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Zach Logue Elects Free Agency

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Left-hander Zach Logue has elected free agency, per Justin Toscano of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (X link). The lefty had been designated for assignment by the Braves earlier this week and seems to have passed through waivers unclaimed. Since he had been previously outrighted in his career, he had the right to elect free agency and has exercised that right.

Logue, 28, signed a minor league deal with Atlanta in the offseason. He was selected to that club’s roster in July but was optioned back to Triple-A Gwinnett the next day without being put into a game. He was recalled in August but again was optioned without being used at the major league level.

He has been serving in a swing role in the minors this year, logging 94 1/3 innings over 24 appearances, including 12 starts. He has a 2.58 earned run average in that time, as well as a 23.7% strikeout rate and 7.4% walk rate. He probably got some help from a .265 batting average on balls in play and 82% strand rate but his 3.91 FIP suggests he could post decent results even with some regression in the luck department.

The southpaw was once a notable prospect in the Blue Jays’ system, highlighted by a strong 2021 season. That year, he made 25 minor league appearances and logged 125 innings with a 3.67 ERA, 28.2% strikeout rate and 5.3% walk rate. That got him a spot on Toronto’s 40-man roster and then he was one of four players sent to the Athletics in the March 2022 trade that brought Matt Chapman to the Jays.

The next two years were a struggle for Logue. He posted a 6.79 ERA for the A’s in 2022 and an even-worse 8.12 ERA for their Triple-A club. He was put on waivers after that season and was claimed by the Tigers. In 2023, he had a 7.36 ERA in the majors and a 6.58 mark in Triple-A. That left him to sign a minor league deal with Atlanta but he has had better results here in 2024.

He’ll now head to the open market and assess his opportunities. Perhaps some clubs are interested by his return to form this year, though the fact that he cleared waivers means that he will be limited to minor league deals. He will be out of options next year but can theoretically still provide a club with years of cheap control since he has less than a year of service time.

Terrin Vavra Elects Free Agency

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The Mariners announced that infielder/outfielder Terrin Vavra has elected free agency after clearing waivers. Seattle had designated him for assignment last week when selecting infielder Luis Urías to the roster.

Vavra, 27, had a bit of prospect heat a few years ago but has been sidetracked by injuries. A third-round pick of the Rockies in 2018, he went to the Orioles in the August 2020 trade that sent reliever Mychal Givens to Colorado.

In 2021, a back injury limited him to just 48 minor league games, but he performed well in those. He drew walks at a 15.6% clip and produced a .275/.406/.449 line, leading to a 138 wRC+. He continued putting up solid numbers the next year and also made his major league debut. He slashed .312/.425/.444 for a 140 wRC+ in the minors and .258/.340/.337 for a 99 wRC+ in the majors.

Vavra has played every infield and outfield position during his professional career. He would later dabble with catching to expand his versatility even further. Even with that roughly league average offense at the big league level, he could have been in line for a role as a viable utility player, though the minor league numbers hinted that maybe even something more was in there. Baseball America considered him the #17 prospect in a strong Oriole system going into 2023.

But he was only able to play 43 games in 2023 between the majors and minors, missing significant time due to shoulder problems. He was outrighted off Baltimore’s 40-man at the end of last season. It wasn’t until May of 2024 that he revealed that he had a torn labrum in his right shoulder and had undergone surgery in September of 2023.

He was still recovering from that shoulder surgery at the start of this year and missed some time, coming off the IL in May. Unfortunately, more injury trouble was to come, as he landed on the minor league IL in June due to a left groin strain and then again in July due to an illness. He was healthy enough for the Orioles to add him back to their 40-man roster at the end of July as Jorge Mateo landed on the IL, though the club recalled Jackson Holliday the next day and optioned Vavra back to Norfolk.

Vavra was designated for assignment when the O’s claimed Emmanuel Rivera a couple of weeks ago. He went to the Mariners on waivers but got the DFA treatment after eight days in Seattle’s system, this time passing through waivers unclaimed. Since this was his second outright, he had the right to elect free agency.

