The Daily Bernie, 7/10/15: Tough day to be a Jesse on the Oakland A's

Welcome back to The Daily Bernie! It's the best dance in the game, so let's get rolling once more!

• Jesse Hahn, whose most recent start was skipped due to right elbow tightness, will miss his next start as well, per Susan Slusser of the SF Chronicle. Chris Bassitt will return to the big leagues and start in his place on Saturday against the Cleveland Indians. This is quite concerning for Hahn, who underwent his first Tommy John Surgery back in 2010 with the Tampa Bay Rays. The 25 year-old has been a great addition to the A's rotation, and if he were to be lost long-term, it would be a huge blow to the A's.

• Another Jesse, Jesse Chavez, also had a bit of a bad day on Thursday. The 31 year-old righty gave up four earned runs in five innings in the Athletics' 6-2 loss to the Yankees. Chavez has allowed 25 earned runs over his last 41 innings pitched (seven starts) for an ERA of 5.49. This could diminish his value, as prior to his 2014 and 2015 successes with the A's, Chavez owned a career 5.48 ERA over 234 2/3 innings. Hopefully Chavez will rest up over the All-Star break and return to his stellar form.

• Susan Slusser has injury updates on utility player Tyler Ladendorf (ankle) and right-hander A.J. Griffin (Tommy John Surgery/shoulder soreness), so go check that out if you haven't already.

• Former AL Rookie of the Year Neftali Feliz has cleared waivers and elected free agency, both per Chris Cotillo of MLB Daily Dish. The 27 year-old right-hander was designated for assignment by the Texas Rangers to make room for lefty Matt Harrison last Friday. Feliz used to be a lights-out closer, hitting triple digits with ease. However, Texas tried to convert him to starting in 2012, and he blew out his arm and hasn't quite been the same since. Many teams will surely be interested in the reliever's services.

• New York Mets' young lefty Steven Matz has partially torn his left lat muscle and will be shut down for at least three weeks, per Marc Carig of Newsday Sports. The 24 year-old southpaw had impressed with a 1.32 ERA (despite a 4.25 FIP) over his first two career major league starts. His loss could be a huge blow to the already-desperate Mets (44-42), who are fighting to stay in the playoff race.
• A's lefty Scott Kazmir seems to be fine, and Royals' left fielder Alex Gordon will miss at least eight weeks, in injury updates from yesterday.

• Frequent AthleticsNation contributor BWH has a great FanPost on how well the A's could match up with the Los Angeles Dodgers in a deadline deal. Check it out, if you haven't already!

Bernie's Daily Deal: Scott Kazmir and Tyler Clippard to the Minnesota Twins for Trevor May, Max Kepler, and Amaurys Minier

Yes, I know, another Kazmir/Clippard idea. It is just fairly difficult to evaluate Ben Zobrist's value due to his defensive issues, so somehow Kazmir is actually a bit safer to speculate on. Kazmir and Clippard each make a ton of sense for the Twins. Minnesota has cooled off after its crazy start, and is now 46-40, holding on tight to the second Wild Card spot and trying not to slip closer to their BaseRuns expectation of 38-47 (entering Thursday). The Twins are actually somehow fourth in the AL in starters' ERA, but could certainly use an upgrade over Mike Pelfrey (4.00 ERA) or Kyle Gibson (4.14 FIP). They also rank 11th in the league in bullpen ERA (3.85 ERA) and Clippard would be a strong, reliable set-up man for them down the stretch. Kazmir and Clippard would be perfect veteran shots-in-the-arm to help lead this young Twins team.

In return, the A's would receive three prospects from the mid-region of Minnesota's deep farm. Trevor May is a 25 year-old righty who just got bumped to the bullpen for his 4.32 ERA, despite his 3.17 FIP. May sits in the mid-90's with his fastball and owns a plus change-up and an average slider and curveball. He has drastically improved on his control issues from last year, dropping his BB/9 all the way to 1.99. May could slot right into the rotation. Max Kepler is a 22 year-old left-handed outfielder currently in Double-A. Kepler profiles as average all around, but with some nice speed. He is in the midst of a breakout season (.944 OPS) and has shown fantastic discipline (0.91 BB/K). Kepler could be ready to start in early 2016. Finally, Amaurys Minier is a high-upside outfielder with some serious flaws. At age 19, the switch-hitter has struck out 19 times in 44 plate appearances in Rookie ball. However, Minier has some great power potential, and wouldn't be a bad long term project.

That's all for today. The A's take on the Indians in Cleveland at 4:05 P.M. PST. Feel free to dump any links in the comments below. Until tomorrow - lean on, A's fans!