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Archives for August 2024

Rays Outright Rob Brantly

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August 27: Brantly cleared waivers and was outrighted back to Triple-A Durham, per the MLB.com transaction log. It isn’t clear whether he’ll elect free agency or rejoin the Bulls for the rest of the season.

August 24: The Rays announced that catcher Rob Brantly was designated for assignment.  Catcher Ben Rortvedt was activated from the team’s family emergency list in the corresponding move, and Rortvedt will resume his usual share of the catching duties with Alex Jackson.  Rortvedt was initially placed the paternity list last week, but Bally Sports’ Tricia Whitaker reported (via X) that Rortvedt was moved to the family emergency list in order to spend a bit of extra time with the newborn baby.

Brantly’s minor league contract was selected to Tampa’s roster at the time of Rortvedt’s departure, and Brantly’s brief stint with the Rays saw him make nine plate appearances over three games.  It marked his first Major League playing time since he appeared in a single game with the Yankees during the 2022 season.

A third-round pick for the Tigers in the 2010 draft, Brantly was traded to the Marlins in July 2012 and he appeared in 98 games with 356 PA for Miami over the 2012-13 seasons.  That initial dose of playing time remains the bulk of Brantly’s MLB resume, as he has since received 109 PA in 39 games spread over seven different seasons, while bouncing around the league as catching depth.  Tampa Bay signed Brantly to a minor league contract this past offseason, making the Rays the 12th different organization Brantly has been part of since the start of his pro career (plus he has been with the White Sox on two separate occasions).

This journeyman career has included multiple outright assignments, so if Brantly clears waivers and the Rays outright him to Triple-A, the 35-year-old has the right to reject that assignment in favor of free agency.  Brantly’s reputation as a solid defender who works well with pitchers could earn him interest from yet another club in free agency or on the waiver wire, or Brantly might just opt to remain with the Rays at the Triple-A level.

Giants Place Jordan Hicks On Injured List

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The Giants announced that they have placed right-hander Jordan Hicks on the 15-day injured list with right shoulder inflammation. Righty Austin Warren was recalled as the corresponding move. Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle relayed the details prior to the official announcement (X link one and two).

Hicks was warming up during Friday’s game but didn’t eventually enter the contest. He later said he felt a “zinger” down his arm while getting ready, per Slusser, though he stayed with the club through the weekend. He appeared in Saturday’s game but with diminished velocity. His sinker usually averages between 96 and 97 miles per hour but was around 94 in his most recent outing, per Statcast. It now seems the club has decided to give him some time to rest and heal up.

It’s unclear how long Hicks will be out of action but it’s a blow to the pitching staff regardless. Hicks was in the starting rotation for much of the year but seemed to run out of steam, as his results tapered off as time went on. He had a 3.01 earned run average after his start on June 11, but then posted a 6.83 ERA from June 17 to July 28. He’s been in a bullpen role lately, with six scoreless outings to start the month of August before he allowed one earned run in his Saturday appearance.

Earlier this month, the club put Randy Rodríguez on the injured list. Today, Robbie Ray joined him and now Hicks will hit the shelf as well. The Giants are 66-66 and clinging to life in the National League Wild Card race. They are 5.5 games back of a spot but would need to leapfrog at least three teams while also holding off the clubs just behind them. Doing so will be more challenging now that some key arms have been subtracted from the staff.

Warren, 28, underwent Tommy John surgery in May of last year while with the Angels and that club designated him for assignment in February. Since injured players aren’t allowed to be placed on outright waivers, he was released and signed a major league deal with the Giants. Since he was still working his way back from surgery, the Giants moved him to the 60-day injured list in February when they signed Jorge Soler.

He was reinstated from the 60-day injured list in July, thus retaking his spot on the 40-man roster, but was optioned to the minors. He has thrown 20 Triple-A innings this year with a 4.95 ERA but better peripherals. He has struck out 26.1% of batters faced, walked 6.8% of them and gotten grounders at a 41.2% rate. A .327 batting average on balls in play, 63% strand rate and 17.6% homer to fly ball rate have helped push some extra runs across the board in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League.

