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Anthony Rizzo started off Tuesday’s game by hitting his 30th home run of the season. Unfortunately, he ended it by leaving early with an injury.

The Cincinnati Enquirer‘s C. Trent Rosecrans provided the news:

Manager Rick Renteria talked about the injury after the Cubs‘ 3-0 win via Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times: 

After a mostly disappointing 2013 campaign, Rizzo has been fantastic this season. Entering Tuesday’s contest, the first baseman was hitting .278/.376/.510 while chasing Giancarlo Stanton for the National League home run crown.

He hasn’t just carried a big stick, though. As CBS Chicago’s Bruce Levine argued, the 25-year-old has also been a vital part of the Cubs’ improvement on defense:

Rizzo’s fine play has begun to challenge Paul Goldschmidt and Adrian Gonzalez for recognition as the best fielding first baseman in the National League. The numbers bear out some of the obvious numbers considered for a Gold Glove award. Entering play on Sunday, Rizzo led all major league first baseman in chances, (1200) assists, (102 ) and putouts (1089 ). He was also ranked fourth in double plays contributing to 94 twin-killings on defense.

The Cubs (59-72) aren’t going anywhere this season, but with a stacked farm system, they are believed to be on the cusp of becoming a legitimate contender in the National League.

While youth is a large part of the reason for that optimism, Rizzo’s play this season has been another. He looks ready to anchor this team for a long time.

Fortunately, the injury doesn’t sound serious. Leaving the game was likely just a precautionary move from Chicago, which was leading by three runs at the time of Rizzo’s departure.

If he is forced to miss any time, Chris Valaika would likely see some time at first base.

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Yonder Alonso will undergo surgery to repair a damaged tendon in his right forearm. 

The San Diego Padres first baseman was already ruled out for the season with the injury, but he continued to weigh his options for recovery. Ultimately, though, he elected to go with surgery. 

According to MLB.com’s Corey Brock, he will be ready for 2015 spring training:

After a promising rookie campaign in 2012, Alonso has seen his numbers dip in each of the past two seasons. In 84 games this year, he hit just .240/.285/.397 with seven home runs and 27 RBI. Those are numbers you can live with from your shortstop—not your first baseman. 

The 27-year-old has struggled to simply stay healthy. He has multiple DL trips due to various hand injuries over the past two seasons, and when he was starting to finally get into a groove—he hit a scorching .522 in 10 August games—he suffered the forearm strain. 

He has failed to play in 100 games in each of the last two seasons. 

The hope here is that Alonso, who is eligible for his first year of arbitration this winter, can get back to 100 percent and start living up to the potential he once had as a top prospect. 

Still, he was acquired from the Cincinnati Reds by San Diego’s old management, and his opportunities may be wearing very thin. 

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Derek Holland is nearing a return for the Texas Rangers. 

The 27-year-old left-handed starter, who has missed the entire 2014 campaign while recovering from knee surgery, was scratched from his scheduled rehab start Sunday, but manager Ron Washington didn’t see it as a major setback, via ESPNDallas.com’s Calvin Watkins:

Just back spasms. Just got to see how long it takes. He’s supposed to throw Sunday and (we’ll) see how long it takes (to recover). If the doctor gives him clearance, he’ll be able to still get a start. If not, then it will just have to adjust, just go day-to-day and see.

He will in fact get another rehab start before September call-ups, as the Fort Worth Star-Telegram‘s Jeff Wilson noted:

Holland probably won’t help Texas make up 27 games in the AL West, but it will certainly be good for the team to get some starts out of him before the 2015 season. 

Signed through 2016 with club options for 2017 and 2018, he is a big part of the team’s future. If he regains his form from last season when he finished with a 3.42 ERA, 1.29 WHIP and 189 strikeouts in 213.0 innings, it will be a really positive sign for the Rangers’ rotation moving forward. 

Either way, it will just be nice to see him back on the mound after the lengthy absence.

Contract info via Cot’s Baseball Contracts.

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Updates from Saturday, Aug. 23

The Red Sox confirmed that Castillo had signed: 

Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports breaks down Castillo’s contract:

Original Text

The Boston Red Sox have won the sweepstakes for Cuban defector Rusney Castillo. 

Gordon Edes of ESPN has the news:

Fox Sports’ Ken Rosenthal had more on the deal:

Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News added more detail:

CBS Sports’ Jon Heyman notes how this could impact bringing Jon Lester back to Boston:

We’ve seen over the last few years how quickly players from Cuba are able to make an impact at the major league level. Jose Abreu, Yoenis Cespedes, Aroldis Chapman, Jose Fernandez and Yasiel Puig have all developed into stars, and they hardly needed any time in the minors. 

