Padres are covering $17M of the $22M Melvin Upton is owed through next season in the deal with the Blue Jays. All for a rookie ball prospect in Hansel Rodriguez, wow.
-
Comment -
Comment -
Comment -
The Rangers announced this afternoon that they’ve recalled top infield prospect Joey Gallo from Triple-A Round Rock and optioned outfielder Jared Hoying back to Triple-A in his place. Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News reported shortly before the announcement that Gallo was being recalled (Twitter link).
Gallo, 22, made his big league debut with the Rangers last season but struggled in the Majors, posting a .204/.301/.417 batting line. Strikeouts have long been an Achilles heel for Gallo, and that proved especially true in last season’s brief MLB tenure, as he whiffed an astounding 57 times in 123 plate appearances. Gallo, though, receives 80 grades for his power (on the 20-80 scouting scale) and did homer six times while drawing 15 walks in that stretch as well. This year, he’s dropped his strikeout rate at the Triple-A level by nearly 10 percent. Granted, that still means that he’s punched out in just over 30 percent of his trips to the plate, but it’s a notable step up from the 39.6 percent rate at which he whiffed in 2015 while playing at Triple-A.
This season, Gallo is hitting .246/.381/.557 with 19 homers, nine doubles and five triples in 299 plate appearances with Round Rock — once again displaying a penchant for drawing free passes but also some struggles in making contact. With Prince Fielder expected to undergo season-ending neck surgery later this week, there’s an opportunity for Gallo to get some at-bats while spending time at DH and at both corner infield spots. That could lead to fairly regular at-bats for Gallo, who could slide into the everyday lineup as Texas’ everyday first baseman next season if he proves capable of handling big league pitching this time around. Mitch Moreland is a free agent at season’s end, and while Gallo has cut his teeth playing third base in the minors, the Rangers won’t have a vacancy there until 2019 after signing Adrian Beltre to a two-year extension earlier this season. Gallo’s name has also popped up in myriad trade rumors over the past several weeks, and while most reports indicate that the Rangers are loath to part with his power upside, a couple of reports have suggested that the team is more willing to part with him than it has publicly let on.Comment -
Cashner will be gone in the next few daysComment -
Hilarious spectator agrees with Sale
This White Sox fan has a great sense of humor about Chris Sale's objection to the team's uncomfortable throwback jerseys.
A older gentleman holding a sign that read "You're Right Chris, These Jerseys Are Uncomfortable"
was wearing a simliar style jersey, But 2 sizes to Small... to funnyComment -
-
Colorado Rockies slowly making a run towards the WCComment -
The Rangers addressed their pitching staff earlier today when they acquired pitchers Lucas Harrell and Dario Alvarez from the Braves for second base prospect Travis Demeritte. The price was seemingly high—Demeritte was a starter in this year’s All-Star Futures Game—for two pitchers who had very little value when picked up by the Braves in late May. Harrell was signed to a Minor League contract four days after he was released by the Tigers. Alvarez was claimed off waivers from the Mets. But with pitching being the Rangers’ top priority, general manager Jon Daniels was able to acquire two pitchers who could help in 2016 and are not yet eligible for arbitration. In a conference call earlier today, Jon Daniels explained his thinking behind the deal.
Described by Daniels as “a sinker-baller who’s going well right now,” the 31-year-old Harrell will be reunited with current Rangers pitching coach Doug Brocail, whom he knows from his days with the Astros. Daniels said that Brocail’s assessment of Harrell was “more of a confirmation of what we thought” and the expectation is that he’ll be a part of their rotation. After tossing six shutout innings in his final Braves start on Tuesday, Harrell is lined up for a home start against the Royals on Sunday.
In regards to his new lefty reliever, Daniels called the 27-year-old Alvarez, who has allowed five earned runs in his 15 innings of work with an amazing 28-to-5 strikeout-to-walk ratio, a “real interesting guy” with “deceptive delivery and plus velocity.” He also mentioned that this was Alvarez’s first time with an extended run in the Major Leagues. “Sometimes you have to take a chance before a guy’s a household name”, said Daniels, who did just that when he traded for Sam Dyson on the last day of the 2015 trade deadline and has seen him blossom into a successful late-inning arm.
