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Major League Baseball’s draft is unique in comparison to other popular sports like football and basketball. The ultimate goal of finding new stars is the same, but the process is different. 

When the 2016 MLB draft begins Thursday, fans will get to see scouts earn their money. Anyone can recognize a player’s talent at the top level. It doesn’t take a genius to see why Mike Trout, Manny Machado and Bryce Harper are superstars. 

Scouting is all about seeing tools in a player typically between the ages of 18-21 that might lead him to become the next Trout or Clayton Kershaw. Not every draft class boasts athletes with that kind of talent, but there’s always the dream something will click into place and raising their ceiling. 

Best Player: Jason Groome, LHP

Jason Groome was mired in some controversy earlier this year when the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association briefly suspended him for a violation of transfer rules. 

That minor infraction had no impact on Groome‘s draft status, as the left-hander is expected to be one of the first players selected Thursday. He has everything a team could look for in a potential top-of-the-rotation star at 6’6″, 220 pounds and with nasty stuff. 

Groome was the star of last year’s summer circuit, and FanGraphs‘ Jesse Burkhart ranked him No. 1 after the USA Baseball Tournament of Stars:

Groome firmly established himself as an early 1-1 candidate at TOS, working 94-96 mph with a feel for pitching that goes well beyond his 16 years of age. At 6-foot-6, the ball comes out effortlessly from a clean arm action and mid-3/4 release with good downhill angle. He paired the heater with a 75-78 mph curveball that spun tightly in its 1-to-7 orbit with two-plane depth, mixing in a promising changeup with good arm speed.

Fast-forward 11 months, and nothing has changed in Groome‘s scouting report. He’s still showing a plus fastball that he delivers with ease and a knee-buckling curve. His changeup still needs work but continues to show progress. 

People inside baseball are throwing around some unfair comparisons for Groome, per MLB Network’s Jon Heyman:

Groome may look like Kershaw did when he came out of high school in 2006, but there’s a massive ocean plus a wide gulf between what Kershaw was as a prep player and the three-time Cy Young winner he is today. 

Still, when a young player shows enough stuff to elicit Kershaw‘s name among people in the know, it says a lot about the kind of talent Groome is and where he could end up going. 

Best Hitter: Mickey Moniak, OF

This is not a great hitting class, so teams may be more inclined to overvalue a bat early because there will be plenty of arms available after the first round. 

California high school star Mickey Moniak is one of the few standout hitters with the tools that will translate into professional baseball. He’s not a physically imposing player at 6’2″ and 190 pounds, which limits his power projection. 

In the video below from the Prospect Pipeline, it’s easy to see why Moniak earns rave reviews for his hit tool: 

Moniak‘s swing is low-effort, with minimal load and a short path through the zone that allows him to put the ball wherever he wants. 

Per MLB.com’s scouting report, there is some thought that he could add some bulk to his frame without hurting his speed and ability to play center field. Adding power to his hit tool would make him the premier offensive player in the 2016 class. 

Best Power: Kyle Lewis, OF

Kyle Lewis looks the part of a power hitter coming into professional baseball. He has a great all-around set of tools and is listed at 6’4″, 195 pounds. 

In an era when every college baseball team tries to play small ball because power numbers are down, Lewis stands out with so much pop. The Mercer star hit 20 home runs and slugged a robust .731 in 2016. 

However, he comes with some risk since Mercer is a small school that doesn’t play the best competition. 

J.J. Cooper of Baseball America addressed the topic of Lewis’ competition and what it could mean:

There’s no doubt that scouts will have a tougher time getting a read on Lewis (ranked eighth on our latest Top 100 Draft prospects list) hitting against Southern Conference pitchers than they will scouting Tennessee third baseman Nick Senzel batting against the rest of the Southeastern Conference. But it’s not the same as scouting a high school hitter.

Cooper also noted that Evan Longoria (Long Beach State) and A.J. Pollock (Notre Dame) are recent examples of players who came from schools that didn’t play in dominant baseball conferences and went on to succeed in MLB. 