Scott Lauber of the Boston Herald notes that there’s little relationship between Castillo and another talented Cuban, fellow Red Sox outfielder Yoenis Cespedes:

Castillo is thought to be the newest player ready to follow that trend. According to sources cited by CBS Sports’ Jon Heyman, the 27-year-old has plans of making his major league debut in 2014. 

Boston won’t need him in order to compete for the pennant this year, but it appears they’ve added a major piece for 2015 and beyond. If Castillo can punish pitchers the first time around like Puig or Abreu did, he’ll give this team a massive lift.

Offensively, he’s not expected to provide the same kind of power as Abreu or Cespedes. However, he’s a line-drive hitter who boasts lightning speed. You can see a little bit of that in the video produced by his agency, Roc Nation Sports:

Defensively, Castillo’s most likely landing spot is in center field, although during his recruitment process there were teams that viewed him as a middle infielder. There are slight concerns about his arm, but Baseball America‘s Ben Badler, via MassLive.com’s Jason Mastrodonato, doesn’t see that as a problem:

I don’t see that as a major hitch. There aren’t a ton of center fielders that are really playing with above-average arms right now. You look at his speed, jumps and reads he gets off the bat, there’s going to be plenty of range for him to play center field.

It’s difficult to project exactly how Castillo will translate to the majors, but his talent is unmistakable. At the very least, he has the speed to cause mayhem on the basepaths and cover a lot of ground in the outfield. 

His upside has him drawing comparisons to reigning NL MVP Andrew McCutchen, and even if that’s a stretch, it’s clear John Farrell and his team just improved both the present and the future. 

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Updates from Tuesday, Aug. 12

The results of Manny Machado‘s MRI are in, according to Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com:

GM Dan Duquette briefly commented on how long Machado could potentially be out via Eduardo A. Encina of the Baltimore Sun:

Original Text

This is a sentence you never want to read about any player, especially if it has already been uttered in the past year: Manny Machado left Monday’s game with a scary-looking knee injury. 

The 22-year-old star third baseman, who tore his left medial patellofemoral ligament at the end of last season and missed all of April while rehabbing, injured his other knee against the New York Yankees. YES Network’s Jack Curry and MASNSports.com’s Roch Kubatko have the concerning details:

The team’s official Twitter feed provided an update, however, alleviating at least a little bit of the concern:

After the O’s 11-3 win over the Yankees, Brittany Ghiroli of MLB.com provided an update on what’s next for Machado:

While a particular timetable is still unknown, this kind of thing is low on the list of what Orioles fans want to hear. 

Machado got off to a slow start this season and had a forgettable series against the Oakland Athletics in June that showed his youth, but he had been red hot as of late, hitting .348/.383/.536 since the start of July. Overall, his season numbers (.277/.323/.428) are right on line with his All-Star campaign from last year.

ESPN.com’s David Schoenfield recently argued Machado would help the O’s win the American League East:

Maybe it’s just a little hot streak. Maybe you’re finally getting in a groove, with the knee healthy. Maybe we’re going to see the Manny Machado we saw the first half of last season, when you were hitting all those doubles, making all those fantastic plays in the field and making the All-Star team in your first full season in the majors. 

At the All-Star break, I predicted the Orioles to hold on and win the East, in part because I figured Chris Davis was due to heat up. But it’s not looking like Davis is the guy who will help carry the lineup alongside Nelson Cruz and Adam Jones. It’s you, Manny. 

You can’t forget about his unbelievable defense, either, as he displays unbelievable range at third base to go with one of the strongest arms in the game.

Ahem:

“Machado is a magician out there,” Angels manager Mike Scioscia told reporters after that game. “(He) took a couple of hits away from (Albert Pujols).”

Baltimore will be hoping for some more of that magic during his recovery. 

The O’s are in a comfortable position—they entered Monday five games clear of the Toronto Blue Jays in the AL East. But there’s no overstating the significance of this development if Tuesday’s reevaluation reveals a prognosis that is as bad as the injury looked. 

Chris Davis, who was receiving a day off at first, entered the game for Machado. Steve Pearce and Ryan Flaherty will see more time during the youngster’s absence. 

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The San Diego Padres have reportedly hired A.J. Preller to be their next general manager, ending a six-week search for a replacement following the firing of Josh Byrnes. 

Fox Sports’ Ken Rosenthal has the news: 

Preller and New York Yankees executive Billy Eppler established themselves as front-runners for the job, while the extensive search also included Boston Red Sox assistant GM Mike Hazen and MLB senior vice president for baseball operations Kim Ng.

