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Mets Select Alex Ramirez

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The Mets announced Tuesday that they’ve selected the contract of outfield prospect Alex Ramirez, thus protecting him from next month’s Rule 5 Draft. Their 40-man roster now has 33 players.

Ramirez, 20, followed up an impressive 2022 season with a tough year at High-A in 2023. He appeared in 120 games and tallied 521 plate appearances with just a .221/.310/.317 batting line to show for it. Ramirez hit seven homers, adding 21 doubles, a triple and a 21-for-27 showing in stolen base attempts.

Earlier in the year, Ramirez ranked on the back end of Baseball America’s Top 100 prospect rankings, though his rough season at the plate caused his stock to dip enough that he’s now off the list. Despite the rocky showing, Ramirez’s tools still draw plenty of praise. He’s regarded as an above-average runner and more than capable center fielder with a plus arm and above-average power. He was still more than two years younger than his average opponent in High-A, so there’s still plenty of time for him to iron out the kinks and restore much of his prospect status.

Yankees Select Agustin Ramirez, Clayton Beeter

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The Yankees announced that they have selected the contracts of right-hander Clayton Beeter and catcher Agustin Ramirez. Today is the deadline for a club to add players to its 40-man roster in order to protect them from being eligible in the Rule 5 draft.

Beeter, 25, was selected by the Dodgers with the 66th overall pick in the 2020 draft. He came to the Yanks in the 2022 deadline deal that sent Joey Gallo to Los Angeles. Beeter split the 2023 season between Double-A and Triple-A, tossing 131 2/3 innings over 27 appearances, 26 starts. He struck out an impressive 28.8% of batters faced on the year but also issued walks at a 13.1% clip. That lack of control is nothing new, as he has walked 12.6% of batters faced in his minor league career overall.

Ramirez, 22, was signed as an international amateur out of Venezuela in 2018. In 2023, he spent time in Single-A, High-A and Double-A, getting 492 plate appearances in total. He launched 18 home runs in that time and also stole 12 bases. He walked in 12.4% of his trips to the plate while limiting his strikeouts to a 17.3% clip.

Baseball America currently lists Beeter as the club’s #20 prospect and Ramirez at #24. The former will give club some optionable pitching depth on the roster while Ramirez will add to a catching mix that is already somewhat crowded. Jose Trevino, Kyle Higashioka, Austin Wells, Ben Rortvedt and Carlos Narvaez are also on the 40-man, giving the Yanks six backstops on the roster, an unusually high number. It was reported last month that the club is signaling that they are willing to trade from their surplus in that department.

Rays Designate Calvin Faucher, Cooper Criswell For Assignment

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The Rays are selecting infielder Austin Shenton and right-hander Yoniel Curet to the 40-man roster, tweets Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. In corresponding moves, righties Calvin Faucher and Cooper Criswell have been designated for assignment. The Rays also avoided arbitration with left-hander Tyler Alexander on a one-year deal, Topkin adds.

Shenton, a left-handed hitting corner infielder, was a fifth round pick of the Mariners in 2019. Seattle traded the Florida International product to Tampa Bay at the 2021 deadline to bring in reliever Diego Castillo. He has spent the past couple seasons in the upper minors. The 25-year-old had a breakout year in 2023, combining for a .304/.423/.584 batting line between Double-A Montgomery and Triple-A Durham. He walked at a massive 16.3% clip against an elevated 26.7% strikeout rate.

Curet, 21, is a 6’2″ hurler from the Dominican Republic. He’s still in the low minors. Curet split this year between Low-A Charleston and High-A Bowling Green. He combined for a 2.94 ERA through 104 innings, striking out a third of opponents. A near-17% walk rate points to significant control issues to be ironed out, yet the Rays were evidently still concerned another team could stash Curet as an upside flier in their bullpen.

Faucher joined the Rays at the 2021 trade deadline as part of the ill-fated Nelson Cruz/Joe Ryan deal. The 28-year-old has pitched 47 innings over 39 appearances in the last two seasons. He has allowed 6.32 earned runs per nine with a middling 20.8% strikeout rate and a lofty 10% walk percentage. Faucher ended the season on the injured list with biceps tendinitis.

