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Archives for July 2022

Braves Trade Touki Toussaint To Angels For Cash Considerations

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The Braves have traded right-hander Touki Toussaint to the Angels for cash considerations, the Angels announced. To make room on the active roster, Jack Mayfield was designated for assignment.

The Braves had to make a move with Toussaint, whom they recently designated for assignment. Atlanta had high hopes for Toussaint, but things did not break his way and he’ll now have the opportunity for a fresh start with a perennially pitching-hungry Los Angeles organization.

Toussaint has not pitched in the Majors this season. He owns a career 5.46 ERA/5.37 FIP over 145 career innings spanning four seasons. He has pitched both out of the rotation and the bullpen for Atlanta since his debut in 2018. This season, Toussaint has a 6.26 ERA in 41 2/3 innings in Triple-A.

The Angels will see if they can get Toussaint on the right track. He made Baseball America’s Top 100 prospects list in 2015 (#71), 2016 (#90), and again in 2019 (#53). Despite the promise, Toussaint hasn’t been able to carve out a regular role on talented Braves’ teams.

As for Mayfield, the 31-year-old infielder is hitting a mere .186/.230/.271 over 74 plate appearances. He’s been a player that the Angels have turned to often this season. The right-hander has also played for the Mariners and Astros in his career. He’ll have to pass through waivers now before the Angels can outright him to Triple-A.

Guardians Promote James Karinchak, Place Anthony Gose On 15-Day Injured List

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The Guardians have called up flamethrowing reliever James Karinchak from Triple-A, per Marla Ridenour of the Akron Beacon Journal. Karinchak was activated from a rehab assignment and optioned to Triple-A only yesterday, but an injury in the bullpen prompted Cleveland to call on their one-time stopper. He will make his season debut for the big league club whenever he first gets into a game.

Karinchak was briefly the preeminent fireman in the game during a breakout 2020 campaign that saw him post a 2.67 ERA in 27 appearances over the final two months of the season. Karinchak picked up eight holds and a save while striking out an absurd 48.6 percent of opposing batters. There seemed little doubt that the former ninth-round draft pick would be a key part of the Guardians’ end-of-game formula moving forward.

It began that way in 2021 as Karinchak picked up 11 saves and didn’t even allow an earned run until his 14th outing of the season. Things took a turn for the worse, however, and Karinchak ended the year on the injured list. Not to draw a direct correlation, but it was certainly a point of interest that Karinchak began to struggle around the time of MLB’s crackdown on sticky stuff. From June 21 when MLB started checking for banned substances until the end of the season, Karinchak’s ERA bloated to 5.70 ERA/6.09 FIP. Of course, he also sustained an injury, and there could be any number of mitigating circumstances that led Karinchak’s effectiveness to wane down the stretch.

In the corresponding move, Anthony Gose was placed on the 15-day injured list with a strained left triceps. The injury isn’t thought to be serious. Ridenour provides this quote from pitching coach Carl Willis, who said of the roster move, “Unfortunately we had to go the IL route just because with the doubleheaders and the schedule as it is, we can’t go short one day.”

Gose is perhaps the heartwarming, this-is-why-we-love-this-game story of the year. The 31-year-old former outfielder has successfully pulled off a reverse Rick Ankiel and made himself into a valued piece of Cleveland’s bullpen. The southpaw has appeared in 22 games, logged 21 innings of work, and posted an overall 4.71 ERA/5.07 FIP while striking out an impressive 30.4 percent of enemy combatants. He has struggled a bit with his command, however, walking 15.2% of batters, almost double the Major League average 8.2 percent walk rate. Based on Willis’ comments, the Guardians likely expect Gose to return once his 15 days are up.

Dodgers, Austin Barnes Agree To Two-Year Extension

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7:40 PM: Barnes’ new deal is worth $7MM over the two years, giving the backup catcher a slight yearly raise over his current $2.65MM salary, per Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic (via Twitter).

2:40 PM: The Dodgers and catcher Austin Barnes have agreed to a two-year contract extension, reports Robert Murray of FanSided. The financial terms of the deal aren’t yet publicly known. Barnes was slated to reach free agency at the end of this season but will instead stick around Los Angeles a while longer.

