Headlines

Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Phillies, Jesus Cruz Agree To Minor League Deal

By | at

The Phillies recently agreed to minor league deals with reliever Jesús Cruz and corner outfielder Dustin Peterson, according to their transactions log at MLB.com. It’s unclear if either will get a non-roster Spring Training invitation.

Cruz, 27, is a 6’1″ right-hander with eight MLB appearances to his name. Seven of those came last season for the division-rival Braves, as he worked 8 2/3 innings of low-leverage work. He allowed six runs (including a trio of homers) with four walks and six strikeouts before losing his 40-man roster spot at the beginning of August.

Things went better at the Triple-A level, where the Mexico native showed interesting swing-and-miss stuff. Cruz punched out an excellent 32.2% of batters faced in 28 outings with the Braves’ highest affiliate in Gwinnett. That came with a lofty 13.2% walk percentage, the continuation of longstanding control problems he’s shown throughout his career. Cruz has walked 13.4% of opponents in parts of five minor league seasons.

Erratic as his strike-throwing is, he’s shown the ability to miss bats at the upper levels of the minors. Cruz averaged just under 95 MPH with his heater and around 87 MPH on his slider during his limited MLB look in Atlanta. He’ll add a reasonably strong arm to the Phils’ bullpen depth chart, likely to open the season at Triple-A Lehigh Valley. He still has a pair of minor league option years remaining, meaning Philadelphia could send him back and forth between MLB and the minors if he secures a 40-man roster spot.

Peterson is a former second-round pick of the Padres who has limited MLB time as a member of the Braves and Tigers. He played in 19 games between the two clubs from 2018-19, collecting 10 hits and two walks in 49 plate appearances. The 28-year-old has spent a decade in the minor leagues, hitting .261/.319/.364 in just under 3700 trips to the plate.

The right-handed hitter opened the 2022 campaign with the Brewers on a minor league pact. After just three games, Milwaukee traded him to Philadelphia. Peterson spent the rest of the season with the IronPigs, posting a .244/.318/.379 line with nine homers across 102 contests. He made a favorable enough impression on the organization to get another minor league opportunity and could play a similar depth role during the upcoming season.

Brewers Sign Robert Stock To Minor League Deal

By | at

The Brewers have signed right-hander Robert Stock to a minor league contract, tweets Adam McCalvy of MLB.com. He’ll be in major league camp as a non-roster invitee to Spring Training.

Stock appeared at the MLB level each season from 2018-21. He first cracked the majors during his age-28 season with the Padres. The hard-throwing Stock broke in with a flourish, posting a 2.50 ERA in 39 2/3 relief innings as a rookie. He didn’t replicate that success the following season, struggling in 10 appearances and missing an extended stretch of action with a biceps strain. The next offseason, he bounced from San Diego to Philadelphia to Boston on waivers.

After struggling in 10 outings of relief for Boston, Stock landed with the Cubs on waivers. He made just one appearance for Chicago — his first MLB start — and then headed to the Mets. Stock started twice for New York and was outrighted off the roster at the end of the season. He signed with the Doosan Bears of the Korea Baseball Organization for the 2022 campaign.

The USC product worked out of the Bears’ rotation last year. He started 29 games and worked 165 innings, posting a solid 3.60 ERA. That came with a fairly modest 19.1% strikeout percentage and an elevated 11.5% walk rate. Stock will try to iron those numbers out in his return to affiliated ball.

He’ll be in MLB camp and offer some depth in both the starting staff or bullpen. Milwaukee’s rotation is already deep, with Corbin Burnes, Brandon Woodruff, Freddy Peralta, Wade Miley, Aaron Ashby, Eric Lauer and Adrian Houser offering seven options on the 40-man roster. The clearer path to MLB time for Stock would likely come in relief, though he seems likely to open the year at Triple-A Nashville given Milwaukee’s overall pitching depth.

Red Sox Have Shown Interest In Matt Moore

By | at

The Red Sox have checked in on free agent reliever Matt Moore this offseason, reports Chris Cotillo of MassLive (Twitter links). The extent of their interest isn’t known, but Cotillo adds that fellow southpaw Andrew Chafin has not been on Boston’s radar thus far.