Around his various injuries this year, he has played in just 54 minor league games with a diminished line of .242/.338/.353 and 87 wRC+. That’s obviously not great production but perhaps understandable in such a stop-and-start season after in his attempt to come back from shoulder surgery.

Vavra will now be free to discuss contract arrangements will all clubs, though the fact that he cleared waivers means that he’ll be offered minor league pacts. If he eventually makes his way back onto a 40-man roster somewhere, he has less than a year of service time and therefore offers lots of cheap club control, but he will be out of options next year.

Pirates Designate Domingo Germán For Assignment

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The Pirates announced that left-hander Joey Wentz, whom they claimed off waivers earlier this week, has been added to the active roster. Right-hander Domingo Germán has been designated for assignment as the corresponding move. Prior to the official announcement, Robert Murray of FanSided relayed on X that Germán would be designated for assignment. Earlier in the day, Kevin Gorman of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review was among those to relay on X that Wentz was in the clubhouse while Germán was leaving in street clothes.

Germán, 32, has spent most of this year with Triple-A Indianapolis. He signed a minor league deal with the Bucs in the offseason, opting out of that deal in July before quickly re-signing a fresh minor league pact. His results with that club were mediocre, as he made 13 starts with a 5.29 earned run average. He struck out 21.9% of batters faced and gave out walks at a 10.3% clip.

The Pirates selected him to the big league roster just under a month ago and have been using him in a swing role. He has made seven appearances, including two starts, with a 7.84 ERA, 18% strikeout rate and 13% walk rate. He started against the Cubs yesterday but allowed six earned runs in three innings, seemingly wearing out his welcome on the Pittsburgh roster.

Germán will be placed on waivers in the coming days. Since he has had to settle for minor league deals lately and didn’t get good results when given a chance, it seems fair to expect him to go unclaimed. He has more than enough service time to reject an outright assignment and elect free agency, so he might be on the open market again shortly.

He has had some good results in his career, including pitching MLB’s 24th perfect game in June of last year, but has also has plenty of on-field and off-field issues. While with the Yankees, he was placed on administrative leave in September of 2019 and eventually received an 81-game domestic violence suspension. Last year, before that perfect game, he received a foreign substance suspension. He eventually finished the year on the restricted list while getting treatment for alcohol abuse, following a reported confrontation in which he argued with people in the Yankee clubhouse before flipping a couch.

Rockies Select Jaden Hill

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The Rockies announced that they have selected the contract of right-hander Jaden Hill. Left-hander Evan Justice was optioned to Triple-A to open an active roster spot. Right-hander Dakota Hudson was transferred to the 60-day injured list to make room on the 40-man.

Hill, now 24, was selected in 2021 draft. The Rockies grabbed him that year with a pick in the second round, with Hill going 44th overall. That was despite a notable injury history that was already in place. As noted by Baseball America, Hill missed a lot of time during his college years due to elbow problems and eventually required Tommy John surgery in 2021. His stock faded going into the draft but the Rockies took a chance on him.

He was able to get back onto the mound in 2022, making his professional debut with brief stints in Rookie ball and Single-A. Last year, he made 16 High-A starts and logged 43 2/3 innings with mixed results. On the positive side, he struck out 26.3% of batters faced and got grounders on 52.4% of balls in play. His 11.5% walk rate was a tad high but not disastrous, and perhaps understandable for a guy still working back from major surgery. But he allowed 11 home runs in that small sample, ballooning his ERA to 9.48. His 6.63 FIP was far better but still not a good mark.

Here in 2024, the Rockies have moved him to a relief role, with some good results. He started the year at Double-A, logging 38 1/3 innings over 34 appearances. In that time, he had a 3.52 ERA, 32.9% strikeout rate, 6.5% walk rate and 50% ground ball rate.

He was promoted to Triple-A and his results there have yielded another mixed bag. In seven innings over seven appearances in the Pacific Coast League, he has struck out 34.2% of batters faced and kept 52.9% of balls on the ground. But he’s also walked 15.8% of batters faced and allowed eight earned runs for a 10.29 ERA. His .500 batting average on balls in play and 57.7% strand rate didn’t help, but the free passes also clearly played a role.

