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A’s acquire right-hander Brandon Bielak from Astros for cash

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OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — The Oakland Athletics acquired right-hander Brandon Bielak from the Houston Astros on Thursday for cash.

Oakland designated left-hander Easton Lucas for assignment to create 40-man roster room for Bielak, who had been designated himself on Saturday to created space for right-hander Cristian Javier on the active roster.

Bielak has a 5.71 ERA in 10 relief outings this year with nine strikeouts and seven walks over 17 1/3 innings.

He was originally selected by Houston in the 11th round of the 2017 amateur draft and has a 11-13 record with a 4.65 ERA and one save.

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB

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Byron Buxton begins rehab assignment, Royce Lewis getting closer

Joe nelson | may 15, 2024.

• Minnesota Twins

Here comes Byron Buxton and Royce Lewis could be on his heals.

Buxton could be back in the lineup with the Minnesota Twins when they face the Cleveland Guardians in an AL Central showdown Friday-Sunday in Ohio, but only if his rehab assignment with the Triple-A St. Paul Saints goes as planned.

Buxton, out since May 1 due to right knee soreness, will bat second and start in center field for the Saints on Wednesday night. Buxton will likely play a couple of rehab games and if all goes well he would return to the MLB lineup.

The Saints are hosting Omaha Wednesday through Sunday at CHS Field in St. Paul.

Lewis, meanwhile, continues to progress from a severe quad strain that he suffered on opening day, March 28. He began hitting on the field this week and is now expected to focus on running the basepaths and change-of-direction movements. If that goes well this week, there's a chance he could be sent out for a rehab assignment.

According to Twins head athletic trainer Nick Papresta, Lewis' rehab assignment could go a bit longer and the team's official website claims that his return to the Twins will be "no sooner than June." That's not all that bad considering June is just over two weeks away.

"Once we get on the bases, we’re going to try to keep it as hectic and crazy and unknown for him as possible, try to do it on back-to-back days just like you would play in the Minor Leagues on a rehab assignment," Paparesta told reporters Tuesday.

Minnesota has had the league's best offense since Max Kepler returned from the injured list on April 22, and getting two more big bats back into the lineup could make them even more dangerous.

Giancarlo Stanton, Carlos Rodón help Yankees…

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Sports MLB New York Yankees

Subscriber only, giancarlo stanton, carlos rodón help yankees take down twins in series-opener.

Oswaldo Cabrera swiftly tied the contest in the second inning, plating Anthony Rizzo with a sacrifice fly. Anthony Volpe then gave the Yankees a 2-1 lead with an RBI double later in the inning.

The third frame saw Giancarlo Stanton hit a rocket off of Twins starter Chris Paddack. With the bases empty, Stanton crushed a changeup 427 feet at 114 miles per hour.

114 MPH off the bat. Giancarlo Stanton only hits rockets. pic.twitter.com/7JhR58ZC1z — MLB (@MLB) May 15, 2024

A modest shot compared to the two bombs he hit at Yankee Stadium last week, Stanton now has nine homers. That’s tied with Juan Soto for the second-highest figure on the Yankees.

Aaron Judge leads the team with 10.

The Yankees scored for a third consecutive inning when Alex Verdugo added a two-run double in the fourth.

The Bombers ultimately recorded 12 hits against Paddack, who allowed five earned runs over five innings. The right-hander also walked two and struck out four.

While Paddack struggled, Rodón dominated after Jeffers’ homer while leaning heavily on his fastball. The lefty logged six innings, permitting just the one run while totaling six hits, zero walks and six strikeouts over 102 pitches.

Rodón, who now has a 3.31 ERA, has not issued a walk in his last three starts.

With a win in the books – Clay Holmes shut the door while maintaining his spotless ERA – the Yankees will turn to Marcus Stroman on Wednesday. The righty, a bit off in his last few starts, will face Minnesota’s Pablo López.

DJ ON THE RIGHT TRACK

DJ LeMahieu is almost ready for game action… again.

The versatile infielder is expected to begin a rehab assignment this Thursday or Friday with Double-A Somerset, according to the New York Post. LeMahieu has been ramping up baseball activities over the last week, including live batting practice sessions at the Yankees’ complex in Tampa on Saturday and Tuesday.

LeMahieu also did some defensive work at Tropicana Field over the weekend with the Yankees in Tampa to play the Rays.

