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Phillies Release Vince Velasquez

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The Phillies announced they’ve released Vince Velasquez. That was the anticipated outcome once Philadelphia designated him for assignment over the weekend.

Velasquez was on the injured list at the time of his designation (although he had begun a minor league rehab assignment). Injured players can’t be placed on outright waivers, and with the trade deadline having passed, Velasquez’s designation meant he’d wind up released. That’s mostly a formality anyhow, since he would’ve had the right to reject an outright assignment in favor of free agency while still retaining his entire salary as a player with more than five years of MLB service time.

If Velasquez clears release waivers, he’ll be free to sign elsewhere. That seems likely, as claiming him would require a team to assume the remainder of his $4MM salary (approximately $452K through season’s end). If he clears waivers, a new club could sign the right-hander for the prorated portion of the league minimum while leaving the Phils on the hook for the bulk of the salary.

Whether he’s claimed or signed as a free agent after clearing waivers, Velasquez wouldn’t be eligible for a new team’s postseason roster since he was released after August 31. It’s still possible a team on the fringes of contention could look to bring him in for a couple weeks in an attempt to bolster their pitching depth as they try to make a playoff push. Velasquez worked 3 2/3 innings during his rehab outing last Wednesday, so he’s seemingly nearing readiness in his recovery from the blister issue that landed him on the IL last month.

The release concludes an up-and-down tenure for Velasquez in Philly. Acquired from the Astros as part of the December 2015 Ken Giles trade, the 29-year-old spent parts of six seasons with the Phils. He got off to a very promising start, tossing 131 innings of 4.12 ERA ball while striking out 27.6% of batters faced, a mark that dwarfed that year’s 20.2% league average for starting pitchers. That ultimately proved to be the high-water mark of Velasquez’s tenure in Philadelphia, though.

Over the next five seasons, Velasquez never posted an ERA below 4.85. He showed flashes at times, working in the mid-90s and missing bats at a league average or better rate. But he also issued walks at a higher than average clip in four of his last five seasons (2019 being the exception) while giving up a fair amount of hard, airborne contact. That predictably led to consistent troubles with home runs — particularly in Philadelphia’s hitter-friendly home ballpark — that inflated his run prevention totals.

Velasquez’s up-and-down performances will make him an interesting free agent this winter. (Even if he signs elsewhere for this season’s final couple weeks, he’ll again reach the open market this offseason). He’s still only 29 years old, and Velasquez has shown enough bat-missing promise to remain intriguing. Between their park and lackluster team defenses in recent years, the Phillies haven’t been in position to get the greatest results from their pitching staffs. Perhaps a club with a more pitcher-friendly environment and/or solid defense feels they can yet coax mid-rotation production out of Velasquez, with a multi-inning relief role a fallback possibility if he continues to scuffle as a starter.

Cubs Select Trayce Thompson

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The Cubs announced they’ve selected outfielder Trayce Thompson to the big league roster. Jason Heyward is landing on the seven-day concussion injured list in a corresponding move. To open space on the 40-man roster, Chicago transferred outfielder Michael Hermosillo from the 10-day to the 60-day injured list.

Thompson is back in the big leagues for the first time in three years. The right-handed hitter broke in with the White Sox in 2015 and saw some MLB time in each of the following three seasons, with his biggest workload coming with the 2016 Dodgers. Thompson hit for a fair amount of power and can cover all three outfield spots, but his overall productivity was limited by swing-and-miss issues. In 589 big league plate appearances, he owns a .206/.276/.389 mark with 22 home runs but an alarming 28% strikeout rate.

He’s split the 2021 season between the Triple-A affiliates of the D-Backs and Cubs, spending most of the campaign with Chicago’s top farm team in Iowa. Thompson has popped 21 round trippers in 358 plate appearances there but continued to punch out quite a bit. He owns a .233/.344/.492 line with a 32.4% strikeout rate with Iowa this season.

