Archives for 2020

Pirates Designate Will Craig For Assignment

By Steve Adams | November 25, 2020 at 2:13pm CDT

The Pirates have designated first baseman/outfielder Will Craig for assignment, per a club announcement. He was the team’s first-round pick back in 2016. Craig’s roster spot will go to right-hander Ashton Goudeau, whose previously reported waiver claim out of the Rockies organization has now been formally announced by Pittsburgh.

Craig, 26, made his MLB debut this past season but didn’t get a real look, as he appeared in just two games and was hitless in four plate appearances. The former Wake Forest slugger ripped through A-ball and had an above-average showing at Double-A in 2018, but his 2019 campaign in Triple-A left plenty to be desired: .249/.326/.435 with 23 home runs and a 26.3 percent strikeout rate.

Scouting reports on Craig throughout his career have praised his above-average raw power, a potentially average hit tool and a strong throwing arm, but he’s limited to the outfield corners or first base on the defensive spectrum. Pittsburgh gave him 400 innings at third base at Class-A in 2016, but he’s been exclusively a first baseman/right fielder since. A player with that limited defensive profile needs to hit more than Craig has shown in the upper minors, but it’s at least a bit surprising that the club felt him to be the most expendable player on the 40-man roster. The Pirates will have a week to put him through outright waivers, trade him or release him. Craig has multiple minor league options remaining, which could potentially be of appeal to another organization.

Indians Designate Adam Cimber For Assignment, Claim Jordan Humphreys

By Steve Adams | November 25, 2020 at 2:09pm CDT

The Indians have claimed right-hander Jordan Humphreys off waivers from the Giants and, in a corresponding move, designated righty Adam Cimber for assignment, according to a club announcement. San Francisco had designated Humphreys for assignment back on Friday.

Cimber, 30, came to Cleveland alongside recently waived All-Star Brad Hand in the trade that sent catching prospect Francisco Mejia to the Padres. It proved to be a worthwhile swap for Cleveland, as Mejia hasn’t contributed much of anything to the Padres yet, but the hope at the time of the deal was surely that Hand and Cimber would hold down key bullpen roles into at least the 2021 season. This past season’s lost revenues prompted the Indians to decline Hand’s option, however, and Cimber was likely deemed expendable due to a looming arbitration raise and the fact that he never pitched as well in Cleveland as he did for the Padres.

Cimber was a 27-year-old rookie with San Diego in ’17 but carved out an important role in their bullpen by pitching to a 3.17 ERA with a 51-to-10 K/BB ratio in 48 1/3 innings prior to the trade. That performance and Cimber’s five-and-a-half remaining years of club control surely piqued the interest of the perennially low-budget Indians, but he’s looked more like a serviceable middle reliever than a potential high-leverage option in Cleveland. Over parts of three seasons with the Indians, Cimber has a 4.30 ERA with just 5.4 K/9 against 2.9 BB/9. He’d he been arbitration-eligible as a Super Two player this winter.

Humphreys, 24, has yet to make his big league debut but had a big 2017 season across two Class-A levels in the Mets organization before requiring Tommy John surgery. He allowed just two runs in 13 innings of Rookie ball in 2019 as he rehabbed from that surgery and likely would’ve been ticketed for a Double-A assignment in 2020 had their been a minor league season. The Giants acquired him in the trade that sent Billy Hamilton to Queens and likely hoped to sneak him through waivers, but he’ll instead give Cleveland an interesting depth piece. In 169 2/3 professional innings, Humphreys has a 2.60 ERA and a 177-to-30 K/BB ratio.

Rangers Claim Aramis Garcia From Giants

By Steve Adams | November 25, 2020 at 2:06pm CDT

The Rangers announced that they’ve claimed catcher Aramis Garcia off waivers from the Giants, who had designated him for assignment Friday. The waiver claim brings the Rangers’ 40-man roster to a total of 39 players.