DJ LeMahieu doing some side to side work at second base… while Alex Verdugo plays shortstop. Don't expect to see that double play combo in a game. #Yankees pic.twitter.com/wYMrCerYIN — Gary Phillips (@GaryHPhillips) May 12, 2024

Delayed multiple times, LeMahieu has been slowly working his way back from a nondisplaced fracture in his right foot. He suffered the injury on March 16 when he fouled a ball off of his foot in a spring training game.

LeMahieu was initially supposed to start a rehab assignment on April 19. However, that was pushed back a few days at the recommendation of doctors.

The 35-year-old started that assignment on April 23, only for him to leave the game after just one inning due to swelling in his foot. That led to another shutdown.

The Yankees and LeMahieu are hoping that his latest assignment will be free from setbacks.

Another Cole Bullpen

Gerrit Cole threw a bullpen in Tampa on Tuesday, his fourth since being diagnosed with elbow inflammation in spring training. Cole was expected to hang back in Tampa with the Yankees in Minnesota this week.

Cole threw 36 pitches, but he did not progress to two ups , or simulated innings, per the Post. He’ll have to check that box before facing live hitters.

Rehab Roundup

Elsewhere on the rehab circuit, Jasson Domínguez (UCL surgery) found himself batting second on Tuesday, the start of his rehab assignment with Single-A Tampa.

Jorbit Vivas started a rehab assignment with the Tarpons as well.

Meanwhile, Tommy Kahnle (delayed throwing program) had his rehab assignment transferred to Double-A Somerset.

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3 Astros takeaways: Selloff possibilities, Yordan Alvarez’s RISP problem and 2 homegrown DFAs

As he is prone to do, Justin Verlander strapped the Houston Astros to his back on Sunday before Houston’s bats finally backed up its ace during a 9-3 win against the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park.

The victory secured a series win and salvaged a 3-3 road trip. A critical 10-game homestand looms for a Houston team still seeking some stability. Seven of the 10 games are against American League West opponents, offering the club its best chance at gaining ground from the cellar.

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Here are three takeaways from the road trip:

Dana Brown must consider all options

Most clubhouses have at least one television always tuned to MLB Network, so general manager Dana Brown had no choice but to back a ballclub that may be listening. Saying he “can’t predict any scenario” in which the Astros sell at the trade deadline is one of the only acceptable responses to a question that isn’t going away, even after a respectable road trip.

"No. No, I can't envision that. This ballclub is too good." – Astros GM Dana Brown on if he envisions a scenario where the team is a seller #MLBNow | #Relentless pic.twitter.com/0kEEULJUoW — MLB Now (@MLBNow) May 7, 2024

Since 1901, only seven teams have started a season 15-25 and finished with a winning record. Just three of them made the playoffs, though a third wild-card spot and an underperforming American League West give the Astros more hope than other teams mired in their situation.

Brown shouldn’t declare the season dead on May 7, but refusing to acknowledge the possibility of a selloff — even privately — is almost as misguided. Before the season, both The Athletic’s Keith Law and MLB Pipeline ranked Houston’s farm system 27th out of 30 teams. Infusing more talent is crucial, and part of the reason owner Jim Crane hired Brown in the first place.

Nothing Crane has done during his ownership tenure suggests he’s about to offer the type of extension it will take to retain Kyle Tucker , who launched his league-leading 13th home run on Sunday. Alex Bregman ’s brutal start also won’t stop agent Scott Boras from seeking the sort of deal Crane has never been willing to give.

If the Astros can’t engineer a turnaround and enter July with realistic playoff chances, it would be a dereliction of duty not to dangle one or both of those players during the trade deadline. Pitchers Verlander and Ryan Pressly are obvious candidates, too, but both have no-trade clauses in their contracts and would prefer to stay in Houston.

Since his franchise’s golden era began, Crane has reiterated: “While I’m here, the window is always going to be open.” His stance means much more than anything Brown will utter across the next three months.

Barring a total collapse, it’s difficult to envision Crane softening on such a strong statement and conceding, especially while carrying the largest payroll during his ownership tenure. He resides in a city and owns a franchise well-versed in this exact situation. The last team to start 15-25 and make the playoffs? The 2005 National League champion Houston Astros.

Yordan Alvarez ’s run production problem

Since April 10, Alvarez has taken 33 plate appearances with runners in scoring position. He has one hit: a game-tying single down the right-field line during Friday’s 5-2 win against the Tigers.