Moore and Chafin are arguably the two best remaining free agent relievers. Alongside Will Smith, they’re part of a group of quality left-handers whose market has unexpectedly lingered. The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal linked a third of the league (Boston included) to the lefty relief market earlier in the week, but we’ve still not seen any notable movement since Taylor Rogers inked a three-year deal with the Giants before the calendar flipped to 2023.

The 33-year-old Moore spent a decade as a big leaguer starter, battling inconsistency along the way. The former top prospect had a couple strong seasons upon breaking in with the Rays but started to struggle in the wake of 2014 Tommy John surgery. He sandwiched a solid 2016 campaign between a trio of 5.00-plus ERA marks between 2015-18. Moore barely pitched in 2019, spent the ’20 campaign in Japan and was hit hard in his return showing with the Phillies two seasons ago.

Moore inked a minor league deal with the Rangers last offseason. He was in the majors again by mid-April and reinvented himself as a power arm out of the bullpen. Texas deployed him exclusively in relief, calling upon the veteran 63 times. Through 74 innings, Moore posted a stellar 1.95 ERA. He struck out batters at a strong 27.3% clip while generating swinging strikes on a massive 14.7% of his offerings. His fastball averaged around 94 MPH and he got excellent results on both his curveball and changeup, giving him a three-pitch arsenal to deploy in short stints.

The sole red flag in Moore’s 2022 performance was his control. He dished out walks to 12.5% of opponents, a rate more than three percentage points higher than average. ERA estimators like FIP (2.98) and SIERA (3.69) weren’t quite as bullish as his sub-2.00 ERA would suggest, as Moore was probably a bit fortunate to strand 81% of the baserunners he allowed. That said, there’s room for Moore to regress marginally from his 2022 level while still remaining a quality high-leverage option if he can sustain last season’s swing-and-miss prowess.

Moore certainly earned himself a big league deal this time around and he has a case for a multi-year pact even headed into his age-34 campaign. Former Red Sox hurler Matt Strahm secured a two-year, $15MM deal from the Phillies on the heels of a solid but arguably less impressive 3.83 ERA/3.30 SIERA showing.

Chafin has an even stronger argument for a two-year contract. He’s going into his age-33 season and coming off a second straight excellent year. He provided the Tigers 57 1/3 frames of 2.83 ERA ball with a 27.6% strikeout rate and 7.8% walk percentage. That was on the heels of a 1.83 ERA season between the Cubs and A’s in 2021. Speculatively speaking, it’s possible that’s leading to a loftier asking price than is coming from Moore’s camp to explain Boston’s seeming lack of interest in Chafin.

The Red Sox have a fairly straightforward desire for left-handed relief help. They’ve added Joely Rodríguez on a $2MM free agent contract but parted with Darwinzon Hernández and Josh Taylor after seeing Strahm leave in free agency. Rodríguez is the only assured lefty reliever on the 40-man roster, though starting pitching prospects Chris Murphy and Brandon Walter could theoretically find themselves in that mix. The Sox have signed Ryan Sherriff and Matt Dermody to minor league deals in recent days to strengthen the depth. Neither would take them out of the market for Moore, who’d be a more significant acquisition.

The Red Sox currently project for a player payroll in the $192MM range, as tabulated by Roster Resource. More meaningfully, they’re around $219MM in luxury tax obligations. That leaves them approximately $14MM shy of the $233MM base threshold, so a Moore deal would be financially viable while still leaving them some breathing room under the tax for midseason additions should they so desire. The Cubs are the only other team known to have checked in with Moore’s camp this winter, though there are surely numerous unreported suitors.

Dodgers Sign Wander Suero To Minor League Deal

By | at

The Dodgers have signed reliever Wander Suero to a minor league deal, as relayed by Chris Hilburn-Trenkle of Baseball America. Pitcher Kevin Gowdy and catcher Hamlet Marte have also signed non-roster pacts with L.A.

Suero, 31, is the only member of that group with big league experience. The righty was a durable middle innings option for the Nationals between 2018-21. He pitched in 185 games over that stretch, tallying 185 1/3 innings of 4.61 ERA ball. While a bloated 6.33 mark during his final season inflated his overall numbers, Suero was a roughly league average reliever for his first three years.

Between 2018-20, the Dominican-born hurler put together a 4.10 ERA in 140 appearances. He struck out 26.1% of batters faced against a manageable 8.5% walk percentage, holding opposing hitters to a .239/.315/.365 line. Suero contributed 71 1/3 regular season innings to Washington’s World Series team in 2019, logging four postseason appearances that year.