Lewis also had the advantage of playing in the Cape Cod League, which uses wood bats, last year. He finished fourth in the league with seven homers and had a slash line of .300/.344/.500 in 39 games, per PointStreak.com.  

There’s a lot of movement in Lewis’ swing that will require adjustments. He has a long hand load and a big leg kick with above-average bat speed to generate his power. 

Good fastballs from professional pitchers are going to give Lewis problems because of all the noise in his swing. He will also have to tone things down to square up quality breaking balls, but when he connects, the ball is going to travel a long way. 

Best Fastball: Riley Pint, RHP

Riley Pint is going to be a fascinating test case for the MLB draft. He’s a hard-throwing right-hander, similar to Tyler Kolek, who the Miami Marlins took second overall in 2014. 

Kolek was regarded as more of a thrower than pitcher at the time he was drafted. He battled control problems in his first two professional seasons, walking 74 hitters with 99 strikeouts in 130.2 innings, but he had to undergo Tommy John surgery in April and won’t return until 2017. 

Pint is not as big as Kolek—Pint is 210 pounds, while Kolek is 260 pounds—but his arm strength is similar. 

ESPN’s Keith Law noted after seeing Pint in an April start that the young right-hander was sitting 96-100 mph with his fastball with a “good” changeup, though Law added there was no usable breaking ball in his arsenal and “poor command and control.”

Pint doesn’t take full advantage of his height, using a short stride that cuts off his path to the plate and leads to erratic control. However, there’s nothing wrong with his arm in the delivery, as it’s fast and clean with no extraneous movement needed to generate big velocity. 

The best thing Pint has going for him, even more than the big fastball, is his age. He’s just 18 years old, and his birthday isn’t until November, so he can get a full month in professional baseball this season before turning 19. 

The raw pieces are in place for a team to believe Pint can become a top-of-the-rotation star in the next five or six years. His development will take time because of his lack of command and need to refine his off-speed stuff. 

It won’t be a long wait for Pint to hear his name called on draft night, but he and his future team’s development staff have work to do to hone his craft. 

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The Atlanta Braves can’t catch a break this season, as starting pitcher Williams Perez will miss time with an injury to his rotator cuff. 

Continue for updates. 

Perez to Disabled List

Wednesday, June 8

Per the Braves’ official Twitter account, Perez was placed on the 15-day disabled list due to a strain in his right rotator cuff. 

Included in the Braves’ announcement on Twitter, the team recalled right-hander John Gant from Triple-A Gwinnett two days after he was sent down. 

Perez started against the San Diego Padres on Monday, allowing six runs on seven hits in 4.1 innings before exiting with what was originally called right triceps soreness.

The 25-year-old Perez made his Major League Baseball debut last year with the Braves, starting 20 games and posting a 4.78 ERA with 130 hits allowed, 73 strikeouts and 51 walks in 116.2 innings. He’s been slightly better in 2016 with a 4.62 ERA and 1.212 WHIP in nine starts.

This season has been a mess for the Braves, who had MLB‘s worst record at 16-42 entering play on Wednesday. It is not an unexpected result since the front office has spent most of its time securing prospects to build for the future. 

Yet losing a reliable starting pitcher who takes the ball every fifth day puts more pressure on a staff that doesn’t have a lot of experience behind Julio Teheran.

Atlanta’s depth in the minors has already been tapped into, and it will continue to be an asset for the team as the summer continues.

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While the Major League Baseball season is in full swing, all 30 teams are also focusing on the future this week with the 2016 MLB draft starting Thursday in Secaucus, New Jersey.  

The Philadelphia Phillies, who are falling back to earth after a strong start this season, own the first pick. This is the second draft for general manager Matt Klentak, who is doing all he can to expedite the franchise’s rebuilding efforts with strong draft classes and shrewd trades to add high-impact young talent. 

This year’s crop of players is not deep, as there are no obvious star talents, but there are always some names who rise to the forefront and make themselves into something greater than their initial scouting reports would suggest. 

