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Pirates Claim Carson Fulmer, Designate Guillermo Heredia

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The Pirates announced Monday that they’ve claimed right-hander Carson Fulmer off waivers from the Tigers and designated outfielder Guillermo Heredia for assignment in order to open a spot on the roster.

Pittsburgh will be the third team in 2020 to try its hand in helping Fulmer to right the ship. The 26-year-old was selected by the White Sox with the No. 8 overall pick back in 2015. At the time, the Vanderbilt star was viewed as a potential high-end starter or at the very least a high-probability late-inning reliever. But he’s struggled virtually every step of the way since Triple-A, pitching to an ugly 5.39 ERA in parts of four seasons there and a less-palatable 6.57 mark in 101 1/3 MLB frames. The Tigers claimed him last month after the White Sox designated him for assignment.

Fulmer’s average fastball in 2020 sat at 92.3 mph — a far cry from the righty’s college days, when scouting reports pegged him as touching 97 mph with regularity. He boasted elite spin rates on his four-seamer and curveball as recently as last season, though, and Fulmer did manage a career-best 12.8 percent swinging-strike rate in this year’s tiny sample of 6 2/3 innings with the Tigers. That’s about all that went right for Fulmer, but the pitching-hungry Pirates were quick to snap him up on waivers in hopes that their staff can coax something more out of him. Fulmer is out of minor league options, so he’ll need to stick on the Bucs’ big league roster or else be designated for assignment a third time.

As for Heredia, he signed a one-year, $1MM contract with the Pirates over the winter but hasn’t delivered for the club. The 29-year-old appeared in just eight games and tallied a mere 18 plate appearances earlier this year before being optioned to the club’s alternate training site. Clearly the team wasn’t happy with what it saw there.

Heredia has appeared in 390 Major League games, mostly with the Mariners, and posted a combined .239/.317/.339 batting line. As a solid outfield defender with a bit of speed and a career .275/.338/.400 batting line against lefties, he can be a useful bench piece when he’s at his best, but he won’t get that opportunity with the Pirates, it seems. Pittsburgh will have a week to trade Heredia, release him or attempt to run him through outright waivers. He’d have enough service time to reject the outright assignment, but doing so would mean forfeiting the remainder of his guaranteed salary.

Giants Request Release Waivers On Hunter Pence

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The Giants have requested unconditional release waivers on veteran outfielder/designated hitter Hunter Pence, tweets Andrew Baggarly of The Athletic. Pence was designated for assignment over the weekend.

The reunion between Pence and the Giants was a feel-good story for San Francisco fans over the winter. The team’s longtime right fielder, viewed as a key part of two World Series pushes, walked away with his head held high upon conclusion of his five-year, $90MM deal at the end of the 2018 season. There was some debate as to whether Pence had anything left in the tank at that point, given poor showings in 2017-18. He responded by heading retool his swing in the Dominican Winter League, landed a roster spot with his hometown Rangers and turned in a huge rebound effort last year in Arlington: .297/.358/.552 in 316 plate appearances.

Unfortunately for Pence, the Giants and their fans, that production didn’t carry over into 2020. Pence logged just 56 plate appearances and posted a .096/.161/.250 batting line. Despite his undeniable leadership and the positive influence he had on young Giants players, the club simply needed more production out of his roster spot.

Pence was gracious as ever, profoundly thanking the organization and its fans for all of the memories he’s piled up over the years. Pence chatted with Baggarly in a phone interview following the DFA, stating that he is “overwhelmed with appreciation” for everything that has transpired in his Giants tenure. He added that he plans to stay ready in case another opportunity presents itself in 2020, but he didn’t have any definitive comments on his plans beyond the current season.

Assuming he clears release waivers — it’s unlikely that another club would claim the $548K remaining on this year’s prorated $1.08MM salary — Pence will become a free agent who is eligible to sign with any team in 48 hours.

Blue Jays Put Thornton On IL, Select Bergen, Designate Pannone

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The Blue Jays have placed right-hander Trent Thornton on the injured list and selected the contract of lefty Travis Bergen to the Major League roster in his place, the team announced. In order to open a spot for Bergen on the 40-man roster, the Jays have designated left-hander Thomas Pannone for assignment.