Asked if he was done addressing his pitching staff and if there was a possibility that he would acquire a non-pitcher before Monday’s deadline, Daniels said that he wouldn’t rule anything out. “We’re still having additional conversations”, he said, adding that pitching remains his team’s top priority.Comment -
Padres have homered in 25 straight games..Comment -
Jeurys Familia's save streak ended at at 52 straight saves yesterday against the Cardinals. It was the 3rd longest in MLB history behind Tom Gordon (54) and Eric Gagne (84).Comment -
Familia still dirty as hell.Comment -
Jose Fernandez got clobbered in rare home loss.Comment -
- Even as the Marlins reportedly make their pitch for Andrew Cashner, the team is continuing to look far and wide for their rotation needs, per Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald. He adds three more names that the club has asked about: Edinson Volquez of the Royals, Matt Shoemaker of the Angels, and Julio Teheran of the division-rival Braves. Nothing in the Miami system is off limits, per the report, including first baseman Josh Naylor and righty Luis Castillo — each of whom have been asked about quite frequently by other clubs, per Jackson. Rival clubs get the sense that the Marlins are “desperate” to bolster their rotation, ESPN.com’s Jerry Crasnick tweets, but it’s still not entirely clear how the team will make that happen given its thin farm. Of course, as the examples of Naylor and Castillo show, the system isn’t devoid of talent, but it would certainly sting to part with the organization’s best pieces, and it’s not at all clear that those players would be enough to score a quality, controllable arm.
- Another team that hopes to add arms but has limitations in doing so is the Tigers, per Jon Morosi of MLB.com (via Twitter). Detroit is said not to have much payroll flexibility, and is also generally regarded as having a weaker farm system. At the same time, it’s probably wise not to count out the Mike Illitch-owned Tigers, who have made many bold strikes in the past and sit in reasonable striking distance of both the AL Central and the Wild Card at six games over .500.
- After missing on Aroldis Chapman, the Nationals should only step up their efforts to upgrade, Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post opines. While GM Mike Rizzo has undeniably been a shrewd dealmaker, he and the organization have largely resisted major in-season additions, and Kilgore says that this is not the year to be stingy with prospects. Washington has been tied mostly to relief targets, and finding a big-time late-inning arm surely remains a priority. That said, things still seem rather wide open for the Nats, who aren’t overrun with needs but seem interested in a big addition. After all, the club even reportedly asked the Blue Jays whether star outfielder Jose Bautista might be available, per Barry Svrluga of the Washington Post (Twitter link).
- Despite moving to add infielder Eduardo Nunez tonight, the Giants are still focused on pitching, GM Bobby Evans tells reporters including Alex Pavlovic of CSN Bay Area (via Twitter). It’s hard to draw a bead on the Giants’ favored targets, as ESPN.com’s Jerry Crasnick says they’re “blanketing” the market for starters and relievers (Twitter links). But the team is among may that have reached out to the Royals, so you can at least add some hypothetical new names to the long list of possibilities for San Francisco.
Comment -
Chris Coghlan will be back with the Cubs today after completing a stint at Triple-A Iowa.
Tommy LaStella is headed to Iowa to open a spot on the 25-man roster.
Coughlan is in the lineup today, slated to leadoff.Comment -
Padres and Marlins have confirmed that the final deal is:
Marlins get Andrew Cashner, Colin Rea, Tyler Guerrero and
Padres get: Josh Naylor, Jose Castillo, Jarred Cosart and Carter Capps pending medicals/physicals.Comment -
Twins lose Nuñez.Comment -
We’ve already heard about the Mets’ interest in Angels righty Joe Smith, but they aren’t alone in looking at the veteran reliever. The Indians, Mariners, and perhaps also the Cardinals all have some level of interest, Jon Heyman of Fan Rag tweets. These teams, of course, have also been tied to a variety of other pen pieces — as have most organizations looking for relief help. Remember to check out MLBTR’s list of the top relief candidates to run down some possibilities.
- One source for a quality reliever could be the White Sox, who still have closer David Robertson under contract for two more years. There’s a “real possibility” he could be moved, Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News reports on Twitter. The Nationals, Rangers, and division-rival Indians are among the rival organizations who have some interest. While Robertson is carrying an uncharacteristic 4.35 ERA on the year, driven in large part by a huge spike in his walk totals and a barrage of home runs, he’s still getting swings and misses on 11.9% of his pitches and working with his typical 92 to 93 mph fastball. Robertson is working in the zone as much as usual, and has tamed the control problems in the month of July. Plus, much of the damage has been limited to a few bad outings — Robertson has only allowed earned runs in eight of his forty outings on the season.
- Several Padres bullpen arms feature on the above-cited list of trade possibilities, and GM A.J. Preller says that he has drawn interest, as MLB.com’s AJ Cassavell tweets. Preller cites righty Brandon Maurer and lefties Brad Hand and Ryan Buchter as hurlers who have been asked about quite frequently. “There’s definitely interest in our pen,” per the freewheeling general manager.
- Teams asking the Yankees about starting pitching have been left with the impression that only Ivan Nova is available at present, Joel Sherman of the New York Post reports on Twitter. Nova certainly didn’t help his trade appeal with a rough outing tonight, but as a pending free agent, it seems the club is more willing to deal him. As of now, says Sherman, upper management hasn’t given a green light on moving arms that have future control, such as Nathan Eovaldi and Michael Pineda.
Comment -
Padres the long term winners in that tradeComment
