The 2018 Major League Baseball Player Chatter, News and Fantasy Thread.

[Chi_archie]

If Orioles shortstop Manny Machado becomes a free agent in the offseason, “the Cubs would be high on his list because of his friendship with Albert Almora,” Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe hears.Machado and Almora, the Cubs’ center fielder, have been close friends since childhood – something David Haugh of the Chicago Tribune detailed back in 2016. The two may end up on the same team as early as this summer, given the high likelihood the Orioles will trade Machado and the speculation linking him to the Cubs. Although, team president Theo Epstein threw cold water on Machado-to-Chicago rumors last month.
More from Cafardo…

• The Astros are maintaining interest in Orioles reliever Zach Britton, according to Cafardo. Houston agreed to acquire Britton prior to last year’s trade deadline, but the swap fell apart thanks to medical concerns the Orioles had regarding other players in the deal. The Astros went on to win a World Series without Britton, whose value took a hit over the winter when he suffered a ruptured Achilles. The impending free agent just came off the disabled list earlier this week and, with the Orioles well out of contention, is now auditioning for other teams as the July 31 non-waiver deadline nears. With a righty-heavy bullpen, the Astros may make sense for Britton, though southpaw Tony Sipp has enjoyed a bounce-back season and their relief corps has been elite versus left-handed hitters.
• Athletics closer Blake Treinen is “likely to be available,” Cafardo writes in a separate piece. The A’s aren’t under pressure to move Treinen, who’s controllable via arbitration through 2020 and on a cheap salary ($2.15MM) this season. But both Treinen’s team control and his excellent pitching will make him a sought-after piece if Oakland does show a willingness to move him. The 29-year-old has been a premier reliever this season over a 32-inning span, during which he has logged a 1.13 ERA with 10.41 K/9, 2.81 BB/9 and a 49.4 percent groundball rate. Treinen has also converted 14 of 16 save opportunities.
• Free-agent first basemen Hanley Ramirez and Adrian Gonzalez aren’t drawing much interest at the moment, per Cafardo. Ramirez reached the open market when the Red Sox released him June 1, while the Mets parted with Gonzalez last Sunday. Despite their accomplished track records, neither player has been all that productive at the plate since 2017, nor have they brought much value in the field or on the bases. Further, they’re each on the wrong end of the aging curve (Ramirez is 34, Gonzalez 36). With all of that considered, it’s not surprising they’re having difficulty finding work.

Cubs be off season will be interesting

[koz-man]

Indians place P Carlos Carrasco on DL after he was struck by line drive

The Indians placed pitcher Carlos Carrasco on the 10-day disabled list Sunday, a day after he was removed from their game against Minnesota after being struck on the right elbow by a line drive in the second inning.

Carrasco hopped off the mound and went down to his knees on the infield grass after he was hit by Joe Mauer's leadoff liner. Manager Terry Francona and a team trainer visited Carrasco, who remained on his knees for several moments.

[JMobile]

Bautista should be next for release with a batting average under .200 for the Mets.

[yisman]

Longoria out until August after undergoing surgery.

[El Nino]

Longoria out until August after undergoing surgery.

Tough break for the Giants. NL West is still fairly open.

[batt33]

Tough break for the Giants. NL West is still fairly open.

Never easy..... get belt back ,lose longoria.......

[EmpireMaker]

While the Tigers’ 36-37 record looks underwhelming, they’ve no doubt exceeded expectations so far after finishing last in the majors in 2017. But even though the team sits just 2 1/2 games behind the first-place Indians in the AL Central, general manager Al Avila isn’t adjusting his immediate or long-term plans, he explained to Jason Beck of MLB.com and other reporters Sunday. Perhaps of greater intrigue, Avila’s not ready to say whether he aims to keep either right fielder Nicholas Castellanos or right-hander Michael Fulmer for the long haul. While Avila noted that “I don’t have a mandate to trade anyone,” he added that “our intent here is to be open-minded, and if somebody offers us something that quite frankly makes us better as we move forward, then we have to really seriously consider that.”
The Tigers failed in their attempts to extend Castellanos last winter, and the 26-year-old has since hit at a career-best pace with a .310/.353/.502 line in 306 plate appearances. He’s in his second-last year of arbitration control, while Fulmer is in his final pre-arb season and isn’t scheduled to become a free agent until after the 2022 campaign. The 25-year-old is now in the midst of his third straight effective season, although it hasn’t been impressive as the previous two, as he has recorded a 4.13 ERA/4.08 FIP through 80 2/3 innings.
Now the latest on a pair of NL Central teams:

