Rockies Select John Curtiss, Matt Carasiti
The Rockies made a pair of bullpen moves before tonight’s matchup with the Phillies. Colorado selected righties John Curtiss and Matt Carasiti onto the MLB roster. In corresponding moves, they optioned right-hander Peter Lambert to Triple-A Albuquerque and designated Matt Koch for assignment. To open the second necessary 40-man roster spot, the Rox transferred Kyle Freeland to the 60-day injured list.
Colorado played consecutive extra-inning games against the A’s on Wednesday and Thursday. The Rox won the former in 12 innings but dropped yesterday’s 11-inning contest in disappointing fashion. The bullpen blew leads in the ninth, tenth and eleventh frames — surrendering five runs in the final inning to get walked off after scoring four in the top half.
Koch and Lambert were the last two arms out of Bud Black’s relief corps yesterday. Koch didn’t record an out, allowing hits to Max Schuemann and Abraham Toro before serving up a game-tying homer to JJ Bleday. Lambert managed two outs before walking Tyler Soderstrom with the bases loaded to end the game. That likely took both players out of the picture for tonight and ultimately squeezed them each off the MLB roster.
The 33-year-old Koch signed an offseason minor league deal and was just selected to the big league roster over the weekend. Yesterday’s outing was his second of the season. The righty worked to a 5.12 ERA over 38 2/3 innings for Colorado a year ago. The Rox will likely put him on waivers in the next few days.
Curtiss, 31, inked a minor league deal in January. He has been hit hard for a 6.75 ERA over 21 1/3 innings with the Isotopes. The 6’5″ righty had solid results with the Rays and Marlins between 2020-21 before undergoing Tommy John surgery. He returned to the majors with the Mets a year ago, allowing 4.58 earned runs per nine with a modest 19.8% strikeout rate through 30 appearances. Curtiss is out of options, so the Rox would need to designate him for assignment if they don’t keep him in the MLB bullpen.
Carasiti still has one option remaining, so the Rockies could move him between Denver and Albuquerque. He’s in his second season in the organization and threw 24 1/3 MLB frames a year ago. Carasiti turned in a 6.29 ERA with nearly as many walks as strikeouts in the majors. He has been tagged for 5.91 ERA in the Pacific Coast League this year, but he’s punching out nearly 27% of opposing hitters at that level.
Freeland’s 60-day minimum is retroactive to his original IL placement on April 16. The veteran left-hander suffered an elbow strain after four starts. He’s throwing off a mound but hasn’t begun a rehab assignment. Freeland can pitch in the minors before his 60 days are up; he’ll be eligible for a return to MLB action in the second week of June.
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MLBTR’s Anthony Franco held a live chat today, exclusively for Trade Rumors Front Office subscribers. Anthony took questions on Danny Jansen's free agent value, the Brewers' rotation, the Guardians' surprising success, top White Sox prospect Colson Montgomery, Yankees rookie Luis Gil, José Abreu, the Nationals' first base situation and plenty more.
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Mariners Acquire Mike Baumann
May 23: Baumann reported to the Mariners’ roster today. The team announced that right-hander Cody Bolton has been optioned to Triple-A Tacoma to open a spot on the 26-man roster.
May 22: The Orioles and Mariners announced a trade late Wednesday evening. Seattle acquired reliever Mike Baumann and catcher Michael Pérez in exchange for younger catcher Blake Hunt, whom the O’s have optioned to Triple-A Norfolk. Baltimore had designated Baumann for assignment over the weekend. Hunt and Baumann will each occupy spots on their new teams’ 40-man rosters. Pérez was on a minor league contract and will not assume a 40-man spot. Seattle’s roster is at capacity, while the O’s count is up to 39.
Baumann changes teams for the first time in his career. Baltimore drafted the right-hander in the third round back in 2017. A starting pitcher for most of his minor league tenure, he kicked to the bullpen in 2022. Baumann has turned in solid results over the past couple seasons. He tossed a career-high 64 2/3 innings of 3.76 ERA ball last season and has allowed 3.44 earned runs per nine through 17 appearances this year.
While Baumann’s run prevention marks have been good, his strikeout and walk profile is middling. He had a league average 22.3% strikeout percentage with a lofty 12.1% walk rate in 2023. His strikeout rate is down to 19.5% over 18 1/3 innings this season, while his 11% walk percentage remains higher than average. Baumann’s 9.9% swinging strike rate is a couple points below the league mark for relievers.
That certainly contributed to Baltimore’s decision to DFA him, but the more immediate driver was a lack of roster flexibility. Baumann is out of options, so the O’s couldn’t send him to the minors. He was one of six Baltimore relievers who can’t be optioned, and two who can be sent down (Yennier Cano and Keegan Akin) have been far too valuable to take out of the MLB bullpen.
