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Minor Moves: Carpenter, Wall, Rapada

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Here are the day’s minor moves:

  • The Angels have outrighted right-hander David Carpenter to Triple-A Salt Lake, according to the team’s transactions page. The 26-year-old Carpenter, not to be confused with the Atlanta setup man of the same name, fired three scoreless innings this season in his lone appearance with the Halos. He’s struggled in a pair of prior stints — including a 39 2/3 inning tryout in 2012 — and owns a 5.23 career ERA in 43 frames. Carpenter was designated for assignment over the weekend.
  • Right-hander Josh Wall has been outrighted to Triple-A by the Pirates, according to Pittsburgh’s transactions page. The 27-year-old Wall was designated for assignment on July 31 and has appeared in one big league game this season, though it came with the Angels, not the Pirates. Wall yielded six runs in one inning with Anaheim and was subsequently claimed off waivers by the Bucs. He’s been very good in 22 1/3 Triple-A innings with Pittsburgh this season, notching a 3.22 ERA with 22 strikeouts and just nine walks.
  • The Orioles have released southpaw Clay Rapada to create roster space at Triple-A Norfolk for the newly-signed Joe Saunders, the club’s top affiliate announced on Twitter. Rapada has yet to earn a substantial stretch of time on a big league roster since his excellent 2012 season, when he posted a 2.82 ERA over 38 1/3 innings for the Yankees (8.9 K/9 against 4.0 BB/9). This year, over 38 1/3 frames (that’s a coincidence, not a typo) at the Triple-A level, Rapada has allowed 5.63 earned per nine.

Yankees Release Jeff Francis

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The Yankees have released left-hander Jeff Francis, according to the team’s official transactions page. The veteran southpaw had been designated for assignment by the Bombers last week, with outfielder Zoilo Almonte taking his roster spot.

Francis has pitched for the Reds, A’s and Yankees this season, posting a combined 5.85 ERA with 15 strikeouts against three free passes in 20 innings. Francis hasn’t posted a sub-5.00 ERA since he fired 183 innings of 4.82 ERA ball with the 2011 Royals, though ERA estimators such as FIP, xFIP and SIERA have consistently been a bigger fan of his work than his ERA. He’s been plagued by a below-average strand rate for the past several seasons, and his homer-to-flyball ratio has been considerably above his career norm over the past three seasons as well.

Teams in need of rotation depth could give the former No. 9 overall draft pick a look, be it in the rotation or in the bullpen. With the exception of his small 2014 sample, Francis has done a nice job of holding left-handers in check in recent years.

Padres To Name New GM Within 48 Hours; A.J. Hinch Resigns

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The Padres’ GM search has been ongoing for more than a month (Josh Byrnes was dismissed on June 22), but it sounds as if the team is nearing the end of the process. In an appearance on MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM earlier today, manager Bud Black told host Jim Duquette that the Friars expect to hire a new GM within the next 48 hours (Twitter link).

Yankees assistant GM Billy Eppler has been rumored to be the favorite for the position, although Rangers assistant GM A.J. Preller, Red Sox assistant GM Mike Hazen and MLB executive Kim Ng have been said to be finalists for the position as well.

Interestingly, assistant GM A.J. Hinch — one of the executives tasked with decision-making for the GM-less Padres over the past five to six weeks — announced today that he is leaving the organization. Hinch, along with fellow AGM Fred Uhlman Jr. and senior vice president of baseball operations Omar Minaya, helped to oversee the team’s direction at the trade deadline. However, in a press release, Hinch issued the following statement:

“During my time in San Diego, I dedicated myself to do everything I could to help this team win, in the short-term and for the long-term. These last several weeks were no exception. I think the organization is ready for a transition and I’ve made a decision and told [executive chairman] Ron Fowler and [CEO] Mike Dee that now is the right time for me to move on. I’m proud to have always operated in the best interest of the organization and to have established long lasting relationships with people who work on and off the field in San Diego. I wish the Padres and the new GM well in the future and look forward to the next chapter of my baseball career.”

