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Minor MLB Transactions: 8/7/18

By Jeff Todd | August 7, 2018 at 8:15pm CDT

We’ll use this post to track the day’s minor moves …

Latest…

  • The Blue Jays will hold Darnell Sweeney on their active roster no longer. The club has announced that he cleared waivers and has been outrighted to Triple-A. Sweeney earned just four plate appearances with Toronto this season prior to being designated for assignment; it was his first taste of major league action since 2015, when the 27-year-old was with the Phillies. It seems as though the move was more motivated by projected potential than performance. Although Sweeney didn’t get a hit in his four trips to the plate, he did manage to draw two walks. He did, however, hit just .235/.310/.398 at the Triple-A level, and while that’s good for a nearly-average 98 wRC+, he also struck out in more than 30% of his plate appearances.
  • The Angels announced that they’ve placed infielder Luis Valbuena on release waivers. The 32-year-old is finishing up a two-year, $15MM contract with a 2019 club option, which clearly won’t be exercised. He’s long been a useful major-league asset, providing at least 1 fWAR across each of the past six seasons while with the Cubs, Astros and Angels. Unfortunately, this year has been an entirely different story, as he’s mustered just a .199/.253/.335 batting line across 288 plate appearances for the Halos while striking out a whopping 34.7% of the time. Valbuena’s performance has also suffered from a 6.6% walk rate that’s nearly four full percentage points below his career average of 10.5%.

Earlier…

  • The Twins have released right-hander Todd Van Steensel, according to Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN (via Twitter). It seems the organization simply ran out of room for the 27-year-old reliever, who has been with the Twins since 2011. The Aussie had spent the 2018 season at the Double-A level, working to a 3.07 ERA with 10.0 K/9 against 4.7 BB/9 while allowing just 26 hits over 44 innings.
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Chicago Cubs Los Angeles Angels Minnesota Twins Philadelphia Phillies Toronto Blue Jays Transactions Darnell Sweeney Luis Valbuena Todd Van Steensel

A Layman Attempts To Calculate WAR: An Introduction
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Injury Notes: Ohtani, Samardzija, Urias, Bryant
View Comments (10)
Post a Comment

10 Comments

  1. tharrie0820

    7 years ago

    You’d think with the twins going nowhere this year, and the numbers he was putting up in the minors it would be worth giving him a shot before releasing

    Reply
    • GoRockies

      7 years ago

      Especially within the useless Matt belise and his 8 ERA. The twins Released the wrong guy

      Reply
      • Sirsleepit

        7 years ago

        4.7 bb/9 is pretty awful command and in AA where hitters are less picky than in MLB.

        1
        Reply
        • tharrie0820

          7 years ago

          no point in not giving him a try with the twins wasted season

          Reply
      • jeb39999

        7 years ago

        Or both should be released

        1
        Reply
      • Jjbeach

        7 years ago

        If they like Matt Belisle as a “Clubhouse Guy” and mentoring influence, they should give him a contract for a coach. But he shouldn’t be taking the mound again for the Twins except in teaching situations or for batting-practice.

        Reply
  2. Angelfanforlife19

    7 years ago

    Place scioscia on release watch bees too

    1
    Reply
  3. Go Angels

    7 years ago

    “He’s [Valbuena] long been a useful major-league asset, providing at least 1 fWAR across each of the past six seasons while with the Cubs and Angels.”

    He spent two of those six seasons with the Astros.

    1
    Reply
    • Kyle Downing

      7 years ago

      Good catch, thanks!

      Reply
  4. johnk

    7 years ago

    Give Van Steensel a shot.

    Reply

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