Orioles Select Pat Valaika

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The Orioles announced they’ve selected infielder Pat Valaika back to the big league roster. Baltimore also recalled righty Marcos Diplán from Triple-A Norfolk. Left-hander Tanner Scott has been placed on the 10-day injured list with a left knee sprain, while utilityman Jorge Mateo was placed on the 60-day IL due to right lumbar inflammation.

Valaika has logged substantial big league action with the O’s in each of the last two seasons. He flashed some intriguing power potential last year, popping eight home runs in 150 plate appearances en route to a solid .277/.315/.475 showing. But he struggled badly over a slightly longer look this year, posting a .192/.251/.280 line over 212 trips to the dish. He was designated for assignment and passed through outright waivers last month. Valaika will be eligible for arbitration this offseason, but given his disappointing season, he looks like a non-tender candidate.

Baltimore grabbed Mateo off waivers from the Padres last month, with the rebuilding O’s in a far better position than the win-now Padres to give regular playing time to the former top prospect. (Mateo is out of minor league option years, so he’d spent much of his San Diego tenure in a bench role). The 26-year-old showed fairly well in his look with the Orioles, hitting .280/.328/.421 with a pair of homers and five stolen bases over 116 plate appearances. His season comes to a premature end because of the injury, but he’s seemingly done enough to warrant a spot on Baltimore’s 40-man roster over the upcoming offseason.

Unlike Mateo, Scott isn’t officially ruled out for the rest of the year by his IL placement. Nevertheless, manager Brandon Hyde suggested to reporters (including Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com) the hard-throwing reliever is unlikely to make it back this season. Scott appeared in 62 games and tossed 54 innings of 5.17 ERA ball, striking out a solid 27.9% of opponents but issuing walks at an elevated 14.7% clip. He’ll be eligible for arbitration for the first time this offseason.

Yankees Designate Brooks Kriske, Re-Sign Sal Romano

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The Yankees announced Tuesday that they’ve re-signed Sal Romano to a Major League contract and designated right-hander Brooks Kriske for assignment to open space on the roster. Romano elected free agency over an outright assignment just yesterday but will almost immediately return to the MLB roster.

Kriske has been an up-and-down reliever for New York over the past couple seasons. This year alone, the Yankees have optioned him on seven separate occasions, recalling him six times when the need for a rested bullpen arm presented itself. Amidst the back-and-forth, Kriske has made eight appearances after pitching in his first four big league games last year. He’s yet to find any success against major league hitters, combining for 11 1/3 innings of 20-run ball to this point. Kriske has struck out fifteen batters, but he’s also issued eleven walks and served up six home runs in his rather limited time.

That said, the 27-year-old has a generally strong body of work in the minors. The USC product posted dominant numbers up through Double-A and has performed fairly well in his first taste of Triple-A this year. Over 28 1/3 innings with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, Kriske has a 3.81 ERA with a massive 36.6% strikeout percentage, although throwing strikes has also been an issue at the minors’ top level. He’s doled out free passes to 12.5% of batters faced in the minors this season, and also issued walks at a similar clip in Double-A in 2019.

The Yankees will pace Kriske on waivers over the next few days, where another team could take a no-risk look to see if he can yet carry over that strong swing-and-miss stuff against big league hitters. His fastball has averaged north of 95 MPH in his MLB action, with a mid-80s split his featured secondary offering. Kriske still has one minor league option year remaining after this season, so any claiming team could continue to shuttle him between the majors and Triple-A as the Yankees recently have through the end of next season — so long as they keep him on the 40-man roster.

It has been an eventful past couple weeks for Romano. The 27-year-old signed a minor-league deal with the Yankees in mid-August (his second such arrangement of the season), then was selected to the big league roster but designated for assignment in relatively rapid succession. After clearing waivers, he very briefly hit free agency but will now step right back onto the Yankees’ active roster.

Between the Reds, Yankees and Brewers, Romano has worked 24 innings of relief at the big league level this season. He’s posted subpar numbers, but he has shown well at Triple-A and evidently continues to intrigue the New York front office. Romano is out of options, so the Yankees either have to keep him on the active roster moving forward or again risk losing him on waivers.