Hinch was not considered for the team’s GM vacancy, although that was due to the fact that he withdrew his name from consideration early in the process. According to the Padres’ press release, Hinch will pursue other opportunities within the game.

Hinch, Minaya and Uhlman Jr. were behind the trades of Huston Street, Chase Headley and Chris Denorfia this past month, which returned prospects Jose Rondon, Taylor Lindsey, R.J. Alvarez, Elliot Morris, Yangervis Solarte, Rafael De Paula, Abraham Almonte and Stephen Kohlscheen to the organization.

Alex Rios Placed On Revocable Waivers

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With the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline behind us, Major League teams must place players on revocable trade waivers in order to deal them to another club. A player that clears waivers can be dealt to any team, while a player that is claimed on waivers can be dealt to that team only (within 48.5 hours) or simply pulled back off waivers. A player can be placed on waivers a second time after being pulled back, but the waivers are no longer revocable the second time.

Here are today’s notable players who have reportedly been placed on revocable waivers…

  • The Rangers placed right fielder Alex Rios on waivers today, tweets Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. While the 33-year-old has seen a precipitous decline in his home run power this season — he’s gone deep just four times after clubbing 43 homers from 2012-13 — Rios has nonetheless been a solid bat. He’s hitting .296/.326/.417 with 22 doubles and eight triples. He’s owed $3.76MM through season’s end, plus a $1MM buyout on next year’s $13.5MM option (though the Rangers or another team could obviously elect to exercise that option). Rios drew interest from the Giants, Mariners, Royals, Reds and Indians prior to the deadline.

For a more complete explanation of how revocable trade waivers and August trades work, check out MLBTR’s August Trades primer.

Indians Release Nyjer Morgan

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The Indians announced that they have released outfielder Nyjer Morgan. The 34-year-old has been on the shelf for nearly three months with a sprained PCL in his right knee. Manager Terry Francona told reporters, including MLB.com’s Jordan Bastian (Twitter link), that it was a mutual decision for the two sides to cut the cord.

Morgan appeared in 15 games for the Indians earlier this season, hitting a healthy .341/.429/.439 with a homer and three stolen bases in 52 plate appearances. That marked his first big league action since 2012, as he spent the 2013 campaign playing overseas with the Yokohama Bay Stars of Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan, where he slashed .294/.361/.434 in 108 games.

For his career, the sometimes controversial Morgan — also known as “Tony Plush” — is a .282/.343/.366 hitter in 2206 plate appearances between the Pirates, Nationals, Brewers and Indians. Cleveland has seen its center field depth take multiple hits this season, with Morgan and Michael Bourn both having spent significant time on the disabled list.

Gardner, Prado, Drew Clear Revocable Waivers

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Yankees veterans Brett Gardner, Martin Prado and Stephen Drew have cleared revocable waivers and are now free to be traded to any team, according to Jon Heyman of CBS Sports. Left-hander Matt Thornton, of course, did not sneak through waivers, as he was claimed by the Nationals and subsequently let go by the Yankees, with Washington assuming his remaining salary and year of team control.

It’s not surprising to see any of the these names placed on waivers by the Yankees, as clubs will frequently place a large portion (if not all) of their roster on waivers in the month of August. None of the three figures to be trade bait, as the 58-53 Yankees are just a game back of a Wild Card playoff berth.

Gardner, who turns 31 in just under three weeks, is in the midst of perhaps his best season, having batted .286/.364/.468 with a career-best 15 homers in addition to 18 steals and plus defense in the outfield. While he’s a highly appealing player — he’s been worth 4.4 rWAR and 3.6 fWAR in 2014 — he’s also guaranteed $50MM through his age-34 season (2018).

Prado, also 30, is hitting .268/.316/.365 for the D’Backs and Yankees this season — arguably the worst offensive performance of his career. He’s owed $11MM in 2015 and again in 2016, making him a logical candidate to clear waivers.