Criswell was on and off the active roster this year. He posted a 3.93 ERA in 84 2/3 Triple-A innings but allowed a 5.73 ERA over 33 MLB frames. Criswell is a good strike-thrower but hasn’t missed many bats at the highest level. Both he and Faucher will be traded or put on waivers within the next week.

Alexander was just claimed off waivers from the Tigers. He is in his second season of arbitration eligibility. Financial terms of his deal weren’t disclosed. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projected him for a $2MM salary, although it’s not uncommon for deals for borderline non-tender candidates to come in below those forecasts.

Astros Select Kenedy Corona

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The Astros announced Tuesday that they’ve selected the contract of outfield prospect Kenedy Corona. Barring a late additional move, it seems he’s the lone addition to their 40-man roster prior to tonight’s deadline to protect players from the Rule 5 Draft. Their 40-man roster is up to 38 players. Ari Alexander of Houston’s KPRC-2 first reported that Corona would be added to the roster.

Corona, 23, came to Houston by way of the 2019 trade that sent outfielder Jake Marisnick from the Astros to the Mets. He spent the bulk of the 2023 season with Houston’s Double-A affiliate, batting .244/.324/.449 with 20 homers and 31 steals in a generally pitcher-friendly setting. He drew a walk in 9.8% of his plate appearances and fanned at a 25.9% clip that the organization would surely like to see him pare down in the future.

Baseball America ranks Corona 14th among Houston farmhands, touting his plus speed, above-average power and range in center field. However, while he’s adept at not chasing pitches off the plate, his contact skills are described as fringe-average, and his right-handed bat was fairly pedestrian against right-handed pitching in 2023 (.244/.336/.426). Against southpaws, however, he turned in a much more robust .278/.313/.579 batting line.

Reds Select Rece Hinds, Christian Roa, Jacob Hurtubise

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The Reds announced that they have added three players to their 40-man roster ahead of the 5:00 pm CT Rule 5 deadline: outfielder Rece Hinds, right-hander Christian Roa, and outfielder Jacob Hurtubise. Their 40-man is now full.

Hinds, 23, is the Reds’ No. 10 prospect, per MLB Pipeline, and most sources agree he’ll be ready to make his big league debut at some point in 2024. In 109 games with Double-A Chattanooga last season, he showed off his power potential, crushing 23 home runs and 58 extra-base hits. He ran well for a slugging outfielder, too, swiping 20 bags and legging out six triples. However, the righty batter also struck out in a third of his plate appearances, so he’ll need to improve his plate discipline if he wants to put his power on display at the major league level.

As for his defense, Hinds made the move from third base to the outfield in 2022, and he seems to have adjusted well. He has spent time in both corners, but his best asset is his powerful arm, so right field seems like the better fit. The Reds have a glut of talented young players all over the diamond, but there is less of a logjam in the outfield, so there should be room for Hinds if he cuts down on the strikeouts and keeps hitting bombs in the minors.

Roa, 24, struggled after his promotion to Triple-A last summer, seeing his strikeout rate fall and his home run rate rise. At the same time, the 2020 second-round pick showed off some phenomenal strikeout stuff in 2023, striking out 33.7% of batters faced in 13 starts at Double-A Chattanooga and 28.6% of batters faced in 15 games (12 starts) at Triple-A Louisville. If he can rein in the walks (16.6% walk rate across Double- and Triple-A), he could make his way to the majors at some point next season. Presumably, he will serve as rotation depth at Triple-A, something the Reds have no shortage of. In addition to Roa, the team has Lyon Richardson, Connor Phillips, Levi Stoudt, and Carson Spiers on the 40-man roster, all of whom made starts for the big league team in 2023 with limited success.

Hurtubise, 25, doesn’t have the prospect pedigree of either Hinds or Roa, but he might have been an appealing target in the Rule 5 Draft following his strong performance in 2023. In 83 games at Double-A, he slashed .306/.453/.492 with a 159 wRC+, and he kept mashing after a mid-August promotion to Triple-A, slashing .390/.537/.460 the rest of the way. While he is surely due for some significant regression, his plate discipline was genuinely impressive, and his speed is the real deal. He is primarily a corner outfielder, but he has experience in center as well, so he profiles as a fourth or fifth outfielder.

