Minor MLB Transactions: 3/27/19

Some minor moves from around the game on the eve of Opening Day (for most of the league)…

• The Cardinals announced this afternoon that lefty Chasen Shreve has cleared waivers following this week’s DFA. He’s been assigned outright to Triple-A Memphis. While Shreve does have enough service time to reject the assignment, electing free agency would mean forfeiting the $900K salary to which he’d agreed earlier this winter. The 28-year-old Shreve came to the Cards as part of the now-lopsided deal that sent Luke Voit to the Yankees last summer. Over the past four seasons, Shreve has posted a solid 3.85 ERA and missed bats (10.3 K/9), but he’s also been far too prone to walks (4.7 BB/9) and home runs (1.8 HR/9) for either the Yankees or Cardinals to deem him a reliable bullpen option. Furthermore, he’s not a candidate for a more specialized role, as left-handed opponents have been even more successful against Shreve (.248/.335/.444) than right-handed opponents have been (.222/.316/.430).
• The Blue Jays reportedly agreed to acquire minor league outfielder Jordan Patterson from the Reds — a move that was prompted by injuries to Dalton Pompey and Jonathan Davis, as Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet explains. The 27-year-old Patterson received a bit of MLB experience with the Rockies back in 2016 but has spent the bulk of the past three seasons with Colorado’s Triple-A affiliate. The Reds inked him to a minor league pact back in December, but he never stood much of a chance of cracking the roster by the time Spring Training rolled around. Patterson hit .271/.367/.525 in Triple-A last year and owns a lifetime .282/.363/.516 slash in 1517 plate appearances at that level, making him a solid fill-in option to help round out the Jays’ Triple-A roster. Presumably, for a transaction of small magnitude, the Jays are merely sending cash to Cincinnati in return.