Drew, 31, is hitting just .179/.261/.333 with four homers on the season, though he does have a .782 OPS over the past month. Still, his struggles at the plate prevented any team from placing a claim on the roughly $4.24MM he’s owed through the end of the season. A Drew trade is conceivable, if he continues to produce and the Yankees endure an extended series of losses in the month of August.

While Gardner, Prado, Drew and a trio of Dodgers have all reportedly cleared waivers according to reports today, it’s likely that other, unreported players have cleared waivers as well. For a refresher on how revocable waivers and August trades work, you can check out MLBTR’s August Trades primer.

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Nationals Acquire Matt Thornton From Yankees

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1:54pm: The Nationals have in fact acquired Thornton after placing a claim, reports Heyman. It’s not yet clear whether or what the Nationals will send in return other than taking on salary, says Heyman. MLB: New York Yankees at Oakland Athletics

1:44pm: The Nationals have claimed Matt Thornton off revocable waivers from the Yankees, Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com reports on Twitter. Washington was awarded its claim on Thornton, which indicates that every club in the American League clubs and all National League clubs with a worse record than the Nats passed on the opportunity. (Be sure to read this primer on August trades if you have not done so already.)

This means that the Nationals have 48.5 hours from the point that the claim was awarded (which remains unclear) to work out a deal. If a trade cannot be arranged, the Yankees will have to decide whether to allow the Nationals to take on Thornton’s contract without compensation. (Having placed the claim, the Nats would be obliged to accept it.)

Thornton has been excellent this year, pitching to a 2.55 ERA with 7.3 K/9 against 2.2 BB/9 over 24 2/3 innings. He signed a two-year, $7MM deal over the offseason, under which he is promised a $3.5MM annual salary in each season. The Nationals have been said to be looking hard to add a southpaw pen piece, though it would be somewhat of a surprise if the Yankees moved a player who has been a fairly valuable contributor.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Tigers To Sign Jim Johnson

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The Tigers have agreed to a minor league deal with righty Jim Johnson, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reports on Twitter. The longtime Orioles closer lost his 9th-inning gig not long after joining the Athletics this year, and was ultimately released by Oakland.

MLB: Tampa Bay Rays at Baltimore Orioles

It’s obviously a low-risk move for Detroit, which has dedicated plenty of attention to shoring up the pen. Johnson can audition and provide depth in the minors, while of course also providing that always elusive late-inning experience if the need arises down the stretch.

Johnson has never been an outright dominant reliever in the sense of maintaining high strikeout rates or wielding unhittable stuff, but he certainly has a history of effectiveness. Still only 31, Johnson racked up three straight seasons of sub-3.00 ERA ball in Baltimore over 2011-13 before hitting a wall with the A’s. Though he continued to induce tons of ground balls with his heavy sinker, Johnson became highly susceptible to the long ball (17.2% HR/FB rate) and suddenly lost his usually solid control (5.13 BB/9).

Johnson had recently worked out for the Orioles, which seemed a natural fit — except for the fact that the big league bullpen really did not have an opening. Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com tweeted last night that Johnson had chosen to sign elsewhere. After taking on his $10MM salary by trade before the year, the A’s will still be responsible for the balance, less only the league minimum rate (for whatever stretch Johnson ends up spending in Detroit).

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Kemp, Ethier, Crawford, Beckett Clear Waivers

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All three of the Dodgers’ highly-paid, veteran outfielders — Matt Kemp, Andre Ethier, and Carl Crawford — have cleared revocable waivers along with pitcher Josh Beckett, reports Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com (via Twitter). Infielder Hanley Ramirez, however, was claimed (which, of course, does not mean he will be changing teams).

While several of those players may be useful to another contender, a claim has always seemed unlikely given the large sums owed to Kemp ($107MM), Ethier ($56MM), and Crawford ($62MM) after this season. Beckett is much more affordable, particularly since he is on an expiring contract, but has had injury issues and more importantly would not seem to be a realistic trade candidate in any event.

Though Dodgers GM Ned Colletti has made clear that he has no intentions of dealing away Kemp — who, in any event, has been an important contributor of late — it is now at least hypothetically possible that something could come together on one of the three Dodger outfielders over the next several weeks.

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