Garcia, 27, at one point looked like he could potentially factor into the Giants’ long-term catching outlook in some regard. He’s never rated as an elite prospect, but the 2014 second-rounder has a respectable track record in Triple-A and debuted with a .268/.308/.492 slash through 65 plate appearances in 2018.

However, Garcia saw only sparing time in the Majors in 2019, and he underwent hip surgery back in February that wiped out his entire 2020 season. Top catching prospect Joey Bart debuted this past season, meanwhile, and Giants icon Buster Posey is expected back in 2021 after opting out of the previous season.

Garcia seems to be a good fit for the catching-needy Rangers, who have a well-regarded prospect of their own looming in Sam Huff. Jose Trevino figures to get the bulk of the work while Huff heads to Triple-A to begin the 2021 season, but Garcia should have a chance to earn a spot and a part-time role in Spring Training — assuming he’s healthy.

Orioles Claim Chris Shaw, Release Renato Nunez, Designate Thomas Eshelman

By Steve Adams | November 25, 2020 at 2:04pm CDT

The Orioles announced Wednesday that they’ve claimed first baseman/outfielder Chris Shaw off waivers from the Giants. Right-hander Thomas Eshelman was designated for assignment to open a spot on the 40-man roster. Additionally, the O’s revealed that corner infielder/designated hitter Renato Nunez, whom they designated for assignment last Friday, went unclaimed on waivers and has been released.

Shaw, 26, long seemed like a change-of-scenery candidate for the Giants. The former No. 31 overall draft pick has a productive .280/.328/.538 slash in more than 1000 Triple-A plate appearances, but he’s also struck out in 30 percent of his plate appearances there. He made his big league debut in 2018 but still only has 82 plate appearances, as the new-look Giants front office never seemed as bullish on Shaw as the prior regime that drafted him. Shaw was initially omitted from San Francisco’s 60-man player pool this season, and although he was later added, he never got called up to the big leagues. With the O’s, his left-handed bat will get some looks at first base, in the outfield corners and at designated hitter.

The release of Nunez in many ways opens a spot for Shaw to get an opportunity in Baltimore. While Orioles fans were alarmed to see Nunez, who slugged 43 home runs in just over 800 plate appearances from 2019-20, designated for assignment last week, the move wasn’t necessarily a shock.

Nunez has struggled to get on base even while showing considerable power, and he’s a below-average defender at both infield corners. The market for OBP-challenged, defensively limited sluggers has dried up considerably in recent years, and Nunez was due a raise in arbitration. That he went unclaimed speaks to the fact that his one-dimensional skill set isn’t one that’s valued highly around the game at the moment.

As for the 26-year-old Eshelman, he gave the Orioles an aesthetically pleasing 3.89 ERA in 34 2/3 innings this past season, but that mark was likely misleading. Eshelman managed just 16 strikeouts in that time, and while many low-strikeout arms can mitigate damage by keeping the ball on the ground, his 35.9 percent grounder rate makes him a fairly extreme fly-ball pitcher.

Eshelman has just 38 strikeouts in 70 2/3 career innings, and he’s allowed 19 home runs in that time as well — a rate of 2.42 per nine innings pitched. He has a decent minor league track record, but that lack of missed bats and penchant for serving up the long ball has led to a career 5.22 ERA and even higher 6.56 FIP. The Orioles will have a week to trade Eshelman, run him through outright waivers or release him.

Diamondbacks Release Junior Guerra

By Steve Adams | November 25, 2020 at 1:49pm CDT

The Diamondbacks announced Wednesday that they’ve released right-hander Junior Guerra, who’d previously been designated for assignment last Friday.

Guerra, who’ll turn 36 in January, notched a tidy 3.04 ERA in 23 innings this past season, although his 21-to-15 K/BB ratio and 5.03 SIERA tell another story. The righty was a frequent contributor for the Brewers both out of the bullpen and the rotation prior to signing in Arizona. From 2016-19, he pitched to a combined 3.78 ERA in 416 2/3 frames with Milwaukee.