Red Sox Designate Brad Keller; Place Lucas Sims, Luis García On Injured List

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4:50pm: The Sox have also placed right-hander Luis García on the injured list, with righty Josh Winckowski recalled in a corresponding move. Chris Cotillo of MassLive was among those to relay that swap on X.

3:42pm: The Red Sox have designated right-hander Brad Keller for assignment and placed righty Lucas Sims on the 15-day injured list due to a right lat strain, per a team announcement. Keller’s DFA paves the way for lefty Rich Hill to be selected from Triple-A Worcester — a move that was originally reported earlier this morning. Right-hander Greg Weissert is up from Worcester to take Sims’ spot in the bullpen.

Keller, 29, has been up and down with the Red Sox several times this season. The longtime Royals hurler originally inked a minor league deal with the White Sox over the winter but latched on with Boston after being quickly cut loose in Chicago. Keller was summoned to the majors for a third stint with the Red Sox earlier this week and allowed three runs in four innings of long relief during yesterday’s doubleheader. He’s posted a 5.84 ERA with the Red Sox and an overall 5.44 mark in 41 1/3 innings between Chicago and Boston this year.

It’s been a rough decline for Keller, who from 2018-20 was a regular in the Kansas City rotation. He pitched 360 1/3 innings of 3.50 ERA ball for the Royals and looked to be settling in as a solid mid-rotation arm. His production dwindled in 2021-22, however, and in 2023 he walked 45 batters in 45 1/3 innings of work. That alarming deterioration of his command led to an IL trip, and imaging/testing eventually revealed symptoms of thoracic outlet syndrome. Keller underwent surgery last summer, and while he’s pitched well in Triple-A recently, he’s yet to rediscover his form at the big league level.

The Red Sox will place Keller on release waivers or outright waivers shortly. He’s already cleared a couple of times this season and figures to do so again. Once he clears, he can become a free agent and sign with any team, although last time he was in that spot, he simply re-signed with the Red Sox on a new minor league pact. A similar series of events this time around would come as little surprise.

Sims, 30, was a trade deadline pickup for the Sox but has been torched for nine runs in 10 innings since coming over from the Reds. That’s a far cry from the 3.57 mark he notched in 35 1/3 innings prior to the swap, which sent minor leaguer Ovis Portes to Cincinnati. Whether his rocky performance was due to injury or a change in pitch selection — Boston significantly scaled back the usage of his four-seamer in favor of a cutter — isn’t clear. Most lat strains require an absence of some note, however, and if Sims is out for any substantial period of time, that could spell the end of his time in Boston entirely. He’s slated to become a free agent at season’s end.

Cardinals Designate Shawn Armstrong For Assignment

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The Cardinals announced that they have recalled right-hander Riley O’Brien from Triple-A Memphis. Fellow righty Shawn Armstrong has been designated for assignment as the corresponding move. John Denton of MLB.com relayed the news on X prior to the official announcement.

Armstrong, 33, was just acquired prior to the trade deadline, with the Cards sending former top prospect Dylan Carlson the other way. Since switching jerseys, Armstrong’s results have actually been good. He has tossed 12 2/3 innings over 11 outings, allowing 2.84 earned runs per nine innings. He struck out 24.5% of batters faced and only gave out walks at a 4.1% clip.

Despite the good overall results, Armstrong may be a victim of circumstances. The club used four relievers on Sunday and four last night, with Armstrong being one of the four in both games. Perhaps he was going to be unavailable tonight, so the club has nudged him out of the way as they get a fresh arm into the mix of a fairly taxed relief group. Armstrong can’t be optioned as a player with more than five years of service time, so he’s been pushed off the 40-man roster.

Beyond that, it’s also possible that the club is hoping for a little bit of cost savings here for the final month of the season. Armstrong isn’t making a ton of money, as his $2.05MM salary is relatively light in MLB terms. But since he has been pitching well, it’s possible some club may be interested in claiming him off waivers, which would take the contract off the Cardinals’ hands. If he is claimed prior to September, he would be playoff eligible with his new club. That means his odds of getting claimed should be higher now than they will be in a few days’ time.

