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Rays Outright Sean Gilmartin

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The Rays announced that they’ve outrighted left-hander Sean Gilmartin to their alternate training site. He’ll stay in the organization as part of the Rays’ 60-man player pool.

Gilmartin, whom the Rays signed to a minor league contract over the winter, spent a very short period on their roster before they booted him. The club selected Gilmartin’s contract Aug. 7, but it designated him for assignment after he allowed three earned runs on five hits (four strikeouts, one walk) in 3 1/3 innings during a loss to the Yankees on the 8th.

Prior to joining the Rays, Gilmartin saw major league action with the Mets and Orioles from 2015-19. The 30-year-old has recorded a 4.30 ERA/4.63 FIP with 7.22 K/9, 3.24 BB/9 and a 45.4 percent groundball rate across 111 innings.

Pirates Transfer Clay Holmes To 45-Day Injured List

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The Pirates have transferred righty Clay Holmes from the 10-day injured list to the 45-day injured list, per Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. His spot on the 40-man roster goes to Nick Tropeano, who was claimed off waivers earlier today.

Holmes has been out since July 28 with a forearm strain. He has to spend 45 days on the IL from the date of his initial placement — not from the date he’s transferred to the 45-day list — so there’s technically still time for him to return late in the year. However, Mackey notes that the move to the 45-day IL is expected to end Holmes’ season.

Holmes, 27, pitched just 1 1/3 innings this season before being placed on the IL. The Pirates selected him in the ninth round of the same draft that they took Gerrit Cole first overall. Holmes was expected to be a tough sign out of high school and indeed received a $1.2MM bonus to forgo his commitment to Auburn at the time. He ranked among Pittsburgh’s top 30 prospects for each of the next eight seasons, per Baseball America.

To this point, however, he’s yet to find his footing in the Majors. Holmes had Tommy John surgery in 2014 and missed the entire season as well as the bulk of the 2015 campaign. He’s had control issues in the upper minors since but managed to post solid ERA marks. However, he’s appeared in 47 big league games and been knocked around for a 5.91 ERA with 9.0 K/9 and 6.8 BB/9 through 77 2/3 innings. He’s kept the ball on the ground at a whopping 59.2 percent rate, limited homers well (0.81 HR/9) and averaged 94.5 mph on his oft-used sinker in the big leagues. But his penchant for free passes and hit batters (11) have prevented him from establishing himself as a reliable option.

Holmes is out of minor league options, meaning the Bucs will have somewhat of a decision on their hands over the winter. He’ll have to break camp with the club in 2021 or else be designated for assignment. If the club doesn’t expect Holmes to be on its Opening Day roster in 2021, it’s possible he’ll be outrighted early in the offseason as a means of opening some 40-man roster flexibility over the course of the winter. Holmes, however, isn’t yet eligible for arbitration, so the Pirates could also keep him around for some added pitching depth.

Padres Acquire Yonder Alonso

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The Padres have acquired first baseman Yonder Alonso from the Braves for cash, Dennis Lin of The Athletic tweets. He’ll join the Padres’ taxi squad. Alonso had been with the Braves on a minor league contract since the winter, and he hasn’t accrued an at-bat this year.

Now 33 years old, Alonso’s a veteran of a handful of major league organizations since he joined the Reds as the seventh overall pick in 2008. Alonso’s no stranger to the Padres, who acquired him in a 2011 blockbuster with the Reds, but he made a minimal impact in San Diego before it dealt him to Oakland in 2015.

Alonso had his best season between Oakland and Seattle in 2017, but he has generally offered middling production relative to his offensively charged position. He has taken 3,773 plate appearances in the majors, including a combined 335 between the White Sox and Rockies last year, and batted .259/.332/.404 (102 wRC+) with 100 home runs.

Now that he’s back with the Padres, Alonso will give the club a bit of insurance at first behind Eric Hosmer, Jake Cronenworth and Ty France. He’s also now part of the same organization as brother-in-law Manny Machado, the Padres’ third baseman.

Rays Shut Down Brendan McKay

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The Rays have shut down young left-hander Brendan McKay on account of tightness in his pitching shoulder, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times relays. The two-way player had been working back from a positive COVID-19 test at the Rays’ alternate training site before the team had to shelve him again.