Seattle has four out-of-options relievers of their own, but they can send down one of Eduard Bazardo or Cody Bolton to plug Baumann into the bullpen. Despite lacking huge swing-and-miss tallies, he should deepen their middle relief group. The Jacksonville product has induced ground-balls at a solid 46.4% clip. He averages north of 96 MPH on his fastball and mixes in a knuckle-curve and slider with regularity. Baumann has between one and two years of major league service. He’s controllable for four seasons beyond the current campaign and won’t be eligible for arbitration until the 2025-26 offseason.
The Mariners liked Baumann enough to part with Hunt, who is a more intriguing player than teams typically land for someone they’d designated for assignment. A former second-round pick of the Padres, he went to the Rays as part of the Blake Snell blockbuster. Hunt topped out at Triple-A in the Tampa Bay farm system. Despite a .256/.331/.484 showing in 2023, the Rays decided not to add him to their 40-man roster last fall. Rather than watch him depart for nothing in minor league free agency, Tampa Bay flipped him to Seattle for recent draftee Tatem Levins.
Seattle added Hunt to the 40-man to keep him in the organization. The 25-year-old has spent the season in Triple-A Tacoma, where he’s out to an excellent .293/.372/.533 start in 86 plate appearances. Hunt has already connected on four homers while striking out in only 11.6% of his trips to the plate. He slots in behind Adley Rutschman and James McCann on the organizational depth chart. There’s a chance Hunt makes his MLB debut at some point this year. Even if he spends the rest of the season in Norfolk, he could compete for next year’s backup catching job if the Orioles let McCann depart in free agency.
Pérez is a 31-year-old journeyman who signed a minor league deal with Baltimore over the offseason. He’s hitting .221/.294/.325 over 21 games in Norfolk. Pérez has appeared in parts of six MLB campaigns and owns a .179/.248/.306 slash at the highest level. Including him in the deal allows Seattle to send an experienced, glove-first veteran to Tacoma after Hunt’s departure. He’s behind Cal Raleigh and Seby Zavala on the organizational depth chart.
Brad Keller Elects Free Agency
Right-hander Brad Keller has elected free agency after going unclaimed on outright waivers, tweets Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times. The White Sox had designated him for assignment on Sunday.
Keller signed a minor league pact with Chicago about halfway into Spring Training. He made three starts for their Triple-A team before being called up in late April. He started two of five appearances at the major league level, pitching to a 4.86 ERA through 16 2/3 innings. Three of Keller’s first four outings were solid, but he gave up four homers in as many innings against the Yankees on Saturday. The Sox decided to go in a different direction, eventually recalling rookie right-hander Nick Nastrini to take the rotation spot.
The 28-year-old Keller has pitched in parts of seven major league seasons. All of that time has been spent in the AL Central. The Royals plucked him out of the Arizona farm system as a Rule 5 pick back in 2017. Keller turned out to be one of the better Rule 5 selections in recent history. He posted a 3.08 ERA as a rookie and turned in 28 starts of 4.19 ERA ball during his second season. His results have fallen off following a strong showing in the abbreviated 2020 season.
Keller allowed more than five earned runs per nine in both 2021 and ’22. He was carrying a 4.57 mark with 14 more walks than strikeouts through 45 1/3 innings last year when he was diagnosed with thoracic outlet syndrome. Kansas City let him walk in free agency last winter.
Teams seeking rotation depth could offer Keller a minor league deal. While his recent production hasn’t been great, he’s still adept at keeping the ball on the ground. He racked up grounders at a 56.1% clip during his brief run with the Sox. He has only had one season where opponents got the ball in the air more than half the time they put it in play against him.
John Means Being Evaluated For Elbow Soreness
Orioles starter John Means left this afternoon’s appearance against the Cardinals after three innings. Postgame, manager Brandon Hyde told reporters that the left-hander had experienced elbow discomfort (link via Danielle Allentuck of the Baltimore Banner). The team was sending Means for further evaluation to determine the severity of a possible injury.
Means was working with diminished stuff. According to Brooks Baseball, his fastball averaged a season-low 88.8 MPH. He has been in the 90-92 range in every other start. Means’ heater topped out at 90.3 MPH today, his lowest maximum velocity of the season.
It’s discouraging news for a pitcher who has battled repeated arm issues over the last couple years. Means was generally durable between 2019-21, his first three full MLB campaigns. He suffered an elbow sprain just two starts into his 2022 season. Means underwent Tommy John surgery not long after, keeping him out of MLB action for nearly 18 months. Baltimore reinstated the former All-Star in the middle of September. Means had a solid four-start run — a 2.66 ERA over 23 2/3 innings — but felt renewed elbow soreness in October.
Baltimore left him off their playoff roster and slow-played his offseason. Means opened the 2024 season on the injured list as a result. He missed the season’s first month. Hyde plugged Means back into the rotation on May 1. He has again been quite effective, turning in a 2.61 ERA with 16 strikeouts and only two walks (both of which came in today’s outing) through 20 innings.
