Playing Fact or Fiction with All of MLB's Hottest Week 4 Buzz, Rumors
The first month of baseball's regular season has flown by in a blur, hasn't it? If we didn't know any better, we'd be apt to think that Cincinnati's Billy Hamilton was in control of time and had kicked things into overdrive in an attempt for the rest of us to keep up with his world-class speed.
While the rumor mill hasn't yet caught up to Hamilton, it has picked up considerable speed as we prepare to flip the calendar to May and, hopefully, left the days of playing ball in a snowstorm behind us.
Is an ace that has resided on the rumor mill for the better part of a year about to get traded? Is another ace down for the count? Have injuries and ineffectiveness around the game opened the door enough for some top prospects to force their way to the big leagues?
We'll hit on all that and more in this week's edition of "Fact or Fiction."
Masahiro Tanaka's Season Is Over
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Is New York Yankees ace Masahiro Tanaka headed for Tommy John surgery?
“Could be. I couldn’t tell you," general manager Brian Cashman told reporters, including Kevin Kernan of the New York Post, after the team announced Tanaka was headed to the 15-day disabled list with a sore right wrist and tight right forearm. "No one can answer that question.’’
Tanaka is already dealing with a partially torn ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow, an injury he suffered in 2014. The New York Daily News' John Harper sees the surgery as an inevitability for Tanaka, while Kernan believes that the answer to the question of Tanaka getting surgery or not is a resounding "yes":
"From the moment Tanaka suffered a small tear in his elbow ligament last season, the Yankees and Tanaka have taken the conservative route, the route recommended by team doctors, the route Tanaka wanted to take.
The no-surgery route.
It’s time to change game plans. This is not working. He needs to have Tommy John surgery to have any chance of getting back to being the kind of pitcher the Yankees thought they were getting when they shelled out $175 million.
"
It's not just the media predicting doom and gloom about Tanaka's chances of avoiding the all-too-common procedure.
"Sorry for #Tanaka but I saw it coming. Too bad he had this setback," tweeted Hall of Fame hurler Pedro Martinez. "I wish him the best and a quick recovery."
Former All-Star starter Mark Mulder wasn't quite as diplomatic in his take on the situation, tweeting, "Maybe Tanaka can rehab 'again.' If you played little league you could see this coming."
Verdict: Fiction
The Yankees have steadfastly refuted the notion that Tanaka's elbow was still a problem since the start of the regular season, and Tanaka told reporters (through his interpreter) that he didn't believe these latest issues had anything to do with his elbow.
Sadly, it appears that Tanaka will have to fully tear through the ligament while on the mound for both player and team to finally get on board with the rest of the baseball world and have his elbow surgically repaired.
Jed Lowrie's Injury Means the Carlos Correa Watch Has Started
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Surgery to repair torn ligaments in his right thumb is expected to keep Houston shortstop Jed Lowrie out until after the All-Star break, and while the first-place Astros (that's not a typo) have recalled Jonathan Villar to take Lowrie's place on the roster (Marwin Gonzalez will start), speculation has begun that top prospect Carlos Correa will soon bump Villar.
Correa, 20, is widely regarded as one of the five best prospects in all of baseball and has been toying with Double-A pitching thus far in 2015, hitting .400/.468/.800 with 17 extra-base hits (five home runs) and 22 RBI over 17 games for Corpus Christi in the Texas League.
While the team would prefer to see Correa get more experience in the upper levels of its minor league system, general manager Jeff Luhnow pointed out to the Houston Chronicle's Evan Drellich that All-Star second baseman Jose Altuve never played at Triple-A and that it's possible Correa follows suit:
"There is no magic number (of games ahead of a promotion), and I think that’s one thing you realize after being in this game for many years, because different players react differently. He’s definitely a special player, so his time will come faster than it would for other guys. But having —he’s got 70 at-bats above Class A, and we feel like he needs some more. But how many more, I don’t know. And it’ll be a different number for him than it would be for someone else.
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Drellich also makes the valid point that waiting until midseason (or later) to promote Correa would save the team from having to go through four aribtration-eligible years with the youngster, who would qualify as a Super Two player were he to be promoted before then, instead of three.
Verdict: Fact
The American League West looks to be a wide-open division this year, with Los Angeles, Oakland and Seattle all putting forth disappointing performances thus far and Texas dealing with widespread injuries for the second consecutive year.
While the prospect of making Correa a Super Two player will certainly factor into the team's decision-making process, it's not enough to keep such a premier talent down on the farm, especially if the club believes he can help them to make a legitimate run at a spot in the playoffs.
As for Lowrie upon his return, one of the things the team noted when it signed him to a three-year, $23 million deal over the winter was his versatility—he can play third base as well—and Lowrie could supplant the Luis Valbuena/Villar platoon at the hot corner.
Boston Is Moving Closer to a Cole Hamels Trade
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Speculation about Boston and Philadelphia hooking up on a trade involving ace Cole Hamels only ramped up after David Murphy of the Philadelphia Daily News reported that former Phillies manager Charlie Manuel had been dispatched by the club to get a good look at Red Sox outfield prospect Manuel Margot.
