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Archives for April 2023

White Sox Sign Stephen Piscotty To Minor League Deal

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Veteran outfielder Stephen Piscotty has joined the White Sox on a minor league deal and been assigned to their Triple-A team in Charlotte, per a release from the Knights. Piscotty was a free agent after the Giants released him at the end of spring training.

An eight year MLB veteran, Piscotty has appeared for the Cardinals and Athletics during his career, slashing a combined .255/.324/.430 over 726 big league games.

He last appeared for Oakland last season, putting up a .190/.252/.341 with five home runs over 139 plate appearances. That was another season of generally declining offensive output for Piscotty, who was considered an above average hitter by wRC+ for most of the early parts of his career.

A first round pick by the Cardinals back in 2012, Piscotty burst onto the scene with a .305/.359/.494 rookie year in 2015 which saw him finish sixth in NL Rookie of the Year voting. He’d continue to put up good numbers for St Louis, posting a .268/.346/.438 line with 38 home runs between 2015-17, and they’d extend him on a six-year, $33.5MM deal in April of 2017.

The majority of that contract was played out elsewhere though, as Piscotty was traded to Oakland ahead of the 2018 season. It started brightly, as Piscotty posted the best full season of his career in 2018, hitting 27 home runs and getting a 126 wRC+. Things tailed off after that though, and Piscotty has been below average since 2019.

The White Sox are fairly well stocked in the outfield, with Andrew Benintendi, Luis Robert and rookie Oscar Colas manning the positions, but the bench picture is not quite as clear and if Piscotty can find his hitting touch at Triple-A it stands to reason he could factor in off the bench for the big league club at some point.

Phillies Sign Drew Ellis To Minor League Deal

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The Phillies have added free agent third baseman Drew Ellis on a minor league deal, according to Baseball America’s transactions tracker.

The 27-year-old 100 plate appearances over a couple of seasons with the Diamondbacks and Mariners, putting together a .141/.270/.212 line with a solitary home run since his debut in 2021. A second round draft pick by the Diamondbacks in 2017, Ellis put up solid numbers coming up through the minor but broke out in a big way in 2021. That year at Triple-A, Ellis slashed .294/.399/.615 with 20 home runs over 358 plate appearances.

Unfortunately, that form hasn’t translated to the big leagues in his opportunities there, and Ellis posted far more subdued numbers in Triple-A last year, slashing .226/.355/.455 with 19 home runs. He was in camp with the Mariners this year, but was released back in March.

The bulk of his time has been spent at third base, but he has logged time at second in the big leagues (as well as first and short in the minors). At third, Ellis totaled -5 Defensive Runs Saved and -6 Outs Above Average across 182 1/3 defensive innings.

Mariners Sign Eric Stout To Minor League Deal

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The Mariners have added some left-handed pitching depth, bringing in Eric Stout on a minor league deal, per Baseball America’s transactions page. The 30-year-old was a free agent after being released from the Cubs’ organization.

Drafted in the 13th round in 2014 by the Royals, Kansas City handed Stout a brief debut in 2018. He was knocked around for six earned runs in just three outings and was released by the organizations not long after. Since then Stout’s largely bounced around the league providing bullpen depth.

Seattle will be the seventh team he’s been employed by, with the Cubs and Pirates the only two beyond the Royals that he’s made it to the big leagues. Those appearances came last year, when Stout pitched a combined 22 1/3 innings across Chicago and Pittsburgh, working to a 5.64 ERA with a 22.7% strikeout rate and a 14.6% walk rate. As is often the case with left-handers, the splits were stark as right-handed hitters torched Stout to the tune of a .359/.477/.623 line, while left-handers were held to a .158/.289/.184 line.

Gabe Speier and Tayler Saucedo are the current left-handers in the Mariners’ bullpen, and while Stout will link up with the team’s Triple-A affiliate, the inevitable churn of a major league bullpen over the course of a long season could see opportunities for Stout to contribute down the line.

Guardians Planning To Promote Logan Allen

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The Guardians have informed reporters, including Mandy Bell of MLB.com, that pitching prospect Logan Allen is the planned starter for Sunday’s game, weather permitting. Allen isn’t currently on the 40-man roster and will require a corresponding move.