It seemed quite possible given his control troubles in 2020 and what is expected to be a flooded market for low-cost relievers, however, that Guerra could be cut loose. The D-backs carried a $3.5MM club option on Guerra but instead opted for a $100K buyout. They still retained his rights via arbitration — Guerra has four years, 155 days of MLB service — and MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projected a possible $2.8MM salary for Guerra via that process. Arizona deemed a raise on last year’s $2.55MM salary too steep, however, and Guerra will now be able to explore the market in search of an opportunity with all 30 clubs.

Red Sox Claim Joel Payamps, Designate Robert Stock

By Steve Adams | November 25, 2020 at 1:43pm CDT

The Red Sox announced Wednesday that they’ve claimed right-hander Joel Payamps off waivers from the D-backs and designated fellow righty Robert Stock for assignment in order to open a spot on the 40-man roster. Boston also announced that right-hander Ryan Weber and southpaw Matt Hall, both of whom were designated for assignment last Friday, were assigned to Triple-A Pawtucket after clearing outright waivers.

Payamps, 26, has just seven Major League innings under his belt. He’s struggled in a hitter-friendly setting with Triple-A Reno in the Pacific Coast League but was solid in Double-A Jackson in both 2018 and 2019, working to a combined 2.95 ERA with a 135-to-19 K/BB ratio in 128 innings. Payamps has worked as both a starter and a reliever in the minors, and he has a minor league option remaining for the upcoming 2021 season, which surely appeals to the Sox.

Stock, 31, has a big fastball and punched out 14 hitters in 13 1/3 innings with the Red Sox this past season, but he’s battled control issues throughout his MLB career (31 walks, three hit batters, 10 wild pitches in 63 2/3 frames).

The Red Sox gave the journeyman Weber a rotation opportunity in 2020 and held out hopes that he could elevate his game to a new level with some tweaks to his repertoire. However, while Weber managed a respectable 4.40 ERA in 43 innings of work, he also posted a lackluster 27-to-14 K/BB ratio and a 5.54 FIP. Hall was acquired out of the Tigers organization and drew some intrigue for the huge spin on his breaking ball, but he also struggled in a more limited sample with the Red Sox. Both were designated for assignment last Friday as the Sox set their roster in advance of next month’s Rule 5 Draft.

Pirates Claim Ashton Goudeau

By Steve Adams | November 25, 2020 at 1:16pm CDT

The Pirates have claimed right-hander Ashton Goudeau off waivers from the Rockies, Fansided’s Robert Murray tweets. Colorado designated him for assignment last week when making some moves to protect players from the Rule 5 Draft.

Goudeau, 28, made his Major League debut with the Rockies this past season but totaled just 8 1/3 innings, during which time he allowed seven runs on 15 hits and a pair of walks with only two strikeouts. Those struggles notwithstanding, Goudeau was terrific at the Double-A level in 2019, where he pitched to a 2.07 ERA and 2.05 FIP with 10.5 K/9, 1.4 BB/9, 0.46 HR/9 and a 44 percent ground-ball rate in 16 starts (78 1/3 innings).

The journeyman righty has bounced from the Royals to the Mariners to the Rockies and now the Pirates so far in his pro career, and he’ll give the Pittsburgh organization some depth either in the rotation or the bullpen. The Pirates’ 40-man roster was full, so they’ll need to make a corresponding move to accommodate Goudeau’s acquisition.

Rockies, Reds Swap Jeff Hoffman For Robert Stephenson

By Steve Adams | November 25, 2020 at 12:30pm CDT

In a challenge trade of sorts, the Rockies and Reds have agreed to swap a pair of former top pitching prospects. The two clubs agreed to a trade Wednesday sending right-hander Jeff Hoffman and minor league righty Case Williams from Colorado to Cincinnati in exchange for right-hander Robert Stephenson and minor league outfielder Jameson Hannah. The Reds have formally announced the swap.

