Brewers have also lost bullpen candidate Yhonathan Barrios to shoulder surgery, as McCalvy tweets. The 24-year-old Barrios, acquired from the Pirates last summer in exchange for Aramis Ramirez, had his rotator cuff repaired by renowned surgeon Dr. James Andrews. Barrios made his big league debut with the Brewers in 2015, firing 6 2/3 scoreless innings out of the ’pen. In that brief but dominant cameo, Barrios allowed just three hits and no walks while averaging 96.4 mph on his heater and striking out seven hitters. His minor league work wasn’t quite as impressive, however; Barrios logged a solid 2.83 ERA in 60 1/3 innings between Double-A and Triple-A, but the hard-throwing righty also averaged just 5.5 strikeouts against 3.3 walks per nine innings pitched.

Central Notes: Plouffe, Jackson, Indians, Brewers

By charliewilmoth | August 15, 2015 at 12:45pm CDT

Trevor Plouffe’s agent (Nez Balelo at CAA) has been in Minnesota recently, but Plouffe and the Twins haven’t been discussing an extension, 1500ESPN’s Darren Wolfson tweets. Plouffe can become eligible for free agency following the 2017 season. Wolfson describes him as an extension candidate, and maybe he is, since the Twins are frequently loyal to their players. The Twins do have another potential long-term answer at third base in Miguel Sano, however, and Sano is younger and cheaper, as well as being an outstanding hitter. Trading Plouffe might ultimately make more sense. Here are more notes from the Central divisions.

The Twins also had interest in Edwin Jackson before Jackson signed with the Braves, Wolfson tweets. The Braves were prepared to offer a big-league deal, however, and the Twins apparently were not.
The Indians’ contracts for Michael Bourn and Nick Swisher didn’t turn out well, but the team would have been in even worse shape had it extended Justin Masterson, Terry Pluto of the Plain Dealer writes. In Spring Training in 2014, the Indians reportedly offered Masterson about $45MM over three years, which at the time looked like a lowball offer, given Masterson’s impending free agency and excellent 2013 season. Since then, though, Masterson has struggled in Cleveland, St. Louis and Boston, ultimately being designated for assignment by the Red Sox last week.
The Brewers’ farm system looks significantly improved after last month’s trades and the June draft, Tom Haudricourt writes for Baseball America (subscription only). In trading Carlos Gomez, Mike Fiers, Gerardo Parra, Aramis Ramirez and Jonathan Broxton, the Brewers got a solid group of prospects that includes Brett Phillips, Domingo Santana and Zach Davies. Many of the players they acquired are in the high minors, too, which now-former Brewers GM Doug Melvin suggested might shorten the amount of time the team needed to rebuild. Davies, who is relatively small and isn’t a hard thrower, doesn’t fit the pitcher type the Brewers usually like, but Melvin says the team’s analytics department lobbied for the Brewers to acquire him in the Parra trade.

Podcast: New Brewers Righty Zach Davies

By Cray Allred | August 7, 2015 at 7:34pm CDT

In our third and final interview with just-traded young players, host Jeff Todd spoke with Brewers pitching prospect Zach Davies before he took the hill for his first outing with his new organization. (It went quit well: six innings, one earned run, and seven strikeouts against three walks.) Davies represents a nice, near-to-the-majors starter for Milwaukee, which added him in the Gerardo Parra trade.

Be sure to check out the previous podcast episodes featuring key deadline movers Brett Phillips of the Brewers and Daniel Norris of the Tigers.

Click here to subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, and please leave a review! The podcast is also available via Stitcher at this link.

The MLB Trade Rumors Podcast runs weekly on Thursday afternoons.

Orioles Acquire Gerardo Parra

By Jeff Todd | July 31, 2015 at 11:40am CDT

The Orioles have officially acquired Brewers outfielder Gerardo Parra, as first reported by Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun (via Twitter). Prospect Zach Davies will go to Milwaukee in return.

Milwaukee drew fairly wide interest in Parra, though other teams with reported interest (such as the Angels) had already opted to move for other pieces. The club had been hoping to add two prospects in exchange for Parra, but ultimately decide to take one more highly regarded prospect from Baltimore, Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel tweets.

It’s been a career-year thus far for the 28-year-old, who owns a .328/.369/.517 slash over 351 plate appearances. He’s added nine home runs and nine steals as well. While Parra has graded surprisingly poorly in the outfield, he has a sterling reputation in that regard and has generally received above-average ratings from metrics.

If teams believed that level of production was sustainable, of course, Parra would have drawn much more interest. But his track record suggests he’s more of a league-average bat, and he has benefited quite a bit from a .372 BABIP.

Regardless, Parra looks like a quality rental piece for a contender — he’ll be a free agent after the season — and Baltimore will be the one to take the plunge. Though the O’s already have left-handed-hitting platoon outfielders in Travis Snider and David Lough, but both have been underwhelming.

Baltimore had to part with its eighth-rated prospect, per Baseball America’s mid-season ranking (subscription link), to get the deal done. He’s not an overpowering pitcher, but gets by on finesse and is near to the big leagues, per BA’s Josh Leventhal. Davies has posted excellent results this year at Triple-A, racking up 101 1/3 innings of 2.84 ERA pitching with 7.2 K/9 against 2.9 BB/9.

Nathan Bishop of Lookout Landing suggested just this scenario could be in the works on Twitter yesterday. Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports tweeted that the deal was close. Roch Kubatko reported this morning that it was in the works.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Orioles “Closing In” On Gerardo Parra Deal

By Jeff Todd | July 31, 2015 at 9:32am CDT

The Orioles are “closing in” on a deal for Brewers outfielder Gerardo Parra, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports tweets. Prospect Zach Davies is expected to be the return to Milwaukee. Nathan Bishop of Lookout Landing suggested just this scenario could be in the works on Twitter yesterday.

Orioles Weighing Gerardo Parra, Ben Revere; Discussing Tommy Hunter With Cubs

By Jeff Todd | July 31, 2015 at 7:40am CDT

The Orioles are looking at a pair of left-handed hitting outfielders in Gerardo Parra of the Brewers and Ben Revere of the Phillies, Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com reports. The club was talking about a deal involving minor league hurler Zach Davies (in addition to other pieces). Baltimore already has Travis Snider and David Lough as left-handed options in the corner outfield, but has long been said to be looking at new options.

Confirming and building on that report, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports says Baltimore is indeed pursuing talks on both Parra and Revere (Twitter links). Baltimore is also working on a deal with the Cubs involving reliever Tommy Hunter, per the report. The team would look to save some cash (around $1.5MM) while adding a minor leaguer from Chicago. The 29-year-old has been a steady contributor in the pen, though he failed in an early stint as the team’s closer last year.

The O’s would presumably put some of the savings achieved on Hunter, should that deal come to fruition, towards a new outfielder. Parra ($6.24MM annual salary) and Revere ($4.1MM) would both cost Baltimore a fairly tidy sum to field the rest of the way, in addition to whatever the acquisition cost would be from their respective clubs. Both are different players who represent different kinds of assets: Parra is a better defender with decent pop (particularly this year), and is a pure rental, while Revere is a singles hitter with outstanding speed who can be controlled for two more seasons.

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