The Rockies are playing out the string on another lost season and Hill was going to be Rule 5 eligible this winter anyway. They will give him his roster spot now and use some of their remaining games to get him acclimated to the majors and see how his stuff plays at the top level. BA currently lists him as the club’s #26 prospect, noting that his fastball can hit the high 90s with a slider and a changeup in the mix.

As for Hudson, he landed on the 15-day IL August 11 due to right elbow inflammation. The club hasn’t provided any updates on his status since then but it appears they don’t expect him to make a return this year, based on the transfer to the 60-day. He can be retained for 2025 via arbitration but he has a 6.17 ERA on the year and was passed through waivers in July, before being re-selected to the roster. Given his rough year and uncertain health status, the Rockies could non-tender him instead.

Mets Claim José Azocar

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The Mets announced that they have claimed outfielder José Azocar off waivers from the Padres and optioned him to Triple-A. The Friars had designated him for assignment in recent days. Right-hander Sean Reid-Foley has been transferred to the 60-day injured list to open up a 40-man roster spot.

Azocar, 28, has been with on the Padres’ roster for most of the past three years, serving as a frequently-optioned speed-and-defense depth outfielder. His contract was selected in April of 2022 and he has since been put into 214 games, though only sent to the plate 397 times.

Offensively, Azocar doesn’t bring too much to the table. He has hit .243/.287/.322 in those plate appearances at the major league level, with that production translating to a 74 wRC+. It’s a fairly similar story in the minors, as he has taken 438 trips to the plate at the Triple-A level since the start of 2023 with a line of .276/.309/.402. In the inflated offensive environment of the Pacific Coast League, that leads to a wRC+ of just 70.

But he can provide value elsewhere. He has just over 1,000 innings in the outfield in his major league career, playing all three slots on the grass. He is just a bit above average in the eyes of Defensive Runs Saved, coming in at +2, but Outs Above Average gives him a stronger grade of +8. OAA is particularly fond of his center field work, with a +5 mark up the middle.

Azocar is in his final option season, meaning he will have less roster flexibility next year. The Padres nudged him off their 40-man when Fernando Tatis Jr. came off the 60-day IL, but the Mets will stash him at Syracuse for the time being. They currently have an outfield mix of Brandon Nimmo, Harrison Bader, Jesse Winker, Starling Marte and Tyrone Taylor, with J.D. Martinez in the designated hitter slot.

Some of the guys in that group have notable injury histories, so Azocar can give the club some glove-first depth for the rest of the year. He has less than two years of service time and can therefore be controlled well into the future, but clinging to his roster spot will become more challenging in the long run.

As for Reid-Foley, he has spent most of this season on the IL due to right shoulder issues. He landed on the shelf on Opening Day due to a right shoulder impingement and was activated in late April. He was on the active roster for two months before going back on the IL, again due to a shoulder impingement. This transfer to the 60-day IL is a formality since he has already been out for longer than that, meaning he can be reinstated whenever he’s healthy. Earlier this week, he wasn’t sure if he would be able to return before the end of the season, per Anthony DiComo of MLB.com on X.

Royals Designate Dan Altavilla For Assignment

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The Royals announced that right-hander Dan Altavilla has been designated for assignment. He had been on the 60-day injured list and was on a rehab assignment but it seems they didn’t want him to retake a spot on their 40-man roster, so he’s now in DFA limbo instead.

Altavilla, 31, signed a minor league deal with the Royals in the offseason and was selected to their roster in June. He made five appearances for the club, allowing six earned runs in 3 2/3 innings via five hits, three walks and breaking Mookie Betts’ hand.

The righty then landed on the 15-day injured list due to a right oblique strain, later getting transferred to the 60-day IL. He started a rehab August 6 and was coming up to the end of his 30-day maximum rehab window. Since he’s out of options, the club was going to have to add him back onto both the 40-man and active rosters, but they decided to cut him loose instead.

Since it is the post-deadline part of the schedule, Altavilla will be placed on waivers in the coming days. If he were to pass through unclaimed, he would have the right to elect free agency, both due to having a previous career outright and at least three years of service time.

