Transactions Rumors

Bruce Billings, Jeff Manship Outrighted

By Steve Adams [July 25, 2014 at 5:40pm CDT]

Here are today’s outright assignments and minor moves from around the league…

  • After being designated for assignment recently, Bruce Billings has been outrighted to Triple-A by the Yankees, according to the International League transactions page. As he has previously been outrighted, Billings will have the right to elect free agency.
  • The Phillies announced that Jeff Manship has cleared waivers and accepted an outright assignment to Triple-A Lehigh Valley. Manship was designated for assignment earlier in the week when righty Phillippe Aumont was recalled from the minors. The 29-year-old veteran posted a 6.65 ERA in 23 innings for the Phillies this season.
Like 6 Share 5 Retweet 24 Google +1 4 Send via email6
Full Story | Comments | Categories: Bruce Billings | Jeff Manship | New York Yankees | Philadelphia Phillies | Transactions

Giants Designate Nick Noonan, Jose De Paula

By Jeff Todd [July 25, 2014 at 5:05pm CDT]

The Giants have designated infielder Nick Noonan and lefty Jose De Paula for assignment, the club announced. In corresponding moves, the club purchased the contracts of Dan Uggla and Tony Abreu. (To create active roster space, Marco Scutaro and Ehire Adrianza were DL’ed.)

Noonan, 25, was the 32nd overall selection in the 2007 draft. He has only 111 largely unsuccessful MLB plate appearances to his name, all last season, and was struggling mightily at the plate this year with a .239/.281/.302 slash line over 340 plate appearances at Triple-A and High-A.

De Paula has yet to see major league action at age 26. The Dominican native owns a 4.21 ERA through 51 1/3 innings pitched (10 starts and six relief appearances) at Triple-A. Over that span, he has struck out 7.2 and walked 2.8 batters per nine, both of which are in line with his career averages.

Like 2 Share 3 Retweet 15 Google +1 1 Send via email7
Full Story | Comments | Categories: Jose De Paula | Newsstand | Nick Noonan | San Francisco Giants | Transactions

Rangers Release Justin Marks

By Steve Adams [July 25, 2014 at 4:12pm CDT]

The Rangers have released left-hander Justin Marks in order to clear a spot on the 40-man roster for right-hander Jerome Williams, the team announced. Williams’ contract was selected from Triple-A Round Rock, and he will start from the Rangers tonight.

The Rangers claimed Marks off waivers from the A’s last month, but he appeared in just 5 1/3 innings for the club’s Triple-A affiliate, yielding three runs in that time. Overall, the 26-year-old has posted a 5.03 ERA with 8.5 K/9 and 3.7 BB/9 in 39 1/3 innings this season at the Triple-A level.

Williams signed a minor league deal with the Rangers after being released by the Astros earlier this month. His contract reportedly contained an Aug. 1 opt-out clause, which was thought to be a formality, as Texas was expected to call him up prior to that date. He posted a 4.46 ERA in 351 innings for the division-rival Angels from 2011-13, but he struggled to a 6.04 ERA in 47 frames for Houston earlier this year.

Like 5 Share 5 Retweet 23 Google +1 0 Send via email1
Full Story | Comments | Categories: Jerome Williams | Texas Rangers | Transactions

Athletics Acquire Deck McGuire

By Steve Adams [July 25, 2014 at 1:22pm CDT]

The A’s announced that they have acquired right-hander Deck McGuire from the Blue Jays in exchange for cash considerations. The former first-round pick was designated for assignment last week.

McGuire struggled in his first exposure to Triple-A at age 25, posting a 5.56 ERA in 55 innings with 6.2 K/9 against 3.8 BB/9. The promotion to the highest level of the minors came after McGuire posted a 2.98 ERA over 60 1/3 innings in his fourth go at Double-A.

Jeff Todd contributed to this post.