That Philadelphia is apparently willing to eat some of the money left on Hamels' deal, as reported by USA Today's Bob Nightengale, only helped add fuel to that speculative fire.
Margot, 20, has put up solid numbers over 17 games for High-A Salem this year, hitting .323 with eight extra-base hits (one home run), seven RBI, eight stolen bases and a .884 OPS, drawing five walks while striking out only once.
Both Hall of Fame reporter Peter Gammons and WEEI's Rob Bradford believe that a package built around Margot and one of Boston's top three pitching prospects (Brian Johnson, Henry Owens or Eduardo Rodriguez) should be enough to get a deal done.
But despite having a rotation that owns baseball's highest ERA (5.75), and regardless of industry and public opinion, the Red Sox aren't in a rush to make such a swap, according to the Boston Herald's Scott Lauber.
Verdict: Fiction
Teams scout prospects from other organizations all the time, and while Manuel getting a good look at Margot would seem to indicate that the two sides are discussing a deal, you can bet that Philadelphia has other members of its organization out taking a look at prospects from other teams as well.
While the Red Sox remain one of the favorites to land the southpaw, they're not the only team in the running for his services. The Los Angeles Dodgers, St. Louis Cardinals and New York Yankees all have needs atop their rotations, deep pockets and prospects that Philadelphia may prefer.
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Francisco Lindor Is on the Fast Track to Cleveland
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Cleveland's 7-5 victory Wednesday over Kansas City might have saved the club from getting off to its worst 20-game start in nearly 30 years, but things are not going according to plan for the Indians, who sit with a losing record (7-13) and seven games behind first-place Detroit in the AL Central.
One of the team's biggest weak spots has been at shortstop, where Jose Ramirez has hit .175/.221/.238 with a 31 wRC+, the latter the lowest output at the position from any of baseball's 30 teams. Advanced metrics aren't pleased with his defense either, as he sits with a minus-two DRS and minus-0.2 UZR/150.
With top prospect Francisco Lindor holding his own at Triple-A, hitting .286/.367/.400 with five extra-base hits (one home runs), six stolen bases and eight RBI over 19 games, he certainly looks like he could be a significant improvement over Ramirez at the position.
Additionally, fans simply aren't coming to Progressive Field to watch the Indians play. According to ESPN, the Indians rank last in average home attendance (16,354), the only team in baseball playing to a house that's less than 40 percent full.
You certainly couldn't blame the team if they decided to promote Lindor, both in an attempt to improve their on-field numbers and those at the gate as well.
Verdict: Fiction
Cleveland general manager Chris Antonetti wouldn't give reporters even a vague timetable for when Lindor might arrive in Cleveland, telling both MLB.com's Anthony Castrovince and T.J. Zuppe of 92.3 FM The Fan (CBS Radio) that the team was happy with Lindor's continued development.
But as Castrovince points out, the Indians have a history of waiting until a prospect has passed the Super Two cutoff before calling them up the big leagues, having done so with the likes of Lonnie Chisenhall, Jason Kipnis, Danny Salazar and Carlos Santana.
It's also worth noting that the two notable prospects they've promoted in recent years before that cutoff, Matt LaPorta and Alex White, didn't pan out. Lindor will be an Indian at some point in 2015, but it's not going to be before mid-June at the earliest.
Miami Will Find a Trade Partner for Jarrod Saltalamacchia
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Despite his struggles at the plate since signing a three-year, $21 million deal with Miami before the 2014 season, the Marlins' decision to designate Jarrod Saltalamacchia for assignment is one of the bigger surprises we've seen thus far in 2015.
Saltalamacchia mustered a weak .209/.310/.351 slash line with 33 extra-base hits (12 home runs) and 45 RBI over 123 games in a Marlins uniform, and as Juan C. Rodriguez of the Sun Sentinel opines, the club may have to eat most (or all) of the $14.2 million left on his deal to facilitate a trade.
But that hasn't stopped multiple teams from expressing some level of interest, with The Boston Globe's Nick Cafardo tweeting that Marlins general manager Dan Jennings had spoken with at least five teams about the veteran backstop and expected to be able to strike a deal.
Sources tell CBS Sports' Jon Heyman that there are actually six teams in the mix, including Arizona, Kansas City and Tampa Bay, though a reunion with the Boston Red Sox is not in the cards.
Verdict: Fact
There are simply too many teams with a need behind the dish for all of them to pass up on the chance to add a talent like Saltalamacchia.
While he's no longer the player he once was, the 29-year-old would still represent a significant upgrade for a number of clubs, and if the Marlins eat much of his deal as Rodriguez speculates, he'd be an inexpensive one at that.
Unless otherwise linked/noted, all statistics courtesy of Baseball-Reference and FanGraphs and are current through games of April 29. All contract information courtesy of Cot's Contracts.
Hit me up on Twitter to talk all things baseball: @RickWeinerBR
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