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Cubs Select Narciso Crook, Place Jason Heyward On Injured List

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The Cubs announced that corner outfielder Narciso Crook has been selected onto the major league roster. Center fielder Jason Heyward is headed to the 10-day injured list, retroactive to June 27, due to right knee inflammation. In order to create a 40-man roster spot for Crook, Michael Hermosillo has been transferred from the 10-day to the 60-day IL.

Crook, 27 next month, is in position to make his major league debut. He’s spent almost a decade in pro ball, originally entering the affiliated ranks as a 23rd round pick of the Reds back in 2013. A New Jersey junior college product, Crook played in the Cincinnati farm system until last year. His performance was generally inconsistent, but the 6’3″ outfielder slowly played his way as high as Triple-A. He spent the bulk of last season at that level, hitting .245/.360/.448 in 86 games.

The Reds never selected Crook onto their 40-man roster, and he qualified for minor league free agency at the end of the year. He inked a non-roster pact with the Cubs and has spent the whole season at Triple-A Iowa. Crook is hitting .268/.375/.510 with nine home runs through 184 plate appearances, drawing walks at a strong 11.4% rate along the way. He’s striking out nearly 30% of the time with Iowa, but the power and plate discipline were enough to get him his long-awaited big league look.

Crook adds a right-handed bat to the corner outfield and designated hitter mix for manager David Ross. The trio of Ian Happ, Christopher Morel and Rafael Ortega figure to assume much of the playing time. Heyward had already begun losing reps of late, as he’s having another very rough season. Through 151 plate appearances, he owns a .204/.278/.277 line with a single longball.

Hermosillo has been out since May 8 with a left quad strain. Today’s transfer rules him out for sixty days from that time, pushing his return window back to early July. The 27-year-old outfielder began some baseball activities last week but has yet to start a minor league rehab assignment.

Dodgers Claim Ian Gibaut From Guardians

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The Dodgers have claimed reliever Ian Gibaut off waivers from the Guardians, according to an announcement from GuardsInsider. Los Angeles has transferred reliever Daniel Hudson from the 15-day to the 60-day injured list to clear a spot on the 40-man roster.

Cleveland designated Gibaut for assignment on Tuesday, just one day after selecting him to the big league roster. The righty did make an appearance, tossing 1 1/3 scoreless innings during a blowout loss to the Twins. Gibaut averaged 96.9 MPH on his fastball during that lone stint, two ticks harder than his average heater from last season. Signed to a minor league deal over the winter, the 6’3″ righty had otherwise spent the season with Triple-A Columbus. He tossed 19 2/3 innings of 3.20 ERA ball, striking out a fine 24.1% of opponents against an elevated 10.1% walk rate.

Gibaut induced grounders on over the half the batted balls he allowed with the Clippers. Between his capable minor league showing and seeming 2022 velocity uptick, the Dodgers were intrigued enough to give him a look. Gibaut is out of minor league option years, so he’ll have to stick on Los Angeles’ active roster or be designated for assignment. Also a former Ray, Ranger and Twin, the 28-year-old owns a 5.19 ERA in 34 2/3 big league innings over the past four years.

Hudson’s IL transfer is a formality. The veteran righty suffered a season-ending ACL tear in his left knee last week.

Senate Committee Examining MLB’s Antitrust Exemption

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This week, the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee reached out to the non-profit group Advocates For Minor Leaguers for further information on Major League Baseball’s antitrust exemption. Evan Drellich of the Athletic and Jeff Passan of ESPN (Twitter thread) were among those to cover the development in detail.

The focus of the current inquiry is on how the antitrust exemption affects minor league player pay, the 2019-20 reduction of the number of minor league teams, and the league’s acquisition process for international amateurs. Senators from both parties released statements, which can be found in Drellich’s piece, expressing support for a reexamination of the exemption. MLB has not commented on the matter.

The exemption has been in place for a century. It dates back to a 1922 case in which the Supreme Court ruled that MLB was an intrastate affair outside the purview of the interstate commerce being regulated by federal antitrust law. In subsequent cases, the Court has acknowledged its original reasoning was overly simplistic and no longer applicable in declining to expand the exemption to other professional sports leagues. The Court has nevertheless left the onus on Congress to overturn MLB’s exemption with a new piece of legislation, which it has yet to do.