Like 21 Share 15 Retweet 5 Google +1 7 Send via email17
Full Story | Comments | Categories: Deck McGuire | Oakland Athletics | Toronto Blue Jays | Transactions

Yankees Designate Chris Leroux For Assignment

By Steve Adams [July 25, 2014 at 11:27am CDT]

The Yankees announced that they’ve selected the contract of the recently acquired Chris Capuano and designated right-hander Chris Leroux for assignment.

Leroux’s most recent callup with the Yankees lasted just a day, and he didn’t appear with the club during last night’s contest. The Canadian righty allowed five runs in two innings with the Bombers earlier this season and has pitched to a 5.08 ERA with a 23-to-10 K/BB ratio in 28 1/3 innings at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre this season.

The 30-year-old Leroux has a fair amount of Major League experience (71 2/3 innings), highlighted by 25 innings of 2.88 ERA ball with a 24-to-7 K/BB ratio for the Pirates back in 2011.

Like 4 Share 3 Retweet 20 Google +1 0 Send via email8
Full Story | Comments | Categories: Chris Capuano | New York Yankees | Transactions

Blue Jays Outright Brad Mills To Triple-A

By Jeff Todd [July 24, 2014 at 10:37pm CDT]

Here are the day’s minor moves:

  • The Blue Jays have outrighted lefty Brad Mills to Triple-A, according to the International League transactions page. Mills was designated for assignment after making just one rough outing for Toronto, which claimed him off waivers from the Athletics. Mills will have the opportunity to elect free agency.
Like 4 Share 4 Retweet 26 Google +1 1 Send via email4
Full Story | Comments | Categories: Brad Mills | Toronto Blue Jays | Transactions

Yankees Acquire Chris Capuano From Rockies

By Jeff Todd [July 24, 2014 at 5:09pm CDT]

The Yankees have acquired lefty Chris Capuano from the Rockies in exchange for cash considerations, the club announced via press release. Capuano joined Colorado on a minor league deal after he was released by the Red Sox.

The 35-year-old starter had not been given a chance to pitch for a Rockies club that is desperate for pitching, despite throwing 19 1/3 strong innings at Triple-A (2.79 ERA, 9.8 K/9 against 2.3 BB/9). He had less success at the MLB level this year as a member of the Boston bullpen, however, as he worked to a 4.55 ERA in 31 2/3 frames while striking out 8.2 and walking 4.3 batters per nine.

Offering the potential to start or relieve, Capuano represents a solid and flexible depth piece for the Yankees. It is not yet clear whether or when he will get a chance at the MLB level for New York.

Like 41 Share 28 Retweet 95 Google +1 1 Send via email17
Full Story | Comments | Categories: Chris Capuano | Colorado Rockies | New York Yankees | Newsstand | Transactions

Mariners Acquire Kendrys Morales

By Steve Adams [July 24, 2014 at 1:41pm CDT]

The Mariners have acquired Kendrys Morales from the Twins in exchange for right-hander Stephen Pryor, the team announced.

Kendrys Morales

Morales’ stay with the Twins didn’t prove to be a lengthy one, as his tenure in Minnesota lasted just 39 games. The switch-hitting slugger’s overall numbers with the Twins don’t look like much, as he’s batted just .234/.259/.325. He did, however, just wrap up a 12-game hitting streak that saw him bat .292/.314/.417, so he’s showing some signs of life at the dish. Seattle designated hitters have batted just .217/.294/.343, so the bar for improvement isn’t set that high with the Mariners.

The Twins signed Morales shortly after the draft, paying him the prorated version of a $12MM base salary on a one-year deal. In other words, the Twins paid about $3.08MM for less than two months of Morales and turned that into the hard-throwing but control-challenged Pryor. The Mariners, on the other hand, appear to be on the hook for the remaining $4.3MM on Morales’ contract.