The 24-year-old Allen, not to be confused with former Guardian Logan Allen, was selected by the Guards in the second round of the 2020 draft. He has since shot up through the minor leagues, racking up huge strikeout totals along the way. In 2021, he pitched in High-A and Double-A, posting a 2.26 ERA in 111 1/3 innings. He struck out 33.2% of batters faced while walking just 6% of them. Last year, he tossed 132 2/3 innings between Double-A and Triple-A. His 4.75 combined ERA doesn’t look especially impressive, but the under-the-hood numbers are much nicer. He punched out 31.5% of opponents while giving free passes 9.1% of the time. The ERA was likely inflated by a .335 batting average on balls in play and 68.5% strand rate, both of those being on the unlucky side of typical averages.

Coming into the season, he was ranked the #85 prospect in the game at Baseball America, though he’s since moved up to #80. FanGraphs had him at #57 and ESPN at #53, though he didn’t crack the list at MLB Pipeline. He’s made three starts at Triple-A so far this year with a 1.26 ERA, 34.5% strikeout rate, 8.6% walk rate and 57.6% ground ball rate.

The Guardians have been dealing with a few injuries to their rotation this year, with Triston McKenzie on the 60-day injured list due to a teres major strain and Aaron Civale on the 15-day IL due to a strained oblique. That pushed Peyton Battenfield and Hunter Gaddis into the mix, though the latter posted a 7.64 ERA in four starts and was optioned to the minors this week. The Guardians have a seemingly never-ending supply of intriguing pitching prospects and will give Allen a shot at taking that open rotation spot this weekend as long as Mother Nature cooperates.

Since Allen is getting promoted a few weeks into the season, he can’t earn a full year of service time the traditional way. A major league season is 187 days long but a player needs 172 days in the big leagues, or on the injured list, to earn a full year. Allen would fall short of that even if he were to remain in the majors the rest of the way. However, there is one way he could still earn that full year of service, courtesy of the latest collective bargaining agreement. Any player with less than 60 days of MLB service coming into the season who was on at least two of the preseason top 100 prospect lists at Baseball America, ESPN or MLB Pipeline receives a full year if they finish in the top two in Rookie of the Year voting. This already happened once when Adley Rutschman finished second in the Rookie of the Year voting to Julio Rodríguez last year. Rutschman had missed the start of the season on the injured list but was able to get a full year of service regardless.

As mentioned, Allen didn’t crack the MLB Pipeline list but was on the BA and ESPN lists, making him eligible for that full year. But doing so would require him not only sticking on the roster, but thriving enough to earn those votes at year’s end.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Marlins, Ronald Bolanos Agree To Minor League Contract

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The Marlins have signed right-hander Ronald Bolaños to a minor league deal, as noted by Chris Hilburn-Trenkle of Baseball America. He was assigned to Triple-A Jacksonville, where he tossed four scoreless innings in his first start of the season tonight.

Bolaños, 26, has reached the major league level in each of the past four seasons. He broke into the professional ranks with the Padres and debuted at the MLB level with San Diego in 2019. The following summer, the Friars traded Bolaños alongside outfielder Franchy Cordero to the Royals for left-handed reliever Tim Hill.

Over the last three years, Bolaños has seen sporadic MLB action with Kansas City. He made two starts during the shortened 2020 season and was limited to three big league outings in 2021, largely because of an extended injured list stint with a forearm strain. He returned to throw 18 1/3 frames over eight relief appearances last year but walked and struck out 12 batters apiece. Midway through the season, K.C. designated Bolaños for assignment and ran him through outright waivers.

The native of Cuba spent the second half of the season in Triple-A Omaha. He posted a 6.26 ERA over 41 2/3 frames, working primarily as a multi-inning reliever. Bolaños qualified for minor league free agency at year’s end and remained on the open market until catching on with Miami.

Altogether, Bolaños owns a 5.25 ERA in 48 major league frames. He’s allowed just under five earned runs per nine innings over 413 1/3 career innings in the minors. The 6’2″ hurler relies primarily on a sinker that averaged just north of 93 MPH last season and has a decent track record of keeping the ball on the ground. He’ll offer the Fish a depth option for either the rotation or long relief. Bolaños is out of minor league option years, so if he earns an MLB call at any point, the Marlins would have to keep him in the majors or again designate him for assignment.

A’s, Francisco Perez Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Athletics have signed reliever Francisco Pérez to a minor league contract, according to Chris Hilburn-Trenkle of Baseball America. The left-hander had been released from a non-roster deal with the Nationals during Spring Training.

Pérez has pitched in the majors in each of the last two seasons. He debuted with Cleveland late in the 2021 campaign, appearing in four games. The Nationals snagged him off waivers at the end of that year. Pérez held his 40-man roster spot for a season and got into 10 MLB contests with Washington last year. The Nationals ran him through outright waivers at the end of last season.