Passan and Drellich examine the implications of the antitrust exemption in greater detail. Its arguably biggest impact has been in allowing teams to fix low salaries for minor leaguers, most of whom are not part of the MLB Players Association and do not have their own union. Drellich notes that other issues like television blackouts and the process for relocating MLB franchises may also be impacted were Congress to modify or lift the exemption.

While an overhaul of the antitrust exemption could have wide-ranging effects on affiliated ball, this is hardly the first time Congresspeople have hinted at the possibility. In recent years, legislators on different sides of the political aisle have publicly expressed a desire to reconsider or revoke the exemption. Those have come in response to MLB decisions as varied as the minor league restructuring and the call to move the 2021 All-Star Game from Atlanta to Denver. To this point, Congress has not moved forward with any serious threat to the exemption; it’s possible, seemingly likely, this inquiry from the Judiciary Committee also winds up blowing over without an alteration to the existing system.

The Committee’s examination into the international amateur market comes at a time when that process may be nearing an overhaul anyhow. MLB’s desire for a draft to replace the international signing period proved a sticking point in last offseason’s collective bargaining negotiations — one which has yet to be resolved. The MLBPA refused to sign off on an international draft during the winter, and the parties agreed to extend their window for those talks. If the league and union agree on an international draft by July 25, the qualifying offer system — which serves as a drag on the market for some free agents by attaching draft pick forfeiture for signing them — would be eliminated. If the parties do not agree on an international draft, the current amateur signing process and QO will remain in place, likely to again be a key topic during the post-2026 CBA negotiations.

In a separate post Wednesday, Drellich reexamined many of the potential effects that could arise from an overhaul of the international amateur system. MLBPA executive director Tony Clark declined to delve into specifics on the status of negotiations, telling The Athletic:

“We agreed in March to explore whether a negotiated and mutually acceptable agreement could be reached for an international draft. Additional time on this complex issue was needed precisely because the league’s proposal was not and is not anywhere close to acceptable. The league committed to further negotiation on these complex issues, and we expect those discussions to continue in the coming days and weeks. Whether in the end a negotiated, mutually acceptable agreement can be reached remains to be seen.“

Marlins Place Jazz Chisholm On Injured List

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The Marlins have placed second baseman Jazz Chisholm on the 10-day injured list due to a right lower back strain. Utilityman Luke Williams was recalled from Triple-A Jacksonville to take his spot on the active roster.

Chisholm has been nagged by back issues in recent days. He sat out Sunday’s and Monday’s contests before returning to the lineup yesterday. He departed that game after one at-bat and a lone defensive inning. Christina De Nicola of MLB.com wrote last night that he was headed for an MRI, making it unsurprising he’ll need some time to rehab the injury. The club hasn’t provided any specifics on his potential return.

The 24-year-old Chisholm is having a breakout season, emerging as one of the game’s most electric young talents. He carries a .254/.325/.535 line through 241 plate appearances, hitting 14 home runs and ten doubles while stealing 12 bases. Chisholm has also rated quite well at second base in the eyes of public defensive metrics, making him the team’s most productive position player in the early going.

Miami is likely to turn to Jon Berti at the keystone while Chisholm is out. The 32-year-old is quietly having a strong year himself, posting a .289/.380/.409 mark while leading the majors with 22 steals (a rather remarkable feat considering he’s not actually played enough to qualify for the batting title). Berti had bounced all over the diamond as a utility option for manager Don Mattingly, but he figures to play regularly at second base while leaving the depth work to Williams and Erik González.

Guardians Outright Tanner Tully

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The Guardians have outrighted left-hander Tanner Tully to Triple-A Columbus, tweets GuardsInsider. He’d been designated for assignment on Monday, just two days after being selected onto the roster.

Tully, 27, also saw brief major league action in April. That promotion came as a designated COVID-19 substitute, while he was added as a more traditional call-up over the weekend. The Ohio State product has made a pair of big league appearances, allowing four runs in five innings with five walks and a strikeout. He soaked up three innings out of the bullpen during Sunday’s loss to the Red Sox.

A former 26th-round pick, Tully will remain in the upper levels of the farm system. He’s never previously been outrighted and doesn’t have the requisite service time to refuse an assignment, so he’ll head to Columbus. He’s spent much of the season there, making 12 starts and tossing 63 2/3 innings of 5.23 ERA ball. Tully only has a 14.9% strikeout rate at the minors highest level, but he’s walked a meager 3.5% of opponents and induced grounders on over the half the batted balls against him.

