The Athletics may be bargain-hunting for Edwin Encarnacion - MLB

Jon Heyman reports that the Oakland Athletics are considering making an offer to Edwin Encarnacion.

It’d be odd for the A’s to be into one of the top free agents on the market or for one of the top free agents on the market to be interested in the A’s, but Encarnacion’s market has sort of cratered lately. He might be a bargain for them and they may be a soft landing place for him. Especially if he’s fine foregoing any no-trade protection, allowing the A’s to flip him at some point. It’s also worth noting that the A’s finished with one of the 10 worst records in 2016, meaning that they wouldn’t have to surrender a first-round pick if they signed Encarnacion.

Speculation only now. And, given that this is a Jon Heyman report, it would not be shocking if the A’s interest were leaked by an agent in an effort to make Encarnacion’s market seem hotter than it is. It’s not crazy to imagine the A’s at least looking, however.

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The Yankees placed Nestor Cortes on the 15-day injured list with a left rotator cuff strain that will sideline the left-hander for at least two starts.

The move is retroactive to Monday and Cortes will be shut down for at least 15 days.

After Tuesday’s game, Cortes said the shoulder has been bothering him between starts and more so after he pitched five innings May 30 in Seattle.

“I took two days off and when I got to LA and threw that first day, I didn’t feel right,” Cortes said Tuesday. “But it was first day coming back from pitching so I knew it was going to be nagging a little bit. So I waited a little bit.

“That second day in LA was when I said something because it felt like I had pitched yesterday. So I wasn’t recovering in time.”

Cortes is 5-2 with a 5.16 ERA in 11 starts and has particularly struggled later in outings. Opponents are hitting .447 when facing him for the third time in a game.

Last year, Cortes was an All-Star and went 12-4 with a 2.44 ERA in 28 starts.

Randy Vásquez was recalled from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes Barre to take Cortes’ spot in the rotation and will make his second career start in Thursday’s doubleheader. Vásquez made his major league debut May 26 against San Diego when the Yankees needed a starter because Domingo Germán was serving a 10-game suspension for using sticky substances.