His recent major league stint with the Royals adds a small amount of data to his career stats. He now has 119 2/3 innings pitched with a 4.36 ERA in seven different seasons. His 26% strikeout rate is quite strong but his 12.2% walk rate is definitely on the high side. Most of that came from 2016 to 2021 as he didn’t pitch in the majors in either 2022 or 2023, missing most of that time due to Tommy John surgery.

Rangers Place Corey Seager On Injured List

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6:31pm: Texas officially announced Seager’s IL placement and brought Fabian up. Jon Gray moved from the 15-day to the 60-day injured list in a procedural move to clear the necessary 40-man roster spot for Fabian. A foot injury ended Gray’s season yesterday.

3:40pm: The Rangers are placing shortstop Corey Seager on the 10-day injured list due to hip discomfort. Manager Chris Young informed members of the club’s beat today, including Shawn McFarland of the Dallas Morning News (X links). Young said it’s too early to tell if Seager is done for the year or if he will require surgery. Outfielder Sandro Fabian will be selected to take Seager’s place on the roster and the club will need to make a corresponding move to open a 40-man spot for Fabian.

There’s not much information about Seager’s injury or how severe it is, but it makes sense for the club to be cautious at this point. At 66-73, the Rangers are 8.5 games back of a playoff spot, making them effectively done for the year. That gives the club little incentive to push Seager through any injury, even if it’s minor. Perhaps he can get into a few more contests before the season is out but it’s also possible that the club just decides to shut him down at some point.

The Rangers will need to cover the shortstop position until Seager returns or possibly for the remainder of the schedule. Josh Smith, Jonathan Ornelas and Ezequiel Durán have each received starts there in the past week as the club has already been backing off Seager’s playing time.

All three of those guys can play the outfield as well, so the club will add to their options on the grass by adding Fabian. The 26-year-old gets added to a major league roster for the first time. He was once a notable prospect in the Giants’ system, as that club gave him a $500K bonus when signing him out of the Dominican Republic in 2014.

He posted some good results at the lower levels of the minors and Baseball America ranked him #8 in the Giants’ system going into 2017. However, he struggled in subsequent seasons and fell off the prospect radar. By the end of 2021, he had topped out at Double-A and qualified for minor league free agency.

He has signed minor league deals with the Rangers in three straight years now and has generally been performing around league average at the Triple-A level. That includes 116 games for Round Rock this year with 17 home runs and a .270/.343/.462 batting line. In the strong offensive environment of the Pacific Coast League, that line translates to a 99 wRC+. He can play all three outfield spots and will be making his major league debut as soon as he gets into a game.

Daniel Castano Announces Retirement

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Left-handed pitcher Daniel Castano announced his retirement via a post on his personal Instagram account. “After 25 Baseball seasons, 9 years pro, 3 in college, 4 in HS, and 10 years of little league, I’m finally hanging up the cleats and for my more important career in life,” the post reads. “To be a loving Husband, father, friend, churchman and employee.” He goes on to thank the many people who helped him on his journey and mentions he will be pivoting to a role with Entrusted Contracting.

As Castano himself mentioned, his baseball journey had many stops. He pitched at Lake Travis High School in Austin, Texas, which then led him to Baylor University. He pitched three seasons for the Bears before the Cardinals selected him in the 19th round of the 2016 draft.

Just over a year later, Castano was flipped to the Marlins. Zac Gallen, Sandy Alcántara, Magneuris Sierra and Castano were sent to Miami in the December 2017 trade that sent Marcell Ozuna to St. Louis. Castano made it to the big leagues with the Fish in 2020, the first of four straight major league campaigns in which he appeared. He logged 88 2/3 frames over those four seasons, allowing 4.47 earned runs per nine. His 12.4% strikeout rate wasn’t especially strong but he limited walks to a 7.9% clip and kept 45.2% of balls in play on the ground.

The Marlins shuffled Castano on and off their roster in 2023 but he wasn’t holding a 40-man spot at the end of the season and became a free agent. In December, he landed a deal with the NC Dinos of the Korea Baseball Organization. He made 19 starts for the Dinos this year, posting a 4.35 ERA in 111 2/3 innings. At the end of July, the Dinos signed Eric Jokisch and bumped off Castano, as a KBO team can only have two non-Korean pitchers on its roster.