A.J. Puk, LHP, Florida

In terms of raw talent, Florida southpaw A.J. Puk isn’t at the top of this class. There have been some erratic moments, as he walked 31 hitters in 65.2 innings before the NCAA tournament began, but left-handers with his combination of size and stuff are always going to be looked on favorably. 

Per Florida’s athletic website, Puk is 6’7″ and 230 pounds. There’s no denying his physical maturity and his readiness to stand on the rubber in professional baseball. Combine that with the fact he’s averaged more than one strikeout per inning while pitching in the SEC, and it’s no wonder he’s in the mix for the No. 1 overall pick. 

Per MLB.com’s scouting report, there may not be any other arm in this class who can match Puk in terms of pure stuff:

Big and strong, Puk arguably has the best raw stuff of any arm in the class, with the chance to have three plus pitches. He’s capable of touching 96-97 mph with his fastball regulary. Ironically, he might have been at his best in the one inning he threw before his back acted up, showing a 96-99 mph fastball and a plus slider at 88-90 mph. He can maintain his velocity deep into starts and while his changeup is his third pitch, it should be Major League average in the future.

The major knock against Puk is how he can lose his release point, as MLB.com’s scouting report only graded him with a below-average 45 in control.

Puk did put on a terrific performance in the SEC tournament opener against LSU, allowing just two runs on six hits with two walks and seven strikeouts in 7.1 innings, which may have helped seal his spot as the Phillies’ choice at No. 1. 

While Puk‘s size should be an asset, it can be a hindrance. He’s long and lanky, which makes it more difficult for him to repeat his delivery and leads to higher walk totals than a typical top pick should have. If you see him on the right day, though, there’s a No. 2 starter ceiling. 

Jason Groome, LHP, Barnegat High School

Jason Groome is the name draft aficionados have been keeping an eye on all spring. He’s drawing some rave reviews, which also leads to unrealistic comparisons and expectations. 

Any prep left-hander with size, athleticism and a curveball will inevitably lead to at least one person comparing him to Clayton Kershaw. Fans hear that and think of Kershaw right now, who remains the best pitcher on the planet, instead of the teenager who was drafted in 2006. 

Groome did fan the Kershaw flames earlier this year by telling MLB.com’s Jonathan Mayo he models his game after the Los Angeles Dodgers ace: “I want to be one of the youngest. In my second year of pro ball, if I sign out of high school this year, I’ll still be 19. I’m looking to climb the leagues and get to the big leagues as quickly as I can.”

ESPN’s Keith Law saw the 6’6″, 220-pound prospect pitch in early April, when unseasonable temperatures made pitching conditions less than optimal, and loved what he saw from the New Jersey native:

Groome wasn’t throwing at full effort while working in 45-degree weather in his second real outing of the year and on a 60-pitch limit, working 89-93 mph, with one 94 in the first inning and an 88 or two in his last inning. The curveball was the standout pitch, however, easily plus, a 65 or 70 grade (on the 20-80 scouting scale) if you’re a generous grader (and I am when the curveball looks like this). He also threw two changeups that were both at worst solid-average, with some downward fade on the harder one at 82 mph. 

Assuming Groome is going to be like Kershaw, it would stand to reason that he’d be the No. 1 overall pick without any hesitation. He’s still a raw high school player who needs to refine his command before finding consistent success in professional baseball. 

The individual pieces are there for Groome to be a true top-of-the-rotation star who could easily end up becoming the best player taken from this draft. He’s not there yet, but his future is as bright as any player in this class. 

Corey Ray, OF, Louisville

This isn’t a great class for bats, but Louisville star Corey Ray is a clear standout. He has shown the ability to hit for average and power in college, setting a career high with 15 home runs in 2016. 

Ray doesn’t stand out in a crowd at 5’11” and 185 pounds, per Louisville’s official athletic website, yet there is nothing he doesn’t do well on a baseball field. He hits well, makes consistent hard contact, has good speed and is a solid defender in center field. 

MLB.com graded Ray out with all five tools—hit, power, run, arm, field—average or better, though he doesn’t possess one elite tool. His best grade is speed (60) with everything else falling in the average (50) or above-average (55) range:

Ray uses the entire field well and has done a better job of managing the strike zone and making consistent contact this spring.