In 14 career appearances, the Dominican Republic native has tallied 15 1/3 innings of 10-run ball. He’s issued 12 walks while punching out 12 hitters in that rather brief look. He’s leaned heavily on a four-seam fastball that averages around 93 MPH while using a mid-80s slider as his top secondary offering.

Pérez spent the bulk of the 2022 season with the Nationals’ Triple-A affiliate in Rochester. He worked 46 2/3 innings over 45 outings for the Red Wings, allowing a 4.82 ERA. The 25-year-old punched out a strong 29.9% of batters faced at the top minor league level, though he also dished out free passes at a huge 15.7% clip.

The Nats were sufficiently intrigued by the bat-missing numbers in Triple-A to re-sign Pérez to a minor league deal over the winter. He only got into two Spring Training contests before being reassigned to minor league camp and subsequently released. He now joins the third organization of his career, where he’ll presumably head to Triple-A in search of a new opportunity.

Oakland has a pair of left-handers in the MLB bullpen: Sam Moll and Richard Lovelady. They recently turned to Hogan Harris for his MLB debut in relief, though he’s worked as a starting pitcher in the minors. The only other left-handed reliever who’d have a 40-man roster spot is Kirby Snead but he’s on the 60-day injured list after suffering a shoulder strain in Spring Training. Former Marlin Jake Fishman is at Triple-A Las Vegas as a non-roster depth pitcher but landed on the minor league IL two weeks ago.

Dylan Moore Headed For MRI With Core Discomfort

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Mariners utilityman Dylan Moore hasn’t played all season. He suffered a Grade 1 oblique strain during Spring Training, an injury that shut him down from baseball activities for a few weeks. It looked as if he was nearing his return, as he embarked on a rehab assignment with High-A Everett on Tuesday.

Moore only played in one game for the AquaSox, tallying three plate appearances. Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times tweets that Moore experienced some core discomfort coming out of that game. He’ll be returned from his rehab assignment and head to Philadelphia for an MRI.

The right-handed hitter indicated his current soreness isn’t in the oblique area. It’s concerning nevertheless, as Moore had a core injury late last season that necessitated offseason surgery. His upcoming imaging will be with the surgeon who performed that procedure, according to Divish.

Moore signed a three-year extension in February. That was a testament to the value the Seattle front office and coaching staff put on his defensive flexibility, baserunning and right-handed bat. Moore’s offense has been up-and-down throughout his career, but he’s coming off a .224/.368/.385 showing in 255 plate appearances. Consistently high strikeout totals have resulted in a lowly .208 career batting average. Moore draws plenty of walks and has enough power to post roughly league average on-base (.317) and slugging (.384) marks after considering Seattle’s pitcher-friendly park.

The Mariners planned for Moore to platoon with trade acquisition Kolten Wong at second base. The lefty-hitting Wong has taken the bulk of the at-bats, with a handful of plate appearances going to Sam Haggerty and José Caballero. Seattle second basemen enter play Friday with a woeful .088/.171/.103 line over 77 trips, largely because of Wong’s frigid start with his new team. The veteran infielder is hitting .098/.190/.098 over 16 games as a Mariner.

In more fortunate injury news, reliever Andrés Muñoz is set to begin a rehab stint with Triple-A Tacoma next week, tweets the Seattle Times’ Adam Jude. Muñoz hit the injured list on April 8 with a deltoid strain. It seems he’s in line to return not long after a minimal 15-day absence. The flamethrowing right-hander worked 65 innings of 2.49 ERA ball with an elite 38.7% strikeout percentage last season, breaking through as one of the sport’s best late-game weapons.

Twins Reinstate Jorge Polanco

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The Twins announced a series of roster moves today, with infielder Jorge Polanco reinstated from the injured list and right-hander Simeon Woods Richardson recalled from Triple-A. In corresponding moves, righty Jorge Alcalá and infielder Edouard Julien were optioned to Triple-A. The Polanco-Julien swap was reported by Twins Farm Report on Twitter prior to the official club announcement.

Polanco, 29, is in tonight’s lineup, batting fifth and playing second base. This will be his first major league game since August of last year. He was placed on the injured list in early September due to left knee inflammation and wasn’t able to return. As this year’s Spring Training ramped up, everything seemed aligned for him to make the Opening Day roster, but he was eventually slowed down in the middle of March with what chief baseball officer Derek Falvey called “normal soreness.” That ultimate led to an IL-placement on Opening Day, but he’ll now slot back into the Minnesota lineup for the first time in almost eight months.

