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Archives for April 2015

NL Notes: Wilpon, Mesoraco, Bryant

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Mets owner Fred Wilpon has been notably quiet regarding his club in recent season, but expressed cautious optimism in a brief chat with Mike Puma of the New York Post on the occasion of the team’s home opener. “I’m excited about this team and I’m hopeful,” said Wilpon. “One doesn’t know — we’ve all been around a long time — but the fact is I like the guys on this team. I think there is a lot of talent and I think there is a lot of character.”

Here’s more from the National League:

  • The Reds do not appear overly concerned with Devin Mesoraco’s hip injury, with skipper Bryan Price saying that he expects the franchise catcher to return soon, as John Fay of the Cincinnati Enquirer reports on Twitter. While the club has already moved to add another backstop to the roster in Kyle Skipworth, it seems that Cincinnati expects it to be a short-term patch.
  • With both Mike Olt and Tommy La Stella dealing with minor injuries, speculation has turned to whether the Cubs will move up Kris Bryant’s timeline. As Jesse Rogers of ESPNChicago.com reports, president of baseball operations Theo Epstein said the club will continue to “weigh all the factors” in deciding when to bring up the game’s top prospect, noting that the Triple-A season is just underway and that the Cubs want Bryant to establish a “rythm” in the minors. “His development is an important factor as well as the needs of the big league team,” said Epstein. As Rogers notes, Friday is the first day that Bryant can be called up while still preserving an extra season of future control.

AL Notes: Twins, Bonilla, Rua, Wright

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Phil Mackey of 1500ESPN.com runs down the laundry list of less-than-productive pitchers who have logged significant innings for the Twins in recent years after being acquired via trade, claim, or free agency. It is, as Mackey notes, not a happy read for Minnesota faithful.

Here’s more from the American League:

  • The Rangers have lost another pitcher to Tommy John surgery, as righty Lisalverto Bonilla will need the procedure, Stefan Stevenson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports on Twitter. Bonilla, 24, threw 20 2/3 innings (including three starts) for the injury-ravaged Texas club last year. He has split his time as a professional evenly between starting and relief, and looked like a useful depth piece for the club.
  • Rangers outfielder Ryan Rua, meanwhile, has a fracture in his right foot, Anthony Andro of FOX Sports Southwest tweets. He will be in a walking boot for at least three weeks, and will obviously need some time after that to get back up to speed.
  • The Orioles learned today that they will be without lefty Wesley Wright for four to six weeks, Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun tweets. He will require rest, but not surgery, after an MRI found shoulder inflammation. Baltimore has another southpaw in its current pen mix in Brian Matusz, along with lefty closer Zach Britton, and can also call upon T.J. McFarland from Triple-A.

Indians Sign Ryan Webb

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The Indians have reached a minor league deal with righty Ryan Webb, the club announced. Webb has been assigned to the club’s Triple-A affiliate.

Webb started the year with the Orioles, still playing under the free agent contract he signed before the 2014 season. Before appearing in a game, he went through an interesting series of transactions that left him outrighted — and later released — by the Dodgers. As MLBTR’s Charlie Wilmoth explains, the net result was that Los Angeles paid down Webb’s 2015 salary in exchange for the rights to the 74th overall pick in this year’s amateur draft.

Of course, those maneuvers may sell Webb short to an extent. He has been at least an average reliever, with peripherals to match, over 325 1/3 innings across the last six seasons. He posted career bests in both strikeouts (6.8 per nine) and walks (2.2 per nine) last year. While his groundball rate fell only a few ticks above league average in 2014, he owns a strong 56.1% mark for his career.

All in all, he seems to be a nice player to have waiting at Triple-A — especially with another club picking up the tab. Cleveland obviously feels that way after moving quickly to add him to its depth chart.

Reds Designate Daniel Corcino, Ryan Dennick

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The Reds have designated righty Daniel Corcino and lefty Ryan Dennick for assignment, the club announced. That clears 40-man roster spots for catcher Kyle Skipworth and righty Josh Smith, both of whose contracts were selected.