Hoffman, 28 in January, was the ninth overall pick by the Blue Jays in the 2014 draft and went to the Rockies as the centerpiece of the blockbuster deadline swap that shipped Troy Tulowitzki to Toronto. The hope at the time of the deal was that the former East Carolina University ace could develop into a key front-of-the-rotation piece at the ever-challenging Coors Field, but that simply hasn’t panned out.

Hoffman has logged Major League innings in each of the past five seasons but never performed up to those lofty prospect expectations. In a total of 230 2/3 frames at the MLB level, he’s compiled a 6.40 ERA and a similarly discouraging 5.58 FIP. Along the way, Hoffman has averaged 7.7 K/9, 4.2 BB/9 and 1.79 HR/9 to go along with a 40.7 percent ground-ball rate.

Unappealing as those baseline numbers are, however, there’s also reason to believe that Hoffman may yet have another gear into which he can tap. As noted here at MLBTR back in May, Hoffman possesses high-end velocity and spin rate on his four-seamer and above-average spin on a curveball that generally befuddled hitters in 2019. The Reds and their affinity for high-spin pitchers may have a different idea about how Hoffman can maximize what looks to at least be a viable two-pitch mix — be it concentrating his four-seamer more in the top of the zone, altering his release point or any number of other possible tweaks.

Hoffman is out of minor league options, so he’ll need to open the 2021 season on the Reds’ roster. If they’re able to successfully tap into his still-dormant potential, he’d be controllable for another four seasons.

The tale of Stephenson in Cincinnati is rather similar. He’s a hard-throwing 27-year-old who is out of minor league options and at various points ranked among the game’s elite pitching prospects but has yet to develop into a consistent producer.

Stephenson has had recent success, however, giving the Reds 64 2/3 frames of 3.76 ERA and 3.63 FIP ball with 11.3 K/9 against 3.3 BB/9 as recently as 2019. Unfortunately for both the Reds and Stephenson, he followed that up with a ghastly 2020 effort in which he served up 11 runs in just 10 innings — thanks largely to an astonishing eight home runs allowed.

It’s worth noting that Stephenson, like Hoffman, possesses excellent velocity and spin rate on his fastball — both of which contributed to him recording an 18.7 percent swinging-strike rate across the past two seasons. Stephenson’s whiff rate, in fact, ranked among the 99th percentile of all big league relievers in 2019, so there’s plenty of reason to think that he could also emerge (or reemerge) as a viable setup piece for the Rockies. He’s controlled for three more seasons — one less year than they controlled Hoffman.

Hannah, 23, was a second-round pick by the A’s back in 2018 but was traded to the Reds in the 2019 swap that brought righty Tanner Roark to Oakland. He has just one full professional season under his belt after this year’s minor league campaign was canceled, having slashed .274/.339/.369 at Class-A Advanced in ’19. Hannah currently ranks 15th among Cincinnati farmhands at MLB.com and 23rd at FanGraphs, drawing praise for a combination of plus speed, above-average fielding and an average or better hit tool. Hannah lacks power, and scouting reports peg his arm as below average as well.

Williams was the Rockies’ fourth-round pick just this past summer. He’s yet to pitch in a pro game due to the cancellation of the 2020 minor league system and was at least somewhat of a surprise pick, as he didn’t rank in the draft’s top 200 prospects at MLB.com or the top 500 at Baseball America.

However, as GM Jeff Bridich explained to MLB.com’s Thomas Harding at the time, Williams was a local product whom the club had scouted extensively. It’s possible that with a full high school season, of course, Williams would’ve been vaulted onto those pre-draft rankings. And it’s clear that the Rox aren’t the only club intrigued by Williams and his 96 mph heater, as evidenced by the very fact that the Reds have had him included in today’s swap. Indeed, Bobby Nightengale of the Cincinnati Enquirer tweets that Cincinnati GM Nick Krall now says his team planned to draft Williams before the Rockies snagged him in the fourth round.