Perhaps it’s too strong to characterize this move as a waving of the white flag, but it does perhaps illustrate where the season is at for St. Louis. They are currently 65-66 and six games out of a playoff spot. They could make a late charge in September but would have to bypass at least four clubs in the standings while also fending off the clubs that are just behind them. The Playoff Odds at FanGraphs give the Cards just a 1.9% chance of sneaking in while the PECOTA Standings are only slightly more optimistic at 3%.

They could certainly play well down the stretch without Armstrong but they just made a notable sacrifice to get this guy less than a month ago. Carlson was a former first-round pick and spent many years as a prospect who figured to be a big part of the club’s future. The club gave up two and a half years of Carlson for a few months of Armstrong, but is now likely losing Armstrong after just 11 appearances, seemingly hoping to just put some extra money into the pockets of ownership.

For with better playoff odds, it seems likely one of them will claim Armstrong. For the 2022-24 seasons, he has pitched 173 innings with a 3.64 ERA, 24.6% strikeout rate and 6.6% walk rate. That includes 11 holds and three saves. There aren’t many ways to upgrade a roster now that the trade deadline has passed, so Armstrong is an interesting candidate given his good numbers and modest salary. He’s scheduled to hit free agency at the end of this season.

Guardians Select Anthony Gose

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The Guardians announced that they have selected left-hander Anthony Gose to their roster. He had recently elected free agency but re-signed with the club on a minor league deal, per his transactions tracker at MLB.com. Lefty Logan Allen was optioned in a corresponding move. The club already had a 40-man vacancy and won’t need to make a corresponding move in that regard.

Gose, 34, has been on and off the Cleveland roster all year. This is the third time his contract has been selected. Since he is out of options, the two previous stints resulted in him being designated for assignment fairly quickly. The first instance resulted in him accepting an outright assignment. The second time, as mentioned, he elected free agency but quickly re-signed on a fresh minor league pact.

A former outfielder, Gose switched to pitching a few years ago. Perhaps unsurprisingly for a late convert, control has been an issue but he has racked up some tantalizing strikeout numbers. In 2022, he tossed 21 innings for the Guards, punching out 30.4% of batters faced. But he also gave out walks at a 15.2% clip, leading to a 4.71 earned run average.

He required Tommy John surgery at the end of that year, which led to him missing the entire 2023 season. The Guards signed him to a two-year minor league pact, which covered that lost year as well as the current campaign. Around his transactions, he has managed to throw 39 Triple-A innings this year with a 3.46 ERA. The 15% walk rate is still high but he’s also still getting the Ks, with a 32.9% rate this year.

The Guardians have Gavin Williams and Tanner Bibee scheduled to start their next two games but then have an off-day on Thursday. By optioning Allen, they can add one extra bullpen arm to a relief mix that is fairly taxed after yesterday’s double-header. Given the way they’ve treated Gose this year, it wouldn’t be a surprise if he is designated for assignment again once the club needs another fresh bullpen arm or a fifth starter.

Twins Designate Trevor Richards For Assignment

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The Twins announced their waiver claim of right-hander Michael Tonkin, which was previously reported. To open a 40-man spot, righty Trevor Richards has been designated for assignment. To take the active spot of Richards, the club has selected the contract of righty Caleb Boushley. To open a 40-man spot for Boushley, righty Joe Ryan has been transferred to the 60-day injured list.

Richards was the Twins’ lone deadline pickup a month ago, coming over from Toronto in exchange for minor league infielder Jay Harry. The right-hander had scoreless outings in seven of his ten appearances with Minnesota but also had three shakier outings, leading to a 4.15 ERA in 13 innings overall.

That may not seem particularly poor at first glance, but Richards walked a massive 18.6% of his opponents during his time with the Twins and even more incredibly uncorked seven wild pitches during those 13 frames. He also hit two batters. Overall, the lack of command he showed proved too alarming for the team to continue on with the right-hander.

Richards has had some big league success in the past, both as a starter (261 2/3 innings of 4.22 ERA ball in 2018-19) and a reliever (3.50 ERA, 31.1 K% in 64 1/3 innings in 2021). However, even though he’s shown a consistent ability to miss bats and regularly flummoxed lefties with a plus changeup, he’s struggled with command and been far too hittable against fellow righties.