Corcino is a 24-year-old who has spent most of his professional career as a starter. Over 148 1/3 innings last year he put up a 4.25 ERA with 7.2 K/9 versus 4.5 BB/9 at Triple-A, and also picked up three starts and two relief appearances in the majors.

Likewise, the 28-year-old Dennick has only 4 2/3 MLB frames under his belt, all last year with Cincinnati. He had a strong showing last year in the upper minors, spinning 50 innings of 2.34 ERA ball with 7.2 K/9 against 3.2 BB/9.

Yankees Designate Kyle Davies, Sign Joel De La Cruz

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The Yankees have designated righty Kyle Davies for assignment, the club announced. Just as occurred yesterday when he was added to the active roster, Davies will cede his spot to another player who was signed to a big league deal — in this case, righty Joel De La Cruz.

Davies tossed 2 1/3 scoreless frames last night in his first major league outing since 2011. Last year, working at Triple-A for the Indians, he posted 154 1/3 innings of 3.91 ERA ball. Of course, Davis had plenty of big league experience coming into the season. Over parts of seven seasons with the Braves and Royals, he had thrown 770 1/3 innings with a 5.59 ERA with 6.4 K/9 against 4.3 BB/9.

De La Cruz, 25, worked to a 4.44 ERA in 121 2/3 minor league innings last year, split between Double-A and Triple-A. That was rather an impressive showing, given that he had made just six starts over his prior minor league career, most all of which had been spent in relief.

Braves Designate Juan Jaime For Assignment

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The Braves announced that they have selected the contract of right-hander Sugar Ray Marimon and designated fellow righty Juan Jaime in order to clear room on both the 40-man and 25-man rosters.

Jaime, 27, made the Braves’ Opening Day roster in part because he’s out of Minor League options. The 6’2″, 250-pound righty appeared in two games for Atlanta this season and has totaled 13 2/3 innings for them dating back to 2014, totaling a 5.93 ERA with 19 strikeouts and an unsightly 13 walks in that time. Big strikeout totals and troublesome control are nothing new for Jaime, who has averaged 12.9 strikeouts and 6.1 walks per nine innings in the Minors. He’s averaged 96.1 mph on his fastball in his limited big league work, which, paired with his swing-and-miss stuff, may be enough that another team has interest in the big righty.

Dodgers Release Ryan Webb

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The Dodgers announced that they have released recently acquired right-hander Ryan Webb. With this move, it becomes relatively clear that L.A.’s incentive in making the swap was simply to acquire the Competitive Balance draft pick that Baltimore included in order to get the Dodgers to assume all of Webb’s $2.75MM salary — a strategy that was examined in depth last night by MLBTR’s Charlie Wilmoth.

The 29-year-old Webb will now be free to sign anywhere he chooses, and as a player with five-plus years of service time, he is entitled to reject his outright assignment and force the club to trade or release him (with pay). As such, interested parties will only be on the hook for the pro-rated portion of the league minimum on a big league deal, with the Dodgers owing the remainder of his salary. That’s not necessarily a bad outcome for Webb, who is still guaranteed his money and is now free to choose a club that presents him the clearest path to a role to his liking.

As Charlie noted in last night’s analysis, that Webb’s $2.75MM salary is apparently viewed as exorbitant is a bit puzzling in its own right. While he’s not a shutdown reliever, Webb’s never posted an ERA+ lower than 99 and has been better than that in recent years. He’s served as a reasonably effective reliever with the Padres, Marlins and Orioles to this point, working to a 3.38 ERA with 6.3 K/9, 3.0 BB/9 and a 56.1 percent ground-ball rate in his career. While it’s true that he doesn’t fit the mold of the hard-throwing power relievers that are proliferating today’s game — his 92 mph fastball is notably tamer than the 95 he averaged in his first two seasons — Webb has still shown the ability to retire big league hitters.

