Jack Cust Rumors
Minor Moves: Nats, Royals, Cust, Padres, Puckett
Here are a few of today's minor moves from around baseball:
- The Nationals have released 10 minor-leaguers, MLB.com's Bill Ladson reports, including Delwyn Young, a utilityman who played parts of five seasons for the Pirates and Dodgers. The Nats also released pitchers Ryan Demmin, Inocencio Heredia, Bobby Lucas, Blake Monar, Casey Upperman, and Andrew Wall; outfielders Wade Moore and J.P. Ramirez; and infielder Stephen King.
- The Royals have released 11 minor-leaguers, reports Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star (on Twitter): pitchers Rudy Brown, Allen Caldwell, Blaine Hardy, Joe Karlik, Patrick Keating, Jason Mitchell, Lincoln Rassi, and Jamie Richmond; outfielder Nick Van Stratten; and infielders Michael Liberto and Adrian Martinez.
- The Rays have released DH Jack Cust, Roger Mooney of the Tampa Tribune reports (on Twitter). Cust signed a minor-league deal with the Rays on February 17. He played for Triple-A Scranton (Yankees) and Las Vegas (Blue Jays) in 2012. He last appeared in the majors with the Mariners in 2011, hitting .214/.344/.329 in 225 at bats.
- The Padres have released six minor-leaguers, MLB.com's Corey Brock Reports (on Twitter): pitchers Mark Pope, Chris Haney, and Michael Broadway; outfielders Anthony Renteria and Kyung-Min Na; and first baseman Goose Kallunki.
- Infielder/outfielder Cody Puckett has been traded from the Reds, with whom he has spent his entire career, to the White Sox, Puckett himself tweeted. In return, the Reds will receive a player to be named later, tweets John Fay of the Cincinnati Enquirer. Splitting last season between Double-A and Triple-A, Puckett saw time in the infield (mostly at second) and corner outfield, and hit .233/.306/.390 with 16 home runs over 488 plate appearances.
- The Marlins released left-handed pitcher Kevin Gelinas, tweets Matt Eddy of Baseball America. Gelinas, just 23, was Baseball America's Independent Leagues Player of the Year last season, Eddy notes.
- The Rangers released catcher Konrad Schmidt, a 28-year-old who has 17 total plate appearances in the big leagues, reports T.R. Sullivan of MLB.com. Texas claimed Schmidt off waivers from the Diamondbacks last fall and then outrighted him to Triple-A in December.
Charlie Wilmoth contributed to this post.
Rays Sign Jack Cust
The Rays announced that they have signed Jack Cust to a minor league deal with an invite to major league spring training. The designated hitter/outfielder is represented by TWC Sports.
The 34-year-old last appeared in the majors with the Mariners in 2011 where he hit .213/.344/.329 with three homers in 67 games. Across parts of ten big league seasons, Cust owns a slash line of .242/.374/.439.
Blue Jays Sign Jack Cust
The Blue Jays have signed Jack Cust to a minor league deal, according to Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle (via Twitter). The slugger will report to the club's Triple-A affiliate in Las Vegas.
Cust, 33, was cut loose by the Yankees on Wednesday after signing a minor league deal with the club back in March. The designated hitter/corner outfielder posted a .249/.400/.475 slash line with 20 homers, 81 walks, and 127 plate appearances for Scranton Wilkes-Barre this year.
Minor Moves: Jack Cust, Dewayne Wise
The latest minor moves from around MLB...
- The Yankees have released Jack Cust, reports Donnie Collins of The Scranton Times-Tribune (on Twitter). The 33-year-old hit .249/.400/.475 with 20 homers, 81 walks, and 127 plate appearances for their Triple-A affiliate this season.
- The Yankees have also released outfielders Colin Curtis and Ray Kruml according to Collins. The 27-year-old Curtis hit .186/.250/.288 in 64 plate appearances with New York in 2010
- The Yankees released outfielder Dewayne Wise yesterday, according to the team’s website. The Yankees designated Wise for assignment and outrighted him to Triple-A in July, but the 34-year-old refused the team’s outright assignment. Wise, a left-handed hitter, posted a .262/.286/.492 batting line in 63 plate appearances with New York.
Yankees Sign Jack Cust
The Yankees have signed Jack Cust to a minor league contract, reports Sweeny Murti of WFAN (on Twitter). Last night we heard that the TWC Sports client was likely to sign with an NL team, but the Yankees apparently swooped in.
Cust, 33, was released by the Astros yesterday. He posted a .213/.344/.329 line with three home runs in 270 plate appearances for the Mariners in 2011, when he earned $2.5MM. However, the left-handed hitter averaged 28 homers and 103 walks with the A's from 2007-09. Cust gives the Yankees some left-handed hitting DH insurance in Triple-A in case Raul Ibanez doesn't work out.