The team will know more about a potential timetable for Means’ return in the coming days. It would appear that another trip to the injured list is a possibility, though the bigger question is whether there’s any kind of structural issue.
If Means goes to the IL, Cole Irvin should draw back into the rotation. The left-hander has been available out of the bullpen for the past few days. (He tossed 3 1/3 innings behind Means today.) Irvin spent most of the year in the starting staff but was briefly pushed to relief once Grayson Rodriguez returned from the injured list last week. Rodriguez slots in behind Corbin Burnes and alongside Kyle Bradish and Dean Kremer as Baltimore’s currently healthy starters.
Angels Re-Sign Amir Garrett To Minor League Contract
Amir Garrett is returning to the Angels on a minor league deal, tweets Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com. The veteran reliever will head back to Triple-A Salt Lake, the place where he opened the 2024 season.
Garrett first signed with the Halos after being released by the Giants in Spring Training. He threw 7 1/3 innings in Salt Lake, striking out 10 while issuing four walks. Opponents only managed three hits and two runs over those eight appearances. The Angels called Garrett to the big leagues at the end of April. He had a tougher go in six MLB outings, surrendering three runs on four hits and five walks through 5 1/3 frames. After Garrett gave up a tie-breaking home run to Alec Burleson in a loss to the Cardinals last week, the Angels designated him for assignment.
The 32-year-old cleared waivers and declined an outright assignment in favor of free agency. It didn’t take long for him to circle back on a new deal with the Angels. That’s not uncommon for veterans who go unclaimed on outright waivers. Reliever Jackson Stephens re-signed with the Braves this afternoon days after electing free agency, for example.
Garrett has high-octane stuff and has missed plenty of bats throughout his seven-plus seasons in the majors. Sky-high walk rates tend to be the tradeoff, though, as he has handed out free passes to more than 15% of opponents in each season since 2021. Garrett will again team with Adam Kolarek as experienced non-roster lefties in Triple-A. Matt Moore and José Suarez are the two southpaws currently in Ron Washington’s bullpen. Kenny Rosenberg has pitched in a swing capacity over the last couple seasons. He’s on the 40-man roster and on optional assignment to Salt Lake, where he has been working out of the rotation.
The Reds’ Surprisingly Tepid Offense
The Reds went into the year with plenty of optimism. Their young core had surprisingly threatened for a playoff berth and finished above .500 in 2023. The front office followed up by committing more than $100MM -- including nearly $62MM in 2024 salaries alone -- on the free agent market. Cincinnati was a trendy choice to take what looked like a wide open NL Central (and would've been my pick to win the division before a couple key Spring Training injuries).
While it's too soon to write them off entirely, the Reds haven't come close to the heightened expectations through the season's first two months. They're eight games below .500 and above only the Marlins and Rockies in the National League. A lineup loaded with talented young hitters should drive this team to success. Thanks to a combination of injury and a handful of key players underperforming, they've instead had one of the worst offenses in the majors.
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Cubs Moving Kyle Hendricks To Bullpen
The Cubs are moving Kyle Hendricks to the bullpen for the time being, manager Craig Counsell told the team’s beat (X link via Patrick Mooney of the Athletic). Counsell indicated the team is hopeful that the veteran right-hander will be able to move back to the rotation in the future, but he’ll first need to improve his results.
Hendricks has been a starting pitcher for his entire career. For the first seven years of his MLB tenure, he was an unconventional top-of-the-rotation arm. Hendricks’ pristine command and ability to keep the ball on the ground more than overcame middling velocity and strikeout totals. He won the ERA title during Chicago’s curse-breaking 2016 season and picked up a pair of top 10 finishes in Cy Young balloting.
Things haven’t gone as smoothly over the last three and a half years. Hendricks posted a near-5.00 ERA in both 2021 and ’22. He returned from a capsule tear in his shoulder to turn in a 3.74 ERA over 24 starts a year ago. That convinced the Cubs to trigger a $16.5MM option for this season. While it wasn’t a particularly surprising move at the time, that’s a decision the front office surely wishes it could have back.
Opposing lineups have teed off on Hendricks through his first seven starts of 2024. He has allowed 37 runs over 30 2/3 innings. Hendricks has conceded 10 home runs and has a career-low 7.7% swinging strike rate. His 48.2% grounder percentage and 7.3% walk rate are each respectable, but opponents have put together a massive .362/.411/.638 slash line over 151 plate appearances.
A lower back issue sent Hendricks to the injured list at the end of April. Following a three-week absence, he returned to start a pair of games against the Pirates. Hendricks tossed five innings of one-run ball in his first outing back but was tagged for eight runs in 4 2/3 frames last week. Counsell acknowledged after the game that the Cubs needed better production from that rotation spot.
