Here are Thursday’s minor moves from around baseball:
- The Yakult Swallows of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball have signed righty Albert Suarez to an undisclosed deal, the Japan Times reports. The 29-year-old Suarez saw big league action with the Giants from 2016-17, a 115 2/3-inning span in which he pitched to a 4.51 ERA with 6.85 K/9, 2.88 BB/9 and a 47.3 percent groundball rate across 40 appearances (12 starts). The Diamondbacks then took Suarez 14th in last year’s Rule 5 draft, only to outright him in late March. Because Suarez had been outrighted in the past, the Diamondbacks didn’t have to offer him back to the Giants. Suarez ended up spending the year with the D-backs’ Triple-A affiliate and struggling to a 4.97 ERA with 7.2 K/9 against 4.7 BB/9 over 63 1/3 innings.
Earlier updates:
- The Padres have re-signed outfielder Alex Dickerson to a minor league contract, the team announced. The 28-year-old Dickerson accrued 293 plate appearances with the Padres from 2015-16 and hit a solid .257/.331/.448 with 10 home runs and five stolen bases, but injuries have derailed his career since then. He missed all of the 2017 season while dealing with back issues and then sat out last year after undergoing Tommy John surgery on his left (throwing) elbow in March. A third-round pick of the Pirates in 2011, the Padres originally acquired Dickerson for Miles Mikolas and Jaff Decker in November 2011.
- The Tigers have signed right-handers Chris Smith and Eduardo Paredes to minor league deals, according to Robert Murray of The Athletic and Anthony Fenech of the Detroit Free Press. The 30-year-old Smith has only picked up five big league innings – with the Blue Jays in 2017. He spent last season with the Nationals’ Triple-A club and notched a 3.93 ERA/3.88 FIP with 10.64 K/9 and 3.44 BB/9 in 55 frames. The Angels outrighted the 23-year-old Paredes last month, ending a run with the organization that began in 2012. Paredes saw some major league action with the Halos from 2017-18 and posted a 5.53 ERA/5.08 FIP with 7.08 K/9 and 2.88 BB/9 over 40 2/3 innings. He was more successful the past two years at Triple-A, where he put up a 3.86 ERA with 8.3 K/9 against 4.1 BB/9 in 79 1/3 frames.
- The Cubs have acquired left-hander Conor Lillis-White from the Angels to complete the teams’ Tommy La Stella trade, Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register tweets. Lillis-White, 26, was a a 32nd-round pick of the Angels in 2015 who divided last season between the Double-A and Triple-A levels, combining for a 3.50 ERA with 12.3 K/9 against 4.0 BB/9 in 72 innings.
Dickerson would of been a good story kind of tony gwynn adrian gonzalez 3.0 for the padres. Home town kid from poway.
Also why didn’t the padres take a chance on la stella to play 3B?
Difference is Tony was from la
He went to college here
Hopefully, people remember the promise Dickerson showed before he became a walking medical case. He’s a LH bat who could hit for average and power.
Dam I wanted to be first.
Damnit me too. Participation trophy for both of us :)
BAN/REMOVE all posters who take a shot at others for posting first a lot (!!!)
But billy is fellow NYY fan who always had my back
Conor crushes lefties and has 6 years of control left. Too much to pay for La Stella, who was likely going to be released.
LaStella could refuse to report to the Angels, like that one time a couple years ago he didn’t report to AAA and just sat at home instead.
I think Tommy’s excited. Probably doubled his playing time.
If you want to name your kid “Jeff” maybe go ahead and spell it Jeff instead of naming him Jaff and forcing him to explain “it’s pronounced Jeff” for his whole life.
Haha well done
Jaff Decker is named after his uncle Jaff, whose father simply misspelled the name on the birth certificate. The name became a family tradition.
LOVE Lillis-White. Huge get for the cubs
Lilly-white players are racist.
So, you send the baseball-reference link for Tommy John but none of the former players for managerial positions?
Lillis-White has a lot of strikeouts for a guy who barely touches 90
And Bryan Mitchell has hardly any for a guy who sits 96. Movement > velocity.