• The Cardinals plan to activate reliever Greg Holland from the disabled list during the upcoming week, Jenifer Langosch of MLB.com reports. Holland has been out since May 26 with a right hip impingement, and the results during his rehab assignment haven’t been “ideal,” manager Mike Matheny admitted. The $14MM free-agent signing has allowed four earned runs on five hits (two home runs) and posted more walks than strikeouts (five to four) in five minor league games. He has also logged horrid numbers in the majors this year, having recorded a 9.45 ERA with 10 strikeouts and 15 walks in 13 1/3 innings.
• The Pirates reinstated infielder Jung Ho Kang from the restricted list and optioned him to Triple-A on Friday. General manager Neal Huntington spoke about Kang on Sunday (via Chris Adamski of the Pittsburgh-Tribune Review), saying “we need to see quality plate appearances” in the minors and “we need to see him doing the things he did before to show us he can be major league ready again.” If that happens, the Pirates will be happy to welcome Kang back, Huntington suggested. “We would love to have a healthy and productive Jung Ho Kang back on this major league team,” he said, “because if that player comes back, he’s going to help us win games.” Kang did indeed help Pittsburgh win games from 2015-16, but he then earned his third DUI in his native South Korea prior to the 2017 season and hasn’t played in the majors since.

[ApricotSinner32]

While the Tigers’ 36-37 record looks underwhelming, they’ve no doubt exceeded expectations so far after finishing last in the majors in 2017. But even though the team sits just 2 1/2 games behind the first-place Indians in the AL Central, general manager Al Avila isn’t adjusting his immediate or long-term plans, he explained to Jason Beck of MLB.com and other reporters Sunday. Perhaps of greater intrigue, Avila’s not ready to say whether he aims to keep either right fielder Nicholas Castellanos or right-hander Michael Fulmer for the long haul. While Avila noted that “I don’t have a mandate to trade anyone,” he added that “our intent here is to be open-minded, and if somebody offers us something that quite frankly makes us better as we move forward, then we have to really seriously consider that.”
The Tigers failed in their attempts to extend Castellanos last winter, and the 26-year-old has since hit at a career-best pace with a .310/.353/.502 line in 306 plate appearances. He’s in his second-last year of arbitration control, while Fulmer is in his final pre-arb season and isn’t scheduled to become a free agent until after the 2022 campaign. The 25-year-old is now in the midst of his third straight effective season, although it hasn’t been impressive as the previous two, as he has recorded a 4.13 ERA/4.08 FIP through 80 2/3 innings.
Now the latest on a pair of NL Central teams:

• The Cardinals plan to activate reliever Greg Holland from the disabled list during the upcoming week, Jenifer Langosch of MLB.com reports. Holland has been out since May 26 with a right hip impingement, and the results during his rehab assignment haven’t been “ideal,” manager Mike Matheny admitted. The $14MM free-agent signing has allowed four earned runs on five hits (two home runs) and posted more walks than strikeouts (five to four) in five minor league games. He has also logged horrid numbers in the majors this year, having recorded a 9.45 ERA with 10 strikeouts and 15 walks in 13 1/3 innings.
• The Pirates reinstated infielder Jung Ho Kang from the restricted list and optioned him to Triple-A on Friday. General manager Neal Huntington spoke about Kang on Sunday (via Chris Adamski of the Pittsburgh-Tribune Review), saying “we need to see quality plate appearances” in the minors and “we need to see him doing the things he did before to show us he can be major league ready again.” If that happens, the Pirates will be happy to welcome Kang back, Huntington suggested. “We would love to have a healthy and productive Jung Ho Kang back on this major league team,” he said, “because if that player comes back, he’s going to help us win games.” Kang did indeed help Pittsburgh win games from 2015-16, but he then earned his third DUI in his native South Korea prior to the 2017 season and hasn’t played in the majors since.

Good luck today boys.................................... ..

[El Nino]

Cubs shut out. That team is going nowhere. 6-11 in one run games. If they don't score 7 runs, they lose. Shit bullpen, dancing bear in left field.