Ray has plus speed and knows how to use it well on the bases. Though he has spent most of his career at Louisville in right field, he runs well enough to play center field. Ray has the offensive production and arm to profile at all three outfield positions, and obviously he’d offer the most value if he can play in the middle.

If Ray’s speed and glove play well enough to let him stay in center field, he will have All-Star upside as a player who is capable of posting solid batting-average, home run and stolen-base totals. 

Ray won’t put up huge offensive stats in his career, but he has no real weaknesses. He could end up as a late-era Brett Gardner type of player who hits .250-.260 with solid on-base totals, 12-16 homers and 15-20 stolen bases.  

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Tensions exploded in the fifth inning of Tuesday’s game between the Kansas City Royals and the Baltimore Orioles after Royals starter Yordano Ventura hit Orioles shortstop Manny Machado with a pitch.

Per Roch Kubatko of MASN Sports, Machado charged the mound and threw a punch after Ventura plunked him with a 99 mph fastball. The two had exchanged words earlier in the game.

WIBW reported Machado and Ventura were ejected.

In the second inning, Ventura threw a fastball inside that straightened Machado up. Machado flied out to right in that at-bat, but the two jawed back and forth as the Orioles star made his way back to the dugout.

“He hit me with a 99 mph fastball, and 99 is no joke,” Machado said after the game, per Steve Melewski of MASN. “You can ruin someone’s career.”

“I don’t think that should be in order,” Ventura said when asked about a potential suspension, per Jeffrey Flanagan of MLB.com. “My plan was to pitch inside, and one got away. And things happened.”

Ventura has a history of similar incidents. He hit Brett Lawrie in 2015 when the latter was with the Oakland Athletics, one day after Lawrie sprained the left knee of Royals shortstop Alcides Escobar with a hard slide into second base.

Orioles manager Buck Showalter said he wasn’t disappointed in Machado charging the mound, per Brittany Ghiroli of MLB.com. 

“Manny and the team decided not to take it tonight,” Showalter said, per Kubatko.

Melewski also provided Orioles center fielder Adam Jones’ take:

I knew it was going 2 happen. The guy has electric stuff, but between [the] ears, there is a circuit board off balance. He wants to be Pedro Martinez; go out there and have a damn sub 2.00. Don’t go out and try to hurt somebody. Hopefully the league catches on to it. I’ve got Manny’s fine, and the rest is history.

Major League Baseball has had its share of brawls already this season. The Toronto Blue Jays and the Texas Rangers engaged in a skirmish on May 15, which featured Rougned Odor’s punch to the face of Jose Bautista. The ruckus resulted in six suspensions and 14 players and staff members being fined.

The Royals and Orioles didn’t go that far, but Machado and Ventura will likely miss time in the near future or receive fines for their actions.

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James Shields is on the move. On Saturday, the San Diego Padres announced that they’ve traded him to the Chicago White Sox.

SB Nation’s Chris Cotillo first reported the deal was done. CSN Chicago’s Dan Hayes confirmed the news.

According to the San Diego Union-Tribune‘s Dennis Lin, the Padres acquired minor leaguers Fernando Tatis Jr. and Erik Johnson in exchange for the veteran pitcher.

Bob Nightengale of USA Today reported the Padres will pay $29 million of the remaining $56 million on Shields’ deal.

MLB Network’s Jon Heyman broke down the financial factors at play in relation to Shields’ opt-out clause:

Shields, who agreed to a four-year deal with the Padres in February 2015, was supposed to be one of the final pieces in a rebuilding process general manager A.J. Preller started last winter by acquiring Matt Kemp, Justin Upton and Wil Myers.

Upton moved on to Detroit as a free agent this winter, while Kemp and Myers have had erratic stints with San Diego.