Richards came to the Twins as a rental who’d been struggling with his former team, so the cost of acquisition to acquire him was quite low. Still, the Twins surely hoped for better results, particularly given their lack of other deadline additions. Instead, he’ll give way to Tonkin, who’s back for a second 2024 stint with the team that originally drafted him in the 30th round back in 2008. Richards will now hit waivers and presumably clear, as a team would need to be willing to pay the remaining $358K on his $2.15MM salary in order to place a claim.

As for the 30-year-old Boushley, this’ll be his second stint with the Twins this year as well. He pitched two innings and allowed two runs a few months back, but has spent the rest of the season in Triple-A, where he has a 4.97 ERA in 116 innings. That earned run average is skewed in part by a calamitous nine-run shellacking at the hands of the Braves’ Triple-A affiliate back on July 3, but Boushley has been struggling in general as of late. Even setting aside that nine-run bonanza, he’s been tagged for a 6.55 ERA in his past seven starts with the Saints.

Athletics Claim Tristan Gray

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The Athletics announced that they have claimed infielder Tristan Gray off waivers from the Marlins and assigned him to Triple-A Las Vegas. Miami had designated him for assignment in recent days. The A’s had an open 40-man spot after designating infielder Abraham Toro for assignment earlier today.

Gray, 28, got a bit of prospect attention earlier due to some interesting offensive numbers in the lower levels of the minors. However, he has struggled to bring that up to higher levels. From 2017 to 2019, he got into 293 minor league games from Low-A to Double-A. He hit a combined .239/.319/.428 in those for a 116 wRC+.

The pandemic wiped out the minors in 2020 and Gray has been playing Triple-A ball since then, getting into 431 contests. He’s hit 88 home runs in that time but also been struck out at a 30.2% clip while walking 8% of the time. All that leads to a .236/.305/.470 batting line and 95 wRC+. He also has 12 major league plate appearances between the Rays last year and the Marlins this year, hitting .167/.167/.417 in those.

Gray has played all four infield positions throughout his career and has continued to do so here in 2024. He can provide the A’s with depth all over the diamond, perhaps for a long time. He has a full slate of options for now. He is burning one here in 2024 but will still have two left beyond this season. He also has just a few days of service time, meaning he’s nowhere close to qualifying for arbitration or free agency.

White Sox Designate John Brebbia For Assignment

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The White Sox announced Tuesday that they’ve designated right-handed reliever John Brebbia for assignment and optioned third baseman Bryan Ramos to Triple-A Charlotte. Their roster spots will go to infielder Jacob Amaya, whom the Sox recently claimed off waivers, and right-hander Prelander Berroa, who’s being recalled from Charlotte.

It’s been a rollercoaster of a season for Brebbia, who signed a one-year, $5.5MM deal with the Sox over the winter. He started the season with five scoreless appearances and was generally sharp through mid-May before enduring a massive three-week slump. He righted the ship in early June and went on a dominant six-week stretch where he pitched to a sub-1.00 ERA with elite strikeout and walk rates … only to fall into another, even lengthier slump from which he’s yet to escape. Dating back to July 14, Brebbia has allowed 16 runs in 11 2/3 frames.

All told, Brebbia’s Jekyll-and-Hyde act will result in a grisly 6.29 ERA through 48 2/3 innings. He had multiple stretches where he pitched far, far better than that ultimate mark would suggest him to be capable of, but when Brebbia has been off his game, things have often snowballed in a hurry. He’s had six different relief outings this season in which he’s been tagged for at least three earned runs — including a four-run drubbing in what’ll now be his final outing with the Sox.

Ugly as this season’s results have been, Brebbia has a nice track record overall. In six prior big league seasons, he pitched 299 2/3 innings with a 3.42 ERA, 25.5% strikeout rate and 7.2% walk rate between the Cardinals (2017-19) and Giants (2021-23). Brebbia missed the 2020 season due to Tommy John surgery and struggled to a 5.18 ERA in his 2021 return (albeit in just 18 1/3 innings). Outside of that short ’21 showing and this year’s implosion with the South Siders, he’s posted a sub-4.00 ERA every season.