Tigers Select Wilmer Flores, Dillon Dingler

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The Tigers announced they’ve added right-hander Wilmer Flores and catcher Dillon Dingler to the 40-man roster. In corresponding moves, righties Brenan Hanifee and Freddy Pacheco have been designated for assignment. Flores and Dingler would otherwise have been eligible for the Rule 5 draft.

Flores, the younger brother of the Giants veteran infielder of the same name, is a 22-year-old pitcher from Venezuela. He went undrafted in 2020 out of an Arizona junior college. While he entered pro ball without much fanfare, Flores has developed into one of the best prospects in the system. He was a fringe top 100 talent going into 2023. Baseball America ranked him eighth in the Detroit organization midseason.

Listed at 6’4″ and 225 pounds, Flores has prototype size. Scouting reports praise his mid-90s sinker and an offspeed combination of a cutter and curveball. He also has solid control and is regarded as a potential starter. Flores spent the bulk of 2023 at Double-A Erie, pitching to a 3.90 ERA through 90 2/3 innings. He struck out 24.3% of opponents and kept the ball on the ground at a 48.6% clip while walking a slightly elevated 9.5% of batters faced.

Dingler, 25, is a right-handed hitting catcher. The Tigers selected him with the 38th pick in the 2020 draft out of Ohio State. He ranked sixth in the system midseason at Baseball America. The outlet praised his athleticism, arm strength and defensive potential. While there’s a lot of swing-and-miss to his game, he has shown strong plate discipline and some power upside in a 6’3″ frame.

Dingler split this year between three minor league levels, hitting .256/.361/.478 with 16 homers through 89 games. He struck out in nearly 28% of his plate appearances while walking 11% of the time. He’s likely to start next season in Triple-A but could get a big league look at some point in 2024.

Hanifee got a cup of coffee late in the ’23 campaign. The 25-year-old pitched five innings over three relief appearances, allowing three runs. He averaged 93.7 MPH on his sinker in that limited look. Before his call-up, Hanifee worked in a swing role at Triple-A Toledo. The former fourth round draftee turned in a 4.38 ERA in 90 1/3 innings spanning 25 appearances. He kept the ball on the ground at a massive 57.2% clip that could get him some attention in a minor trade or waiver claim in the next week.

Pacheco, a pure reliever, hasn’t throw a pitch in the Detroit organization. The Tigers claimed him off waivers from the Cardinals during Spring Training. He opened the season on the injured list and underwent UCL surgery in early June. It’s likely that recovery will carry into the ’24 campaign. Pacheco has yet to make his MLB debut but turned in strong results in the upper minors with St. Louis in 2022.

Blue Jays Select Adam Macko

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The Blue Jays announced that they have selected the contract of left-hander Adam Macko. Today is the deadline for clubs to add players to their roster in order to prevent them from being eligible in next month’s Rule 5 draft. Ari Alexander of KPRC 2 reported on the move prior to the official announcement.

Macko, 23 next month, was a seventh-round pick of the Mariners in the 2019 draft. In the years after that selection, he wasn’t able to throw many innings both due to the pandemic and injuries. From 2019 through 2022, he logged 95 total innings with a 3.98 earned run average. His 12.5% walk rate was on the high side but he was able to strike out a massive 35% of batters faced.

The Blue Jays were clearly intrigued, acquiring him from the Mariners alongside Erik Swanson in the deal that sent Teoscar Hernández to Seattle a year ago. Macko’s first season with his new club went well, tossing 86 innings over 20 High-A starts. His 4.81 ERA might not look impressive at first glance, but he struck out 28.5% of opponents while keeping his walk rate down to a 10.8% clip. He also kept 44.8% of batted balls on the ground. His .327 batting average on balls in play and 63.9% strand rate were both on the unlucky side of average, which is why his 3.97 FIP was almost a full run better than his ERA.

Macko hasn’t yet reached Double-A but the Jays evidently thought there was at least some chance of him getting attention in the Rule 5. Instead, they will give him a roster spot and install him as pitching depth as he will try to work his way towards his big league debut.

Tigers, Bligh Madris Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Tigers and first baseman/outfielder Bligh Madris have agreed to a minor league pact, reports Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press. His contract includes an invitation to major league spring training.

