(*) PT TODAY: Rays nab Civale; strengthen stretch-run rotation
Aug 1 2023
AMERICAN LEAGUE | Jump to NL
NEWS: Tampa acquired RHP Aaron Civale from the Cleveland Guardians on Monday, July 31.
IMPACT: High
BHQ SPIN: Civale is scheduled to make his first start for the Rays on Saturday, August 5 in Detroit. He will bump rookie RHP Taj Bradley from the rotation. Bradley was optioned to Triple-A Durham after enduring a month’s worth of rough starts (26 ER in 25.2 IP since June 27). Tampa paid a steep price to acquire Civale in minor league 1B Kyle Manzardo, who rocketed up prospect charts by hitting a combined .327 with 22 homers, 81 RBIs and a 1.043 OPS in 93 games for Class-A Bowling Green and Double-A Montgomery last season. His 2023 season at AAA-Durham had not been going quite so well (.784 OPS, currently on IL with shoulder injury). Nonetheless, he was No. 21 on BaseballHQ’s midseason top-50 prospect list. But as noted by the Tampa Bay Times’ Marc Topkin, the Rays have organizational depth at the position, including IF Jonathan Aranda (1.049 OPS in 83 games at AAA-Durham), 1B/3B Austin Shenton, who was recently promoted to AAA-Durham (.984 OPS in 88 games between AA-Montgomery and AAA-Durham).
–Olson
NEWS: Cleveland traded RHP Aaron Civale to Tampa Bay in exchange for 1B Kyle Manzardo.
IMPACT: Medium
BHQ SPIN: The departure of Civale leaves an additional hole in a Cleveland rotation that is already dealing with several injuries. The largest increases in projected innings due to Civale’s departure were given to Peyton Battenfield and Cal Quantrill. Battenfield is fully stretched out after making his fifth rehab start on Sunday and appears to be the most likely candidate to take Civale’s spot in the immediate future. Quantrill, meanwhile, is reportedly throwing bullpens and nearing a rehab assignment. Given the departure of Civale, Quantrill now appears to be a lock to rejoin Cleveland’s rotation when he is deemed healthy (likely in the next several weeks). We’ve also given a slight increase to the projected innings of the recently-acquired Noah Syndergaard. As long as Syndergaard does not miss time after getting hit by a comebacker in his team debut on Monday, he should be a mainstay in the team’s rotation given Civale’s departure. In exchange for Civale, Cleveland acquired Manzardo, who is currently nursing a sore left shoulder but is expected to return to game action in AAA soon. Barring Cleveland trading or cutting ties with Josh Bell, it seems unlikely that Manzardo could force his way into an every-day role at the major league level this season, so we’ve only given him a small allocation of projected at-bats for now.
–Williams
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NEWS: New York Yankees RHP Domingo Germán was scratched from his July 31 scheduled start against the Tampa Bay Rays, reportedly due to discomfort around his right armpit area.
IMPACT: Low
BHQ SPIN: New York Yankees RHP Jhony Brito was quickly summoned from AAA-Scranton/Wilkes-Barre to make an emergency start, and perhaps predictably, things didn't go well (5 ER, 6 H in 4 IP). Oddly, not only did the Yankees hold off on moving Germán to the injured list, but he actually relieved Brito and pitched well. So, perhaps this was a false alarm, and Germán will make his weekend start as expected. To make room on the roster for Brito, the team optioned RHP Ron Marinaccio to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
–Olson
NEWS: Kansas City acquired OF Nelson Velázquez in exchange for RHP Jose Cuas.
IMPACT: Low
BHQ SPIN: Velázquez was optioned to AAA-Omaha following the trade, though he could join the major league roster soon depending on the team’s actions during the remainder of the trade deadline. At the very least, he now stands a far greater chance of receiving major league at-bats this year since there are fewer obstacles in Kansas City than in Chicago. Thus, we’ve bumped him up to a 25% allocation of projected playing time at the expense of several Kansas City depth options (Nate Eaton, Samad Taylor, Matt Beaty, and Dairon Blanco). The departing Cuas had been predominantly filling a middle-relief role for Kansas City, though he had seen a slight increase in high-leverage opportunities following the trade of Aroldis Chapman. The majority of the innings and holds vacated by Cuas have been given to Dylan Coleman and Jonathan Heasley. Both Coleman and Heasley are currently filling middle-relief roles in Kansas City’s bullpen and now stand an increased chance of working in high-leverage spots given Cuas’ departure.
–Williams
NEWS: Seattle traded RHP Paul Sewald to the Arizona Diamondbacks and received 2B/3B Josh Rojas, OF Dominci Canzone, and a minor leaguer. Seattle also traded OF A.J. Pollock and 2B Mark Mathias to the San Francisco Giants. RHP Juan Then was recalled from AAA-Tacoma..