Marlins, VP Gary Denbo Part Ways

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The Marlins and vice president of player development and scouting Gary Denbo are parting ways, reports Craig Mish of SportsGrid (Twitter link). The 61-year-old had served as a high-ranking member of the Miami front office for the past five seasons.

Denbo came over the Yankees in October 2017, part of a broader organizational overhaul. He was hired just months after Jeffrey Loria sold the franchise to Bruce Sherman’s and Derek Jeter’s ownership group. Jeter was plenty familiar with Denbo from their overlapping stints in New York, and the latter served as a key piece of the franchise’s rebuild over the past few seasons.

Jeter, of course, left the Miami organization in February. Sherman remains on hand as the principal owner, while general manager Kim Ng was tabbed to head baseball operations during the 2020-21 offseason. Considering Jeter’s role in bringing Denbo aboard in the first place, it’s not especially surprising they departed within a few months of one another. Nevertheless, Denbo stepping down will leave a notable hole to fill in the scouting and player development realms.

Mariners Select Marcus Wilson

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The Mariners announced they’ve selected outfielder Marcus Wilson onto the big league roster. He’ll replace Taylor Trammell, who lands on the 10-day injured list with a right hamstring strain. Seattle also optioned corner infielder Kevin Padlo to Triple-A Tacoma and recalled utilityman Sam Haggerty to add some defensive flexibility to the bench. In order to create a 40-man roster spot for Wilson, catcher Tom Murphy has been transferred from the 10-day to the 60-day IL.

Wilson, 25, would make his major league debut if he gets into a game. He’s spent time on a 40-man roster before, having been added to the Red Sox’s roster to keep him from being taken in the 2019 Rule 5 draft. Wilson spent a year and a half on optional assignment to the minor leagues before being designated for assignment by Boston at last summer’s trade deadline. Seattle grabbed him off waivers and kept him in Triple-A for the remainder of last season.

The California native struggled during his initial two months in the M’s organization, leading Seattle to take him off the 40-man at the end of last year. Wilson passed through waivers unclaimed and remained in the system, and he’s spent this season in Tacoma. Through 209 plate appearances, he owns a .209/.336/.469 line with 12 home runs and eight stolen bases. As he has for most of his minor league tenure, Wilson has shown some power, speed and excellent strike zone awareness to work walks at a nearly 15% clip. He’s paired those promising tools with alarming swing-and-miss concerns throughout his time in pro ball, though, and he’s again punched out in more than a third of his plate appearances with Tacoma this season.

Wilson has experience at all three outfield spots but has spent much of this season in right field. That’s where Trammell has suited up for much of the year, putting together a solid .235/.323/.457 showing over 32 games. Unfortunately, the 24-year-old went down with a hamstring strain during last night’s contest. It’s the second time that’s happened to Trammell, as he spent around six weeks on the minor league IL earlier this season with the same injury. Whether his current strain is as severe as the one he suffered in April isn’t clear, but he’ll at least need some time on the shelf.

The Mariners figure to rely on some combination of Justin Upton, Dylan Moore and Wilson to cover right field for the next few weeks. Opening Day right fielder Mitch Haniger has been out since late April after suffering a high ankle sprain. He’s recently begun baseball activities but has yet to embark on a minor league rehab assignment; Haniger has maintained he hopes to be back in the big leagues around the All-Star Break.

Seattle could’ve elected to recall Jarred Kelenic, who was optioned six weeks ago at the time the M’s brought Trammell up. Kelenic has responded with a strong .295/.340/.576 showing in Tacoma, but he’s struck out at an alarming 27.7% rate while only walking at a 5.7% clip. The organization clearly feels the 22-year-old would be better served with continued run against high minors pitching — he’d had only 30 career Triple-A games entering this season — rather than returning to the majors to hold down right field until Haniger is healthy.

Murphy, meanwhile, has been out of action since May 7 after dislocating his left shoulder attempting a tag at home plate. He later suffered a setback, and Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times relayed last week that he’ll require season-ending surgery. That makes today’s IL transfer nothing more than a formality.