Thornton’s injury is the latest in a mounting series of pitching ailments for the Jays. He joins Ken Giles, Nate Pearson and Matt Shoemaker among the notable names on the injured list for Toronto (in addition to star shortstop Bo Bichette). There’s no immediate timetable on Thornton’s return, but he lasted just one inning in this weekend’s spot start. Meanwhile, manager Charlie Montoyo tells reporters that Shoemaker is dealing with a lat strain and is considered “week to week” at this point (Twitter link via Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet).

Bergen, 26, will be making his Jays debut when he first takes the hill. The southpaw was the team’s seventh-round pick back in 2015 but spent much of last season with the Giants after being selected in the 2018 Rule 5 Draft. Bergen didn’t get the full year he needed to stick with the Giants, however, as San Francisco returned him to the Jays last August following an IL stint due to a shoulder strain. Bergen pitched just 19 2/3 innings with the Giants and stumbled in that time: 12 runs on 18 hits, nine walks and a hit batter with 18 strikeouts (5.49 ERA).

Bergen has excellent when healthy in the minors, pitching to a 1.69 ERA across five levels. However, because he spent most of last season with the Giants’ MLB roster, has not pitched in a game this year in the absence of a minor league season and spent time on the IL in both 2016 and 2017, Bergen has just 106 2/3 total minor league innings under his belt.

Pannone, also 26, came to the Blue Jays in the 2017 trade that sent righty Joe Smith to Cleveland. He’s pitched 116 innings in the big leagues but has just a 5.43 ERA and 5.14 FIP to show for it, with averages of 7.6 K/9 against 3.6 BB/9. He’s worked mostly as a starter in the minors and has a decent track record in both Double-A and Triple-A. Pannone will be out of options next spring but can be optioned freely for the rest of the 2020 season, so a club in need of some flexible rotation/bullpen depth — e.g. the Mets, who play six games in nine days beginning tomorrow — could conceivably take a look.

Angels Receiving Trade Inquiries On Dylan Bundy

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The Angels’ 2020 season hasn’t gone according to plan whatsoever, and at 9-20 on the year they look like one of the few clear-cut sellers in the game. A faulty starting rotation is again at the root of the issue, as the team’s starters rank 28th in MLB with a combined 5.84 ERA.

None of that can be blamed on right-hander Dylan Bundy, however, whose offseason acquisition looks like one of the best moves made by any team. But Bundy is only controlled through the 2021 season, and with the current campaign looking lost for the Halos, teams have already been placing calls on the right-hander’s availability, per USA Today’s Bob Nightengale.

The 27-year-old Bundy doesn’t have the blazing fastball he had as an elite prospect who was selected by the Orioles with the No. 4 overall pick back in 2011, but he hasn’t needed it to dominate in 2020. Through 38 1/3 frames, Bundy has logged an outstanding 44-to-8 K/B ratio while pitching to a 2.58 ERA and 3.06 FIP. He ranks in the 80th percentile or better in fastball spin rate, hard-hit rate, opponents’ exit velocity, expected batting average against and expected wOBA, per Statcast. Bundy is throwing his slider more than ever before and has scaled back the usage of his four-seam fastball to a career-low 30.1 percent. His 38 1/3 innings are the third-most of any Major League pitcher, among whom he ranks 10th in bWAR and 13th in fWAR.

Because his prior seasons have been punctuated by inconsistency, Bundy has yet to see his arbitration price balloon up too high. He’s on a $5MM salary for 2020, which is prorated to $1.8MM. Of that sum, he’s still owed about $914K. Bundy would be owed one final arbitration raise before he hits the open market following the 2021 season, but it’s still a plenty reasonable price if clubs buy into the new and improved version he’s presented so far this year.

Making a trade of this nature would be a difficult about-face for an Angels club that has been in the market for top-end pitching for years and seems to have found it in Bundy, but his dwindling club control will likely force the team to make a tough decision. The package the Angels gave up to get Bundy was not regarded as overly expensive in terms of prospect capital, and it’s eminently feasible that GM Billy Eppler could get more than he parted with to acquire Bundy in the first place.