In the end, though, San Diego elected to go with Preller, 36, who joined the Texas Rangers in 2004 and was promoted to assistant GM in November. He oversaw the international, professional and amateur scouting departments, playing a vital role in putting together one of the best farm systems in baseball. 

Texas’ minor-league pipeline is currently ranked No. 9 in the majors, according to Baseball Prospectus, but it was as high as No. 2 a year ago before losing prospects like Jurickson Profar and Martin Perez to the Show.

While the Rangers have been terrible in 2014, there’s no questioning the level of talent—Joey Gallo and Jorge Alfaro made Baseball America‘s midseason top-50 prospect list—Preller has helped accrue. Over the last four seasons, the Rangers have three postseason appearances and a pair of trips to the World Series, and Preller has been a major part of that. 

General manager Jon Daniels spoke highly of his former college roommate following the most recent promotion, via MLB.com’s T.R. Sullivan:

A.J. and Mike (Daly) have been instrumental in this franchise’s success over the last several years, especially when it has come to scouting and bringing quality players into the organization. These promotions to more responsibilities on the player-development side are well-deserved and will make us a stronger organization, further strengthening the bonds between player development and scouting, as well as the Major and Minor Leagues.

The Pioneer Press‘ Mike Berardino and Baseball America‘s JJ Cooper also praised the Padres’ new hire:

It’s unknown how Preller will handle free-agent negotiations, trade talks and other intricacies of the job, but he’s young and he has already proved to be a tremendous judge of talent. 

That’s exactly what the Padres, who are currently 51-61 and have just one winning season since 2008, are looking for. They need to stockpile talent, and they need to do it without overspending in the winter. Preller, especially thanks to his international ties, can help do that. 

As for the Rangers, this is a significant blow to their front office. The current rebuilding project just got considerably more difficult. 

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Justin Verlander is in the midst of a wildly inconsistent year, especially by his lofty standards, but his game off the diamond is clearly not lacking. 

For the uninitiated, the Detroit Tigers right-hander is dating Kate Upton, the two-time Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue cover model, and during Monday’s game against the New York Yankees, he showed why: 

Using a free baseball to woo the ladies has been done before, but Verlander just took it to another level. 

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Jon Lester has made all 241 of his career major league starts with the Red Sox. He may not get a chance for No. 242 with Boston, though. 

The team’s official Twitter feed confirmed that the 30-year-old will be scratched from Wednesday’s start, sparking speculation that he will be dealt before Thursday’s trade deadline:

However, it’s not time to throw your No. 31 Red Sox jersey on eBay quite yet. According to the New York Post‘s Joel Sherman, a trade is not imminent: 

Still, rumors surrounding Lester have been heating up over the past couple of days. The Boston Globe‘s Pete Abraham reported earlier on Tuesday that the Sox “want to deal him,” and this move suggests at the very least that they are close to finding a trade partner.

If that indeed happens, there would be many disappointed individuals in Boston, including fellow starter Clay Buchholz, via ESPNBoston.com’s Joe McDonald:

Lester has spent the last nine seasons with the Red Sox, has won 110 games and has been an important part of the franchise’s last two World Series runs, but he is currently in the midst of his best season. 

Through 21 starts, the left-hander owns a sparkling 2.52 ERA and 1.12 WHIP. His strikeout/9 ratio (9.4) is the best it has been since 2010, and his strikeout-to-walk ratio (4.66) is easily the best of his career. Moreover, with trade talks increasing, he has only gotten better: In four July starts, he has been nearly untouchable, giving up three earned runs in 29.0 innings (0.93 ERA). 

Tuesday morning, he appeared to address the rumors via Twitter:

If he’s traded, Lester may just be a midseason rental, as he’s set to hit free agency in the winter. Still, he should be able to return an impressive haul for the Sox. 

CBS Sports’ Jon Heyman reported the Los Angeles Dodgers, Pittsburgh Pirates, Milwaukee Brewers and Baltimore Orioles were the front-runners for Lester, while Yahoo Sports’ Jeff Passan and Tim Brown called the Pirates a “dark-horse candidate.”

The latter would certainly make sense for both sides. The Buccos, in the middle of the NL Central race, rank just 14th in starting rotation ERA and could use an upgrade. With arguably the best farm system in baseball, they could also entice Boston into a deal. 

In any case, it’s starting to look more and more like Lester will be wearing a new uniform for the first time in his career. 