[Chi_archie]

Cubs shut out. That team is going nowhere. 6-11 in one run games. If they don't score 7 runs, they lose. Shit bullpen, dancing bear in left field.

They need some help

[hotcross]

Did anyone see the top of 8th inning in Milwaukee on Sunday?

Bullpen pitcher Adrian Houser came into the game and was getting sick (puke) at the mound. He wanted to stay in the game and the Brewers were kinda forced to because they didn't have guys warming up at that moment.

Houser promptly gave up a double to Alfaro of the Phillies. He got the next batter out, then started puking again. Very next pitch gave up another double to Kingery and a run scored, making it 9-5 Phillies in a high scoring game. The final ended up being 10-9 Phillies, with the Brewers scoring 4 runs in the bottom of the 9th, but falling just short of the comeback.

Funny stuff. Perhaps the light-blue ballcaps for Father's Day were a bit too tight for Houser's liking.

[Otters27]

Did anyone see the top of 8th inning in Milwaukee on Sunday?

Bullpen pitcher Adrian Houser came into the game and was getting sick (puke) at the mound. He wanted to stay in the game and the Brewers were kinda forced to because they didn't have guys warming up at that moment.

Houser promptly gave up a double to Alfaro of the Phillies. He got the next batter out, then started puking again. Very next pitch gave up another double to Kingery and a run scored, making it 9-5 Phillies in a high scoring game. The final ended up being 10-9 Phillies, with the Brewers scoring 4 runs in the bottom of the 9th, but falling just short of the comeback.

Funny stuff. Perhaps the light-blue ballcaps for Father's Day were a bit too tight for Houser's liking.

Gross. did they clean up the puke. What if the ball grounded passed the puke

[hotcross]

yes, they had to clean it up a couple times and Houser stayed in the game.

Milwaukee has a retractable roof, but the field is natural grass. They even keep the grass thru the harsh winters.

[koz-man]

The Yankees announced that they have called up OF Clint Frazier today. In the corresponding move, INF Ronald Torreyes was optioned to Triple-A. Frazier is not the 26th man, it appears. Looks like another pitcher will be coming up for the second game.

[BigSpoon]

Cubs shut out. That team is going nowhere. 6-11 in one run games. If they don't score 7 runs, they lose. Shit bullpen, dancing bear in left field.

I think they'll be fine, still the favorites to win the NL Central.

[JMobile]

Brewers look solid.

[batt33]

Tough break for the Giants. NL West is still fairly open.

Giants have 20 of the next 26 games at home........need to put a little win streak together

[EmpireMaker]

The Nationals have officially struck a deal to acquire reliever Kelvin Herrera from the Royals, making for a fascinating early swap. Outfielder Blake Perkins, third baseman Kelvin Gutierrez, and righty Yohanse Morel will head to Kansas City in return.

This agreement represents a rare, mid-June strike of real consequence. We’ve already seen a few other notable trades this year, so it could be that the market as a whole will move quicker than usual — and much more rapidly than it did last year.
Herrera checked in at the #2 spot on MLBTR’s initial list of the top fifty trade deadline candidates. Beyond his excellence on the mound, Herrera’s pending free-agent status for the cellar-dwelling Royals made a trade all but inevitable. He’s arguably the most significant player to have been dealt in the month of June in recent memory — a topic we examined just last week.
The Nats will take over the $7,937,500 salary that Herrera is earning in his final season of arbitration eligibility. With 82 of the 186 service days on the MLB calendar already in the books, the Washington organization will be on the hook for something like $4.44MM.
Certainly, the high-octane Herrera looks to be a key new piece for the Nats’ pen. This deal is the latest summer bullpen swap for the organization. Last year, the Nationals added Sean Doolittle, Ryan Madson, and Brandon Kintzler, the same three hurlers that make up the preferred late-inning unit on the current ballclub. In prior years, the team added Mark Melancon and Jonathan Papelbon. (The latter trade was the most regrettable of president of baseball operations Mike Rizzo’s tenure. Not only was Papelbon a disaster in the second season of his deal, but the team handed quality young righty Nick Pivetta to a division rival.)
The 28-year-old Herrera will likely function in a set-up role in front of Doolittle, but skipper Dave Martinez will also have the choice to switch things up as match-ups dictate. Herrera has spent plenty of time as the K.C. closer and has loads of high-leverage postseason experience, so he ought to be able to function in any role that his new team prefers.
Herrera still works at about 97 mph with his fastball, though he once averaged over 99. Notably, he’s also generating swinging strikes at a quality 14.4% rate, marking a return to form after a downturn last year. Unsurprisingly, then, the results have been excellent thus far in 2018. Herrera has allowed just three earned runs in 25 2/3 innings, racking up a stellar 22:2 K/BB ratio along the way. He’s not generating quite as many grounders as he has in years past, but has tamped down on the long ball somewhat and has obviously been exceptionally stingy with free passes.
On the other side of this arrangement, the package features three interesting players that most prospect rankings did not grade among the very best in the Nats’ system. Clearly, though, the Royals felt the package was strong enough to warrant an early move. For the Nationals, shipping out that trio still leaves the club with the bulk of its highest-ranked prospects still available for the future — or, perhaps, for further deals this summer.
Depending upon who you ask, Gutierrez and Perkins each rated just outside of or just within the ten best prospects on the Nationals farm. The former is a 23-year-old third baseman who has scuffled a bit in his first attempt at Double-A this year, but is regarded as a talented corner defender who possesses a quality hit tool and some power potential. Perkins, 21, has run into some troubles at the High-A level but has an interesting blend of speed, power, and plate discipline along with up-the-middle defensive ability in the outfield. As for Morel, a reputedly live-armed 17-year-old, he’ll represent a long-term wild card in this swap.

