KBO’s NC Dinos Sign Eric Jokisch, Release Daniel Castano
The NC Dinos of the Korea Baseball Organization announced yesterday that they’ve signed left-hander Eric Jokisch to a $100K deal for the rest of the season. The news was relayed (on X) by Dan Kurtz of MyKBO, who tweeted earlier this week that the Dinos were waiving southpaw Daniel Castano to facilitate a deal for another foreign player.
KBO teams can have a maximum of two non-Korean pitchers on their roster. The Dinos signed former Red Sox left-hander Kyle Hart over the offseason. He’s having a very nice season, working to a 2.47 ERA through 124 innings. Castano had a more pedestrian 4.35 mark in 111 2/3 frames. He struck out 18.7% of opponents against a tidy 5.3% walk percentage.
Castano is a former 19th round pick by the Cardinals who went to the Marlins in the Marcell Ozuna/Sandy Alcantara/Zac Gallen trade. He’d go on to make 24 appearances over parts of four seasons in Miami, working mostly as a depth starter. Castano turned in a 4.47 ERA in 88 2/3 big league innings. He made the jump to Korea last offseason, not long after being waived by Miami in September.
Jokisch is also a former big leaguer, though he’s been far more established in Korea. His major league work consists of four appearances for the Cubs a decade ago. The Northwestern product subsequently kicked off a very successful KBO run in which he turned in a 2.85 earned run average over five seasons as a member of the Kiwoom Heroes. His tenure with the Heroes came to an unfortunate end last summer when he suffered a muscle tear in his leg that led the team to release him. (Injured players would still count against a KBO team’s foreign player limit.) The 35-year-old gets a new opportunity to resume his career.
In one other bit of KBO news — or more accurately, lack thereof — reporter Daniel Kim tweets that July 31 was the Korean league’s trade deadline. There were zero trades made.
Notable Draft Signings: 7/31/24
Konnor Griffin and Braden Montgomery inked significant draft deals in recent days, both of which were covered this morning at MLBTR. Pre-draft rankings and scouting reports are provided by Keith Law of the Athletic, Baseball America, FanGraphs and ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel. A few other $2MM+ signings from this week:
- The Twins signed Kaelen Culpepper at $3.9344MM, reports Jim Callis of MLB Pipeline (X link). The Kansas State infielder gets full slot value for the 21st pick. Culpepper generally ranked a bit below where he was selected on pre-draft prognostications. Evaluators credit him with a well-rounded offensive skillset and the tools to potentially stick at shortstop, though there’s some trepidation about his propensity to chase pitches outside the strike zone. The right-handed hitter put up a .328/.419/.574 slash with 11 homers and 17 stolen bases in his final season with the Wildcats. Trey Yesavage (Blue Jays) and Vance Honeycutt (Orioles) are the remaining unsigned first-round picks headed into tomorrow evening’s deadline.
- The Pirates went above slot to ink second-rounder Wyatt Sanford away from a commitment to Texas A&M. Callis reports (on X) that the high school agreed to a $2.5MM bonus that’s above the approximate $1.98MM value for the 47th pick. FanGraphs writes that Sanford could be the best defensive player in the high school class, while Law calls him a potential plus gloveman at shortstop. He’ll need to fill out a 6’1″ frame to provide much punch offensively, but his glove had him as fringe first-round talent in the eyes of most evaluators.
Mets Release Adrian Houser
The Mets released right-handers Adrian Houser and Ty Adcock this afternoon. Houser’s release was first reported by Will Sammon of the Athletic (on X), while MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo tweeted the Adcock news.
New York had designated both pitchers for assignment. Houser lost his roster spot last Friday. New York kept him in DFA limbo in an apparent hope of finding a trade partner before yesterday’s deadline. That obviously didn’t transpire, so they had no choice but to put him on waivers. Houser has more than five years of service time and would’ve retained his entire salary if he declined an assignment to Triple-A. The Mets therefore opted for a release instead.
Houser landed in Queens in an offseason trade with Milwaukee that also brought in outfielder Tyrone Taylor. First-year baseball operations president David Stearns was plenty familiar with both players from his time running the Brewers. While Taylor has been a decent fourth outfielder, Houser struggled. He pitched his way out of the rotation by allowing nearly a run per inning over seven starts.
The 31-year-old has fared better in a long relief capacity. Houser carries a 3.28 ERA in 35 2/3 frames out of the bullpen spanning 16 appearances. He hasn’t missed bats in either role (12.5% strikeout rate as a starter, 16.8% in relief), but he has managed a hefty 53.2% ground-ball percentage out of the bullpen.