Bundy is very arguably one of the top arms on the market, and that’s particularly true given his control beyond 2020. Teams are expected to be stingier than ever in terms of what they’re willing to part with for pure rental players in 2020, as they’d only be acquiring one month of said player for a crack at an expanded postseason that some view as something of a novelty.

Mets To Resume Play On Tuesday

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10:47am: Major League Baseball announced, via press release, that the Mets will host the Marlins for a doubleheader tomorrow, which will make up for last Thursday’s postponement. The upcoming weekend Subway Series against the Yankees will indeed include doubleheaders on Friday and Sunday, as Sherman previously reported.

8:10am: The Mets have not had any further positive Covid-19 tests since a player and coach tested positive last Thursday, Joel Sherman of the New York Post reports (via Twitter). The team is expected to resume play Tuesday with a three-game series against the visiting Marlins.

Last week’s series finale against the same Marlins club was postponed due to the initial tests, so it’s possible there will now be a doubleheader baked into this upcoming three-game set in order to make up for that lost contest.

This past weekend’s scheduled Subway Series against the Yankees was also wiped out, although the two sides should be able to make up those three games, assuming continued negative tests. The Mets are slated to play a three-game series in the Bronx beginning Friday. Sherman further tweets that the current plan is for the Yankees and Mets to play doubleheaders both Friday and Sunday this coming weekend, with an additional makeup game set to fall on Sept. 3, when both clubs had an off-day scheduled.

 

Mets Release Brian Dozier

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The Mets have released second baseman Brian Dozier, tweets MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo. He’d been designated for assignment prior to last Sunday’s game, when New York called up right-hander Franklyn Kilome.

The 33-year-old Dozier will return to the open market and be eligible to sign with any club as a free agent. He inked a minor league deal with the Padres over the winter but took his release from that organization and had a less-than-favorable review of his time there upon signing with the Mets late last month. Dozier’s time in Queens proved brief, though, as Robinson Cano’s scorching return from the injured list left him without much of a path to playing time. In 16 plate appearances as a Met, Dozier went 2-for-15 with a walk and five strikeouts.

It’s been a swift decline for Dozier, who from 2014-17 starred for the Twins as one of the game’s best second basemen. In that time, he batted .254/.338/.476 with 127 home runs — including a 42-homer campaign in 2016 and a 34-homer effort in 2017. His 2018 season was wrecked by a knee injury which he attempted to play through, and while he had a solid bounceback effort with the Nats in 2019 (.238/.340/.430), Dozier also ceded playing time to Asdrubal Cabrera late in 2019.

Dozier could still hold appeal to clubs seeking some infield depth. A team in need of help against left-handed pitching would stand out as a particularly solid fit for the former All-Star, given that the right-handed-hitting Dozier carries a stout .268/.352/.496 batting line against southpaws.

Quick Hits: Pence, Acuna, Anderson, Yankees, Andujar, Kazmir

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After being designated for assignment by the Giants earlier today, Hunter Pence’s second stint with the club has likely come to an end, and the longtime fan favorite wasn’t shocked by the news after hitting only .096/.161/.250 through 56 plate appearances.  “I think I’ve been in the game long enough to know that no matter what, what I was producing on the field, you’ve got to bring a little bit more to the table than that.  I completely understood,” Pence told Henry Schulman and John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle.

Pence said he would “stay open” to the possibility of continuing to play should an opportunity arise, though he acknowledged that retirement might be on the horizon, describing the last “couple of years” as “the bonus rounds” of an outstanding career.  If this is indeed it for Pence, he’ll hang up his glove after 14 years of Major League ball that included four All-Star appearances, a league-wide reputation as a clubhouse leader, and a place in the hearts of all San Francisco fans for his contributions to two World Series championships.