Lin pointed out the Padres’ salary situation and Shields’ contract presented problems for the team going forward:

But the 33-year-old’s contract is backloaded, going from $10 million this season to $21 million in each of the next three. As well, it includes an opt-out clause after the 2016 World Series. What’s more, the Padres have roughly $45 million committed to three other players—Kemp, Melvin Upton Jr. and Craig Kimbrel—for the next regular season.

It’s not known if the 34-year-old would consider exercising his opt-out, though his struggles last season (a 1.33 WHIP and major league-high 33 home runs allowed in 202.1 innings) could convince him to play out the contract because teams aren’t likely to pay him as much as he’s set to earn.

Once things started falling apart for the Padres last year, rumblings about Shields being available surfaced. GammonsDaily.com’s Peter Gammons reported before the All-Star break that San Diego was asking teams about their interest in Shields.

Nothing came of those discussions, though a new year brought new needs for many teams, and the Padres got off to a poor start.

This could be a good opportunity for the White Sox. Shields wasn’t as good in 2015 as he was for most of his previous nine seasons with Tampa Bay and Kansas City, but there are reasons to be optimistic.

His 2015 strikeout rate of 9.6 per nine innings was the highest of his career, and he was playing in front of the National League’s worst defense.

Chicago is a perfect team for Shields in terms of what it needs him to do. It has two aces at the front of the rotation in Chris Sale and Jose Quintana, which is one reason the team got off to such a good start in 2016.

Shields can slide into the No. 3 spot in the rotation behind Sale and Quintana, and Carlos Rodon—who’s talented but has been inconsistent this season—will move back to No. 4. Mat Latos was a pleasant surprise in April with a 1.84 ERA over 29.1 innings, but that number ballooned to 6.41 in May, per Baseball-Reference.com.

The move may hurt Shields’ effectiveness, as U.S. Cellular Field ranks 11th among the most home run-friendly parks in the majors this season, per ESPN.com’s park factors. He’s not an extreme fly-ball pitcher, but his fly-ball percentage has been over 30 percent in each of the last four seasons, per FanGraphs.

The White Sox are likely looking for a steady pitcher on whom they can rely every five days. Even when Shields has struggled, he’s always been able to take the ball, making at least 31 starts and tossing 200 innings in each of the previous nine seasons.

A fresh start for Shields, who shined during his two years pitching in front of MLB’s best defense in Kansas City, could be just what he needed.

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New York Yankees first baseman Mark Teixeira has an articular cartilage tear in his right knee, which could require surgery if the knee doesn’t respond to treatment. He left Friday’s game against the Baltimore Orioles and was placed on the disabled list Saturday.

Continue for updates.

Cashman Comments on Potential Surgery for Teixeira

Saturday, June 4

“The initial effort is going to try to be to treat it conservatively with rest, probably involving injections, and then see how he responds to that,” general manager Brian Cashman said in a phone call this morning, per Chad Jennings of LoHud.com. “If that doesn’t work, then you’re looking at a surgical procedure. If that’s the case, then his season is probably done.”

Teixeira Lands on DL

Saturday, June 4

The Yankees announced they placed Teixeira on the 15-day disabled list and “selected infielder Chris Parmelee from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.”

Jennings added, “The choice of [Parmelee] as the replacement, Cashman said, is based entirely on performance. Parmelee has a .787 OPS in Triple-A.”

Teixeira Struggling to Shake Injury Bug

Injuries have been a recurring problem for Teixeira over the last few years. He hasn’t appeared in more than 123 games in a season since 2011, though he had missed only six games so far this year.

The lingering ailments, and perhaps age, have sapped most of Teixeira’s value on offense. The 36-year-old owns a .180/.271/.263 slash line and three home runs in 167 at-bats this season.

The Yankees have options at first base. Rob Refsnyder filled in for Teixeira on Friday, and catcher Brian McCann has played 121.1 innings at the position since 2014.

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Jose Bautista is in the final year of his contract with the Toronto Blue Jays and has made no secret about his desire to get paid, so it’s fitting he would have a team with a seemingly limitless supply of money to spend on his list of destinations. 

Continue for updates. 