That wasn’t enough for another team to line up with the Mets on a trade. It’s not likely to convince a club to take the approximate $1.63MM remaining on Houser’s $5MM+ salary off release waivers. Once he gets to free agency, another team could sign him for the prorated portion of the $740K minimum. Houser should at least get minor league offers and may find a club willing to plug him directly onto the MLB staff — likely in a relief role — for the stretch run. He’ll be a free agent again at the start of the offseason.
New York designated Adcock for assignment yesterday as the corresponding move for the Tyler Zuber acquisition. The Mets had claimed the Elon product from the Tigers in May. Adcock made three appearances, surrendering seven runs in 4 1/3 innings.
Padres Designate Austin Davis For Assignment
The Padres have activated left-handers Martín Pérez and Tanner Scott, as well as right-hander Bryan Hoeing, the pitchers they acquired prior to yesterday’s trade deadline. In order to open roster spots for those three, they placed right-hander Stephen Kolek on the 15-day injured list with right forearm tendonitis, optioned righty Logan Gillaspie to Triple-A El Paso and designated lefty Austin Davis for assignment.
Davis is out of options, so a DFA was the only manner of pulling him from the MLB bullpen. The 31-year-old southpaw made seven low-leverage appearances over the past month. He allowed eight runs (seven earned) across seven innings, walking five with six strikeouts.
That was the first MLB work in two years for Davis, who combined for 56 frames of 5.79 ERA ball between the Red Sox and Twins in 2022. While his recent body of work against big league hitters hasn’t been especially impressive, he had a nice showing for El Paso early this year. Over 29 innings in the Pacific Coast League, he turned in a 3.10 earned run average. Davis fanned nearly 30% of batters faced in Triple-A, albeit with an elevated 12.9% walk rate.
With the trade deadline in the rearview mirror, San Diego’s only option is to put Davis on waivers (though it’s unlikely they’d have found a trade partner regardless). He has a previous career outright that gives him the ability to decline an assignment back to Triple-A, so he’ll likely become a free agent assuming he clears waivers.
Red Sox Acquire Luis Garcia From Angels
The Red Sox brought in their second high-leverage reliever of deadline season. Boston acquired hard-throwing righty Luis García from the Angels for four minor league players: first baseman Niko Kavadas, outfielder Matthew Lugo and pitchers Yeferson Vargas and Ryan Zeferjahn. The Sox had also acquired Lucas Sims from Cincinnati earlier in the day.
García, 37, was one of the better rental relievers available. He carries a 3.71 ERA through 43 2/3 innings. García is keeping the ball on the ground at a robust 51.2% clip while posting decent strikeout (22%) and walk (7.7%) numbers. That’s generally in line with his overall track record. García relies heavily on a power sinker to keep the ball down. His swing-and-miss rates are more solid than exceptional but it’s an effective profile overall.
Since the start of the 2021 season, García owns a 3.64 earned run average in 204 appearances between three teams. He has a 23.1% strikeout rate with a 7.5% walk percentage while getting grounders upwards of 54% of the time. It’s a different profile from Sims, who misses more bats but has less consistent strike-throwing ability.
The Halos signed García to a one-year, $4.25MM free agent deal over the winter. Los Angeles had completely overhauled its relief group via free agency last offseason. The García pickup was the only one that really worked as the front office envisioned. Boston assumes the roughly $1.39MM remaining on that contract through season’s end.
L.A.’s deft free agent pickup allowed them to net four minor leaguers. None of them are top prospects, but three of them could conceivably reach the majors late this year. Baseball America ranked Lugo 23rd in the Boston system. BA writes that the 23-year-old improved his plate discipline and has upped his offensive profile this season. The Puerto Rico native absolutely destroyed Double-A pitching at a .315/.405/.664 clip in the first half. He has a .250/.340/.452 line over 35 Triple-A games, where he’s striking out at a 27% rate. Lugo began his career as a shortstop prospect but seemingly projects to a corner outfield spot.
Kavadas, a Notre Dame product, has posted huge offensive numbers in Triple-A. He’s hitting .281/.424/.551 with 17 longballs through 335 trips to the dish. Kavadas doesn’t provide any kind of defensive value and he’s striking out a third of the time in the minors. It’s a difficult profile to pull off, but he has huge power and is on the doorstep of the majors.