More from around the game…

  • Tuesday could be a big day for the Braves, as their game with the Yankees could mark both the return of Ronald Acuna Jr. from the injured list and the big league debut of pitching prospect Ian Anderson.  MLB.com’s Mark Bowman was among those to report the news that Acuna took batting practice on the field tonight, a day after being cleared to take swings.  A wrist injury has sidelined Acuna since August 10, though assuming he is pain-free and feels ready to go come Tuesday, one would imagine the Braves would be eager to get the superstar oufielder back into the lineup as soon as possible.
  • As for Anderson’s status, manager Brian Snitker gave a hint to Bowman and other reporters in saying that Tuesday’s starter wouldn’t be impacted by pitching usage in Atlanta’s game tonight against Philadelphia.  Pundits rank Anderson within at least the top 45 prospects in all of baseball, with The Athletic’s Keith Law citing Anderson’s “real No. 2 starter upside” as one of the reasons for a 27th place ranking on Law’s preseason prospects list.  An early display of this potential would be a huge boost to a Braves team that has been short on consistent starting pitching year apart from Max Fried.
  • While Yankees fans consistently speculate that the team could or should trade one of their younger players for a more proven talent, George A. King III of the New York Post pours some cold water on the idea of Miguel Andujar, in particular, being dealt.  An injury-plagued 2019 season and a slow start in 2020 has seen Andujar produce only an .118/.141/.118 slash line over his last 71 MLB plate appearances, and King feels the Yankees aren’t going to move such a promising slugger when his trade value is so low.  It remains to be seen where Andujar will fit into New York’s future plans given the emergence of Gio Urshela as the everyday third baseman, but that isn’t a decision the team has to make any time soon.
  • Could a return to the majors be in the cards for Scott Kazmir?  The left-hander is scheduled to pitch Tuesday for the Sugar Land Skeeters, and ESPN’s Buster Olney writes that this outing “will probably be his last start” for the independent club.  Kazmir hasn’t pitched in the big leagues since 2016 or in affiliated ball since 2017, though the 12-year MLB veteran was known to be planning another comeback attempt.  It isn’t known how many Major League teams have gotten a first-hand look at Kazmir given how the pandemic has altered normal scouting procedures, but Kazmir would be something of a low-risk flier to see what he could potentially contribute (probably as a reliever) at age 36.

Minor MLB Transactions: 8/23/20

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Wrapping up some minor moves from around the game…

  • The Red Sox outrighted Christian Arroyo to their alternate training site after the infielder cleared waivers.  Arroyo was designated for assignment three days ago.  The 25th overall pick of the 2013 draft, Arroyo was a significant prospect coming up in the Giants’ farm system and a key part of the trade package sent to the Rays for Evan Longoria in December 2017.  Injuries and a lack of production have dimmed Arroyo’s star, however, as he has hit only .215/.280/.342 over 251 career PA with the Giants, Rays, and Indians.  Boston only claimed Arroyo off waivers from Cleveland 10 days ago, after he appeared in just a single game with the Tribe this season.

Blue Jays Acquire Daniel Vogelbach

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The Blue Jays have acquired first baseman Daniel Vogelbach from the Mariners in exchange for cash considerations, both teams announced.  Vogelbach was designated for assignment earlier this week following an .094/.250/.225 slash line over his first 64 plate appearances of the 2020 season.

It was a little over a year ago that Vogelbach was enjoying a selection to the All-Star Game and seemingly cementing his claim as the Mariners’ first baseman/DH of the future.  A red-hot start to the 2019 season was followed by a steep decline, however, as Vogelbach hit only .162/.297/.344 over his final 310 plate appearances.

A second-round pick for the Cubs in the 2011 draft, Vogelbach was a blocked prospect behind Anthony Rizzo in Chicago, and he was sent to the M’s as part of the July 2016 trade that brought Mike Montgomery to the Cubs.  Seattle had hopes that Vogelbach would build on his impressive minor league numbers and become a power bat at the MLB level, though that breakout just hasn’t come, as he has a .196/.326/.397 career slash line over 768 PA and has particularly struggled (career .547 OPS) against left-handed pitching.

It’s probably safe to assume that Toronto didn’t surrender much cash in the trade, making this a pretty low-risk acquisition for the Jays.  Still, Vogelbach’s addition gives the club a third player (beyond Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Rowdy Tellez) who can play only first base or DH, plus Vogelbach and Tellez are both left-handed bats.  It doesn’t make for much of an obvious fit, unless the Blue Jays simply want to have some extra depth for the bench or even down at their alternate training site.

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