The 27-year-old Madris was briefly in the Tigers organization last offseason after they claimed him off waivers from the Pirates. Detroit wound up designating Madris for assignment themselves, however, and ultimately traded him to the Astros in exchange for cash.

Madris spent the entire season in the Houston organization, appearing in a dozen big league games plus another 100 contests at the Triple-A level. He hit just .154/.267/.192 in a tiny sample of 30 MLB plate appearances in addition to posting a .235/.349/.413 slash in 456 trips to the plate with Triple-A Sugar Land. In all, he’s appeared in 51 MLB games between Houston and Pittsburgh but has struggled to replicate otherwise solid production from the upper minors.

The lefty-swinging Madris has consistently put up solid numbers against right-handed pitching, turning in respective OPS marks of .811, .837 and .836 from 2021-23 when holding the platoon advantage. Overall, he’s a .266/.355/.448 hitter in parts of three Triple-A campaigns. The Tigers’ outfield currently consists of Mark Canha, Parker Meadows, Riley Greene and Akil Baddoo, with utilityman Zach McKinstry also in the mix for corner time. Madris will give the Tigers another lefty bat to compete for playing time in the outfield and potentially at first base, where former No. 1 overall pick Spencer Torkelson is entrenched after a 31-homer season and breakout second half in 2023.

Rockies, Geoff Hartlieb Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Rockies have agreed to a minor league contract with free-agent righty Geoff Hartlieb, per the team’s transaction log at MLB.com. The former Pirates and Mets reliever, a client of Paragon Sports International, will presumably head to spring training as a non-roster invitee.

Hartlieb, 29, spent the 2023 season in the Marlins organization and tossed four innings of one-run ball in the Majors. The rest of his season was spent in Triple-A Jacksonville, where he notched a solid 3.63 ERA with a 23.8% strikeout rate, 9.3% walk rate and 47.6% ground-ball rate in 44 2/3 innings of bullpen work.

Through parts of four Major League seasons, Hartlieb has been tagged for a 7.17 ERA in 70 1/3 innings, due largely to lackluster command. He’s averaged better than 96 mph on his four-seamer and better than 94 mph on his sinker, generating grounders at a healthy 49% rate and missing enough bats (20.4% strikeout rate) to get by if he could pare down the free passes. Hartlieb, however, has walked 15.1% of his opponents in the Majors, which has unsurprisingly proven untenable.

The Rockies have minimal certainty in their bullpen and figure to have multiple spots up for grabs heading into the 2024 season. It stands to reason that Hartlieb will be one of many experienced bullpen options brought in on minimal or no-commitment deals such as this one. He’s out of minor league options, so if he cracks the big league roster at any point, he’ll have to stick in the Majors or else be designated for assignment and exposed to waivers.

Seven Players Reject Qualifying Offers

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All seven players who received a $20.325MM qualifying offer this year have rejected it, reports Mark Feinsand of MLB.com. The deadline for a decision is today at 3 pm Central but it seems all of Shohei Ohtani, Cody Bellinger, Matt Chapman, Sonny Gray, Josh Hader, Aaron Nola and Blake Snell have already made up their minds.

There wasn’t much drama with any of these decisions, as all seven were considered locks to reject and still collect sizeable free agent contracts. On MLBTR’s list of the Top 50 Free Agents, six of the seven player were predicted to get a nine-figure deal in the coming months. The only exception was Gray, who was limited by his 34 years of age to a prediction of $90MM over four years. The players had one week to gauge the market after receiving those QOs and it doesn’t seem any of them got any sense that accepting the one-year deal was a wise course of action.

There would have been more drama if some borderline candidates had been issued QOs, but it was a fairly conservative group this winter. Last year, 12 players received QOs and Martín Pérez and Joc Pederson eventually accepted. But none of this year’s on-the-cusp players got the offer, with each of Teoscar Hernández, Jorge Soler, J.D. Martinez, Rhys Hoskins, Kenta Maeda and Kevin Kiermaier heading into free agency unencumbered.

Each of the players who received and rejected the QO will now net their former club draft pick compensation in the event they sign elsewhere this winter. The value of that compensation will depend upon whether the club received revenue sharing or paid the competitive balance tax in 2023. The signing club would also be subject to draft pick forfeiture and perhaps a reduction of international bonus pool space, with the penalty also dependant on revenue sharing and CBT status.

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