Things went off the rails in 2021. Suero’s strikeout rate dipped from the 27-28% range to 23.2%. His whiff rate also dropped a couple percentage points. Most alarming was a massive spike in home runs, as he allowed 11 longballs in 42 2/3 frames. That rate of 2.32 homers per nine innings was well north of his previous career-high mark of 0.76 HR/9. That led Washington to non-tender him at the end of the season.

Suero latched on with the Angels on a minor league contract for 2022. He made 20 appearances for their top affiliate in Salt Lake, struggling to a 6.08 ERA with just a 13.4% strikeout percentage. The Halos released him in July. Suero made seven appearances in the Mexican League to finish the season, and he’s pitched seven more times in Dominican Winter League action over the offseason. He allowed two runs in 6 2/3 innings in winter ball but only struck out two of 28 opponents.

Gowdy is a 25-year-old righty who went 42nd overall to the Phillies in the 2016 draft. The Phils paid an overslot $3.5MM bonus to buy him out of a UCLA commitment out of high school. That didn’t pan out, as Gowdy missed two seasons recovering from Tommy John surgery and didn’t advance past High-A in the Philadelphia system. The Rangers acquired him as part of the Kyle Gibson/Ian Kennedy deadline deal in 2021. Gowdy spent last season working out of the bullpen at Double-A Frisco, where he was tattooed for a 9.90 ERA with nearly as many walks as strikeouts in 40 innings. He hit minor league free agency at year’s end and will try to earn an MLB look in the third organization of his professional career.

Marte, 29 next month, is a minor league journeyman. He’s played parts of 11 pro seasons for three organizations, hitting .259/.327/.409. He’s spent the past two seasons in the upper levels of the Dodgers’ system but has only played in 52 combined games. He’ll likely head to Triple-A Oklahoma City as a depth catcher.

Pirates Outright Miguel Andujar

By | at

The Pirates have sent corner infielder/outfielder Miguel Andújar outright to Triple-A Indianapolis after he went unclaimed on waivers, tweets Kevin Gorman of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. He’ll be in big league camp as a non-roster invitee to Spring Training, which suggests he’s accepted the assignment.

Andújar is a more high-profile player than usually hits the waiver wire. The right-handed hitter posted big numbers in the Yankees’ farm system and reached the majors at the tail end of the 2017 season. A top 60 overall prospect headed into the following year at both Baseball America and FanGraphs, Andújar looked like a potential core piece in the Bronx after an excellent rookie season. He hit 27 home runs and 47 doubles with a .297/.328/.527 line over 606 plate appearances as New York’s primary third baseman in 2018.

That earned Andújar a runner-up behind Shohei Ohtani in AL Rookie of the Year balloting. While he seemed like the third baseman of the future for the Yankees, he’s yet to again reach those early-career heights. His sophomore season was cut short after just 12 games by a labrum tear in his right shoulder that required surgery. By the time he returned in 2020, Gio Urshela had broken out and claimed the third base job. That left Andújar in a depth role, cycling between the Bronx and Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre without much consistent MLB playing time.

Tough as that situation must’ve been for Andújar, he never forced the Yankees’ hand by earning significant reps. New York gave him 327 scattered plate appearances between 2020-22. He hit just .244/.272/.346 with eight homers and a meager 4% walk rate. Paired with a corner-only defensive profile, his production was a little below replacement level. The Yankees eventually cut him loose at the end of last season, waiving him in September. The Pirates grabbed the 27-year-old off the wire and plugged him into nine games down the stretch. Andújar got 40 plate appearances with Pittsburgh, hitting .250/.275/.389 to close out the year.

After the season, he and the Bucs agreed to a $1.525MM salary to buy out his second season of arbitration eligibility. While that may have kept him from being non-tendered in November, he was still squeezed off the 40-man roster last week once the Bucs brought back Andrew McCutchen. Any team that claimed Andújar off waivers would’ve had to take on his salary. It’s certainly not an exorbitant sum but is roughly double the league minimum and might’ve played a role in him going unclaimed.