Bautista Looking at Red Sox

Thursday, June 2

Jon Heyman of Today’s Knuckleball reported Thursday that Bautista and teammate Edwin Encarnacion “envision the (Boston) Red Sox as a possible winter landing spot, provided David Ortiz really does go through with his plan to retire.”

Bautista is going to keep any team that has a lot of money and a desire to spend on his radar this winter. Rick Westhead of TSN.ca reported February the six-time All-Star was seeking a contract of at least five years and $150 million. 

In an era of baseball with more money coming in for teams to sign free agents, that kind of salary is not an unreasonable demand for a player with Bautista’s track record. His average season from 2010-15 included a .268/.390/.555 slash line with 38 home runs and 5.4 wins above replacement, per FanGraphs.

The problem for Bautista as he hopes to secure that kind of deal is age. He became a star late in his career and will turn 36 on October 19. There’s no denying the offensive impact he’s had since 2010, but projecting him forward is not going to make teams open the bank for him. 

There’s also the issue of why the Red Sox would give Bautista that kind of money. They aren’t hurting for young offensive talent, especially in the outfield with players like Mookie Betts and Jackie Bradley Jr. under team control through 2020. 

The Red Sox also have Andrew Benintendi making his way through the minor leagues to play in the outfield, presumably as soon as 2017. 

Bautista may assume the Red Sox want a designated hitter to replace Ortiz, but players with one specialty and no defensive value don’t make $30 million per season. As great as Ortiz has been throughout his career and as great as he’s been in 2016, per Spotrac, he’s making “only” $16 million.  

Yet just looking at the business side of things, Bautista’s reported interest in the Red Sox makes complete sense because they are willing to spend a lot of money if they believe it will help their team win. 

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Hunter Pence‘s injury woes don’t seem to be going away, as the San Francisco Giants outfielder is battling a serious hamstring strain and has been placed on the disabled list. It is unclear when he will be able to return.

Continue for updates. 

Pence Comments on Injury

Friday, June 3

“We’ve got a long way to go,” Pence said, per Andrew Baggarly of the Mercury News. “I’ll be back in a flash.”

Latest on Pence’s Recovery Timeline

Friday, June 3

Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle reported the Giants are leaning toward surgery for Pence, which would put him out eight weeks after he tore the hamstring completely off the bone.

Bochy Comments on Pence Injury

Thursday, June 2

“Unfortunately, he did a pretty good job on it,” Giants manager Bruce Bochy said, per Baggarly. “And it’s a shame.”

Pence Has Struggled with Injuries After Long Stretch of Durability

Prior to 2015, Pence had been one of the most durable players in Major League Baseball, playing at least 154 games every season since 2008, including all 162 in 2013 and 2014. 

He started 2015 on the disabled list with a fractured left forearm suffered during a spring training game, forcing him to miss the first five weeks, and only managed to play 52 games as a result of various ailments. 

Things had been going smoothly in 2016 for Pence, who looked like his old self to start the year. He was hitting for average and power and getting on base at a high clip. 

The Giants were able to get by without Pence’s bat in the middle of their lineup for stretches last season. Buster Posey, Brandon Belt and Brandon Crawford picked up their games, though the lineup lacks depth without Pence in the middle.

San Francisco’s front office did bolster the starting rotation this offseason, signing Jeff Samardzija and Johnny Cueto, to try to offset any potential offensive shortcomings. Sitting first in the NL West, the Giants can afford to be without Pence for a bit. But it’s obvious this has become a recurring problem. 

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To say things have not gone well for the San Diego Padres since 2015 would be an understatement, a feat not going unnoticed by the team’s executive chairman, Ron Fowler.   

Following San Diego’s 16-4 defeat by the Seattle Mariners on Tuesday at Safeco Field, Fowler spoke candidly to Mighty 1090 AM on Wednesday about the Padres’ 20-33 start by calling them “miserable failures” (via Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports):

It’s been embarrassing. I don’t know how else to put it. Our performance on the road trip, 1-7, was pathetic. 

I’m a very competitive individual. I think I’ve won a lot more than lost in my life. This baseball experience has been very frustrating, very embarrassing. 