They’ll try to patch that together for the time being. The Cubs are planning a bullpen game on Thursday against the Braves in what would have been Hendricks’ spot. They’ll eventually need to settle on a fifth starter behind a strong front four of Shota Imanaga, Justin Steele, Jameson Taillon and Javier Assad. Righties Ben Brown and Hayden Wesneski are capable of logging multiple innings, and the Cubs could welcome back left-hander Jordan Wicks before too long.
A forearm strain sent Wicks to the injured list on April 28. Meghan Montemurro of the Chicago Tribune tweets that the former first-round pick will soon head on a rehab assignment after getting through a bullpen session this afternoon. While Wicks had a 4.70 ERA through his first five starts, a strong 25.9% strikeout rate offers reason for optimism that he can manage better results after being reinstated.
The injury news wasn’t all positive. Montemurro adds that reliever Adbert Alzolay is headed for a second opinion after being diagnosed with a flexor strain last week. Alzolay saved 22 games with a 2.67 ERA over 64 innings a year ago. He has had a much tougher start to the 2024 campaign, allowing 13 runs (nine earned) over 17 1/3 frames.
Josh James Signs With Atlantic League’s Long Island Ducks
Josh James signed with the Long Island Ducks of the Atlantic League, according to the league’s transaction log. The right-hander became a free agent when he was released from a minor league deal with the Cardinals last week.
James, 31, spent his limited time in the St. Louis organization at Triple-A Memphis. He walked 15 of the 51 hitters he faced. Putting on free baserunners at that rate isn’t tenable, and James was rocked for 18 runs in 7 2/3 innings. He’ll need to demonstrate he can find the strike zone with the Ducks to pitch his way back to affiliated ball.
A former 34th-round pick by the Astros, James had a promising first two seasons in Houston. He worked 23 innings of 2.35 ERA ball as a rookie back in 2018. While his 4.70 mark across 61 1/3 frames the following year wasn’t as impressive, James punched out almost 38% of his opponents. He looked like a potential high-octane relief arm before his control evaporated. He walked more than one-fifth of hitters during the shortened season and has barely pitched in the majors since then.
Various injuries cost James most of the 2021-23 campaigns. He battled hip, hamstring and lat problems before undergoing flexor surgery at the tail end of the ’22 season. Houston non-tendered him that winter. James sat out all of last season before beginning his short-lived stint with the Cardinals this past January.
White Sox To Add Nick Nastrini To Rotation
The White Sox will install Nick Nastrini back into their rotation, reports Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times (X link). Manager Pedro Grifol confirmed after tonight’s win over the Blue Jays that the rookie right-hander will take the ball tomorrow in Toronto, pushing Mike Clevinger back to Thursday’s series opener against the Orioles.
Chicago needed to settle on a new fifth starter after designating Brad Keller for assignment on Sunday. Nastrini and Jonathan Cannon, each of whom made his MLB debut in April, were the likeliest options. Nastrini took two starts for the Sox last month. He worked five innings of two-run ball against the Royals in his debut before surrendering six runs across three frames in a road matchup with the Phillies.
The Sox optioned Nastrini back to Triple-A Charlotte after his start in Philadelphia. Keller drew into the rotation for a couple turns, while Clevinger returned to the majors after his late free agent signing. The Sox quickly decided to move on from the veteran Keller in favor of a look at a younger pitcher.
Nastrini, 24, is a former fourth-round pick of the Dodgers. The Sox acquired him at last summer’s deadline in the Lance Lynn/Joe Kelly deal. Nastrini closed last season in Charlotte, where he has spent the majority of the 2024 campaign. His 5.83 ERA in 29 1/3 Triple-A frames isn’t particularly impressive, but the UCLA product has fanned nearly 27% of batters faced with a serviceable 8.2% walk rate. The longball has been his biggest issue, as Nastrini has allowed nine homers in six starts.
The Sox’s rotation has been one of the league’s worst overall, though it’s not without a few interesting performers. Garrett Crochet tossed six scoreless innings to earn the win tonight. He lowered his season ERA to 3.75 in the process. Crochet has punched out more than 32% of opponents in his first year as a starter.
Erick Fedde has allowed 3.10 earned runs per nine over 10 starts in his return to the majors. That mid-rotation production and his modest $7.5MM salaries through 2025 make him an intriguing trade candidate. Every other pitcher who has made multiple starts — Nastrini, Cannon, Keller, Clevinger, Chris Flexen and Michael Soroka — has an ERA above 5.00.
Chicago will officially recall Nastrini tomorrow. They’ll need to option or designate a pitcher for assignment to comply with the 13-pitcher maximum. It could be one of multiple moves, as the Sox will know in the coming days if Eloy Jiménez requires a stint on the injured list. The hulking DH left tonight’s game with a left hamstring strain.