Zeferjahn, 26, is a former third-rounder out of Kansas. The 6’5″ righty has a 3.52 ERA over 38 1/3 combined innings of relief between the top two minor league levels. He’s striking out 31.3% of opponents while issuing walks at an 11.8% clip. Vargas, a 19-year-old righty out of the Dominican Republic, is the one low minors development play of the group. He just reached Low-A after throwing 31 2/3 innings in the complex league.
Jon Heyman of the New York Post first reported the Red Sox were acquiring García. Sam Blum of the Athletic reported the Angels’ return.
Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.
Orioles Designate Cole Irvin For Assignment
The Orioles announced they’ve designated left-hander Cole Irvin for assignment. Baltimore recalled catcher Blake Hunt for his major league debut to take the vacated active roster spot.
Irvin, 30, was a fifth-round pick by the Phillies back in 2016 but struggled badly upon making his big league debut in 2019. He posted a 6.75 ERA and 5.09 FIP in 45 1/3 innings of work with the Phillies in parts of two seasons before being dealt to the A’s in a cash deal prior to the start of the 2021 season. Despite being used primarily out of the bullpen in Philadelphia, the A’s moved him to the rotation where he managed to fashion himself into a reliable, innings-eating back-of-the-rotation arm. Between his two seasons in Oakland, only 12 pitchers threw more innings than his 359 1/3 frames of work as he pitched to a 4.11 ERA (95 ERA+) with a 4.25 FIP across 62 starts for the A’s. Irvin posted a lackluster 16.8% strikeout rate during his time with the A’s but limited walks to a measly 5.2% clip.
That combination of volume and steady (if uninspiring) production made Irvin a fairly attractive trade candidate during the 2022-23 offseason as the A’s continued to tear down amid a rebuild that began the previous winter, particularly given that he was still set to make a league-minimum salary in 2023. Enter the Orioles, who were keeping payroll low as they cautiously stepped towards contention following a surprise 83-79 showing in 2022 and jumped at the chance to acquire the southpaw in a deal where they shipped infield prospect Darell Hernaiz to Oakland in exchange for Irvin and pitching prospect Kyle Virbitsky.
Unfortunately, Irvin has not been the steady source of innings the Orioles were surely hoping they’d be acquiring when they landed him. His career in Baltimore got off to a disastrous start as he pitched to a 10.66 ERA in three April starts before being optioned down to the Triple-A level. He was called back up to the big leagues in mid-June to take on a swing role, acting as a multi-inning reliever and spot starter for the remainder of the season after being squeezed out of the rotation picture by the emergence of youngsters like Kyle Bradish, Dean Kremer, and Tyler Wells. He performed solidly enough in that role, with a 3.22 ERA and 4.25 FIP in his final 64 1/3 innings of work last year, that the Orioles were willing to retain him through his first year of arbitration eligibility on a $2MM salary to act as rotation depth.
The decision to keep Irvin in the fold proved to be a prescient one as the Orioles saw their rotation depth immediately tested this year by early-season injuries to Bradish and Grayson Rodriguez that were further compounded by John Means‘ continued rehab from Tommy John surgery. Irvin’s early season performance merited his spot in the rotation mix for the most part, as he pitched to a solid 2.84 ERA and 3.47 FIP in ten appearance (eight starts) over the season’s first two months. That changed when the calendar flipped to June, however, as Irvin struggled to a 6.30 ERA with a 5.22 FIP in six starts before getting demoted to the bullpen in early July. His struggles only deepened upon moving to a multi-inning relief role as he posted a sky-high ERA of 9.00 in 14 July innings.
Between Irvin’s rapidly deteriorating performance and the club’s acquisitions of starters Zach Eflin and Trevor Rogers prior to today’s trade deadline, the Orioles evidently felt they had no spot for Irvin (who is out of options) on their active roster going forward. Now that he’s been designated for assignment, the club will have seven days to attempt to pass him through waivers. Any club could pick Irvin up for the price of paying the remainder of his contract once he’s on the waiver wire, and it’s certainly possible a club looking for innings in the aftermath of today’s deadline could do so. Should Irvin clear waivers, he’d have the opportunity to reject an outright assignment but would forgo the remainder of his salary in doing so, giving him strong incentive to accept and assignment to the minors and remain with the Orioles as non-roster depth in the event he clears waivers.