A’s Designate Burch Smith For Assignment

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The Athletics announced Tuesday that they’ve designated right-hander Burch Smith for assignment to open space on the roster for righty Domingo Acevedo, whose contract has been selected from Triple-A Las Vegas.

Smith has spent the past two seasons in Oakland after being acquired from the crosstown Giants in February 2020. He missed a good chunk of last season with a forearm strain but performed well in his brief look when healthy, tossing twelve innings of three-run ball out of the bullpen. Oakland brought Smith back on a low-cost deal to avoid arbitration, but his 2021 season hasn’t been as promising.

After missing a month early in the season, Smith returned to the active roster in early May. He’s worked mostly low-leverage relief innings over the past few months and hasn’t found much success. Over 43 1/3 innings, the 31-year-old has a 5.40 ERA with a 14.9% strikeout rate that’s nearly ten percentage points below the league average for relievers. That’s come with a correspondingly low 7.5% swinging strike rate — a career-worst mark — while his fastball velocity and spin rate have ticked down a bit relative to last season.

The A’s will now place Smith on waivers in the coming days. Any claiming team would assume the approximately $76K remaining on his arbitration contract. Should he pass through waivers unclaimed, Smith would have the right to elect free agency as a player who has previously been outrighted in his career.

Acevedo is up for his second stint on the 40-man roster. A longtime Yankees’ farmhand, the 27-year-old signed a minor league deal with Oakland last offseason and was selected to make his major league debut in June. He ultimately made three appearances, tossing as many innings of three-run ball before being designated for assignment and released. (Acevedo was seemingly injured in the minor leagues at the time of his designation, and injured players cannot be placed on outright waivers). He quickly re-upped with the A’s on a new minors pact.

Spending much of the season with the A’s top affiliate, Acevedo has been highly impressive. He’s worked 32 2/3 frames of 2.48 ERA ball, striking out a massive 42.1% of batters faced while walking just 4.8% of opponents. That success has come in spite of the extremely hitter-friendly nature of that Las Vegas affiliate, earning Acevedo another MLB look down the stretch. The Athletics enter play tonight two and a half games back of the Yankees and Red Sox, who are tied for the American League’s final postseason spot (with the Mariners also ahead of Oakland in the standings).

Royals To Promote Dayton Moore, JJ Piccolo

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The Royals called a press conference for 2pm CT this afternoon, and while they did not disclose the reason for the presser in that announcement, MLB Network’s Jon Heyman reports that the organization will announce a pair of key front-office promotions: Dayton Moore will be bumped from general manager to president of baseball operations, while assistant general manager JJ Piccolo will be promoted to the title of general manager.

Moore becomes the third general manager in as many weeks to be promoted to the title of president of baseball operations, following Tampa Bay’s Erik Neander and Seattle’s Jerry Dipoto in that regard. As with prior front-office promotions of this nature, the timing likely isn’t a coincidence. The Mets will be looking for new front-office leadership this offseason, and it’s possible at the end of any season that additional front-office openings will arise. Teams generally only allow their baseball ops executives to interview with other clubs if the new opportunity represents a promotion, so it’s relatively common this time of year to see some clubs promote baseball ops personnel they have a strong interest in retaining.

Moore, 54, was retained as general manager after former owner David Glass sold the franchise to current owner John Sherman last year, and reports at the time of the sale indicated the expectation was that new ownership had no plans to make sweeping changes. Today’s forthcoming press conference further cements that, as a promotion to president of baseball operations figures to be accompanied by a contract extension.

Initially named the Royals’ general manager back in 2006, Moore has the fourth-longest tenure of any baseball operations leader in MLB, trailing only Oakland’s Billy Beane (1997), the Yankees’ Brian Cashman (1998) and the Rangers’ Jon Daniels (2005). He’s overseen the franchise through multiple cycles of rebuilding and contending, highlighted by consecutive World Series appearances in 2014-15 — including a World Series championship with that 2015 squad.

