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T.J. Rivera Signs With Long Island Ducks

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The Long Island Ducks of the independent Atlantic League have signed infielder T.J. Rivera, the team announced.

This will be the second stint with the Ducks for Rivera, who spent 23 games with the club in 2019 and batted .270/.316/.427 with four home runs in 98 plate appearances. Of course, Rivera’s better known for what was a successful but short-lived major league tenure with the Mets. The former undrafted free agent appeared in 106 games with the Mets from 2016-17 and slashed an above-average .304/.335/.445 over 231 plate appearances, owing in part to an ability to avoid strikeouts at a solid clip.

Unfortunately, injury issues knocked Rivera’s career off course four years ago. Rivera underwent Tommy John surgery in 2017 and then suffered an elbow sprain the next season as he was trying to work his way back to New York. The 32-year-old has had runs with the Nationals and Phillies since the Mets released him in 2019, though he was unable to return to the majors with either Washington or Philadelphia.

Braves Announce Roster Moves

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The Braves announced that they have released right-hander Nate Jones and outrighted infielder Sean Kazmar Jr. Additionally, righty Carl Edwards Jr. has elected free agency. The Braves designated him for assignment May 8.

The 35-year-old Jones was designated to make room for Edwards, who didn’t last long on the Braves’ roster. Edwards made one appearance and failed to make a good impression, as he allowed three earned runs on three hits in a third of an inning against the Phillies on May 7. Also a former, Cub, Padre and Mariner, Edwards will return to the open market with a 3.68 ERA and a strong 32.8 percent strikeout rate against a 13.8 walk rate over 181 major league innings.

Jones, another minor league signing, earned a spot on the Braves’ roster after an excellent spring training. But the former White Sox standout struggled in Atlanta across 9 2/3 frames, causing the club to go in a different direction. Jones allowed five runs (four earned) on seven hits and eight walks against seven strikeouts as a Brave.

Kazmar, a fifth-round pick of the Padres way back in 2004, climbed to the majors for the first time since 2008 this season, though the 36-year-old made a mere three appearances and collected two plate trips to the plate. He’s a .259/.313/.371 hitter with 98 home runs in 6,619 minor league PA.

Rockies Place C.J. Cron On 10-Day IL

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The Rockies have placed first baseman C.J. Cron on the 10-day injured list (retroactive to May 7) with a lower back strain, per a team announcement.

This ailment has been an issue for the past several days for Cron, who last played May 5. It has temporarily derailed what has been an impressive start to the season by Cron, a minor league pickup over the winter. The 31-year-old has been the Rockies’ most productive hitter with a .290/.394/.495 line and five home runs across 109 plate appearances.

With Cron down of late, Colorado has utilized Matt Adams and Connor Joe at first base. They only have 27 plate appearances between them this year.

Minor MLB Transactions: 5/10/21

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Catching up on some minor league moves from around baseball…

  • The Astros have signed righty Michael Kelly to a minor league pact, Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle tweets. Kelly was the 48th overall pick of the Padres in the 2011 draft, but he hasn’t made it to the bigs thus far. Along with the Padres, the 28-year-old appeared in the minors with the Orioles through 2018, recording a 5.35 ERA over 607 2/3 innings. Kelly’s most recent professional action came in 2019 with the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs of the independent Atlantic League.

Earlier updates:

  • The Dodgers signed right-handers Kevin Quackenbush, Austin Bibens-Dirkx, and Aaron Wilkerson to minor league contracts earlier this month, and all are on the roster for the team’s Triple-A affiliate.  Quackenbush is the most experienced of the trio, with 207 2/3 MLB innings with the Padres and Reds from 2014-18, and the 32-year-old is back in the Dodgers organization after previously pitching for Triple-A Oklahoma City in 2019.  Bibens-Dirkx was a member of several organizations before catching on with the Rangers in 2016 and posting a 5.27 ERA over 114 1/3 innings from 2017-18.  Wilkerson appeared in parts of three Major League seasons with the Brewers from 2017-19, posting a 6.88 ERA over 35 1/3 frames of work.
  • The Indians signed right-hander Matt Koch to a minor league deal back in April.  Koch pitched for the Yakult Swallows in 2020, posting a 7.88 ERA over 16 innings with the Japanese club.  Formerly a member of the Diamondbacks, Koch pitched 86 2/3 of his 125 1/3 career Major League innings in 2018, when he had a 4.15 ERA/4.85 ERA while starting 14 of his 19 games for Arizona.  For his overall career, Koch has a 4.88 ERA at the big league level.