IMPACT: Medium
BHQ SPIN: Seattle had been quiet this trade deadline, but the big move came by trading their current closer. To take that spot, it will start as a mix of RHP Andrés Muñoz, RHP Justin Topa, and RHP Matt Brash. Canzone will roughly take the playing time that Pollock had in Seattle and be a backup OF. Rojas can play most spots in the infield and corner outfield and will find himself also with a bench role. We’ve split out the team’s saves to Muñoz (60%), Brash (20%), and Topa (20%) at this time. A playing time addition was made for Then (+2%). We’ve also reduced playing time for Canzone (-15%) as he may find it harder to find playing time with Seattle.
–Davison
NEWS: Oakland traded third baseman Jace Peterson to the Diamondbacks.
IMPACT: Medium
BHQ SPIN: Oakland’s marquee offseason acquisition has filled the hot corner all year. Now he’ll land in the desert, opening up playing time for the A’s other big offseason signing, Aledmys Díaz (+40%). The A’s will make a corresponding move to shore up their infield depth, but Jordan Diaz (+15) should also see additional time at third base.
––Crumpler
NEWS: Oakland traded left-handed reliever Sam Moll to the Reds.
IMPACT: Low
BHQ SPIN: Moll was the top setup option to closer Trevor May in recent weeks. With him out of the picture, Lucas Erceg and Austin Pruitt become the top setup options and candidates for holds. Meanwhile, Sam Long becomes the team's top left-handed option out of the pen. Each of them will receive a 1% boost in PT while the other 2% of Moll’s PT will go to his replacement.
––Crumpler
NATIONAL LEAGUE | Jump to AL
NEWS: Chicago acquired 3B Jeimer Candelario from Washington in exchange for prospects DJ Herz and Kevin Made and acquired RHP Jose Cuas from Kansas City in exchange for OF Nelson Velázquez
IMPACT: High
BHQ SPIN: Candelario will presumably fill a regular role as Chicago’s starting third baseman, so we’re starting him out with an 80% allocation of projected at-bats. The biggest decrease in projected at-bats was given to Nick Madrigal, who had been expected to receive the majority of playing time at third base following his return from injury over the weekend but will now likely fill a bench role. We’ve also decreased the projected at-bats of Patrick Wisdom and Trey Mancini, who both have already been relegated to short-side platoon roles and now may be in danger of even further decreases in playing time given the presence of Candelario. Finally, the small allocation of projected playing time vacated by the departing Velázquez was also part of the projected at-bats given to Candelario.
Chicago also added to its bullpen by acquiring Cuas, who is expected to fill a middle-relief role. Cuas’ role is expected to be similar to the one he held in Kansas City, so his projected innings remain unchanged while his projected holds were given a slight decrease. The majority of innings and holds given to Cuas were at the expense of several depth options currently in the minors (Jeremiah Estrada, Keegan Thompson, and Michael Rucker) who are now less likely to return to the major league bullpen given his presence.
–Williams
NEWS: Washington traded Jeimer Candelario to the Cubs and recalled Jake Alu.
IMPACT: Medium
BHQ SPIN: Candelario had started nearly every game at third base for Washington this season, so this trade opens up plenty of playing time for the Nationals. We’re bumping Ildemar Vargas’ playing time to 60% while we wait to see how playing time shakes out after the trading deadline. We’re also giving Alu 25% of the playing time at third. Alu had 15 plate appearances earlier in 2023, and is batting .298 with a .788 OPS at Triple-A Rochester. One other option may be former top prospect Carter Kieboom, but he’s only batting .236 at Rochester, albeit with a more palatable .376 OBP and .761 OPS. Washington received two prospects in the trade—RHP D.J. Herz and infielder Kevin Made—but neither is likely to contribute in the majors this year.
—Hertz
NEWS: Arizona acquired right-handed reliever Paul Sewald via trade with the Mariners.
IMPACT: High
BHQ SPIN: The Diamondbacks made a big move to upgrade their bullpen, acquiring Sewald from the Mariners in exchange for Josh Rojas, Dominic Canzone, and prospect Ryan Bliss. Sewald has been one of the game's top relief options since landing in Seattle in 2021. He will immediately become the Diamondbacks’ top closing option, moving Scott McGough (-1%), Andrew Chafin (-1%), and Kevin Ginkel into setup roles.
––Crumpler
NEWS: Miami activated Jazz Chisholm from the IL and sent Garrett Hampson to Triple-A.
IMPACT: Medium
BHQ SPIN: Chisholm rejoined the lineup as the Marlin clean-up hitter on Monday. As we’ve been anticipating this move, he only gets a small playing time bump up to 75%. We’ll watch to see if Chisholm is able to play every day, and if so, he’ll get a higher playing time projection. Most of the playing time comes from Hampson, who may return but is unlikely to engender much fantasy interest.