Moore never fully tore down the team after that World Series core departed, even as the club took a step back. He resisted temptation to trade away the likes of Whit Merrifield, Salvador Perez and (until this summer when he was a free-agent-to-be in a non-contending season) Danny Duffy. Throughout the current rebuilding effort, the Royals have sought to build through the draft and international free agency while still fielding some key stars with whom the fans connect. It’s not the typical rebuild blueprint, but it’s hard to suggest that the Royals aren’t well-positioned moving forward.

Despite this year’s 65-78 record, Kansas City appears on the cusp of taking a pronounced step forward. Bobby Witt Jr., the No. 2 overall pick in the 2019 draft, has emerged as one of the game’s elite prospects. Meanwhile, 2017 first-rounder Nick Pratto has exploded with a breakout showing in Double-A and Triple-A this season, landing himself in the middle of Baseball America’s latest top 100 ranking. Both figure to make their debuts early in 2022, and they’ll be joined by a growing crop of young arms that has not necessarily broken out in unison but carries a good amount of promise.

Each of Brady Singer, Jackson Kowar, Kris Bubic and Daniel Lynch have at times ranked among the game’s top 100 prospects according to multiple publications, and each has had at least a cup of coffee in the Majors. Right-hander Carlos Hernandez wasn’t as highly touted but certainly has the look of a potential big league starter based on his strong rookie showing in 2021. Asa Lacy, the No. 4 overall pick in 2020, has had a rough debut in Double-A but might have the highest ceiling of the entire bunch. In the bullpen, right-handers Scott Barlow and Josh Staumont have been excellent, while lefty Richard Lovelady looks impressive in his own right (albeit in a bit smaller sample of 20 2/3 innings).

Piccolo and Moore have been working together since their days with the Braves in the early 2000s. Piccolo broke in as a scout with the Braves before moving up to director of minor league operations. With the Royals, he served as the team’s director of player development before being promoted to assistant general manager and vice president, a role in which he oversaw both the player development and player personnel departments.

For the past several offseasons, Piccolo has been an oft-cited candidate for positions with other organizations. He’s reportedly been of interest to the Phillies, Marlins and D-backs, among others, but ultimately stayed in Kansas City and now will get a significant bump in title.

From a big-picture standpoint, today’s pair of promotions doesn’t necessarily shake things up in dramatic fashion. Moore will still have the final say on baseball operations decisions, but the elevated titles (in addition to presumably coming with some notable pay increases) will keep both Moore and Piccolo in high-ranking positions as they see the latest rebuild through. They’ll continue to work with assistant general managers Scott Sharp and Rene Francisco — the former an oft-cited GM candidate with other clubs himself — as they look to transition the Royals to yet another run of prominence in an AL Central that looks weak behind the inevitable division-winning White Sox.

Carpenter: “I Definitely Want To Play” In 2022

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Cardinals infielder Matt Carpenter is in the midst of the worst season of his career at the plate and will turn 36 in November, but the three-time All-Star made clear this week that he’s hoping for a chance to right the ship in 2022. The Cardinals are a lock to buy out his $18.5MM club option, but Carpenter tells Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch he’s not currently thinking about calling it quits. “I don’t know what the future holds for me as far as what [the Cardinals’] plans are, what the plans for me are,” says Carpenter. “I definitely want to play.”

The question then becomes one of whether Carpenter will be able return to the Cards at a (much) lower price or find an opportunity with another club. Carpenter has just 63 plate appearances since the All-Star break, and 33 of those have come as a pinch-hitter. He’s hitless since Aug. 7 — a span of 35 plate appearances — with five walks and 13 strikeouts mixed in along the way. His season batting line checks in at .169/.304/.275, and his 32.6 percent strikeout rate is a career-high.