As for Hunt, the 25-year-old backstop was acquired by the Orioles in the trade that sent right-hander Mike Baumann to Seattle earlier this year. Hunt has struggled to a .149/.192/.297 slash line in 20 games at the Triple-A level for the club’s Norfolk affiliate since the trade but figures to offer the club additional catching depth after veteran backup catcher James McCann suffered a broken nose during a game against the Blue Jays yesterday. Hunt’s first appearance with the Orioles will be his major league debut.
Giants Acquire Mark Canha
Mark Canha is headed back to the Bay Area. The Giants acquired the veteran outfielder from the Tigers for minor league reliever Eric Silva.
It’s surprising to see the Giants swing a late deal for an impending free agent. San Francisco had been positioned more as sellers in the few days leading up to the deadline. They subtracted a few players on guaranteed contracts (e.g. Jorge Soler, Luke Jackson, Alex Cobb) but resisted a more significant roster shakeup. The Giants held the likes of Blake Snell, Michael Conforto and LaMonte Wade Jr.
Their late pivot to Canha suggests they’re still holding onto some hope of erasing a four-game deficit in the NL Wild Card picture. While they weren’t super active buyers, they can rotate Canha through designated hitter in the hope that he can approximate Soler’s lost production. The 35-year-old isn’t having his best season, carrying a .231/.337/.350 slash over 377 plate appearances. He’s drawing walks at a strong 11.1% clip but only has seven homers. His 21% strikeout rate is around league average and up more than four percentage points from last season.
It’s Canha’s worst offensive season since he established himself as an above-average player six years ago. He has continued to hit while put in favorable platoon situations, though. Canha owns an impressive .286/.400/.457 slash versus lefty pitching. San Francisco’s corner outfield and first base mix is very left-handed. Each of Wade, Conforto and Mike Yastrzemski hit from that side of the plate. Canha can spell anyone from that trio against southpaws while potentially taking some situational work at designated hitter, where Marco Luciano is expected to get the majority of the playing time.
Canha is a San Jose native who played collegiately at Berkeley. He spent the bulk of his career across the Bay Area with the A’s, where he played for current Giants skipper Bob Melvin. That surely played a role in the Giants taking a flier on him as a rebound target. They’re assuming roughly $3.77MM remaining on his $11.5MM salary. San Francisco is in the first luxury tax bracket and taxed at a 20% rate on that money. Their overall acquisition cost comes out to roughly $4.5MM. Canha will return to free agency at year’s end.
San Francisco also parts way with Silva, whom they drafted in the fourth round in 2021. He began his career as a starting pitching prospect but has worked exclusively in relief this year. The 21-year-old righty has spent the season at Double-A Richmond, working to a 4.35 earned run average through 41 1/3 frames. He’s striking out upwards of 29% of batters faced against a 10.3% walk rate.
Tigers president of baseball operations Scott Harris was in the San Francisco front office back in 2021. He’s surely familiar with Silva, whom Baseball America ranked as the #25 prospect in the San Francisco farm system. He’ll be eligible for the Rule 5 draft during the 2025-26 offseason.
Robert Murray of FanSided first reported the Giants were acquiring Canha. ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel was first to report Silva was headed to Detroit.
Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.
Reds To Acquire Davis Wendzel From Rangers
The Rangers traded infielder Davis Wendzel to the Reds for cash considerations, reports Jeff Wilson of Rangers Today (X link). The infielder had been designated for assignment by the Rangers yesterday.
Wendzel, 27, was selected with the 41st overall pick back in 2019. As a prospect, he was considered to have a strong hit tool but questionable power. Moving up to the Triple-A Pacific Coast League seemed to help him put balls over the fence. In 2022, he got into 85 games in that league and hit 17 home runs. Last year, another 124 games led to another 30 homers.
This year, he finally got up to the majors but didn’t do much in his first taste of the show, with a line of .128/.163/.234 through his first 49 plate appearances. But he also added another six home runs in 34 more Triple-A contests this year.
Though he got squeezed off the roster in Texas, it’s understandable why the Reds were interested. Between last year and this year, he has 36 homers in 158 Triple-A contests while also drawing walks at a 13.3% clip. That’s in the super-charged offensive environment of the PCL but his .248/.366/.480 batting line still leads to an above-average 105 wRC+.
Since Wendzel has played all four infield spots in his career, he has various paths to get into the lineup. But since he has a full slate of options, he also might find himself serving in a depth role until he’s needed.
Mets Acquire Huascar Brazoban From Marlins
The Mets acquired reliever Huascar Brazoban from the division-rival Marlins. Infield prospect Wilfredo Lara went back to Miami.