Fansided’s Robert Murray first reported that a trade was in place and that Hannah was in the deal. MLB Network’s Jon Heyman and The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal added details on the framework (Twitter links) before Murray reported all of the names involved.

Dodgers Rumors: Hand, Turner, Arenado, Lindor

By Steve Adams | November 25, 2020 at 10:28am CDT

The Dodgers have shown some interest in free-agent lefty Brad Hand, tweets MLB.com’s Jon Morosi. While the early interest in the former All-Star closer is somewhat notable it’s also not much of a surprise; the Dodgers generally have been willing to spend money on high-profile free relievers in recent years — Joe Kelly and Blake Treinen among them — and Hand’s track record is likely appealing to just about any contender despite the fact that he went unclaimed on waivers. It’s certainly possible that Hand could yet find a multi-year deal at an annual value lower than the $10MM sum he’d have commanded in 2021 had he been claimed off waivers, or even at a similar rate but with some of the guaranteed dollars pushed out beyond year one of the arrangement. The Dodgers are set to lose Blake Treinen, Jake McGee, Alex Wood and Pedro Baez to free agency, so it’s likely that they’ll be connected to myriad relievers in the coming weeks and months. Hand, 30, posted a 2.05 ERA and 29-to-4 K/BB ratio in 22 innings this past season but also saw his average fastball dip to 91.4 mph — two full miles per hour slower than in 2018.

Mets Reportedly Interviewed Chris Young For GM Vacancy

By Steve Adams | November 25, 2020 at 8:42am CDT

Mets president Sandy Alderson revealed earlier this week that his team would not hire a president of baseball operations and would instead focus its front office search on hiring a general manager. It’s already known that Alderson and new owner Steve Cohen have spoken to former Marlins president of baseball ops Michael Hill, and Mike Puma of the New York Post now tweets that former big league pitcher Chris Young has also interviewed for the position. Alderson said earlier this week that six candidates have interviewed.

The 41-year-old Young would be mark a second straight outside-the-box hire were he to eventually be the choice, following the Wilpon family’s surprise hire of agent Brodie Van Wagenen two years ago. That said, Young hasn’t been simply sitting back and reminiscing on a solid, 13-year playing career since retiring after the 2017 season. Rather, he’s been working for the league itself. Major League Baseball announced in May 2018 that Young had been named the league’s vice president of on-field operations, initiatives and strategy — a role in which he focused on “the application of playing rules and regulations, on-field standards and discipline, pace of play and other special projects.”

Young reported directly to MLB’s chief baseball officer, Joe Torre, for the first two years he was in that position. Back in February, Torre moved into an advisory role, serving as a special assistant to commissioner Rob Manfred. Young, in turn, took on a greater role within the league’s hierarchy and was promoted to senior vice president of on-field operations, initiatives and strategy.

While Young would be an unorthodox hire, his candidacy isn’t a total shock, either. SNY’s Andy Martino noted more than a month ago that Young and Alderson maintain a strong relationship after getting to know one another during their time with the Padres’ organization, and Martino has since reported that the veteran pitcher and Princeton grad is a candidate for some type of role in the Mets’ new front office.

Hiring Young as the GM, however, would somewhat fly in the face of Cohen’s previous comments about his club’s search for a baseball ops executive. At his introductory press conference earlier this month, Cohen suggested he preferred an experienced candidate, telling reporters (link via Newsday’s Tim Healey): “I’m not crazy about people learning on my dime.” Young’s work in the league office gives him more relevant experience than most recently retired players, but he’d still be a rookie in a team’s baseball ops department. Even with guidance from an experienced vet like Alderson, he’d be “learning on Cohen’s dime,” though perhaps that’s more palatable for Cohen if Alderson heads up baseball ops himself for the early portion of an incoming GM’s tenure.

Turning to other potential candidates, Martino reported this morning that Rays special assistant Bobby Heck, who’d previously been under consideration, is no longer seen as a candidate for the job. He’s expected to remain with the Rays.

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