Even with that track record and some legitimately impressive stretches interspersed throughout his 2024 season, Brebbia won’t be claimed off waivers. He’s owed not only the balance of his $4MM base salary (about $688K) but also a $1.5MM buyout on next year’s $6MM club option. If that combined $2.188MM for a four-week rental isn’t dissuading enough, Brebbia would also pick up a $250K bonus the next time he takes the mound, under the terms of his current contract. (He’s already earned $500K of bonuses for reaching 45 and 50 appearances and had identical bonuses available at 55 and 60 games pitched.)

Instead, Brebbia will pass through waivers unclaimed and become a free agent (whether by straight release or rejecting an outright assignment). At that point, a new team could sign him for only the prorated league minimum for any time spent in the majors. The incentives built into his White Sox contract would not follow him to a new team on a new free-agent deal, so that $250K bonus and the option buyout (which is still owed to him by the White Sox) will be nonfactors for Brebbia’s next team.

Even with this season’s poor bottom-line results, Brebbia has whiffed 27% of his opponents and limited walks at a sharp 7.9% clip. A contender in need of bullpen depth might be intrigued by that K-BB profile and take a low-risk flier on the veteran righty. So long as he’s with his new organization on or before Aug. 31, he’d be postseason-eligible.

Angels Place Matt Moore On Injured List, Select Ryan Miller

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The Angels announced Tuesday that they’ve selected the contract of right-hander Ryan Miller from Triple-A Salt Lake. In a pair of corresponding moves, the Halos placed lefty Matt Moore on the 15-day injured list and transferred Mike Trout from the 15-day IL to the 60-day IL.

Moore exited his most recent appearance due to an elbow issue. The Angels have not yet commented on the severity of the issue, nor did they even list a specific injury in their formal announcement of today’s transaction. It’s been a tough year for the 35-year-old veteran, who’s worked to a 5.03 ERA as his strikeout rate, walk rate and velocity have all trended in the wrong direction.

From 2022-23, Moore sat 94 mph with his heater and pitched to a 2.20 ERA in 126 2/3 innings, striking out 27.4% of his opponents against a 10.2% walk rate (including a career-best 6.9% walk rate last year). In 2024, however, his average fastball has dipped to 93 mph, and Moore has set down just 19.5% of his opponents on strikes while issuing free passes to 12.4% of batters faced — the second-worst mark of his big league career.

Miller, 28, will be making his big league debut more than six years after being selected by the Diamondbacks in the sixth round of the 2018 draft. He joined the Angels via the minor league phase of last year’s Rule 5 Draft and has pitched quite well. In 62 1/3 innings, he’s worked to a 2.45 ERA with a strong 24.6% strikeout rate against an excellent 5.6% walk rate. Miller has kept the ball on the ground at a 40.9% clip that’s not far below league average and yielded only 1.01 homers per nine frames pitched.

Phillies Outright Dylan Covey

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The Phillies announced that right-hander Dylan Covey has been reinstated from the 60-day IL and outrighted to Triple-A Lehigh Valley after clearing waivers. The 40-man roster count stays at 39.

Covey, 33, has been on the injured list all year until this point. He began the campaign on the 15-day IL due to a right shoulder strain and was transferred to the 60-day version in June when the club claimed Freddy Tarnok off waivers.

He has been rehabbing in the minors for the past month but the club evidently didn’t want to squeeze him onto their major league roster or 40-man. He is out of options and couldn’t be sent to the minors, so they quietly passed him through waivers instead.

Covey has more than three years of major league service time, which gives him the right to reject this outright assignment and elect free agency. But since he has less than five years of service, doing so would mean forfeiting what is left of his $850K salary. Presumably, he will accept that assignment and keep cashing the checks he’s owed for the next few weeks, providing the Phils with some non-roster depth.

He posted some lackluster results as a starter earlier in his career but a pivot to the bullpen provided some encouragement. Last year, he tossed 43 innings between the Dodgers and Phillies with a 3.77 earned run average. His 15.7% strikeout rate was subpar but he got opponents to hit the ball into the ground at a 54.3% clip.

That was enough for the Phils to tender him a contract and agree to a contract slightly above the $740K league minimum, but the injury has prevented him from building on that season so far. If he’s not added back to the roster at any point this year, he’ll qualify for free agency at season’s end, as is the case for all outrighted players with at least three years of service time.

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