Jack Cust To Sign With An NL Team
Jack Cust will sign a minor league contract with an NL team, reports Troy Renck of The Denver Post (on Twitter). That team is not the Rockies however, and we can also rule out the Astros since they released him this morning.
Cust, 33, signed a non-guaranteed Major League deal worth $600K with Houston in January. The one-year contract had also included a club option for 2013. Cust posted a .213/.344/.329 line with three home runs in 270 plate appearances for the Mariners in 2011, when he earned $2.5MM. However, the TWC Sports client averaged 28 homers and 103 walks with the A's from 2007-09.
Astros Release Zach Duke, Jack Cust
The Astros released left-hander Zach Duke and outfielder Jack Cust, Senior Director of Social Media Alyson Footer tweets.
Cust, 33, signed a non-guaranteed Major League deal worth $600K in January. The one-year contract had also included a club option for 2013. Cust posted a .213/.344/.329 line with three home runs in 270 plate appearances for the Mariners in 2011, when he earned $2.5MM. However, the TWC Sports client averaged 28 homers and 103 walks with the A's from 2007-09.
Duke, 28, posted a 4.93 ERA with 3.8 K/9, 2.2 BB/9 and a 49.6% ground ball rate in 76 2/3 innings last year. The 2009 All-Star owns a 4.56 ERA with 4.6 K/9, 2.4 BB/9 and a 49.0% ground ball rate in seven seasons with Arizona and Pittsburgh. SFX represents the Clifton, Texas native.
Central Links: Schafer, Samuel, Cust, White Sox
Nine years ago today, the Pirates signed Kenny Lofton to a one-year contract. After hitting .277/.333/.437 in 374 plate appearances for Pittsburgh, he was traded to the Cubs along with Aramis Ramirez for Jose Hernandez, Bobby Hill, and Matt Bruback at the deadline. Here's the latest from two of Lofton's many former divisions, the NL and AL Central...
- Brewers GM Doug Melvin told Tom Haudricourt of The Journal Sentinel that he has no plans to trade Logan Schafer despite the club's center field depth (Twitter link). The 25-year-old Schafer has had a strong spring but is stuck behind Nyjer Morgan and Carlos Gomez on the depth chart.
- The Astros and GM Jeff Luhnow intend to take a look at right-handed reliever Francisco Samuel, reports B.J. Rains of FOXSportsMidwest.com (on Twitter). The Cardinals - Luhnow's former team - released Samuel earlier today.
- Jack Cust has had a slow start to Spring Training, though Luhnow indicated to MLB.com's Anthony Castrovince that the slugger will continue to get chances with the Astros. They signed him to a one-year, non-guaranteed deal worth $500K with an option for 2013 this offseason.
- "We looked to see if we could acquire some of the game's most impactful young players," said White Sox GM Kenny Williams to Danny Knobler of CBSSports.com when asked about the team's rebuilding plan. "Our target list was our target list. We set the price high, and we stuck with it."
Contract Details: Bray, Nationals, Cust
All of last night’s filing numbers, including player submissions, team submissions and midpoints, can now be found in MLBTR’s Arbitration Tracker. Here are some contract details from around MLB:
- The Reds and Bill Bray settled at $1,417,500 yesterday, MLBTR’s Tim Dierkes tweets. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz had projected a $1.4MM salary for the left-handed reliever.
- Right-hander Tyler Clippard and the Nationals agreed to terms yesterday on a $1.65MM deal for 2012, I tweeted earlier tonight. The 26-year-old reliever had been projected for $1.7MM
- Tom Gorzelanny obtained $3MM from the Nationals for 2012, I noted on Twitter earlier this evening. That's a little north of what had been reported Tuesday and it tops the left-hander’s projected $2.8MM salary.
- Agent Bobby Barad told Zachary Levine of the Houston Chronicle that the Astros’ 2013 option for the newly-signed Jack Cust is worth $1MM. Cust agreed to a non-guaranteed Major League deal worth $600K yesterday.
Astros Sign Jack Cust
WEDNESDAY, 11:17am: The Astros announced the non-guaranteed Major League deal, which is worth $600K. They still need to clear a 40-man roster spot for Cust.
TUESDAY, 9:30pm: The Astros have agreed to sign Jack Cust, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports tweets. It's a one-year deal with a club option for 2013, Zachary Levine of the Houston Chronicle tweets. TWC Sports represents the corner outfielder/DH.
Cust, 33, averaged 28 homers and 103 walks with the A's from 2007-09, but his power numbers have since fallen off. If he regains his form in Houston, he could DH for the Astros in 2013, when the team moves to the American League West. Cust, who has a career UZR/150 of -22.4 as an outfielder, figures to pinch hit and play left and right in 2012.
Cust posted a .213/.344/.329 line with three home runs in 270 plate appearances for the Mariners in 2011, when he earned $2.5MM. The Mariners released him in August and the Phillies signed him soon afterwards. There was no reported interest in Cust earlier in the offseason.
|
|
