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Padres Select Alex Dickerson

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The Padres announced today that they have selected the contract of Alex Dickerson. He’ll take the active roster spot of righty Luis Perdomo, who was optioned. A 40-man opening was created by moving right-hander Brett Kennedy to the 60-day IL.

Dickerson returns to the majors just before his 29th birthday. He was dropped from the San Diego 40-man roster after the 2018 season but re-signed on a minors pact.

A former third-round pick, Dickerson has more or less always produced when healthy. He consistently drubbed minor-league pitching and turned in a strong .257/.333/.455 slash in his first full look at the majors in 2016.

Unfortunately, that’s the last we had seen of Dickerson in regular-season action. Back and elbow injuries robbed him of two consecutive campaigns.

Dickerson has picked up right where he left off at Triple-A, making this an interesting promotion to watch. Through 104 plate appearances in 2019, he’s slashing .360/.462/.593 with five home runs and a confidence-inspiring 17:13 K/BB ratio.

Blue Jays Select Derek Law, Designate Alen Hanson

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The Blue Jays have selected the contract of right-hander Derek Law, per a club announcement. He’ll take the roster spot of utilityman Alen Hanson, who was designated for assignment.

Both of these players came to the Toronto organization in the same early-season swap with the Giants. Law had already been removed from the San Francisco 40-man, while Hanson was in DFA limbo at the time of the deal.

Law, 28, has been off to an impressive start with his new organization. He’s carrying a 1.69 ERA with 17 strikeouts and three walks through 10 2/3 innings in eight outings. He has shown it in the majors before as well, but has yet to repeat his strong 2016 debut season at the game’s highest level.

As for Hanson, the 26-year-old switch-hitter has been one of quite a few players clamoring for opportunities in the Jays’ infield/outfield mix. He received 48 plate appearances over the first month of the season, but managed only a .163/.229/.163 batting line with 17 strikeouts.

Mets Select Adeiny Hechavarria, Option Dominic Smith

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4:35pm: Hechavarria recently triggered an opt-out clause in his deal, per Ken Davidoff of the New York Post (via Twitter), thus forcing the Mets to decide between bringing him onto the MLB roster and allowing him to become a free agent.

Notably, he has agreed to an advance consent clause with the Mets, Tim Britton of The Athletic tweets. If the club outrights Hechavarria, and he clears waivers, he will not be able to elect free agency while still receiving his full remaining MLB salary (as players with 5+ years of service are allowed to do by rule).

Righty Drew Smith was shifted to the 60-day IL to create 40-man roster space.

4:13pm: The Mets have selected the contract of veteran infielder Adeiny Hechavarria, the club tells reporters including Tim Britton of The Athletic (Twitter link). He’ll take the active roster spot of first baseman Dominic Smith, who was optioned back to Triple-A.

The 30-year-old Hechavarria is a slick-fielding shortstop who settled for a minor-league pact this winter. He’ll boost the club’s defensive flexibility, though he isn’t historically much with the bat. Hechavarria is off to a strong start at Triple-A (.348/.382/.446 in 102 plate appearances).

Smith, 23, has hit quite well in limited chances this year in the big leagues. Through 37 plate appearances, the former top prospect owns a .333/.459/.400 slash with six walks against just seven strikeouts. Unfortunately, he’s a bit buried on the depth chart. Carrying a lefty bench bat of this sort is something of a luxury for a National League team. It’s certainly possible to imagine Smith reemerging to play an important role if a need arises; he might also become interesting trade bait.

Rockies Activate Chris Iannetta, Designate Drew Butera

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The Rockies have designated catcher Drew Butera for assignment, per MLB.com’s Thomas Harding (Twitter link). His place on the active roster will be taken by Chris Iannetta, who has been activated from the injured list.

Butera helped fill in for Iannetta, which is just why he was brought in on a minors deal over the winter. He managed only three hits and a walk over 19 plate appearances. Offensive output isn’t the reason that Butera has managed to appear in the majors in each of the past ten seasons. His sturdy presence behind the dish will ensure that he lands back at Triple-A with the Rockies or perhaps with another organization.

Iannetta ended up missing just over two weeks with a strained lat muscle. The 36-year-old will be looking to bounce back from a poor start with the bat this year, which followed a subpar 2018 campaign. He’s earning $4.15MM this year; his contract includes a $4.25MM club option for 2020 ($750K buyout).