Gregory Polanco’s IL Placement Due To Protocol Violation

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TODAY: Polanco is expected back with the Pirates within a few days, manager Derek Shelton told reporters (including Kevin Gorman of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review).

MAY 8: The Pirates placed Gregory Polanco on the COVID-related injury list on Tuesday, without any specific details (though none are required in COVID situations) given about why Polanco would be missing time.  However, Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that Polanco’s placement was due to a violation of healthy and safety protocols.  Polanco “utilized a training service that was outside of the Pirates’ bubble,” according to Mackey’s sources.

It isn’t yet known how long Polanco will be away from the team, or whether or not he’ll face league-mandated punishment for breaking protocol.  According to the 2021 Operations Manual, “Any Covered Individuals who are found to have violated the Code of Conduct are subject to potential discipline, including suspension or forfeiture of salary for days spent away from the Club while in mandatory self-isolation or quarantine resulting from the violation.”

In short, a suspension would cost Polanco some game checks (he is earning $11MM this season, as Pittsburgh’s highest-paid player) and it isn’t out of the question that he could also lose some money for the time he has currently missed on the COVID-IL.  It remains to be seen how the Pirates, the league, and possibly the MLBPA could approach this situation due to the lack of known information about the exact circumstances of Polanco’s violation.

Polanco tested positive for COVID-19 last July, costing him some time during the Pirates’ Summer Camp and delaying the start of his 2020 season by a few games.  Since undergoing shoulder surgery in September 2018, Polanco has hit .197/.263/.369 over 431 plate appearances, missing significant time in 2019 dealing with more shoulder problems.  Beyond the shoulder injury and the positive COVID test, Polanco also suffered a wrist fracture in December.

Pitching Notes: Greene, Ynoa, Braves, Twins, Kuhl

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Shane Greene’s long free agent wait ended yesterday when he re-signed with the Braves on a one-year deal worth a prorated $1.5MM.  “It seemed early on that a return to the Braves was his preference,” SKOR North’s Darren Wolfson writes (Twitter link), as Wolfson notes that the Twins were willing to offer Greene more money.  This focus on Atlanta could explain why it took until May for Greene to land a contract, as David O’Brien of The Athletic estimated back in mid-March that the Braves were only willing to spend in the neighborhood of $1MM on Greene — given the prorated nature of Greene’s contract, he’ll end up earning around $1.1 or $1.2MM.

More pitching-related items from around baseball…

  • Another Braves/Twins link is explored by The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal, regarding how Atlanta acquired breakout star Huascar Ynoa from Minnesota back in 2017.  The Braves wanted to move Jaime Garcia at the trade deadline, and initially discussed a trade with the Yankees that would have sent Garcia to the Bronx for then-Yankees prospect Nick Solak.  Once those talks fell through, Atlanta pivoted and sent Garcia to Minnesota, and the Braves “did not do as much diligence on Ynoa as they normally would on a prospect” since their top priority was just to dump the rest of Garcia’s salary.  In fact, Ynoa wasn’t even Atlanta’s first ask from the Twins’ farm system, as Nick Burdi was initially part of the proposed trade.  From being a rather anonymous rookie ball pitcher and an apparent “plan C” type of pickup for the Braves, Ynoa has become an unexpected stalwart of the Atlanta rotation in 2021.  The righty has a 2.23 ERA/3.19 SIERA and an above-average 28.4% strikeout rate and 5.8% walk rate over 40 1/3 innings, plus Ynoa has augmented that pitching production with two home runs and a 1.267 OPS over 15 plate appearances.
  • Pirates right-hander Chad Kuhl threw a live batting practice on Saturday as he continues to recover from right shoulder discomfort.  In a radio interview on 93.7 FM (hat tip to Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette), Pittsburgh GM Ben Cherington said Kuhl will return “before too long” but will first require a minor league rehab assignment.  Kuhl has struggled in his first four starts of the year, posting a 6.32 ERA with more walks (16) than strikeouts (14) over 15 2/3 innings.

Rays Sign Adam Conley To Minors Contract

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The Rays have signed left-hander Adam Conley to a minor league deal, Baseball America’s Chris Hilburn-Trenkle reports.  Conley had previously agreed to join NPB’s Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles, but opted out of joining the team earlier this week.

According to a statement from the Eagles (hat tip to reporter Jim Allen), Conley decided against playing in Japan due to concerns over the country’s COVID-19 situation.  Due to entry restrictions from the Japanese government, Conley had been unable to even arrive in Japan until late March, and those same restrictions prevented Conley’s family from joining him abroad.