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A year ago, Jake Peavy was shipped to the Boston Red Sox and subsequently helped his new team win the World Series. The San Francisco Giants will be hoping he can make a similar impact in 2014. The team confirmed the news on Saturday:

FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal notes Peavy’s feelings on Bruce Bochy:

Alex Pavlocic of the San Jose Mercury News reveals why the Giants made the move now:

San Francisco traded for the 33-year-old right-hander Saturday, shipping minor league pitchers to Boston in return. Jon Heyman of CBS Sports first reported the news: 

ESPN’s Buster Olney reported what the Red Sox would be getting in return:

Olney also broke down how Peavy’s salary would be split:

Tim Kawakami of the San Jose Mercury News notes that the deal makes a lot of sense:

CSN Bay Area’s Andrew Baggarly reports that Peavy will start for the Giants almost immediately:

The Giants acquired Peavy with the intent to start him Sunday against the Dodgers at AT&T Park in place of fill-in starter Yusmeiro Petit, who had made one appearance in the rotation (five runs in five innings at Philadelphia) since the club placed Matt Cain on the disabled list with elbow inflammation.

Cain’s uncertain status compelled the Giants to back-burner their pursuit of a second baseman, right-handed hitting outfielder or reliever. They needed to plug a bigger hole in their rotation.

It’s a typical July swap.

The Sox, toiling at the bottom of the AL East, have no need for Peavy. His two-year, $29 million deal expires at the end of the season, and unless he finishes the year with 255.1 innings pitched (read: he won’t), he won’t be eligible for his 2015 player option. Instead of losing him for nothing to free agency, the Sox are able to dump some of this year’s salary and get a solid asset in return. 

As for the Giants, they are solidifying their starting rotation for the stretch run even if Peavy has been far from razor sharp this season. 

He currently owns an ERA well above 4.00 while his WHIP is the worst of his career, but he shouldn’t be valued solely on those numbers. He has looked much better recently and has been through this kind of transition before. 

“Having been through it twice is something that makes it quite a bit easier,” said Peavy, referring to being traded midseason, via The Providence Journal‘s Tim Britton. “I do understand how it all works.”

It certainly worked out pretty well the last time it happened. When Peavy was shipped to the Sox last July, he responded with a clinical August, compiling a 3.18 ERA and 0.96 WHIP over six starts. During that month, the Sox went from up one game in the East to up 4.5.

He slowed down in September and October, but the veteran was crucial for the title-winning run in Boston. 

Peavy isn’t going to anchor his new rotation, but he doesn’t need to. He will eat up innings, provide depth and experience and likely come through with some quality starts at key moments. 

Although he may not be the same player who once won the Cy Young Award, he can better prepare San Francisco for a run in October. The team that just let him go will attest to that. 

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This isn’t just Derek Jeter’s farewell season. Bud Selig has remained adamant that he will retire from his position as MLB commissioner following the 2014 campaign. 

According to The Wall Street Journal‘s Brian Costa, the league has already begun the process to find a replacement, with Chief Operating Officer Rob Manfred serving as the leading candidate:

Costa added some more details:

Rob Manfred, MLB’s chief operating officer and longtime labor chief, who has Selig’s support, has the backing of roughly 20 owners, according to interviews with four high-ranking team executives. And while a formal vote is still likely months away—a candidate must receive at least 23 votes to win the job—a clear rival to Manfred has yet to emerge.

Manfred, who was promoted to COO following the 2013 season, has long been seen as Selig’s heir apparent. He has been a major part in negotiating several collective bargaining agreements and most recently led the investigative effort against Alex Rodriguez and other players in the Biogenesis scandal. 

The Chicago Sun-Times‘ Chris De Luca put it simply:

Still, not all the owners favor him. 

Back in May, The New York Times‘ Michael S. Schmidt reported that Chicago White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf was opposed to Selig hand-picking his replacement and thus not on board with the candidacy of Manfred, Selig’s right-hand man. 

Whoever ultimately gets the job is going to have some big shoes to fill. 

Selig, who has been commissioner since 1992, recently talked about his legacy, via The Boston Globe‘s Dan Shaughnessy:

I’ve thought a lot about it and I guess when all is said and done, I’d say the economic reformation of the sport [is the legacy] because there have been so many manifestations of that … We have the best competitive balance we’ve ever had and it’s led to so many other things.

Selig has had plenty of hiccups, from the infamous All-Star game tie to the cancellation of the 1994 World Series to the steroid era, but there’s no question the league has taken massive steps forward during his reign. 

It’s going to take an impressive candidate to continue to grow the league while handling a number of looming issues. The MASN negotiations could still be ongoing when Selig retires, and there’s always the presence of performance-enhancing drugs that threatens to put an ugly blemish on the game. 

For now, though, it appears Selig and many of the owners are confident that Manfred is the man for the job. 

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