[batt33]

Hunter strickland is the re incarnation of 80's jeff brantly for the giants ...

tonight's no different

[ApricotSinner32]

How many wins are the marlins gonna end up with this season?

[koz-man]

The Angels have lost 7 of their last 8 and have gone from 3 1/2 to 10 1/2 back in the AL West during that stretch. Mike Trout says his team can't think about that. "If you do that, it's going to snowball, and it's just going to get worse."

[JMobile]

Rockies falling apart.

[BigSpoon]

Nice move by the Nats to get Herrera early without giving up any of their top 10 prospects.

[Otters27]

Watch Degrom last night. Did not realize he cut his hair. Dominated

[yisman]

Did anyone see the top of 8th inning in Milwaukee on Sunday?

Bullpen pitcher Adrian Houser came into the game and was getting sick (puke) at the mound. He wanted to stay in the game and the Brewers were kinda forced to because they didn't have guys warming up at that moment.

Houser promptly gave up a double to Alfaro of the Phillies. He got the next batter out, then started puking again. Very next pitch gave up another double to Kingery and a run scored, making it 9-5 Phillies in a high scoring game. The final ended up being 10-9 Phillies, with the Brewers scoring 4 runs in the bottom of the 9th, but falling just short of the comeback.

Funny stuff. Perhaps the light-blue ballcaps for Father's Day were a bit too tight for Houser's liking.

I missed that one.

[JMobile]

I'm taking Marlins today.

[Cross]

El Niño, get your facts straight. Cubs bullpen has been rock solid this year. Schwarber is much improved in left field and has a ton of outfield assists. They are 12 games over .500 and have a massive run differential. They will win NL Central. Would you like to bet some points on it?

[hotcross]

you'd have to offer odds on the NL Central winner.

Who's gonna win it if not the Cubs?

Brewers possibly.

Doubt Cards or Pirates

[batt33]

How many wins are the marlins gonna end up with this season?

A bunch if they only played the giants

[batt33]

Hunter strickland is the re incarnation of 80's jeff brantly for the giants ...

tonight's no different

ok dont remember brantly doing this

Strickland punched a door after blowing a save Monday night and suffered a fracture in his pitching hand. The right-hander had surgery on his right pinky finger, the fifth metacarpal, Tuesday afternoon and is expected to miss at least six to eight weeks.

[ApricotSinner32]

Man mizrachi wins his 3rd 50k poker tournament how the fuk......