There’s no word on how long McKay will be down from this injury. Unfortunately, though, shoulder problems aren’t anything new for McKay, a former fourth overall pick who dealt with them as a rookie in 2019, as manager Kevin Cash pointed out.

“Brendan has noted that he has had some issues, even dating back to last year,” Cash said to Topkin. “After his San Diego start (on Aug. 13) he said he didn’t feel right. I’m not totally sure that he has completely gotten past that of having no issue out there.”

McKay did pitch past last Aug. 13, even appearing in three of the Rays’ five playoff games in their ALDS loss to the Astros. Before that, he concluded the regular season with 49 innings of 5.14 ERA/4.03 FIP ball and 10.29 K/9 against 2.94 BB/9.

If healthy, McKay could have been a factor in a Rays rotation that’s currently missing Charlie Morton and Yonny Chirinos, who are on the injured list. And the Rays’ staff may have taken yet another hit Tuesday when righty Andrew Kittredge exited their game against the Red Sox in the first inning because of “discomfort” in his pitching arm, per Juan Toribio of MLB.com. Tampa Bay replaced Kittredge with righty John Curtiss.

White Sox Outright Drew Anderson

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The White Sox have outrighted hurler Drew Anderson to their alternate training site, James Fegan of The Athletic was among those to report. The club designated the right-hander for assignment over the weekend.

Formerly a member of the Phillies, with whom he entered pro ball as a 21st-round pick in 2012, Anderson joined the White Sox on a minor league contract last offseason. He made his debut with the White Sox on Aug. 8, but it couldn’t have gone much worse. The 26-year-old yielded six earned runs on four hits (including two homers) and two walks in a loss to the Indians, leading Chicago to drop him from its roster.

Thanks in large part to his one ugly appearance this season, Anderson’s now the owner of a woeful 9.67 ERA (albeit with a far more palatable 4.78 FIP) across 22 1/3 major league innings. He has been much better in Triple-A, though, having logged a 4.34 ERA with 7.4 K/9 and 3.3 BB/9 over 159 2/3 frames. Anderson will now stay in the White Sox organization and try to work his way back to the bigs.

Rangers Designate Greg Bird For Assignment, Select Derek Dietrich

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The Rangers announced a series of roster moves Tuesday afternoon, most notably adding recently signed Derek Dietrich to the Major League roster and designating first baseman Greg Bird for assignment (after first reinstating him from the injured list). Texas also selected the contract of lefty Wes Benjamin from its alternate training site and optioned right-hander Jimmy Herget and infielder Anderson Tejeda.

Designating Bird for assignment opened one of two requisite roster spots for Dietrich and Benjamin. The other looks to have come from placing right-hander Luke Farrell on the Covid-19 injured list. Texas merely announced that Farrell has been placed on the IL, but Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News further reports that it is a Covid-19 IL placement due to Farrell coming into “close contact” with an individual who has tested positive. Farrell has tested negative to this point, per Grant.

Dietrich only just inked a minor league contract with the Rangers yesterday, but he’ll step in as an apparent first base and second base option in the wake of Bird’s departure. The longtime Marlins utilityman slugged a career-best 19 home runs last year, though the overwhelming majority of his production came in the season’s first nine to ten weeks. Dietrich experienced a precipitous dip in production after that point but will look to rebound in his latest setting after being unable to grab a big league spot on prior minors pacts with the Reds and Cubs.

The 27-year-old Benjamin is stepping onto a big league roster for the first time. He was clobbered in Triple-A in 2019 (5.52 ERA in 135 1/3 frames), but that’s true of most of the league’s pitchers after unprecedented levels of home runs that mirrored the Major League long ball surge. Prior to 2019, Benjamin had run up a sub-4.00 ERA in each of his professional seasons, topping out with a solid showing at Double-A in 2018 (3.62 ERA, 72-to-23 K/BB ratio in 79 2/3 innings).

As for Bird, the former Yankees first base hopeful will again be on the lookout for a new team. He’s shown in the past that he has all of the skill to be a strong offensive contributor in the Majors, but shoulder and ankle injuries have completely derailed his career to this point. It’s perhaps telling that he landed on the IL with the Rangers before taking his first plate appearance with the club.