As I noted at the time of the trade, the Dodgers will add not only the No. 74 pick in the draft, but also the money that comes along with it. That pick comes with a slot value of $827K, which will be subtracted from Baltimore’s draft pool and added to that of the Dodgers. The Orioles’ draft pool will drop from $7,677,400 to $6,850,400, while the Dodgers’ pool will rise from $6,954,700 to $7,781,700. And it should, of course, be noted that the Dodgers do come away with Minor League catcher Brian Ward. While he’s not an elite prospect, Ward ranked as the Orioles’ best defensive Minor League catcher (per Baseball America) prior to the 2013 season, so the Dodgers will at the very least add some depth and a strong defender to their ranks, even if Ward has never hit much.

Central Notes: Mesoraco, Iglesias, Harrison, Hunter

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Reds catcher Devin Mesoraco did not travel with the team and instead remained in Cincinnati to undergo an MRI on his hip, tweets John Fay of the Cincinnati Enquirer. Catcher Kyle Skipworth will fill in for the time being, as he’s had his contract selected from Triple-A, the Reds announced. (A corresponding 40-man move will happen prior to tonight’s game.) The Reds entered the season with quite a few injury question marks, but Mesoraco was not thought to be one. Clearly, losing Mesoraco for any significant amount of time would be crushing for a Cincinnati team that many have already picked to struggle in the NL Central, though it’s too early to tell exactly how great the level of concern surrounding Mesoraco should be.

A few more notes from baseball’s Central divisions…

  • Fangraphs’ Craig Edwards breaks down Raisel Iglesias’ debut against the Cardinals yesterday, noting that while the start didn’t alleviate concerns about Iglesias’ ability to work deep into games, he showed enough to suggest that he can get big league hitters out on a consistent basis, even if it ultimately has to come in a relief role. With Homer Bailey nearing a return from the DL, the Reds will have to make a decision between Iglesias and veteran righty Jason Marquis. For the time being, that’s been solved by optioning Iglesias to Louisville, but Edwards wonders if it’d be a better decision to eventually let Iglesias develop at the highest level — a move that would seemingly force Marquis into the bullpen or off the Cincinnati roster.
  • Bill Brink of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette spoke to Pirates GM Neal Huntington about the decision to pursue a long-term contract with Josh Harrison. “When you believe in the person and you believe in the abilities of that person, and it aligns with where you want to go, you’re able to find the common ground, it makes all the sense in the world,” Huntington told Brink. As Brink points out, not all deals of this nature work out — he uses Jose Tabata as a particularly regrettable deal for the Pirates — but the cost certainty they provide is valuable. Brink notes that the Bucs will be on the hook for $42.25MM in 2017 — the last guaranteed year of the Andrew McCutchen and Francisco Liriano contracts — for the combined salaries of Harrison, McCutchen, Liriano and Starling Marte.
  • Torii Hunter told reporters prior to today’s home opener that the Royals, Mariners, Rangers and Orioles were all interested in him before he made the decision to sign with the Twins, tweets the St. Paul Pioneer Press’ Mike Berardino. The Royals, in particular, seemed to tantalize Hunter, per Berardino: “Those guys going to the World Series, that was very appealing,” Hunter added.

Minor Moves: Jimenez, Tuiasosopo, Schlereth, Jones

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Matt Eddy of Baseball America has released the latest installment of his Minor League Transactions roundup, which contains several yet-unreported moves, as usual. All transactions in today’s Minor Moves post are via Eddy, unless otherwise noted…

  • The Phillies have announced that left-hander Cesar Jimenez has cleared outright waivers and accepted an assignment to Triple-A Lehigh Valley. Jimenez was outrighted over the weekend to clear a roster spot for right-hander Sean O’Sullivan, but he’ll accept a third outright assignment from the Phillies and hope to get another look in the big league bullpen soon. Jimenez did have the option to reject the outright in search of other employment, but he elected to remain with the organization.