[EmpireMaker]

Having experienced a precipitous fall after an 11-1 start to the season, the Mets are reportedly willing to listen to offers on the majority of their roster. While the Mets are said to have a preference to retain their controllable players, Kristie Ackert of the New York Daily News argues that the team would be foolish not to listen to offers on aces Jacob deGrom and Noah Syndergaard. Ackert cites a source with another NL club in agreeing with yesterday’s report from Ken Rosenthal that the Mets are more willing to discuss trading Syndergaard than deGrom, despite the fact that Syndergaard comes with an extra year of club control. There’s a divide in the Mets’ front office about whether to even entertain offers, per Ackert, who adds that there’s nothing serious in the works at this time despite a number of teams checking in on both pitchers. The Yankees, she adds, have yet to make an inquiry.
More out of Queens…

• Mike Puma of the New York Post writes that some in the industry believe the Mets are making deGrom and Syndergaard available without the intent of actually trading either and could instead then push alternatives like Zack Wheeler on the teams that inquire about deGrom and Syndergaard. Wheeler is only controllable through 2019, has a longer injury history and doesn’t have great overall results on the season, of course, but he’s been quite a bit better over the past month (3.68 ERA, 3.01 FIP, 34-to-11 K/BB ratio in 36 2/3 innings). In addition to Wheeler, Puma adds that both Asdrubal Cabrera and Jeurys Familia are likely to be marketed in trades in the coming weeks.
• Following yesterday’s trade of Kelvin Herrera from the Royals to the Nationals, Tim Britton of The Athletic examines what type of impact the swap could have on the Mets’ efforts to deal Familia (subscription required). Familia and Herrera are both 28 years of age, both free agents at season’s end, and are both earning just north of $7.9MM. The two are also rather comparable from a statistical standpoint — at least on a career basis. As Britton notes, the early nature of Herrera’s trade will remove an alternative for bullpen-needy teams to pursue if and when the Mets shop Familia, which could help the Mets to create more demand and further drive up the bidding. Noting that the Royals’ return was somewhat lessened by the fact that the Nats took on all of Herrera’s remaining salary, Britton opines that the Mets should be willing to pay the remainder of Familia’s salary to enhance the deal, adding that the club should aim to procure one high-end talent rather than several lower-tier players (as they did when acquiring three bullpen prospects from the Red Sox in last July’s Addison Reed swap).
• The Mets announced this afternoon that they’ve placed Jay Bruce on the 10-day disabled list due to a sore right hip, recalling right-hander Tim Peterson from Triple-A Las Vegas in his place. Bruce’s trip to the DL is retroactive to Monday. That injury leaves the Mets without a true backup outfielder on the roster. Brandon Nimmo, Michael Conforto and Jose Bautista are the most experienced outfielders on the roster, but it seems Dominic Smith will be logging time in the outfield as well; he’s starting in left field tonight, the team announced. MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo tweeted earlier that Wilmer Flores may also see some time in the outfield in the near future.

[El Nino]

El Niño, get your facts straight. Cubs bullpen has been rock solid this year. Schwarber is much improved in left field and has a ton of outfield assists. They are 12 games over .500 and have a massive run differential. They will win NL Central. Would you like to bet some points on it?

Did you watch the Sunday night game? Schwarber casually misplaying a ball that bounces over his head and scores a few more runs. I don't care about the NL Central. Division is a shithole. The Cubs aren't making it to the NLCS which is where they are supposed to go. Maddon trying to be oh so smart in the 1st game of the double header and Cubs blow that game too.

Cubs have played 37 of their 70 games against teams with a below .500 record right now. As far as run differential, they won't be playing the Marlins and the Reds in the Playoffs. They will be playing tighter games...hence why I mentioned their record in one run games...which is now 7-12. Their run differential is less impressive when you account for +43 with just playing 12 games against the Marlins and Reds (the two worst teams in the NL).

[Chi_archie]

Did you watch the Sunday night game? Schwarber casually misplaying a ball that bounces over his head and scores a few more runs. I don't care about the NL Central. Division is a shithole. The Cubs aren't making it to the NLCS which is where they are supposed to go. Maddon trying to be oh so smart in the 1st game of the double header and Cubs blow that game too.

Cubs have played 37 of their 70 games against teams with a below .500 record right now. As far as run differential, they won't be playing the Marlins and the Reds in the Playoffs. They will be playing tighter games...hence why I mentioned their record in one run games...which is now 7-12. Their run differential is less impressive when you account for +43 with just playing 12 games against the Marlins and Reds (the two worst teams in the NL).

disagree

[Cross]

Morrow had a back injury, otherwise Maddon would have used him. Maddon is a great manager and always has great second halfs of the season which matters.