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Mariners Outright Jimmy Yacabonis

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The Mariners announced that right-hander Jimmy Yacabonis has cleared waivers and been sent outright to Triple-A Tacoma. Yacabonis has the right to elect free agency as a player who has previously been outrighted in his career, although the team didn’t indicate he’s planning to do so.

Yacabonis saw brief big league action for Seattle last season but hasn’t yet appeared in the majors in 2021. The Mariners outrighted him off the roster last winter but brought him back on a minor league contract. He has spent almost the entire season with the Rainiers, working 31 1/3 innings of 1.72 ERA ball with fine strikeout and walk rates (23% and 7.1%, respectively). Seattle selected him to the big league roster last weekend but designated him for assignment a couple days later without his making an appearance.

Between 2017-20, Yacabonis pitched in the majors with the Orioles and Mariners. The 29-year-old owns a 5.71 ERA/5.56 SIERA over 104 frames at the highest level. Even if Yacabonis accepts the outright assignment, he’ll reach minor league free agency this offseason if not selected back onto the 40-man roster.

Mets Designate Geoff Hartlieb For Assignment

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The Mets have designated right-hander Geoff Hartlieb for assignment, per a club announcement. His spot on the roster goes to lefty Brad Hand, whose previously reported waiver claim has now been officially announced.

Hartlieb, 27, was claimed off waivers out of the Pirates organization earlier in the summer and appeared in just three big league games with the Mets, He was tagged for seven runs through 4 1/3 innings in that tiny sample. All in all, he has a 7.46 ERA in 66 1/3 big league innings dating back to 2019. He’s also had a rough go of it in 13 Triple-A frames with the Mets, which marks a departure from a generally excellent track record in the upper minors.

His struggles since being claimed by the Mets notwithstanding, Hartlieb carries a career 3.03 ERA in parts of six minor league seasons — including a 3.18 mark in 62 1/3 innings at the Triple-A level. He’s fanned just shy of 29 percent of the opponents he’s faced in parts of two Triple-A seasons and posted a very strong 56.3 percent ground-ball rate in that time as well.

The Mets will now either place Hartlieb on outright waivers or release waivers in the coming days. In addition to his strong numbers in the upper minors, Hartlieb has a minor league option remaining beyond the current season, so he could give another club some depth should they wish to place a claim.

Mets Claim Brad Hand

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The Mets have claimed left-handed reliever Brad Hand off waivers from the Blue Jays, reports MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo (Twitter thread). The Jays designated Hand for assignment earlier this week. Because he’s been acquired after Aug. 31, Hand would be ineligible for the Mets’ playoff roster, should the team qualify.

It proved to be a short stay in Toronto for Hand, who was acquired in a July 29th deal that sent catcher Riley Adams from Toronto to Washington. Hand had been in something of a slump with the Nats after a strong three-month start to the season and ultimately wasn’t able to turn the tide following a change of scenery. In 8 2/3 innings with the Jays, Hand yielded 10 runs (seven earned) on 13 hits and three walks with five strikeouts. Of those 13 knocks, three of them left the yard.

Hand is playing the season on a one-year, $10.5MM deal he signed with the Nationals in free agency. He’s still owed $1.75MM of that sum through season’s end, and by claiming him off waivers rather than letting him reach free agency and then attempting to sign him, the Mets are taking on the remainder of that salary.

Notably, the Mets had interest in Hand dating all the way back to the early stages of the 2020-21 offseason. Team president Sandy Alderson has gone on record to state that the team might have claimed Hand when the Indians placed him on waivers at the end of the 2020 campaign (in an effort to spare themselves the $1MM buyout on his $10MM club option). However, with the team’s ownership change not yet finalized, the Mets weren’t in a position to claim an eight-figure salary. Later in free agency, the Mets were reported to have made an offer similar to the $10.5MM deal Hand accepted from the division-rival Nationals.

That could have turned out to be a blessing in disguise for the Mets. Even setting aside Hand’s recent struggles, the Mets’ alternate course of action saw the team instead turn to sign southpaw Aaron Loup, who has pitched to a stellar 1.20 ERA through 45 innings while playing on a one-year, $3MM deal.