Now it seems Castano has decided it’s time to move on from baseball and move towards, as he puts it, his “more important career in life.” We at MLBTR salute him on carving out a big league career and we wish him the best for the upcoming chapters of his life.

Cubs To Place Justin Steele On Injured List

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5:30pm: Right-hander Jack Neely will be recalled as the corresponding move for Steele, per Montemurro on X.

4:35pm: The Cubs announced to reporters that left-hander Justin Steele will be placed on the 15-day injured list. His issue is left elbow flexor tendinitis, per Maddie Lee of the Chicago Sun-Times on X. The corresponding move has not been revealed yet.

Steele was supposed to start Monday’s game but was scratched due to some elbow soreness. The Cubs took a couple of days to evaluate things and have now seemingly decided that Steele will need some down time.

Manager Craig Counsell tells Meghan Montemurro of the Chicago Tribune (X link) that it’s possible Steele could be back after a minimum stint, depending on how things develop in the next ten days. “If we can get him back to normal he’s gonna pitch,” Counsell says. Presumably, Steele’s IL placement will be backdated by three days, the maximum allowed. That means he could technically be back in 12 days if everything goes well.

Whether that’s a realistic expectation or not will be revealed in time. Either way, it’s a blow for the Cubs in the short term. The club is still clinging to contention here in September, currently sitting 4.5 games back of a playoff spot. The lefty has 477 1/3 innings under his belt at this point with a 3.24 earned run average. That includes 128 innings this year with a 3.09 ERA, 24.9% strikeout rate, 6.5% walk rate and 48.4% ground ball rate.

Losing that kind of performer will hurt a club with little room for error. Jordan Wicks was just reinstated from the injured list a few days ago, so the club can still have a five-man rotation without Steele, with Wicks slotting in next to Jameson Taillon, Shota Imanaga, Javier Assad and Kyle Hendricks. It’s been a rough year for Hendricks, who currently sports a 6.60 ERA overall and was been bumped to the bullpen earlier in the season. Perhaps the return of Wicks would have sent him to a relief role again but that might not be possible now that Steele has been subtracted from the equation.

Athletics Claim CJ Alexander

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The Athletics announced that they have claimed infielder CJ Alexander off waivers from the Royals and assigned him to Triple-A Las Vegas. Alexander was listed as released on the MLB.com transactions logs but it appears he was still on waivers. Outfielder Esteury Ruiz has been transferred to the 60-day injured list to open a 40-man spot.

Alexander, 28, was drafted by Atlanta back in 2018 but was one of three players who came to the Royals in the July 2022 trade that sent a Competitive Balance draft pick the other way. The Royals selected him to their roster this summer and he has a small sample of major league experience. He has been sent to the plate eight times with three strikeouts and one hit, a single.

The A’s are surely more interested in his larger sample of work in the minors. That includes 350 Triple-A plate appearances this year with 16 home runs and a line of .303/.352/.554. That production leads to a 130 wRC+, indicating that Alexander was 30% above league average even in the heightened offensive environment in the International League this year.

That production is likely propped up a bit by a .355 batting average on balls in play that will be hard for him to maintain. But even with a bit of regression, his bat could perhaps still be an asset and he also provides some defensive versatility as he is capable of playing all four corner positions. He will still have two option years remaining after 2024, so the A’s don’t need to add him to the active roster any time soon. He also has just a few days of major league service time, meaning he has plenty of cheap club control remaining.

The club effectively had a free roster spot due to the status of Ruiz. He landed on the 10-day IL back in May due to a strained left wrist, so he’s already been out well beyond 60 days already. He is eligible to be reinstated at any point, but that won’t be happening. He began a rehab assignment in July but was shut down due to continued soreness in the wrist. Manager Mark Kotsay said last week that Ruiz won’t be able to return this year, per Martín Gallegos of MLB.com on X.

Ruiz will stay on the 60-day injured list for the remainder of the season, collecting major league pay and service time. There’s no IL from five days after the World Series until the start of Spring Training, so Ruiz will need to retake a roster spot in the offseason.

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