The downturn at the plate has been pronounced but also isn’t entirely out of the blue. Rather, Carpenter has been in a steady decline since a 36-homer campaign in 2018 that netted him some stray MVP votes down the ballot and a ninth-place finish overall. He followed that with a down year in 2019 but was at least roughly average at the plate. He then hit .186/.325/.314 with 28.4 percent strikeout rate in 169 trips to the plate last season.

Over the past two seasons, Carpenter has batted just .176/.313/.292 in 396 plate appearances. His role with the Cardinals has diminished both due to his struggles and due to the presence of Paul Goldschmidt, Nolan Arenado and Tommy Edman around the St. Louis infield. All three players will be back with St. Louis in 2022, and even a bench role might not be much of a consideration for the Cards. Edmundo Sosa has outplayed Carpenter across the board and offers more versatility in the infield. Carpenter hasn’t logged a single inning in the outfield since 2014. If a universal designated hitter is implemented, there’ll surely be calls — at least from fans — for an Albert Pujols farewell tour at that position.

It’s not out of the question that Carpenter could find another role with a new organization, however, particularly if the National League designated hitter does come into play. His 13.7 percent walk rate remains outstanding — tied for 20th-best among the 330 big league hitters with at least 200 plate appearances. Carpenter is still hitting the ball hard, too. Of the 386 hitters with at least 100 batted ball events in 2021, Carpenter is tied for 71st in average exit velocity, ranks 59th in barrel rate and sits 135th in hard-hit rate (i.e. batted balls at 95 mph or higher). It’s not a dominant profile, but it’s one that certainly looks like it should produce more than a .169 batting average and .275 slugging percentage.

Of course, Carpenter is done in both by the infrequency of his contact and by the pull-happy nature of the balls he does put into play. He’s highly susceptible to the shift, which makes his nearly 77 percent pull rate on grounders immensely problematic.  Carpenter has tried to counteract that by focusing on elevating the ball, but he isn’t pulling the ball in the air like he did during his big 2018 season. In terms of exit velocity, launch angle and hard-hit percentage, Carpenter’s 2018 and 2021 seasons are strikingly similar. However, just 16 percent of Carpenter’s fly-balls have been pulled this season — down from 29 percent in 2018. Nearly 54 percent of Carpenter’s flies are going up the middle, which at least partially explains the drop from a 19.1 percent homer-to-flyball rate in 2018 to this year’s 5.4 percent mark.

Other teams will surely draw their own theories about Carpenter’s decline and drum up some plans of attack to remedy the problems. He’s unlikely to rediscover his 2018 form thanks to the huge uptick in strikeouts, but Carpenter’s walk rate, hard-contact profile and overall track record could still seemingly generate some interest elsewhere around the league.

That’s particularly possible if, as Carpenter himself puts it to Goold, he’s willing to “do whatever I have to do to continue playing.” It’s possible that with his recent struggles, Carpenter won’t find much in the way of guaranteed big league offers. But, if he’s willing to head to Spring Training on a minor league pact, a team seeking some corner infield depth and/or a veteran left-handed bench bat might be willing to take a speculative look.

Yankees Move Gleyber Torres To Second Base

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The Yankees will move Gleyber Torres from shortstop to second base, manager Aaron Boone announced to reporters Monday (Twitter links via Bryan Hoch of MLB.com). The move is designed “to take some pressure off” Torres. Gio Urshela has the day off Monday but will get reps at shortstop down the stretch, beginning tomorrow, with DJ LeMahieu playing third base. Tyler Wade is at short today, with Torres at second.

The Torres decision comes a day after he made his 18th error of the season and his fourth in the past week at shortstop. Defensive metrics are down on Torres’ work as well. Defensive Runs Saved has him at minus-12 on the season, while Statcast’s Outs Above Average pegs him at minus-8.

There’s been talk of moving Torres off shortstop for some time now, but that chatter has picked up considerably since the beginning of the 2020 campaign. Torres made nine errors in just 320 innings at shortstop last season with poor defensive ratings as well. However, the Yankees stuck with him at the position and instead focused their offseason efforts on retaining LeMahieu and finding affordable arms to round out the pitching staff without exceeding the luxury tax.