Among Astros, only Yainer Diaz has taken more at-bats than Alvarez with runners in scoring position across that 28-game span. Since it began, Alvarez’s OPS has plummeted 259 points from 1.038 to .779. It never dipped below .895 last season.

The situation epitomizes the Astros’ first 40 games. Houston has the sport’s second-highest batting average but has been outscored by 13 other teams. Getting the club’s best hitter a bevy of at-bats with runners in scoring position should be its foremost goal. The Astros are accomplishing it — and Alvarez isn’t coming through.

Entering Sunday, Alvarez had a minus-5 batter run value with runners in scoring position, according to Baseball Savant. Last season, it was 28. Alvarez is hitting .157 with runners in scoring position this season. A .231 expected batting average suggests there isn’t much bad luck involved, either.

Dissecting Alvarez’s issues with runners in scoring position is difficult and also arrives with the caveat of a small sample size. His 15.2 percent whiff rate with runners in scoring position is lower than his 22.9 percent career clip while his 92.8 mph average exit velocity is in line with his 93 mph season average. A 39.4 percent hard-hit rate, however, is far lower than his usual clip.

All season, manager Joe Espada has bemoaned a lack of plate discipline during run-scoring situations. Entering Sunday’s game, Alvarez had swung at 27 of the 87 pitches he saw out of the strike zone with runners in scoring position — a 31 percent clip almost identical to his overall 30.8 percent chase rate this season. That, it should be noted, is elevated from Alvarez’s career 26.6 percent rate.

Last season, Alvarez had a 28.4 chase rate with runners in scoring position. Perhaps he, like so many in this lineup, is feeling the pressure of a poor start and trying to compensate. All 176 of Alvarez’s plate appearances have arrived from either the second or third spots in the batting order. Espada isn’t about to move him, either, putting the onus on a preseason MVP candidate to discover a way to clutch up.

Farewell to two homegrown success stories?

The Astros drafted Corey Julks and Brandon Bielak three rounds apart in 2017, part of a 42-man draft class that’s already produced 13 major-league players. Neither signed for more than $150,000 and both were overshadowed by more noticeable names taken beforehand.

Both Julks and Bielak ascended to viable major-league players: a testament to Houston’s amateur scouting and player development. The team designated both players for assignment this weekend and each stands a decent chance of catching on with another club, be it via a waiver claim or small trade.

Julks grew up in The Woodlands, a Houston suburb, before playing three seasons at the University of Houston. His inclusion on the team’s Opening Day roster last season — and subsequent April success — represented a feel-good story for both the franchise and the city that houses it.

Still, Julks is 28 and sported a career .650 OPS against major-league pitching. Joey Loperfido passed him on the organization’s outfield hierarchy, Pedro León is threatening to do the same, and top prospect Jacob Melton may be in Triple A soon.

At full strength, Houston already has two right-handed hitting outfielders on its 26-man roster: Chas McCormick and Jake Meyers . Utilityman Mauricio Dubón ’s increased time in the outfield only furthered a logjam Julks could not crack.

Julks has outperformed at Triple A and has two minor-league option years remaining, which will increase his value to 29 other teams. Teams are always searching for pitching depth and Bielak’s respectable numbers at the major-league level — a 4.65 ERA in 191 2/3 innings — may entice some clubs.

However, Bielak is out of minor-league options, one of the primary reasons he made Houston’s Opening Day roster as a swingman. The team is already bereft of pitching depth and did not want to risk losing Bielak on waivers so early in the season.

Activating Cristian Javier on Saturday forced them to confront that scenario. The Astros could have optioned Shawn Dubin to Triple A and kept Bielak on the major-league roster, but Dubin’s ability to handle multiple innings with higher-upside stuff must have appealed to an Astros team that’s already put Dubin in a few high-leverage situations this season.

Bielak never got those chances, perhaps the first sign that his days were numbered. José Urquidy ’s impending return from the injured list could force either Spencer Arrighetti or Hunter Brown to the bullpen, too, taking the place Bielak once occupied.

(Photo of Yordan Alvarez: Paul Sancya / Associated Press)

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Chandler Rome is a Staff Writer for The Athletic covering the Houston Astros. Before joining The Athletic, he covered the Astros for five years at the Houston Chronicle. He is a graduate of Louisiana State University. Follow Chandler on Twitter @ Chandler_Rome