MLB Trade Rumors and News: Diamondbacks fire hitting coaches as they look for answers

The MLB Daily Dish is a daily feature we’re running here at MLBDD that rounds up roster-impacting news, rumors, and analysis. Have feedback or have something that should be shared? Hit us up at @mlbdailydish on Twitter or @MLBDailyDish on Instagram.

• After going 5-24 in the month of May, the Arizona Diamondbacks are reeling and already sit 19 games back in an NL West where even a good season would not guarantee a playoff berth. In order to try to stop the bleeding and try to get back to some level of decency, Arizona fired hitting coaches Eric Hinske and Darnell Coles. Sadly, given the breadth of that roster’s issues, it seems like that they will still end up as one of the league’s worst teams.
• Baseball’s draft is slowly transitioning more and more to how drafts are run in other sports which is definitely a good thing. While the MLB draft has certainly been covered as an event, there were not a lot of players present during the draft festivities because of the conflict with the college season and the pre-draft workouts were largely private and lesser in number, again, because of conflicts with games being played. The league appears to be trying to change that as they announced a draft combine with over 100 players scheduled to attend towards the end of June.
• The Brewers got some bad news last night. Travis Shaw, who had already been struggling at the plate, left the Brewers’ game with a shoulder injury and it was later confirmed that he had dislocated his left shoulder and is going to be out for a while. The Brewers don’t really have a great internal option to slot in for Shaw especially with the team already having to cover Keston Hiura’s absence from the roster due to his struggles.
• Designated hitter Khris Davis, the 2018 major league home run and an imposing slugger for the last half decade, has been designated for assignment by the Rangers after slashing .157/.262/.333 in 22 games with Texas. Davis, who was acquired from Oakland for Elvis Andrus in February, will now look to latch on with another club, though he may have trouble finding another opportunity considering that he’s no longer a viable option in the outfield.
• Yankees starter Gerrit Cole, long suspected to be one of baseball’s most prominent sticky substance users, delivered an extremely uncomfortable minute-long answer Tuesday when asked by the New York Post’s Ken Davidoff whether he’s ever used Spider Tack while pitching. Cole did not provide an explicit yes or no, saying “I don’t know quite how to answer that, to be quite honest” and suggesting the shady practice was the fault of veterans who had passed it down to younger pitchers.
• Outfielder Jarred Kelenic, widely regarded as one of baseball’s top prospects and the potential savior of the Mariners organization, was optioned to Triple-A Tacoma on Monday after getting into an 0-for-39 slump. Kelenic, who played just 28 games in the upper minors (21 at Double-A in 2019 and seven at Triple-A this year) before reaching the majors, has an .096 batting average and .378 OPS in 23 major league games.
• After colliding with shortstop Brandon Crawford against the Cubs this weekend, Evan Longoria has been placed on the IL with a dislocated SC joint. The loss is devastating to the Giants, who are in heavy contention in the NL West with a razor sharp lead and will now be without the 35-year-old, who has absolutely been crushing the ball this season. Slashing .280/.376/.516 with nine home runs over 186 plate appearances, Longoria’s absence will certainly be felt. Thairo Estrada has been recalled from Triple-A Sacramento to fill the void. While a 4-6 week timetable is still on the malleable side, missed games for any prolonged amount of time will certainly have San Francisco longing for its third baseman back.
• The Orioles have placed John Means on the injured list for a strain in his throwing shoulder, which yes, is totally a bummer from any standpoint. While an MRI revealed no structural damage, reports Roch Kubatko of MASN, Baltimore isn’t taking any chances exacerbating his shoulder. He’ll be reevaluated after seven to ten days and the team will have a clear decision on what to do from there. In the meantime, Zac Lowther has been recalled from Tripe-A Norfolk to take his place.
• Truly scary situation in the minor leagues last week as Rays relief prospect Tyler Zombro was struck in the head by a line drive and was immediately taken to the hospital. Play was immediately suspended and the game did not resume as players and coaches from both teams appeared distraught. Take my word for it that you don’t want to watch the video and please don’t share it.