It’s an obviously frustrating end to the year for Murphy, who only managed to appear in 14 games. The 31-year-old had performed very well in that limited stretch and looked as if he’d reemerged as a viable #1 option for the Mariners. Murphy had a stellar .273/.324/.535 showing while suiting up in just under half the team’s games in 2019, but he missed the entire following season after fracturing his left foot. Murphy returned last season but managed a less inspiring .202/.304/.350 showing through 325 trips to the plate.

Murphy’s efforts at a bounceback season are cut short by the shoulder issue. He’s playing this season on a $1.575MM salary after avoiding arbitration. The Mariners can keep him around via that process for a final time in 2023. Whether they’ll do so figures to depend on the long-term prognosis for his recovery. Murphy’s abbreviated season won’t earn him much of a raise relative to this year’s modest salary, but it’s possible Seattle looks for a new starting catcher next winter given his recent injury woes.

Austin Meadows Placed On Injured List With Achilles Strains

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Austin Meadows’ injury-plagued first season in Detroit continues, as the Tigers announced this evening that he’s been placed on the 10-day injured list with Achilles strains in both legs. The outfielder had been on the COVID-19 list for the past 11 days; he’d been set to go on a minor league rehab assignment but the Achilles issues represent a notable setback. Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free-Press writes there’s currently no timetable for his return.

Meadows also lost a couple weeks in May while fighting vertigo-like symptoms. The series of health issues has kept him to 36 games thus far, and his production at the plate has taken a step back. Meadows is hitting .250/.347/.328 across 147 plate appearances, and he’s yet to hit his first home run in a Tiger uniform. The left-handed hitter popped 27 homers and 29 doubles for the Rays last season, but he’s unfortunately not had much of an opportunity to get into a groove this year.

Needless to say, it’s not been the kind of season the Tigers front office envisioned when acquiring Meadows from the Rays for infielder Isaac Paredes and a draft choice just before Opening Day. It’s been something of a Murphy’s law season altogether for the Tigers, who have been hit by a host of injuries in the starting rotation and an offensive drought throughout the lineup. Detroit entered play tonight 28-44 and is certain to move some shorter-term players over the coming weeks after their hopes of competing this season were dashed early on.

Meadows is playing this season on a $4MM salary after avoiding arbitration with the Rays over the winter. He’s controllable twice more via the arb process and can stick around in Detroit through the end of the 2024 campaign.

Reds Outright Colin Moran

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8:16pm: As expected, Moran has decided to accept the outright assignment, the club announced (via Charlie Goldsmith of the Cincinnati Enquirer).

5:58pm: The Reds announced that corner infielder Colin Moran has cleared waivers and been assigned outright to Triple-A Louisville. He has the right to refuse a minor league assignment as a player with between four and five years of big league service time, but doing so would require forfeiting what remains of his $1MM guaranteed salary. C. Trent Rosecrans of the Athletic tweets that Moran has not yet informed the Reds of his decision.

Cincinnati hadn’t previously announced that Moran had been designated for assignment. The outright drops the club’s 40-man roster tally down to 39, although they’ll need a spot for reliever Jeff Hoffman whenever he’s ready to return from the COVID-19 injured list.

The Reds signed Moran to a one-year deal during Spring Training. He’d been cut loose by the division-rival Pirates after a four-year run in Pittsburgh. He typically offered league average production at the dish during his time in the Steel City, combining for a .269/.331/.419 line. After struggling defensively at the hot corner, however, he was increasingly limited to first base time of late. His solid but unspectacular offense at a bat-first position wasn’t enough for the Bucs to keep him around through his arbitration seasons.

While Cincinnati hoped they’d add a productive left-handed bat to their bench, Moran hasn’t performed especially well in 2022. He’s posted a .210/.299/.360 line with four home runs through 117 plate appearances during his major league action. That’s led to a pair of optional assignments to Louisville, where he’s punched out in 16 of his 52 trips against upper minors pitching. Those struggles made it such that no other team wanted to assume the remaining guarantees on his contract.

If Moran stays with the Bats on outright assignment, he’ll try to play his way back onto the 40-man roster before the end of the season. He’d technically remain controllable via arbitration through 2023 in that instance, but the 29-year-old would need an excellent second half to convince the club to tender him a contract. Moran would have another opportunity to qualify for minor league free agency at the end of the season if he’s not selected to the major league roster by then.

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