Barnes is already in his eighth season with the Dodgers, where he’s found the rare situation of being both a backup and a franchise stalwart. Barnes has never had more than 262 plate appearances in a given season. For his career, he currently owns a .224/.334/.356 line across 1,242 plate appearances. Of course, the Dodgers value him for his defense and intangibles more than his offensive prowess.

The Dodgers thought enough of Barnes that they sent top prospect Keibert Ruiz to the Nationals to acquire Trea Turner and Max Scherzer. One can’t help but wonder if they might at some point do the same with prospect Diego Cartaya. Cartaya coincidentally left today’s game with an injury, though that had no bearing on this deal.

Anthony DeSclafani Out For The Season

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Giants righty Anthony DeSclafani will be out for the rest of the season. He was placed on the injured list on June 28 for what, at the time, was judged to be right ankle inflammation.

It’s now been determined that he needs surgery to “set the peroneal tendon in his right ankle,” per MLB.com’s Maria I. Guardado (via Twitter). Recovery time is expected to be four to five months. As his surgery is set for July 12, he will not return to the hill this season.

DeSclafani seemed to find himself last season in a prove-it contract year. He made 31 starts for the Giants, logged 167 2/3 innings, and pitched to a 3.17 ERA/3.62 FIP with career-best strikeout and walk rates.

The 32-year-old is in the first year of a three-year, $36MM deal that he signed this past winter. Both parties certainly hoped for more than five starts and the 9.95 ERA DeSclafani currently owns. Of course, those five starts (19 innings) hardly means much in the grand scheme of things. Even so, a 4.86 FIP certainly provides a touch of promise for team and player to dream on as they look to 2023.

The Giants have survived without DeSclafani thanks to a strong front four of Logan Webb, Carlos Rodon, Alex Wood, and Alex Cobb. Jakob Junis and Sammy Long have been the primary stand-ins for DeSclafani so far, with seven and five starts, respectively. Both have performed well. Still, as the year wears on, it would not be surprising to see the Giants explore adding reinforcements from outside the organization.

Cubs Notes: Suzuki, Madrigal, Schwindel, Stroman

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The Cubs have a number of players on the injured list who are nearing their return. The closest to returning is rookie outfielder Seiya Suzuki, who could rejoin the club as early as tomorrow, per MLB.com’s Jordan Bastian (via Twitter). Suzuki was the man of the hour in April as his Major League career got off to a bang, slashing .279/.405/.529 across 84 plate appearances in March and April. May was less kind to Suzuki as he hit .211/.279/.338 across 79 plate appearances before landing on the injured list with a right finger sprain. Suzuki has been out for almost six weeks now.

Zooming out, the Cubs are taking stock of what kind of talent they have on hand this season, with Suzuki presumably a part of the long-term outfield picture, along with rookie Christopher Morel and veteran Ian Happ, though Morel and Happ both have enough versatility to move around the diamond a bit. Another piece of that long-term position player picture is second baseman Nick Madrigal, who plans on taking live batting practice on Tuesday, notes Bastian. Madrigal missed three weeks with a back issue and returned to the lineup for just under two weeks before landing back on the shelf with a groin strain that’s kept him out of action for another three weeks.

This season was supposed to be a time for Madrigal to establish himself along with Nico Hoerner as the middle infield of the future in Chicago. Madrigal wasn’t hitting much, with just a 45 wRC+ through 115 plate appearances. That said, he wasn’t having much batted ball luck (.264 BABIP). He was striking out a little more than usual – though with a 14.3 percent strikeout rate, he was still putting the ball in play far more often than the average Major Leaguer. It’s a small sample size on which to judge Madrigal, and the Cubs would love to see him return soon to start taking ABs back from David Bote and Andrelton Simmons.

First baseman Frank Schwindelwill join Madrigal for some batting practice on Tuesday as he aims to return from a couple of weeks away with a lower back strain. Swindel’s long-term role on the Cubs is less obvious, given that he’s already 30 years old, but he’s also not likely to be arbitration-eligible until the 2025 season. Schwindel could turn into an interesting trade piece, but he’ll have to hit better upon his return. Currently, Frank the Tank owns just an 83 wRC+ on the year. As a right-handed first baseman/designated hitter, Schwindel will need to hit in order to generate much value, be that on the diamond or in a trade.