The Mets now have both lefties, and they’ll hope for a rebound for Hand. It’d likely be expecting too much to seek a return to his halcyon days with the Padres, when he pitched to a 2.62 ERA with a 33 percent strikeout rate in 240 1/3 innings from 2016-18. However, Hand pitched to a mid-2.00s ERA with the Nats up through the season’s first few months — albeit with a greatly diminished 23 percent strikeout rate and much more questionable marks from fielding-independent metrics than during his San Diego peak.

There’s not much risk for the Mets in claiming Hand, other than being out a bit of money for a player who has been struggling immensely in recent weeks. If Hand can return to form, he can help fuel an improbable postseason push and perhaps set himself up more nicely for his forthcoming return to the free-agent market. If the struggles persist, the Mets were already a long shot for the playoffs anyhow. They’re five games out of the division lead and five and a half back in the Wild Card hunt, but team president Sandy Alderson is still willing to make some moves and Cohen is still willing to spend some money to try to close that gap.

Red Sox Claim Taylor Motter

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The Red Sox have claimed infielder Taylor Motter off waivers from the Rockies, per a club announcement. Colorado designated Motter for assignment earlier in the week.

Motter, 31, only got a brief look with the Rockies before being designated for assignment, going 3-for-20 in 13 games upon having his contract selected from Triple-A Albuquerque. The well-traveled, journeyman utility player had been enjoying a monster season in Albuquerque, where he’d batted .335/.460/.759 with 24 home runs, 16 doubles and a triple in just 265 plate appearances. That type of pop has never previously been there for Motter, who entered the year with 44 career Triple-A home runs through 1410 plate appearances.

The Red Sox will be the fifth big league team for Motter, a career .189/.261/.304 hitter in parts of four seasons between the Rays, Mariners, Twins and Rockies. Motter has spent the bulk of time at second base and third base in 2021, but he has at least 300 professional innings at every position other than catcher and pitcher.

With the Red Sox currently being overrun by a Covid-19 outbreak that has sent eight players to the Covid-19-related injured list, there’s ample room for them to plug Motter directly onto the MLB roster. Boston is currently without Xander Bogaerts, Enrique Hernandez, Christian Arroyo and Yairo Munoz, so adding an infielder who can play multiple positions and was enjoying a hugely productive Triple-A season is eminently logical. Whether Motter can stick on the club once the Sox get back to full strength (or close to it) will be dependent on his performance in the days to come. He’d be ineligible for the postseason roster, should the Red Sox hang onto a spot, by virtue of the fact that he was acquired after Aug. 31.

Mets GM Zack Scott Facing DWI Charge

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Sept. 2: Scott pleaded not guilty to the DWI charge at this morning’s arraignment, writes Ryan Gerbosi of Newsday. He has another court date scheduled on Oct. 7.

Sept. 1: Mets acting general manager Zack Scott was arrested in White Plains, N.Y., early Tuesday morning, as first reported by Mike Puma, Craig McCarthy and Jorge Fitz-Gibbon of the New York Post. The Post reports that police found Scott “dozing” in a vehicle, at which point he allegedly refused a breathalyzer but failed a field sobriety test. CBS 2 New York indicates that an officer saw the vehicle in question “driving erratically” shortly before the arrest. Scott has been charged and is due back in White Plains City Court this Thursday, per the Post report.

The Mets issued a statement just minutes after the news of Scott’s arrest was reported, which reads as follows:

“We were surprised and deeply disappointed to learn this morning about an alleged DUI involving Zack Scott. We take this matter very seriously. Zack will not be traveling with the team for our upcoming road trip while we learn more and determine next steps.”

The 44-year-old Scott is in his first year with the Mets, having been hired out of the Red Sox organization, where he oversaw the pro scouting and analytics departments, this past offseason. Scott was originally hired as an assistant general manager but was elevated to the title of acting general manager after then-GM Jared Porter was fired.