Brazoban wasn’t the subject of much trade speculation until today. He emerged as a late target for teams seeking relief help amidst a quietly strong season. Brazoban has tossed 30 2/3 innings through 20 appearances. He’s allowing only 2.93 earned runs per nine while striking out 27.2% of batters faced. Brazoban is getting grounders half the time opponents do make contact while limiting his walk rate to a solid 8.8% clip.
A native of the Dominican Republic, Brazoban has pitched in Miami for the past three seasons. He spent a decade in pro ball before getting his first major league look. Brazoban pitched in the Colorado system and spent some time in independent ball. It wasn’t until 2022 that he got a big league opportunity, shortly before his 33rd birthday.
Since he got such a late start to his MLB career, Brazoban is in an odd spot. He’s under team control for another four seasons beyond this one and won’t even qualify for arbitration for two seasons. The Marlins were under no financial pressure to move him, but he’s also very unlikely to be pitching at this level the next time Miami makes an effort to compete. The Fish fielded offers on a number of their relievers and ultimately cashed Brazoban in for a future asset.
Lara, 20, is a right-handed hitting infielder out of the Dominican Republic. He’s hitting .244/.349/.343 across 332 plate appearances in High-A this season. He’s drawing walks at a robust 12% clip while striking out 22.6% of the time. He’s a low-level developmental flier for the Fish.
The Mets designated catcher Logan Porter to open a spot on their 40-man roster for Brazoban. New York signed him to a split contract a couple weeks ago. They’ve kept him in Triple-A on optional assignment. Porter’s major league experience comprises 11 games with the Royals last season.
Christina De Nicola of MLB.com first reported the Mets were acquiring Brazoban. Daniel Álvarez-Montes of El Extrabase reported Miami was getting Lara in return.
Yankees Trade Caleb Ferguson To Astros
The Astros have acquired lefty reliever Caleb Ferguson from the Yankees in exchange for minor league pitcher Kelly Austin and international signing bonus space, according to an announcement by New York. Houston is reportedly sending $750K in bonus room.
New York acquired Ferguson from the Dodgers over the offseason. He has had a difficult season, pitching to a 5.13 ERA over 42 appearances. That’s in part because of poor sequencing, as he has only stranded 62.2% of baserunners. Yet Ferguson has also been somewhat homer prone and is issuing walks at an elevated 10.3% clip.
Ferguson is still missing a decent number of bats. He’s striking out 26.5% of opponents behind an 11.5% swinging strike rate. Those are each in line with his career marks, although his 93.7 MPH average fastball speed is a bit below the 95-96 MPH range he’d posted over the previous two seasons.
Over parts of five seasons with the Dodgers before last winter’s trade, Ferguson turned in a 3.43 earned run average. He had an identical mark across 60 1/3 frames last season. Ferguson doesn’t have much in the way of a platoon split for his career, so he’s not an ideal fit as a situational specialist, but he’s only a year removed from being a solid overall middle reliever.
The Astros have been light on left-handed relief for the past few seasons. They signed Josh Hader to a five-year contract last winter, but he’s obviously holding down the ninth inning. Houston hasn’t had much in the way of a middle innings option for manager Joe Espada, though that generally hasn’t been a priority for their front office. Aside from Hader, only rookie Bryan King and Parker Mushinski have logged any action out of the bullpen as southpaws.
New York is similarly light on left-handed bullpen options, though they might take a bigger swing on the trade market in the next three hours. Tim Hill stands as the only southpaw in their current relief mix. The Yanks could be involved on top rental lefty Tanner Scott or a less exciting target like Tanner Banks or old friend Justin Wilson.
Ferguson is making $2.4MM in his final year of arbitration. There’s a little less than $800K in salary for the stretch run. The Yankees are paying a 110% tax on salary, so offloading Ferguson saves them around $2MM. Houston is in the second luxury tax bracket, so they’re paying a 32% tax — around $250K — to pick him up. He’ll be a free agent next offseason.
Austin, 23, is a former undrafted free agent out of UCLA. He has worked out of the bullpen in the low minors this season, turning in a 2.21 ERA across 36 2/3 innings. The 6’0″ righty has dominated low minors competition, striking out 31% of opponents while issuing walks at a meager 4.7% clip.
Jack Curry of the YES Network first reported the Astros were acquiring Ferguson for a minor leaguer and international bonus pool space. Chandler Rome of the Athletic identified the player as Austin and reported the $750K figure.