After a busy transactional day yesterday, let’s catch up on some of the latest minor moves:
- Catcher Bryan Holaday and outfielder Alex Presley have elected free agency from the Tigers, Evan Woodberry of MLive.com reports on Twitter. Each of the veterans was outrighted recently, though Woodberry hints that Detroit has interest in bringing both back on minors deals. Holaday will enter the pool of catchers that are looking for opportunities to compete for reserve jobs in camp. The 32-year-old Presley should also draw attention from other organizations; he turned in 264 plate appearances of .314/.354/.416 hitting in 2017.
- The Rockies selected the contract of outfielder Noel Cuevas, per a club announcement. Acquired from the division-rival Dodgers in the trade that sent Juan Nicasio to Los Angeles, Cuevas blossomed at Triple-A Alburquerque in 2017. Across 528 plate appearances, he posted a .312/.353/.487 slash with 15 long balls and 16 steals.
- Two players were also added to the Yankees 40-man roster, the club announced. Outfielder Jake Cave is one of them; the one-time Rule 5 pick won’t be eligible for the draft again this year. He turned in a compelling season in the upper minors, including a robust .324/.367/.554 batting line with 15 long balls in 297 Triple-A plate appearances. Joining him is righty Nick Rumbelow, who returned from Tommy John surgery with aplomb last year. Over 40 1/3 innings, he allowed just five earned runs on 21 hits while racking up a 45:11 K/BB ratio.
- The Indians selected the contract of Eric Haase, per the MLB.com transactions page. The 24-year-old backstop knocked around Double-A pitching to the tune of a .258/.349/.574 batting line and 26 homers through 381 plate appearances.
- Cuban catcher Lorenzo Quintana is joining the Astros for a $200K bonus, per MLB.com’s Jesse Sanchez (via Twitter). The 28-year-old is not subject to international signing restrictions. Quintana was long one of the most productive receivers in Cuba’s Serie Nacional, carrying a lifetime .310/.377/.438 batting line, but he last played there in the 2014-15 season.
Presley turned in a surprisingly good offensive season for a team to just release him. I understand he’s just a singles hitter, basically, but is his defense just that bad that he’s not even rosterable?
The tigers are just trying to get younger and Presley is over 30 and they would rather have a younger player in that roster spot
that’s always been the case for Presley, always serviceable, but always cut for reasons that I will never understand
I’ve been a little intrigued by Haase for a while. He doesn’t get a lot of prospect attention and he’s probably a first baseman long term so who knows if the bat can play, but he wasn’t a high draft pick and all he’s done since then is hit. I met him last year with Akron too, and he’s a really good guy.
Nice to see Cave getting some recognition. He had a great season in the minors and hope he take it to the next level. At the very least he is good trade piece to have
Interesting pickup in Quintana. Could be a candidate for #2 catcher behind McCann next year if Gattis moves to DH full time. Or just may be good AAA reserve assuming either Centeno or Stassi will be released or traded.