Andújar has a bit more than four years of major league service time. Players with over three years of service have the right to refuse an outright assignment in favor of minor league free agency, though anyone with fewer than five years of service would forfeit the remaining guaranteed money on their contract to do so. Andújar certainly wouldn’t have landed a better deal in free agency after going unclaimed on waivers, so it’s no surprise he’s elected to take the minor league assignment to hang onto that salary.

He’ll report to camp and try to reestablish himself on the 40-man roster as a right-handed bench bat. If he doesn’t break camp, he’ll open the season as a depth option in Indianapolis. Andújar has a .303/.351/.507 line in a little over 600 career Triple-A plate appearances. Performing at that level in the minors could certainly get him back on the radar for a midseason promotion. Andújar is out of minor league option years, though, meaning he’d have to stick on the MLB roster or again be DFA if he earns a call-up at any point.

Red Sox Remain Open To Middle Infield Acquisitions

By | at

The Red Sox have finalized a pair of up-the-middle pickups this week, formally adding Adam Duvall on a one-year free agent deal to play center field and acquiring infielder Adalberto Mondesi from the Royals yesterday. Chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom met with reporters after announcing the trade with Kansas City and suggested the team was still open to acquiring middle infield help.

“We’d still love to add if the opportunities are there,” Bloom said (via Chris Cotillo of MassLive). That’s not too surprising, as the Boston baseball operations leader had previously indicated the club was open to three-plus additions after losing Trevor Story for most of the season after he underwent an internal brace procedure on his throwing elbow.

Mondesi himself is far from a sure thing. The switch-hitting infielder has spent time on the injured list in four of the last five seasons, and he’s coming off an ACL tear that ended his 2022 campaign 15 games in. That injury — which required surgery — occurred roughly nine months ago. Bloom noted that Mondesi’s rehab “still has a ways to go” and suggested it’s possible he’s behind schedule heading into the season. The 27-year-old infielder might yet be ready for Opening Day but that doesn’t seem a certainty.

Even once Mondesi is healthy, it seems he might have a clearer path to reps at second base than at shortstop. Bloom indicated that Enrique Hernández remains the club’s top in-house shortstop (relayed by Ian Browne of MLB.com). That’d presumably leave Mondesi at the keystone on most days, which would push Christian Arroyo into a utility capacity.

Hernández only has 618 innings at shortstop over parts of nine big league campaigns. Public defensive metrics have mostly rated him as a solid or better gloveman in that look. He’s typically registered plus defensive grades at second base and in center field over more extended bodies of work, and Boston brass is clearly confident he’s athletic enough to shoulder a heavier shortstop workload.

If the Sox were to go outside the organization for help, they’d likely be looking at depth pickups. Elvis Andrus remains the top unsigned shortstop. Josh Harrison is probably the next-best free agent middle infielder, with José Iglesias, Jonathan Villar and Rougned Odor also in the mix. Players like Tony Kemp, Nick Madrigal or Nicky Lopez might still be attainable on the trade front, though it’s possible the Boston front office doesn’t find anyone in that group enough of an upgrade over the in-house possibilities to open discussions.

Astros Have Not Requested Permission To Interview David Stearns

By | at

The Astros remain without a general manager less than a month from the start of Spring Training. Owner Jim Crane dismissed former GM James Click at the start of the offseason once Click declined a one-year extension offer on the heels of a World Series win. That came after months of reported friction between owner and GM, leaving Houston’s front office in a state of uncertainty.

Crane doesn’t appear to be in a rush to tab a new baseball ops leader. Speaking with reporters this evening at the Houston Sports Awards, the owner indicated he’s not feeling pressure to make a move (link via Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle). “We’re still searching,” Crane said. “We’re scanning the crowd right now. No, look, we’re still working on it. We’ll take our time and get it right.”

Unsurprisingly, Crane didn’t offer many specifics about the ongoing search. He noted that he’s considering candidates from both within and outside the organization. Perhaps most notably, Crane said he has not reached out to the Brewers about the possibility of interviewing former Milwaukee president of baseball operations David Stearns for a front office position.

Ken Rosenthal of the Athletic reported earlier this week that Houston was eyeing Stearns, who’d worked for the Astros before landing the top gig with the Brewers in 2015. Stearns held that post for seven years until resigning at the start of this offseason. General manager Matt Arnold, his longtime top lieutenant, took control of the baseball ops department. Stearns, who is under contract with the Brewers through the end of the 2023 campaign, has remained on hand as an advisor to Arnold and owner Mark Attanasio. For any club to hire or even interview Stearns before the end of the upcoming season, they’d need Attanasio to sign off.