• The Nationals really needed Stephen Strasburg to look like the Stephen Strasburg from their World Series run in order to be consistently competitive during the 2021 season. Unfortunately, that hasn’t been what we have seen from Strasburg as he has lost some velocity and his stuff is not as crisp. Now, the Nats got even worse news after Strasburg was forced to leave his start against the Braves early as he was placed on the 10 day injured list with a neck strain that is causing nerve irritation.
• The Cardinals got bad news on Tuesday, as ace Jack Flaherty could miss extended time with an oblique strain that manager Mike Shildt called “significant.” That’s a huge loss for St. Louis, as Flaherty has a 2.90 ERA and a 1.03 WHIP over 11 starts this season.
• The Mets had been hopeful to get Noah Syndergaard back in their rotation soonish to try and hold off their division rivals in what has been a surprisingly bad National League East. Unfortunately, they will have to wait a good bit longer, as Syndergaard’s rehab hit a setback, and elbow inflammation will keep him out until at least August.
• It was bad enough that the Yankees were going to be without Corey Kluber for a while. Now, we get word that Luke Voit is hitting the injured list with an oblique injury as Aaron Hicks underwent surgery that effectively ends his season.
• Mickey Callaway has been awaiting his official fate from the league in the wake of some some serious and troubling allegations regarding his treatment of female members of the media. Well, MLB announced the results of their investigations where they found that Callaway had engaged in lewd and inappropriate conduct regarding his sexual advances towards journalists. He is now suspended through at least the 2022 season, and the Angels immediately fired him upon the decision being made.
• Corey Kluber has been one of the league’s better stories during the 2021 season, especially in the wake of his recent no-hitter. Unfortunately, we got a reminder the existence of Father Time and that the laws of physics do not always get along with the human body as Kluber hit the injured list with a shoulder strain.
• The Mets are currently dealing with injury issues that are nearly unheard of, and to help shore up their outfield issues, they acquired Billy McKinney from the Brewers in exchange for 17-year-old left-hander Pedro Quintana. McKinney, 26, hasn’t been very good this season, hitting .207/.260/.359 with three homers for Milwaukee, but he has four seasons of big-league experience and a solid amount of power (21 homers in 511 MLB plate appearances). That’s much more than can be said for the Mets’ internal call-up candidates at this point.
• The Rays have traded Willy Adames to the Brewers in a four-player deal. Trevor Richards was also dealt to Milwaukee in exchange for relievers Drew Rasmussen and J.P. Feyereisen. The 25-year old Adames was arguably the core of the Rays’ young lineup last season, though he had struggled this season before being dealt. He will be taking over as the shortstop for that Brewers, who have been starved for consistency at the position and in desperate need of an offensive boost.
• Perennial MVP candidate Mike Trout probably won’t win the AL MVP Award in 2021, as he’s going to spend the next 6-8 weeks on the shelf recovering from a calf strain. Even though Trout had slumped in May, he still led the majors with a .466 OBP and 1.090 OPS due to the ridiculous .425/.523/.781 slash line he posted in April, and his loss is as massive as can be for an Angels team that was already struggling to stay above water in the AL West.
• The Dodgers signed veteran slugger Albert Pujols to a major league deal, less than a month after he was designated for assignment and released by the Angels. For a moment there was a rumor floating around that the 41-year-old might sign with the Cardinals so he could play out his career with the team he made his name with. But clearly the Dodgers believe he has some fuel left in the tank, despite the .198/.250/.372 slash line he posted with the Angels this season.
• Remember when the league and MLBPA got in a very public back and forth that resulted in MLBPA essentially calling the league’s bluff and calling for a shortened slate of games with the idea that the players were going to file a grievance? Do you remember that Manfred tried to one-up that by saying no season was going to happen at all unless the players waived the right to file a grievance? That was fun...and that grievance has arrived as MLBPA formally accused the league of negotiating in bad faith on the terms of the 2020 season.