Nationals Release Starlin Castro

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The Nationals have released infielder Starlin Castro, tweets Britt Ghiroli of The Athletic. The move comes in conjunction with the conclusion of Castro’s 30-game suspension under Major League Baseball’s domestic violence policy.

The team announced at the time of the suspension that Castro would be released once that ban had been served, so this was entirely expected. He was initially placed on administrative leave back on July 16, and the league brought forth a 30-game suspension after looking into the allegations against him.

“Having reviewed all of the available evidence, I have concluded that Mr. Castro violated our Policy and that discipline is appropriate,” commissioner Rob Manfred said when announcing the suspension.

“We fully support the Commissioner’s decision and will be releasing Starlin Castro upon the completion of his suspension,” the Nationals said in a statement shortly thereafter, adding that the club would have no further comment on the matter.

Castro had been playing on a two-year, $12MM contract signed in the 2019-20 offseason. He was limited to just 16 games by a fractured wrist in 2020 and logged 87 games in 2021 before being placed on administrative leave. In 103 games and 409 plate appearances with the Nationals, Castro logged a .280/.328/.387 line.

Adalberto Mondesi Moving To Third Base

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The Royals reinstated Adalberto Mondesi from the injured list when rosters expanded to 28 yesterday, but he won’t be moving back to his customary spot at shortstop, per Anne Rogers of MLB.com. Instead he’ll split the majority of his time between third base and designated hitter for at least the remainder of the 2021 season.

It’s a decision brought about largely by a strong showing from fellow infielder Nicky Lopez, who has put together a nice season while Mondesi has been limited to just 10 games due to a pair of oblique strains (one on each side of his body) and a hamstring strain. In Mondesi’s absence, Lopez has turned in a .292/.363/.363 batting line and gone 18-for-18 in stolen bases.

The 26-year-old Lopez’s offense is heavily BABIP-dependent thanks to his lack of power, but even if his current .342 mark began to regress, his glovework at shortstop is enough to keep him in the lineup. Lopez has positive marks at shortstop across the board. He’s made just six errors in 979 innings at short and has plus rankings in Defensive Runs Saved (3), Ultimate Zone Rating (5.2) and Statcast’s Outs Above Average (11). That plus-11 mark in OAA is the fourth-highest of any Major League player at any position in 2021.

For the time being, the move to third base likely displaces Hunter Dozier, who’s been struggling to find his form at the plate all season. Dozier looked to perhaps be righting the ship with a strong July performance, but his bat wilted in the month since that hot streak. He’s hitting .203/.272/.351 on the whole as he plays out the first season of a four-year, $25MM contract extension he inked with Kansas City following what looked to be a breakout 2019 showing (.279/.348/.522, 26 home runs, 123 wRC+). Dozier can see some time at first base, at designated hitter and in the outfield corners with Mondesi at third base, and he can of course continue taking reps at the hot corner on days when it’s Monedsi who is tabbed as the designated hitter.

Looking further down the road, an eventual position change for Mondesi has never seemed far-fetched — not with top prospect Bobby Witt Jt. rapidly rising through the system. Witt, the No. 2 overall pick in the 2019 draft, has split his 2021 season between Double-A and Triple-A, batting a combined .299/.364/.595 with 28 home runs, 28 doubles, four triples and 22 stolen bases. If shortstop is his eventual home on the diamond, it stands to reason that one of Mondesi or Lopez (perhaps even both) would be pushed into a more fluid role, seeing time at multiple positions. The Royals have Whit Merrifield installed at second base this season, but Merrifield can certainly handle the outfield and, speculatively speaking, could be ticketed for more time there in 2022 as the infield picture begins to shift.

Royals general manager Dayton Moore was rather candid when discussing Mondesi’s durability issues earlier this summer, stating publicly that the Royals aren’t able to count on the talented but oft-injured 26-year-old as their everyday option at shortstop. “He may not be a guy that plays more than 100 games a year, best-case scenario,” Moore said at the time. The GM emphasized that the Royals “love Mondi to death” and have no plans to move on from him but simply “can’t, obviously, count on him as an everyday player.”