On the other side of the ball, the Cubs have a pair of starting pitchers in Marcus Stroman and Drew Smyly who will make rehab starts this week. Smyly begins his rehab with a start in Single-A on Monday, while Stroman is closer to returning to Wrigley, pitching for the Iowa Cubs in Triple-A. All of the Cubs’ veteran additions to the rotation have struggled to stay healthy this season, with Stroman and Smyly making nine starts apiece thus far, while Wade Miley has taken the hill just four times.

Injury Notes: Suarez, Soto, Montas

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The Phillies have placed starter Ranger Suarez on the 15-day injured list because of lower back spasms, retroactive to June 30, per the club. The Phillies had boasted one of the healthier rotations this season before losing both Suarez and Zach Eflin to the injured list this week. A corresponding roster move will likely be made before Tuesday’s game against the Nationals. The Phillies have an off day tomorrow to set up their rotation. In other injury news…

  • Juan Soto left today’s Nationals’ game with an apparent hamstring injury. It was later revealed to be tightness in Soto’s left calf that prompted his departure. He will have an MRI and be re-evaluated tomorrow, per Mark Zuckerman of MASNsports.com (via Twitter). Obviously, it would be crushing for the Nationals to lose Soto for any amount of time. Even with him, the Nats don’t have much hope for postseason play, but Soto remains the best and brightest attraction at Nats Park.
  • Athletics starter Frankie Montas left today’s start early after seeing a drop in velocity, per MLB.com’s Martin Gallegos. Montas’ heater was 2.4 mph slower than usual, while his sinker was 2.7 mph slower on average, notes Gallegos. The initial diagnosis is inflammation, reports Matt Kawahara of the San Francisco Chronicle, but they will need more time to evaluate. Not only is Montas Oakland’s nominal ace, but he’s been one of the more sought-after arms when it comes to the August 2nd trade deadline. A significant arm injury would obviously derail any plans to use the righty as a trade chip.

Rockies Acquire Corey Oswalt From Phillies For Cash Considerations

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The Rockies have acquired Triple-A right-hander Corey Oswalt from the Phillies in exchange for cash considerations, per The Athletic’s Matt Gelb (via Twitter).

Oswalt was drafted by the Mets in the seventh round of the June draft back in 2012. He worked his way through the system and made his Major League debut with New York back in 2018 as a 24-year-old. By the time he made his debut, he was the Mets’ 16th-ranked prospect, per Baseball America.

He made 12 starts and five relief appearances en route to totaling 64 2/3 innings in his rookie season, but only received spot time in the bigs since then, never making more than a handful of appearances. He did, however, appear in each of the last four campaigns with the Mets, and they remain the only professional organization he has appeared with in the bigs. In total, Oswalt owns a 5.89 ERA/5.39 FIP at the game’s highest level.

He started this season with the Giants Triple-A affiliate before the Phillies purchased his contract. Between the two clubs, the now-28-year-old Oswalt posted a 6.11 ERA over 35 1/3 innings. With the Rockies, he should have a clearer path to Major League innings.

Guardians Claim Oscar Mercado, Designate Yohan Ramirez

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The Guardians have announced that they claimed outfielder Oscar Mercado off waivers from the Phillies, with right-hander Yohan Ramirez being designated for assignment in a corresponding move.

It’s a quick return to Cleveland for Mercado, as the Guardians just designated him for assignment on June 21. He was claimed by the Phillies on June 27 before being designated for assignment again on July 1 and now being claimed and becoming a Guardian yet again.

Cleveland fans are likely familiar with the trajectory by now, with Mercado giving a tantalizing debut in 2019 but disappointing results since then. In that 2019 campaign, Mercado hit 15 homers and stole 15 bags, putting up a batting line of .269/.318/.443. Combined with his defensive contributions, he was worth 2.2 wins above replacement that year, according to FanGraphs.

Given that he was just 24 years old at the time, it seemed reasonable to expect that might have just been the tip of the iceberg, with even better results to come as he matured. Unfortunately, the opposite has happened, with Mercado putting up a line of .198/.254/.330 in the 2 1/2 seasons since then, a line that amounts to a wRC+ of 60.