He began his career as a shortstop and didn’t get especially strong marks for his glovework but showed encouraging offensive abilities. By the end of 2018, he had appeared in 288 games and struck out in just 16.2% of his plate appearances while demonstrating a bit of power with 23 home runs. His .272/.329/.420 batting line amounted to a wRC+ of 100, indicating he was exactly league average in that time.

The Twins clearly believed that Polanco would grow into something more, as they then signed him to a five-year, $25.75MM extension with a couple of club options. Polanco has since proved them right, hitting 75 home runs over the past four seasons, one of which was the pandemic-shortened 2020 campaign. His .270/.337/.459 line in that time amounts to a wRC+ of 117. He’s since moved to second base in deference to stronger shortstop defenders like Andrelton Simmons and Carlos Correa.

Polanco is now in the final guaranteed season of that extension, though it seems likely that those options will be picked up. The 2024 option is valued at $10.5MM with a $1MM buyout, making it a net $9.5MM decision. The 2025 option is worth $12.5MM with a $750K buyout, making it a net $11.75MM decision. Those are reasonable salaries for a potent bat at an up-the-middle position.

While Polanco has been out of action this year, most of the playing time at second base has gone to Julien, Nick Gordon and Kyle Farmer. Julien will now go back to the minors to get regular work down there. Farmer went on the IL last week after getting hit in the face by a fastball from Lucas Giolito. Though the incident looked quite scary on the broadcast, Farmer managed to avoid any fractures and was mostly limited to dental injuries. He told Betsy Helfand of the St. Paul Pioneer Press today that he still has to get four root canals next week but has started doing baseball activities like hitting off a tee and taking ground balls.

Angels Select Austin Warren, Chad Wallach; Designate Justin Garza

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5:50pm: The Angels have now announced all the moves listed below, as well as the fact that right-hander Justin Garza has been designated for assignment as the move to open up a second spot on the 40-man roster. The 29-year-old Garza posted a 4.71 ERA in 21 games with Cleveland in 2021 but hasn’t made it back to the big leagues since. The Angels signed him to a split contract over the winter and he has a 4.32 ERA through six Triple-A appearances so far this year.

5:30pm: Bollinger adds (Twitter links) that right-hander Jimmy Herget was optioned as the corresponding move for Warren, and that catcher Logan O’Hoppe has been placed on the 10-day injured list due to his shoulder injury. Chad Wallach was selected to take O’Hoppe’s spot, but he wasn’t on the 40-man and will need a corresponding move.

The optioning of Herget comes as a surprise as he registered a 2.48 ERA last year and got himself some high-leverage work, racking up nine saves and six holds. However, he’s struggled to a 6.23 ERA so far this season, with his strikeout rate dropping to 13.2% after being at 23.7% last year.

The club still doesn’t know the severity of the shoulder issue that has been plaguing O’Hoppe of late, but he’ll sit for a week-plus while they figure it out. Wallach is a 31-year-old with 90 games of major league experience scattered over the past six seasons. He’s hit .198/.265/.296 in that time but has a good reputation for his defense and game calling.

5:20pm: The Angels have added right-hander Austin Warren to their 40-man roster, reports Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com (Twitter links). The club already has a vacancy on their 40-man due to outrighting infielder David Fletcher earlier this week, though a corresponding move will be required to get Warren onto the active roster.

Warren, 27, was selected by the Angels in the sixth round of the 2018 draft and has spent his entire career with the organization to this point. He was selected to the big league roster in 2021 and has 30 games of major league experience thus far. He has a 3.47 ERA in 36 1/3 innings, striking out 18.8% of his opponents, walking just 6.5% of them and getting grounders on 45.9% of balls in play.

Back in January, Warren was designated for assignment when the club signed Brett Phillips, ultimately clearing waivers and sticking with the organization. He started the year at Triple-A and tossed seven scoreless innings over five appearances before getting brought back to the big leagues today. He’ll give a fresh arm to an Angels bullpen that has seen a decent amount of work this week. Shohei Ohtani’s start on Monday was interrupted by a rain delay when he had only thrown two innings and he didn’t return after the game resumed. Then José Suarez lasted just 3 1/3 innings on Tuesday. Griffin Canning got to 5 1/3 frames on Wednesday but Patrick Sandoval tallied just four innings yesterday.

Warren still has a couple of options remaining, which means he can be easily sent back down to the minors the next time the Halos need to make a bullpen swap.

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