The performance by our team (Tuesday), I can understand how (former owner Ray) Kroc would have grabbed the microphone. It’s that frustrating.

Fowler then shifted focus of his criticism to call out starting pitcher James Shields—who allowed 10 runs on eight hits and four walks in 2.2 innings against the Mariners—saying the performance was “an embarrassment to the team, an embarrassment to him.”

The chairman also made a not-so-subtle dig about Major League Baseball players having guaranteed contracts, noting that if a person in a regular job was as bad at their job as the Padres have been over the last three years, “you’d probably be unemployed.”

General manager A.J. Preller also seemed to be a target of scorn during Fowler’s interview: “It’s on the player, but the organization has to accept responsibility for probably having the wrong players. … Part of it is on the players. But our job is to get the right players who can be motivated and determined at game time.”

However, Fowler did say Preller “has done a spectacular job of building the player-development area” and acknowledged that some of the trades and signings over the last two years “didn’t come together as well as we wanted.”

San Diego surprised the baseball world last year by signing Shields to a four-year, $75 million deal and trading for Matt Kemp, Wil Myers, Justin Upton, Melvin Upton and Craig Kimbrel, bumping its payroll up to a franchise-record $108 million, per Cot’s Baseball Contracts. 

Things did not work out for the Padres in 2015, as they struggled to a 74-88 record, but they didn’t make any trades at the July deadline with the hopes of making a run in the second half. They wound up losing Justin Upton as a free agent, though they did receive a compensation pick for next week’s draft starting June 9.

Preller was able to get help for the farm system by trading Kimbrel to the Boston Red Sox in exchange for four prospects, highlighted by outfielder Manuel Margot and shortstop Javier Guerra. 

But there are still major problems the Padres don’t seem to have an easy way out of. Shields is rumored to be on the trade block, with Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune reporting on May 28 the Chicago White Sox were in discussions with the team about acquiring the veteran right-hander. 

Kemp is still owed over $65 million from 2017-19 and will be difficult to move. Melvin Upton is signed through next season, making just over $17 million.

Despite those exorbitant salaries, things could open up for the Padres this winter. Per Cot’s Baseball Contracts, they will have $41 million coming off their payroll after this season.

If things continue down the path they seem to be going, Fowler may not have the patience to let Preller go through another period of adding talent, considering how badly things have gone since the start of 2015. 

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Cleveland Indians outfielder Marlon Byrd was suspended 162 games Wednesday for violating Major League Baseball’s policy against performance-enhancing drugs.

Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports first reported the 162-game ban for Byrd, noting he did not appeal the ruling. ESPN’s T.J. Quinn added that MLB provided additional information about the substance Byrd tested positive for:

Byrd issued a statement confirming his suspension, via Rosenthal’s official Facebook page:

The 38-year-old Byrd was previously suspended for 50 games because of a positive PED test in 2012. He has bounced around throughout his career, playing for 10 teams in 15 years.

The Indians signed Byrd to a minor league deal in March with the hope that he would provide the team with outfield depth. He’s been a valuable asset for Cleveland manager Terry Francona through the season’s first two months, as Michael Brantley has had two stints on the disabled list.

In 34 games this season, Byrd has posted a respectable .270/.326/.452 slash line. He is tied with Rajai Davis for the fifth-most home runs on the team with five.

Matthew Pouliot of Rotoworld.com noted Byrd’s power numbers spiked late in his career:

While the loss of Byrd does impact the Indians’ depth, they are not lacking options. Davis and Lonnie Chisenhall are the primary starters in center field and right field.

Jose Ramirez, who came up as a shortstop, has played 24 games in left field this season. Michael Martinez is a utility player who can start in the outfield. The Indians also have Tyler Naquin in Triple-A ready to bring up if they want to add another outfielder.

Given the length of Byrd’s suspension, his future looks bleak. He won’t be eligible to return until roughly June 1, 2017, at the age of 39. He was struggling to find work as a free agent this offseason before injuries opened the door in Cleveland. This suspension won’t make finding a new opportunity any easier. 

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