After those tepid results, Cleveland seemingly gave up on him a couple weeks ago but has had a quick change of heart. It seemed possible that the Phillies would give him a real shot, given their troubles in the outfield. Though perhaps they were only interested in trying to pass him through waivers to be stashed as extra depth. Whatever their intentions, his stay in Philly has concluded after just a single plate appearance.

As for Ramirez, 27, he was an Astros prospect until Seattle nabbed him in the 2019 Rule 5 draft. He stuck with the Mariners through the shortened 2020 season, throwing 20 2/3 innings with a 2.61 ERA despite walking 21.3% of the batters he faced. In 2021, he logged another 27 2/3 innings at the big league level with a 3.90 ERA, 30.7% strikeout rate, 10.5% walk rate and 34.4% ground ball rate. He couldn’t sustain that this year, however, as his ERA shot up to 7.56 in 8 1/3 innings with the Mariners.

He was designated for assignment and eventually traded to Cleveland for cash considerations. The Guardians gave him just a single appearance at the big league level but 10 1/3 innings in Triple-A. His 4.35 ERA with Columbus isn’t awful, but that’s come despite an alarming 22.7% walk rate. The 27-year-old still has options and intriguing strikeout numbers. He could garner interest from other clubs, especially if any of them think they can help him with his control issues. The Guardians will have a week to trade him or pass him through waivers.

Dodgers Designate Ian Gibaut For Assignment

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The Dodgers announced to reporters, including Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic, a few roster moves prior to today’s game. One of them is the previously reported return of outfielder Mookie Betts from the injured list. Left-hander David Price was reinstated from the family medical emergency list. In corresponding moves, Eddy Alvarez was optioned to Triple-A Oklahoma City, while righty Ian Gibaut was designated for assignment.

Gibaut’s name has been filling up transaction logs in recent days, as he had his contract selected by the Guardians on June 27, was designated for assignment on June 28, claimed off waivers by the Dodgers on June 30 and now designated for assignment again today. He was able to make one scoreless appearance for the Guardians during that brief time on the squad, but now departs the Dodgers’ roster without getting into a game.

Through 19 2/3 Triple-A innings this season, he has a 3.20 ERA, 24.1% strikeout rate, 10.1% walk rate and 51% ground ball rate. Those results were intriguing enough for the 28-year-old to get a brief look with the Guardians and a passing glance from the Dodgers, indicating it’s likely he’ll now garner interest from other clubs looking for fresh arms. The Dodgers will have one week to work out a trade or pass him through waivers. Gibaut has previously been outrighted in his career and would be eligible to reject an outright assignment in favor of free agency.

Padres Select Tayler Scott, Designate Kyle Tyler

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The Padres have selected the contract of right-hander Tayler Scott. Lefty Ray Kerr will be optioned to create a spot for Scott on the active roster. Righty Kyle Tyler has been designated for assignment as the corresponding move.

This will be Scott’s first major league action since 2019, his only previous season in the bigs. He logged 16 1/3 innings that year between the Mariners and the Orioles, though was tattooed in that small sample to a 14.33 ERA. After that, he spent the next two seasons in Japan, suiting up for the Hiroshima Carp of Nippon Professional Baseball in 2020 and 2021.

He signed a minor league deal with the Padres in February and is having a nice season in Triple-A. Through 31 innings for El Paso, he has a 3.48 ERA, 28.7% strikeout rate, 6.2% walk rate and 45.8% ground ball rate. The Friars will now give the 30-year-old a chance to see if he can carry any of that over to the big league level.

As for Tyler, this is the sixth time he’s been designated for assignment this year. The incredible sequence of events started in March, when the Angels designated him for the first time. From there, he was claimed and quickly re-designated by the Red Sox, Padres, Angels and then the Padres again. On that fifth time, he cleared waivers and was outrighted by the Friars. Three days later, he was selected back to the big league team and has now received DFA #6. In the midst of all of that, he’s managed to throw four scoreless innings in the majors, along with 21 2/3 innings at Triple-A with a 4.98 ERA. If the previous months are any indication, he will surely garner attention from other clubs. The Padres will have one week to trade him or put him back on the waiver wire.

Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune reported Scott’s promotion and Kerr’s option before the official announcement.

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