Mariners Sign Seth Frankoff

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The Mariners have signed right-hander Seth Frankoff to a minor league contract and assigned him to their alternate training site, per a club announcement. Seattle’s 60-man player pool now contains 59 players. Frankoff is repped by Vanguard Sports.

The 31-year-old Frankoff has just two Major League innings under his belt but is a veteran of eight minor league seasons and a pair of successful campaigns in the Korea Baseball Organization. Frankoff spent the past two seasons with the KBO’s Doosan Bears, pitching to a combined 3.68 ERA with 8.3 K/9, 2.9 BB/9 and 0.6 HR/9 in 266 2/3 frames (50 starts). He’d inked a minor league deal with the Padres over the winter but elected free agency last month after San Diego opted not to include him in its own 60-man pool.

Seattle currently has five relievers and starter Kendall Graveman on the injured list, so it’s not much of a surprise that they’ve been on the hunt for some extra depth. In addition to adding Frankoff, the club claimed right-hander Brady Lail off waivers from the White Sox yesterday.

Pirates Place Joe Musgrove On 10-Day Injured List

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The Pirates have placed right-hander Joe Musgrove on the 10-day injured list due to inflammation in his right triceps, per a club announcement. The team didn’t offer a timetable on a potential return.

Acquired in the trade that sent Gerrit Cole to Houston, the now-27-year-old Musgrove has established himself as a useful rotation piece in Pittsburgh. From 2018-19, the former top prospect racked up 285 2/3 innings with the Bucs, pitching to a 4.28 ERA (3.75 FIP) with averages of 8.1 K/9, 1.9 BB/9 and 1.04 HR/9. The overall return on that blockbuster that landed Musgrove in Pittsburgh hasn’t been great, but Musgrove himself has provided plenty of value already — and he’s still controlled through the 2022 season.

The length of Musgrove’s absence will be especially worth monitoring given that we’re already less than three weeks from the 2020 trade deadline (Aug. 31). A healthy Musgrove, because of that aforementioned club control, could be an appealing trade piece to any number of clubs that have had injuries in their rotation.

The 3-13 Pirates have zero designs on contending in 2020, and with the playoff field expanded to 16 teams, it stands to reason that the few pure sellers out there would see plenty of demand for their players — particularly those controlled beyond the 2020 season. Parting with meaningful young talent to rent a player for perhaps as little as one month could be a tough thing for buyers to do, but any team that acquired Musgrove would be doing so for another two seasons beyond the current campaign.

Musgrove’s numbers in 2020 don’t look particularly appealing, although it’s a sample of just three starts that is skewed by a recent drubbing at the hands of a Twins lineup which ranks fifth in the Majors in runs scored. Interested clubs would be judging Musgrove on more than those three starts alone, and his overall 4.45 ERA and 4.03 FIP in 300 1/3 frames as a Pirate are plenty appealing. He’s obviously not a dramatic front-of-the-rotation upgrade, but with so many clubs just needing solid mid-rotation contributors as injuries have piled up elsewhere, Musgrove would generate legitimate interest if this triceps issue proves minor.

Pirates Claim Nick Tropeano

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The Pirates announced Tuesday that they’ve claimed right-hander Nick Tropeano off waivers from the Yankees, who had designated him for assignment over the weekend. Tropeano has been optioned to the Pirates’ alternate training site.

Tropeano, 30 this month, has pitched in parts of five big league seasons, compiling a 4.51 ERA with 8.0 K/9, 3.6 BB/9 and 1.57 HR/9. He was at one point a fairly well-regarded prospect in the Astros and Angels organizations, but injuries have slowed his career. Tropeanos had Tommy John surgery that cost him all of the 2017 season, and he has since battled shoulder and elbow troubles that have limited him to 182 innings between the minors and big leagues.

Last season, Tropeano was hit hard in the Triple-A Pacific Coast League , posting a 5.87 ERA in 79 2/3 frames. Offense was elevated in that already hitter-friendly league, however, just as it was in the Majors thanks to alterations to the ball’s composition. Prior to last year’s ugly results, Tropeano had a career 3.67 ERA in 223 Triple-A frames. He’ll give the Bucs some depth for their rotation and a possible long relief option.

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