Giants To Select Mike Gerber, Designate Gerardo Parra

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3:01pm: This move is now official. In other news, the club has bumped catcher Erik Kratz to the 10-day injured list with a hamstring strain to make way for the promotion of Tyler Beede.

2:19pm: The Giants are planning a bit of a shake-up in the outfield. They’ll select the contract of Mike Gerber, per Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area (Twitter link). To create a roster opening, the team will designate veteran Gerardo Parra, Jon Heyman of MLB Network tweets.

Gerber, 26, had a miserable showing in his first taste of the majors last year. But the Giants saw enough to claim him from the Tigers, later bumping him from their 40-man roster but hanging onto his rights.

The low-risk move has paid off to this point. Gerber is off to a .357/.402/.655 start with six home runs over 92 plate appearances at Triple-A. He also has struck out 27 times while drawing only five walks, but the quality of contact remains intriguing.

Parra, who’s closing in on his 32nd birthday, is an eleven-year MLB veteran who settled for a minor-league deal with the Giants. It was widely expected that he’d claim a roster spot once camp closed, and that indeed proved to be the case.

Things haven’t shaken out as hoped to this point. Parra carries a meager .198/.278/.267 batting line through 97 plate appearances. He’s sure to hold appeal to other organizations as a depth piece, but will almost certainly have to spent some time at Triple-A for the first time in a long while (excepting a few short rehab stints).

It isn’t known whether Parra agreed to an advance consent clause before season. If so, the club would be able to cut him loose without paying him the full $1.75MM salary called for in his contract. If not, the obligation would remain (less any other big-league earnings he’s able to command later in the season).

Health Notes: Kluber, Ohtani, Donaldson, Soto, Turner

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We can expect an update tomorrow from the Indians on injured righty Corey Kluber, Paul Hoynes of the Plain Dealer writes. It’s not yet known whether Kluber will require surgery for a forearm fracture. Even if he’s able to avoid a procedure, though, he’s likely to be sidelined for a lengthy stretch. Kluber is one of the game’s most accomplished hurlers, even if he hasn’t quite been himself to open the yea. The hope is that he’ll at least be able to target a late-summer return.

While we wait to learn more on that health situation, here’s the latest on a few others of note from around the game:

  • Shohei Ohtani is nearing activation by the Angels, manager Brad Ausmus tells reporters including Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times (Twitter link). The precise timeline isn’t yet clear, but the DH is expected to return to action before the club opens a homestand on May 17th. Ohtani won’t be able to make it back to the mound this year after undergoing Tommy John surgery at the end of the 2018 season, but he’ll be able to contribute from the batter’s box.
  • The Braves seem to have averted a significant problem with third baseman Josh Donaldson and his ailing calf. That’s the same area that wiped out a huge chunk of his 2018 season. But Donaldson is due back this weekend, manager Brian Snitker tells reporters including Gabe Burns of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (Twitter link). The 33-year-old Donaldson has thus far rewarded the faith of the Atlanta organization, slashing a smooth .258/.395/.495 through 119 plate appearances with the club.
  • There’s also generally positive news for the Nationals on the injury front. Outfielder Juan Soto was held out tonight owing to back spasms, but MLB.com’s Jamal Collier tweets that an MRI did not reveal any cause for concern. It’s not yet clear when he’ll be back in action, but Soto hasn’t gone on the injured list and will likely be slotted right back in the lineup as soon as he feels up to it. The club also can begin to look forward to a return from shortstop Trea Turner. As Jesse Dougherty of the Washington Post reports (via Twitter), Turner is moving a bit faster than had been expected and could be ready to begin swinging a bat this weekend. That’s a significant step for a player nursing a fractured finger.

Nationals Fire Pitching Coach Derek Lilliquist

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The Nationals have fired pitching coach Derek Lilliquist, general manager Mike Rizzo told reporters after tonight’s game, including Jesse Dougherty of the Washington Post (Twitter links). Taking over the post will be Paul Menhart.

Lilliquist has been in his role since last season, signing on with the Nats after he was dismissed by the Cardinals. He took over for Mike Maddux, who left the D.C. organization for the Cards. The irony of that swap is only furthered by tonight’s move, which occurred while Maddux dressed in the visitor’s clubhouse.

