Here are the latest minor moves from around baseball, with the newest transactions at the top of the post…
- Infielder Reid Brignac has been outrighted to Triple-A by the Braves after clearing waivers, David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports on Twitter. The 30-year-old has seen only scattered action in recent seasons, but appeared in over 200 games over 2010 and 2011 with the Rays. All told, Brignac owns a .219/.264/.309 slash line in 951 plate appearances over parts of nine seasons in the big leagues.
- The Diamondbacks optioned slugging outfield prospect Peter O’Brien back to Triple-A, the club announced. Left-hander Edwin Escobar will be called up to start today’s game. O’Brien’s latest stint with the D’Backs ended up lasting just a few days and consisted of a single pinch-hit appearance on Friday. Ranked as the No. 7 prospect in Arizona’s system, O’Brien has put up big numbers at Triple-A Reno over the last two seasons, and he already has 12 homers in 182 Triple-A plate appearance this year. Escobar was claimed off waivers from the Red Sox last month and will be making his first Major League start. His previous experience in the bigs consists of two relief innings with Boston in 2014.
- The Giants released southpaw Mike Kickham, Baseball America’s Matt Eddy reports. Kickham was originally drafted by San Francisco in 2010 and appeared in 14 games with the Giants in 2013-14, which were thus far his only tastes of the major leagues. The lefty spent 2015 bouncing between the Cubs, Mariners and Rangers organizations before signing a minor league deal with the Giants this past winter. Kickham has a 4.17 ERA, 7.8 K/9 and 1.83 K/BB over 561 1/3 innings in the minors, with 100 of his 117 career games coming as a starting pitcher.
- Earlier this week, the Tigers released outfielder Nate Schierholtz. The veteran signed a minor league contract with Detroit last winter. Schierholtz has a .253/.302/.405 slash line over 2275 career PA with the Giants, Phillies, Cubs and Nationals from 2007-14. He spent the 2015 season playing in Japan, an experience Schierholtz discussed with MLBTR’s Zach Links during Spring Training.
D-Backs pitching depth must be really low. While Escobar was given a 4th MiLB option over this past winter, he was still let go earlier this season by Boston from the 40 man roster. Just not much there.. 90-91mph fb, iffy command at best, averageish change and a poor curve. Really think Webster Allen) had him on talent by large margin, even this late in his career.
They really should have kept o’brien up longer…I mean seriously give the kid a chance
They’ve also got two interleague games coming up, and I’m tired of watching Rickie Weeks and Phil Gosselin get ABs.
Why doesn’t an AL team try and get OBrien and DH him? Could the DBacks really be opposed to a deal if they won’t/can’t give him major league ABs?