This isn’t the first time that the coronavirus has directly impacted the southpaw’s career, as Conley was one of many Marlins players placed on the COVID-related injured list last summer due to an outbreak within the clubhouse.  Conley ended up not pitching at all in 2020, after previously seeing some big league action in each of the previous five seasons.

Initially a promising starter in the Marlins’ rotation in 2015-16, Conley ran into some struggles and then turned to relief pitching, with some success in 2018 and then a rougher experience (6.53 ERA in 60 2/3 innings) in 2019.  For his career, Conley has a 4.82 ERA, 19.7% strikeout rate, and 9.5% walk rate over 414 1/3 innings, all with Miami.

It remains to be seen what role Conley will take with Florida’s other MLB team, though given the Rays’ flexible approach to pitching, Conley could potentially be used in a number of different ways.  He could be deployed in a traditional relief role or perhaps stretched out to be given a second look as a starter, or the Rays could use Conley as an opener, a piggyback starter, a long reliever, a swingman, or perhaps all of the above.

Braves To Sign Tanner Roark To Minor League Deal

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The Braves are signing right-hander Tanner Roark to a minor-league contract, reports Mark Feinsand of MLB.com (Twitter link). The veteran righty was recently cut loose by the Blue Jays.

After an extended run as a generally productive starter with the Nationals, Athletics and Reds, Roark signed a two-year, $24MM deal with Toronto during the 2019-20 offseason. That proved to be a poor investment for the Jays, with whom Roark tossed 47 2/3 innings of 6.80 ERA/5.36 SIERA ball in 2020. In the process, Roark’s already-middling strikeout rate fell more than three percentage points to 18.6%, while his typically strong walk rate spiked to a lofty 10.5%.

On the heels of that dismal season, the Jays didn’t give Roark much of a leash in this season’s early going. They designated him for assignment after just three uninspiring appearances in 2021. Roark coughed up seven runs in as many innings (five earned), while serving up three homers and striking out just five. His 6.9% swinging strike rate over that small sample has been the worst mark of his career, so the Toronto front office clearly didn’t envision a future turnaround.

Despite the surprise emergence of Huascar Ynoa, Atlanta’s rotation has posted some unspectacular numbers as a whole. Charlie Morton and Drew Smyly (both signed to free agent deals last winter) have gotten off to slow starts and Max Fried has spent some time on the injured list. Bryse Wilson, Kyle Wright, and Sean Newcomb are the club’s top depth option, though Roark has far more experience than any of those younger hurlers. While Roark might need some time at Triple-A to get himself back on track, he does represent at least an innings-eating possibility for the back end of the Braves’ pitching staff.

Phillies Sign Ryan Cordell

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The Phillies recently inked outfielder Ryan Cordell to a minor-league contract (h/t to Chris Hilburn-Trenkle of Baseball America). He has been assigned to Triple-A Lehigh Valley, although he’s yet to get into a game for the IronPigs.

A former Ranger draftee, Cordell bounced between the White Sox’s, Brewers’, and Mets’ organizations in recent years before landing with the Phils. The 29-year-old has appeared in the big leagues in each of the past three seasons, including a fairly extended run with Chicago in 2019. He hasn’t produced much in that time, managing just a .202/.263/.328 line over 295 MLB plate appearances.

The 29-year-old has had more success in the minors, including a .266/.323/.451 mark in parts of three seasons at Triple-A. He also has experience at all three outfield positions. Philadelphia has Andrew McCutchen and Bryce Harper on hand in the corners, but center has been a nightmare to this point. Roman Quinn, Adam Haseley, Mickey Moniak and Odúbel Herrera have all struggled, and Quinn (finger laceration) and Haseley (personal reasons) are currently unavailable.

Blue Jays Sign Dilson Herrera

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The Blue Jays recently signed Dilson Herrera to a minor-league contract (h/t to Chris Hilburn-Trenkle of Baseball America). The utility infielder was assigned to Triple-A Buffalo, where he’s begun the year 2-12 with a double and a triple.

Herrera, once a top prospect in the Mets’ system, broke into the big leagues as a 20-year-old in 2014. He never really got an extended run, either in New York or Cincinnati after his inclusion in the 2016 Jay Bruce deal. Herrera made an extremely brief return to the big leagues last season, appearing in three games with the Orioles. All told, he owns a .199/.290/.386 line in 272 MLB plate appearances.

Obviously, Herrera never lived up to his top prospect billing. He’s still only 27 years old though, and he’s generally been productive at Triple-A (.279/.343/.471) in parts of six seasons. He’ll add some high minors infield depth, alongside fellow former top prospect Christian Colón, to a Jays’ organization that is currently without utilityman Joe Panik due to a calf strain.

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