–Hertz
NEWS: Colorado recalled 2B Brendan Rodgers from the 60-day IL and also recalled 2B Coco Montes from AAA-Albuquerque.
IMPACT: Medium
íBHQ SPIN: Rodgers and Montes take the roster spots from the departed OF Randall Grichuk and 1B C.J. Cron. Rodgers was feared to be out for the entire 2023 season after undergoing shoulder surgery in spring training, but finds himself back on the roster for the last third of the season. He was at DH on 7/31. The past two seasons for Rodgers have been roughly mid-teens HRs with an acceptable batting average along with a ground ball percent north of 50% capping his power in Colorado. Montes will assume a bench role for now. 2B/SS Alan Trejo will also feel a playing time squeeze with Rodgers back. We’ve added playing time for Rodgers (+50%) and reduced playing time for Trejo (-30%) and IF Harold Castro (-10%).
–Davison
NEWS: Milwaukee acquired OF Mark Canha from the New York Mets for a minor leaguer.
IMPACT: Medium
BHQ SPIN: The Mets continue their fire sale and Canha is headed to the Brewers. Canha can play both in the outfield and at first base and will likely find some time in both positions until 1B Rowdy Tellez finds himself off of the IL. The recent OF configuration of Christian Yelich in left, Joey Wiemer in center, and newly recalled Sal Frelick in right may now change a bit with Canha in the mix. He may play right with Frelick moving to center and potentially being platooned with Wiemer who has hit LH pitching well this year. We’ve kept Canha’s playing time the same with the Brewers at 65% overall. The big playing time losers are OF Joey Wiemer (-30%), OF Blake Perkins (-15%) and OF Tyrone Taylor (-10%).
–Davison
NEWS: New York traded Mark Canha to Milwaukee in exchange for minor league pitcher Justin Jarvis.
IMPACT: Medium
BHQ SPIN: Over the course of 2023, the Mets had slowly dropped their reliance on Canha as an every day player, but nevertheless, he had been playing about two-thirds of the time. So this trade opens up a considerable amount of playing time. We’re given bumps to a number of players, including Mark Vientos (now 45%) and prospect Ronny Mauricio (now 35%). Vientos dominated Triple-A earlier this season, but had struggled at the MLB level until recently. He’s 9-for-24 with two doubles and a homer since being called up last month, so it’s likely the Mets will try to get him more at bats. Mauricio is New York’s top upper minors’ prospect, and has an .835 OPS at Triple-A. We have not fully allocated outfield playing time as we await the fallout from the trading deadline, so stay tuned. As for Jarvis, he was just promoted to Triple-A, meaning it’s unlikely to reach the majors this season.
–Hertz
NEWS: LHP Sam Moll traded from Oakland for pitching prospect Joe Boyle.
IMPACT: Low
BHQ SPIN: Moll will join the Reds pen as a high-leverage reliever, but he’s unlikely to steal many save chances from CL Alexis Díaz. He provides the club with another left-handed option, and slots in alongside relievers Lucas Sims, Ian Gibault, and Buck Farmer in the late inning hierarchy. Joe Boyle is currently pitching at the Double-A level, there’s no innings impact to the Reds staff.
—Larson
NEWS: Arizona acquired third baseman Jace Peterson via trade from Oakland.
IMPACT: Medium
BHQ SPIN: Almost a direct replacement for the recently traded Josh Rojas, Peterson (-30%) will spend most of his time platooning with Emmanuel Rivera (-10%) at third until Evan Longoria returns next week, and then will likely shift into a full-time utility role. Both he and Rivera will see reductions to their PT as there are lots of mouths to feed with the roster’s current configuration. He has the ability to play all over the infield and should replace Diego Castillo on the active roster.
––Crumpler
NEWS: San Francisco acquired outfielder A.J. Pollock and utilityman Mark Mathias via trade with the Mariners. Outfielder Mike Yastrzemski was also placed on the 10-day IL with a strained left hamstring.
IMPACT: Medium
BHQ SPIN: Neither Pollock nor Mathias will be immediate impacts to the big league club. The latter was acquired from the Pirates earlier this year and has spent his entire time in the Mariners’ organization at Triple-A where he batted .345 with a 127 wRC+ in 16 games. Pollock is currently on an IL with a left hamstring strain, an injury he’s been suffering from since July 22nd. When he does achieve healthiness, he’ll likely fill a short side platoon role, facing only left-handed pitchers. Yastrzemski’s (-10%) IL placement guarantees Luis Matos everyday PT in centerfield for the time being and will also force Joc Pederson and Blake Sabol to play more in the outfield. That’ll open up more DH ABs for Wilmer Flores (+5%) and Marco Luciano, while the recently recalled Isan Díaz (+5%) gets a shot versus righties at the keystone position. The PT changes will be minimal as Yastrzemski is only expected to miss two to three weeks.
––Crumpler
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