Clearly, the results have not been there this year for the Nationals, who improved this evening to 13-17. The bullpen has been a major culprit in the struggles, while the rotation has perhaps not been quite as sharp as might be hoped. Just what level of fault Lilliquist carries in that situation is all but impossible to assess from the outside, but the club obviously felt a change was in order.

Rizzo says that Menhart was chosen because he’s “hands-on” and “analytical” in his approach. Menhart has five years of experience running the organization’s pitching development efforts as the minor-league pitching coordinator.

Rangers Sign Seth Maness

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The Rangers have agreed to a deal with righty Seth Maness, the club announced. It’s a minor-league arrangement.

Maness, 30, carries a 3.21 ERA in 247 career relief innings at the game’s highest level. Though he managed only 5.7 K/9 in that span, he succeeded by carrying a strong 59.0% groundball rate and limiting the free passes (1.7 per nine).

Unfortunately, elbow problems intervened. Maness earned a $1.4MM salary as a Super Two in 2016 but was non-tendered by the Cardinals that fall. He ultimately became the first big league hurler to undergo a Tommy John-alternative procedure to address damage to his ulnar collateral ligament.

Though he made it back to the majors in ’17 with the Royals, Maness received only an eight-game showing. He was not terribly effective during his post-surgical action at Triple-A, allowing eighty hits and 38 earned runs in 58 2/3 innings.

Since opting out of his deal with the Royals this time last year in hopes of finding a chance to work as a starter, Maness had not reappeared in the affiliated ranks. He’s back now with the Texas organization after evidently showing something in his brief time with the Atlantic League’s High Point Rockers. Maness will get the start tonight for Triple-A Nashville, the Rangers announced.

White Sox Place Carlos Rodon On 10-Day IL

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The White Sox announced today that southpaw Carlos Rodon has been placed on the 10-day injured list. He’ll be replaced by righty Lucas Giolito, who was activated to take the ball this evening. Dylan Covey will ultimately move into the rotation to take Rodon’s place for whatever duration he’s sidelined.

Rodon is dealing with an “edema in the flexor mass,” James Fegan of The Athletic was among those to report (via Twitter). That initial diagnosis doesn’t provide a clear picture of Rodon’s outlook, but it seems as if there’s some reason for worry here. “Everything is on the table,” GM Rick Hahn told reporters including Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times (Twitter link) when asked about the possibility of Tommy John surgery.

Rodon had been off to an interesting, albeit uneven opening to the season. He’s averaging 11.9 strikeouts per nine innings, nearly twice the rate he managed last year. Rodon is carrying a personal-best 12.1% swinging-strike rate despite losing a full mile per hour on his average fastball. Going to his four-seamer instead of his sinker may be helping generate whiffs, though Rodon has seen year-over-year rises in hard contact and batting average on balls in play.

Despite solid marks from ERA estimators (3.52 FIP, 3.89 xFIP, and 3.92 SIERA), the 26-year-old southpaw carries a 5.19 ERA through 34 2/3 innings this year. Unfortunately, it sounds as if he may need some time off before he can work on bringing his earned run average down.

Over five seasons in the majors, Rodon has contributed 529 innings of 4.08 ERA pitching. That’s not quite the level of consistent, high-end output that was hoped for when he was taken with the third overall pick of the 2014 draft. There’s still time for him to get past the health problems and chase his ceiling, but the end of his initial team control is now in sight. Rodon is earning $4.2MM this year in his second of four seasons of arbitration eligibility.

This represents the latest hit to a White Sox rotation that has been in disarray early on. Rodon and Giolito have led the staff with their 5+ earned per nine; the other three hurlers with three or more starts have earned run averages of six or more. The team already ditched Ervin Santana. While the first two outings for Manny Banuelos have gone well, it’s a limited sample and rather a thin silver lining.

Covey will get another shot at proving himself in the majors after failing to do so in 191 2/3 innings over the past two seasons. He may ultimately be joined by top pitching prospect Dylan Cease, who’s off to a nice opening at Triple-A, but a promotion still doesn’t seem to be imminent. Hahn suggested to reporters that he may end up looking for outside arms to help fill things out.

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