Earlier Moves

  • The White Sox have added utility man Matt Tuiasosopo on a Minor League deal after he was released by the Orioles earlier this month. The 28-year-old infielder/outfielder hasn’t appeared in the Majors since posting a solid .244/.351/.415 batting line in 191 plate appearances with the Tigers. Those numbers are significantly better than Tuiasosopo’s career numbers in the bigs, and he batted a less convincing .240/.357/.379 in 487 PAs between the Triple-A affiliates of the White Sox and Blue Jays in 2014.
  • Daniel Schlereth’s name is among a slew of farmhands released by the Tigers. Detroit inked Schlereth to a Minors deal back in January (without a camp invite), but he didn’t pitch in a game in Detroit’s system before being released. Schlereth was a useful member of Detroit’s bullpen back in 2010-11 after being included in the Max Scherzer/Ian Kennedy/Curtis Granderson three-team blockbuster, but shoulder injuries have derailed his career.
  • The Orioles have re-signed right-hander Devin Jones on a Minor League pact, which is of particular note due to the fact that Jones was the pitcher traded to the Padres in exchange for righty Brad Brach. The 24-year-old Jones made 25 starts between the Class-A Advanced and Double-A levels of Baltimore’s system in 2013, but he pitched just 37 1/3 innings with the Friars’ Double-A affiliate last year, working to a 7.23 ERA with an unsightly 20-to-12 K/BB ratio.

Marlins Notes: Alvarez, Realmuto, Phelps

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The Marlins announced that right-hander Henderson Alvarez has been placed on the 15-day disabled list due to right shoulder inflammation. Earlier today, Jon Morosi of FOX Sports tweeted that the team was more concerned with Alvarez’s shoulder than his elbow heading into an MRI. While the length of time that Alvarez will miss is yet to be determined, the news is certainly troubling, as shoulder issues are often more problematic than elbow issues for pitchers, in the long-term. Miami is already without ace Jose Fernandez, who had Tommy John surgery last May, and offseason acquisition Mat Latos was shelled in his first outing. He’ll look to rebound tonight, but he’s shown diminished velocity that has led to concern in some scouts as well.

A couple more Marlins notes…

  • The Marlins also announced that top catching prospect J.T. Realmuto has been recalled from Triple-A and will join the team in Atlanta. (Andy Slater of 940-AM first tweeted that Realmuto would definitively be recalled, and the Miami Herald’s Clark Spencer called the move expected last night.) Realmuto and Reid Brignac will replace Jeff Mathis and Don Kelly, who bizarrely suffered the same injury — a broken right ring finger — six innings apart from each other. Realmuto’s presence is significant, given the struggles of Jarrod Saltalamacchia since signing in Miami. Entering the season, the 24-year-old Realmuto ranked 70th among prospects, per MLB.com, 72nd per ESPN’s Keith Law and 76th per Baseball America. Realmuto repeated Double-A in 2013 and saw his OPS soar from .663 to .830, and most scouting reports feel that his glove has taken a significant step forward as well. Saltalamacchia has batted just .217/.317/.364 as a Marlin, exhibiting his usual struggles to control the running game and well-below-average framing skills. He’s owed $7MM this year and $8MM in 2016, but if Realmuto thrives, it’s conceivable that Saltalamacchia could find himself on the back burner in Miami.
  • David Phelps is a leading candidate to step into Miami’s rotation, MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro noted yesterday when speculating about the possibility of Alvarez landing on the disabled list. Phelps was a somewhat unheralded component of the offseason’s Martin Prado trade, but he did soak up 113 innings for an injury-plagued Yankees roster in 2014. Phelps worked to a 4.38 ERA in that time, averaging 7.3 strikeouts and 3.7 walks per nine innings pitched. As a pitcher who generates a fair amount of fly-balls, Phelps seems likely to benefit from the Marlins’ spacious park and excellent outfield defense.
  • It’s also worth noting that Aaron Crow will land on the 60-day DL to clear a 40-man roster spot for Brignac, and that right-hander Carter Capps will take Alvarez’s roster spot. Capps, 24, is the pitcher that the Marlins received in exchange for Logan Morrison in a December 2013 trade with Seattle. He pitched quite well for Miami in 2014 before an elbow sprain cost him most of the season.

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