Torres’ defensive struggles this season had already fueled speculation that the Yankees will be players in the offseason market for shortstop help. Today’s announcement from Boone would seem to cement that likelihood, as the Yankees don’t have an immediate heir-apparent who is knocking down the door to the big leagues. Anthony Volpe has broken out with an enormous season in the minors, but he’s still just 20 years old and has yet to reach Double-A. He could be an option by 2023 or 2024, assuming good health and continued production.

Urshela has limited experience at shortstop and is regarded as a solid defender at third base, but he’s not likely to step up as a long-term option there. He’ll turn 30 next month, making him older than a number of the free-agent shortstops set to hit the market this winter, and his offense has taken a step back in 2021 as well.

Corey Seager, Marcus Semien, Carlos Correa, Trevor Story and Javier Baez are all slated to reach free agency this winter, and it’s certainly feasible that some names will pop up on the trade market as well. The Yankees have about $130MM committed to next year’s payroll, per Roster Resource’s Jason Martinez, and an absolutely enormous arbitration class — headlined by Aaron Judge. Each of Gary Sanchez, Jameson Taillon, Joey Gallo, Chad Green, Urshela, Jordan Montgomery, Wandy Peralta, Luke Voit, Torres, Clint Frazier, Domingo German, Miguel Andujar, Clay Holmes, Jonathan Loaisiga, Lucas Luetge and Wade will be arb-eligible as well.

There will be some non-tenders and trades of players in that group, inevitably, which will lower the cost of that sizable class. The Yankees also managed to duck under the luxury tax in 2021, so they won’t be facing any penalties in 2022 — although with the CBA expiring, we can’t know precisely what the next iteration of the competitive balance tax will even look like. Regardless, it’s hard to envision a scenario where they slide Torres back to shortstop in 2022. It seems quite likely the Yankees will factor prominently into the offseason shortstop market, exploring high-end free agent options, short-term stopgaps for Volpe and creative alternatives on the trade market.

For the time being, the Yanks will hope that the new defensive alignment helps to turn the tides after a dismal 2-8 showing in their past 10 games. They’re currently one game back of the Red Sox and the scorching-hot Blue Jays, who are in a tie in the Wild Card standings. Both the Mariners and the A’s are just two games behind the Yankees.

Nationals Release Derek Dietrich, Blake Swihart

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The Nationals have released utilityman Derek Dietrich and catcher/corner outfielder Blake Swihart, relays Jesse Dougherty of the Washington Post. Both players had been with their top affiliate in Rochester after signing minor league deals this year.

Dietrich began the year with the Yankees’ Triple-A club, posting a bizarre but productive .215/.413/.393 line over 143 plate appearances. While the left-handed hitter struck out at a huge 32.2% clip and posted that low batting average, he walked in a fantastic 18.9% of his plate appearances and hit for a decent enough amount of power. When the Yankees didn’t select him to the big league roster, Dietrich triggered an opt-out clause in his contract and was granted his release in early July.

He hooked on with the Nationals on another minors deal not long after, but his time in the Washington organization didn’t go well. Over 160 plate appearances with the Red Wings, Dietrich slumped to a .121/.270/.212 line, with his walk rate more than cut in half relative to his time in the Yankees’ system. He’ll now hit the open market and look for another opportunity. Dietrich hasn’t appeared in the majors this season, but he saw big league action with the Marlins, Reds and Rangers from 2013-20.

Swihart hasn’t appeared in the majors in two seasons. A one-time top prospect in the Red Sox system, Swihart always came with some defensive question marks behind the plate but was expected to be a high-end offensive player. He’s never really found his footing at the plate in the majors, though, hitting .243/.301/.355 in 696 plate appearances between Boston and the D-Backs from 2015-19. Signed to a minors deal in January, the left-handed hitting Swihart had a .198/.299/.339 mark in 204 plate appearances in Rochester.

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