The Royals control Mondesi for two seasons beyond the current campaign — the same amount of time for which they control the aforementioned Merrifield. Mondesi is making $2.525MM in 2021, and his limited number of games played will keep any raise paid out through arbitration rather minimal. How he handles the move to third base — a position he has not played at all in his professional career — could in some ways influence the Royals’ approach to the 2021-22 offseason. Moore’s prior comments suggest Kansas City won’t count on Mondesi as the regular third baseman even if he wows defensively, but if he looks relatively comfortable there it’s certainly possible that could impact their infield pursuits this winter.

Every Team’s Initial September Callups

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The limit on active roster players expanded from 26 to 28 today, as the calendar flipped to September. Every team announced at least two additions to the big league club (some teams made three or more due to injured list placements). Here’s a recap of today’s spate of transactions:

Nationals Select Alberto Baldonado

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The Nationals announced they’ve selected reliever Alberto Baldonado to the big league roster. Catcher Alex Avila was also reinstated from the 10-day injured list. No additional moves were necessary, as active rosters expanded from 26 to 28 players today and the Nats already had a vacancy on the 40-man roster.

It’s a long-awaited first big league call for Baldonado, who has spent eleven years in the minors over his professional career. Signed by the Mets out of Panama during the 2009-10 international period, the left-hander spent the next seven seasons in the New York organization. He signed with the Cubs as a minor league free agent after 2017 and spent the next couple seasons with their top affiliate but never got a big league opportunity.

Baldonado signed a minor league deal with Washington over the winter. The 28-year-0ld has split the season between Double-A Harrisburg and Triple-A Rochester, posting a 2.88 ERA over 40 2/3 innings. Baldonado has backed up that run prevention with a strong 28.8% strikeout rate and a tiny 5.5% walk percentage to earn his first MLB look.

Avila is back after missing nearly two months due to bilateral calf strains. The lefty-hitting backstop owns a .167/.345/.288 line over 85 plate appearances this season. With the Nationals turning their attention toward 2022, he figures to assume a veteran mentor type of role over the season’s final few weeks, with young catchers Keibert Ruiz and Riley Adams needing regular playing time at the big league level.

White Sox Sign Carl Edwards Jr.; Kyle Crick Opts Out Of Minors Deal

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The White Sox signed reliever Carl Edwards Jr. to a minor league contract yesterday, per an announcement from their Triple-A affiliate in Charlotte. He had been released by the Blue Jays earlier in the week.

Edwards has appeared in the big leagues with both the Braves and Toronto already this season. Between the two clubs, he has only tallied 5 2/3 innings, allowing seven runs. Edwards landed on the injured list with an oblique strain in mid-June and has spent the past couple months recovering. While he recently embarked upon a rehab assignment, the Jays evidently decided to release him rather than bring him back to the big league roster.

It has been a difficult few seasons for Edwards, who was once high-end reliever during his time with the Cubs. Between 2016-18, Edwards posted a 3.03 ERA across 154 1/3 innings for the North Siders. Injury issues and an increasing propensity for issuing walks, however, have knocked him off course in recent seasons.

While the White Sox didn’t announce their deal with Edwards until this morning, that it was finalized yesterday is significant. Players in an organization by August 31 are eligible for a team’s postseason roster, so Edwards could be an option for the ChiSox come playoff time. There’s no question Chicago will reach the playoffs, given their insurmountable lead in the AL Central. Of course, Edwards would have to pitch his way into the big league bullpen to warrant that consideration.

While Chicago adds some right-handed relief depth with the Edwards signing, they’re losing Kyle Crick to free agency. MLBTR’s Steve Adams reports that Crick has triggered an opt-out clause in his minor league deal and been granted his release. The former Pirate signed with Chicago a month ago and tossed 10 1/3 innings of one-run ball with Charlotte, striking out fifteen while issuing just three walks. That strong showing should help him find another opportunity elsewhere in relatively short order.

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