While Crane said he hasn’t contacted the Brewers thus far, he didn’t specify whether he planned to do so at any point in the process. Of course, it’s not clear whether the 37-year-old Stearns would have any interest even if the Astros did reach out. When he announced he was stepping down in October, the Harvard graduate firmly stated he “not going anywhere” other than Milwaukee in the short term and stressed he was embracing an opportunity to spend more time with his family with his lightened workload.

A few people are known to be under consideration for the Houston job. Braves vice president of scouting Dana Brown, former Giants general manager Bobby Evans, Guardians assistant GM James Harris and longtime Astros catcher and former Tigers/Angels skipper Brad Ausmus have all been linked to the search in recent days. A report from USA Today over the weekend pained Brown as the frontrunner, but Rome hears from a source that it’s still too early in the process for any individual to have pulled firmly ahead of the pack.

Marlins Sign Enrique Burgos To Minor League Deal

By | at

The Marlins announced that reliever Enrique Burgos has signed a minor league contract with a non-roster Spring Training invitation. The 32-year-old makes it back to the affiliated ranks for the first time since he was released by the Tigers in March 2018.

Burgos, a Panama native, has some previous MLB experience. He was a frequent middle relief option for the Diamondbacks from 2015-16, combining for 73 appearances. Through 68 1/3 innings, the righty posted a 5.27 ERA with a strong 27.4% strikeout rate offset by a 12.7% walk percentage. While Burgos averaged north of 96 MPH on his fastball and missed plenty of bats, his inconsistent control and an elevated .339 batting average on balls in play pushed him off the roster.

A brief stint in the Atlanta organization was spent entirely at Triple-A in 2017. After failing to crack the Detroit roster out of spring camp the following season, Burgos has worked mostly in the Mexican League and winter ball over the past few years (along with a brief stay in the Atlantic League). He struck out 17 against five walks through 15 innings in the Dominican Winter League this offseason, apparently piquing the interest of Marlins’ scouts in the process.

Miami has mostly stood pat with its bullpen this winter. Cole Sulser was lost on waivers to Arizona, while JT Chargois was brought in from the Rays. Rule 5 selection Nic Enright will have to hold a spot or be placed on waivers and subsequently sent back to the Guardians. Dylan Floro, Tanner Scott, Steven Okert and Richard Bleier should have season-opening spots secured. Tommy Nance, Andrew Nardi, Eli Villalobos and Huascar Brazobán could battle for middle relief spots.

Burgos joins Chi Chi González, Geoff Hartlieb and Bryan Hoeing as non-roster invitees with some big league time. Given his lack of recent affiliated experience, the 32-year-old Burgos figures to open the season at Triple-A Jacksonville and will try to earn an MLB call during the season.

Rays, Jaime Schultz Agree To Minor League Deal

By | at

The Rays are signing reliever Jaime Schultz to a minor league deal, tweets Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. He’ll be in big league camp as a non-roster invitee.

Schultz has plenty of familiarity with the Tampa Bay organization. He began his professional career as a Rays draftee in 2013. Within a few seasons, he garnered some prospect attention as a potential high-leverage bullpen arm. That hasn’t materialized, as Schultz has battled scattershot command and injuries that have kept him from establishing himself in an MLB relief unit.

The High Point product pitched at the highest level in 2018-19, with the first of those seasons spent in Tampa Bay. He made 22 appearances for the Rays and four more as a Dodger the following season. Between the two clubs, he’s posted a 5.86 ERA across 35 1/3 MLB innings. Schultz struck out roughly 26% of opponents while averaging around 95 MPH on his fastball. That came with an alarming 13.6% walk percentage, leading Los Angeles to outright him off their roster towards the end of the 2019 season.

Schultz has signed minor league deals with the A’s and Mariners in recent years but been limited to five combined Triple-A outings since 2020. He didn’t sign with any team for 2022 but returns to the affiliated ranks this year. He’ll add a live arm to the upper levels of the Rays’ minor league system. Schultz figures to open the season with Triple-A Durham. He’s out of option years, so he’d have to stick on the active roster or be made available to other teams if he earns a call-up at any point.

MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

Do not Sell or Share My Personal Information

hide arrows scroll to top