Pryor, who turned 25 yesterday, has spent much of the season with Triple-A Tacoma as he recovers from surgery to repair his latissimus dorsi muscle that he underwent in 2013 (as noted by Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN on Twitter). In 31 innings with Tacoma this season, Pryor has posted a 4.65 ERA with 7.8 K/9 and 5.2 BB/9. However, Pryor does have some big league experience under his belt, as he has compiled a 2.81 ERA with a 35-to-16 K/BB ratio in 32 Major League innings. He’s averaged 96 mph on his fastball in his brief time in the Majors and can be controlled at least through the 2018 season. Pryor will report to Triple-A Rochester, per the Twins.

Morales was said by agent Scott Boras to be interested in working out a long-term deal with the Twins. Morales also said (via interpreter) on a road trip to Seattle that the reason he didn’t sign with the M’s this past offseason was that didn’t want to be in the same situation (presumably referring to the possibility of taking a one-year deal and again being hit with a qualifying offer in the 2014-15 offseason). It’s possible that the Twins could again show interest in Morales as a free agent this winter, and if he can hit well over the final two-plus months with the Mariners, he figures to do better on the open market than he did last time around. Because he did not spent the entire regular season with one team, he is now ineligible to receive a qualifying offer.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Like 250 Share 77 Retweet 132 Google +1 2 Send via email6
Full Story | Comments | Categories: Kendrys Morales | Minnesota Twins | Newsstand | Seattle Mariners | Stephen Pryor | Transactions

Orioles Acquire Jimmy Paredes

By Steve Adams [July 24, 2014 at 12:18pm CDT]

The Orioles have acquired infielder/outfielder Jimmy Paredes from the Royals in exchange for cash considerations, the team announced. Paredes, who had been designated for assignment by the Royals last week, has been optioned to Triple-A Norfolk.

This isn’t the first time that Baltimore has shown interest in Paredes, as they briefly claimed him off waivers from the Marlins this offseason before losing him on waivers to the Royals just a couple of days later.

Paredes went from the Astros to the Marlins to the Orioles to the Royals on waivers this offseason and ultimately received just 10 plate appearances (which yielded a pair of singles) for Kansas City’s big league club. Most of his season was spent at Omaha, where he produced a strong .305/.332/.457 batting line in 280 plate appearances.

As a career .306/.343/.468 hitter that bats from both sides of the plate and can play multiple positions, it’s not surprising that Paredes continues to find clubs willing to give him a 40-man roster spot. However, he’s yet to produce in 406 big league plate appearances, having totaled just a .233/.272/.308 batting line.

Like 12 Share 9 Retweet 38 Google +1 1 Send via email11
Full Story | Comments | Categories: Baltimore Orioles | Jimmy Paredes | Kansas City Royals | Transactions

Athletics Designate Jim Johnson For Assignment

By Steve Adams [July 24, 2014 at 12:04pm CDT]

12:04pm: The A’s announced that they have actually designated Johnson for assignment, not released him (though that could obviously be the ultimate outcome of the move). Evan Scribner has been recalled from Triple-A Sacramento to fill his roster spot.

11:55am: The A’s have released right-hander Jim Johnson, a source tells Jane Lee of MLB.com (Twitter link).

The 31-year-old Johnson was acquired by the A’s this offseason in a salary dump that sent Jemile Weeks and David Freitas to the Orioles. While many Baltimore fans were shaken by the deal after seeing Johnson lead the league in saves in both the 2012 and 2013 seasons, the move proved to be a wise decision by the O’s, as Johnson has struggled to a 6.92 ERA with 6.3 K/9, 5.1 BB/9 and a 56.8 percent ground-ball rate in 40 1/3 innings this season with Oakland. He lost his ninth-inning role to Sean Doolittle early in the season.

Johnson is earning $10MM in 2014 after avoiding arbitration for the final time this past winter. The A’s will eat the remaining $3.66MM on his contract if he is ultimately released. It seems unlikely that any team would claim him on waivers or trade for him as a result of that salary, though a team could show some interest if Oakland pays a large portion of the deal.

Like 122 Share 32 Retweet 140 Google +1 8 Send via email5
Full Story | Comments | Categories: Jim Johnson | Newsstand | Oakland Athletics | Transactions