Rockies To Add Rule 5 Pick Kahnle To Opening Day Roster
The Rockies will add Rule 5 selection Tommy Kahnle to the club's Opening Day roster, tweets Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post. Kahnle was taken from the Yankees in this year's draft as the fourth player chosen overall.
The 24-year-old has put up good numbers in the minors, including a 2.85 ERA in 60 innings last year at Double-A. While he has shown the ability to register strikeouts, Kahnle struggled to keep from issuing free passes last year with a 6.8 BB/9 mark. But he showed the possibilities of his big arm this spring. In 9 2/3 innings, Kahnle struck out nine, walked only two, and allowed just four hits and one earned run.
Yankees To Sign Alfredo Aceves
The Yankees have reached agreement on a minor league deal with pitcher Alfredo Aceves, Ken Davidoff of the New York Post reports (Twitter links). Aceves will work out of the Triple-A rotation, and has a July 1 opt-out clause.
Aceves, 31, had spent the spring with the Orioles after pitching for the Yankees and Red Sox earlier in his career. Most of his time in the bigs has been in the pen, but he does have 15 MLB starts to his credit. Aceves has a lifetime ERA of 3.69 in 361 innings. Aceves was signed out of the Mexican league by the Yankees when he was well into his twenties.
Added To The 40-Man Roster: Friday
Between now and Opening Day, several minor league signees will win jobs with their clubs and earn 40-man roster spots. Here are today's additions:
- The Mariners have told lefty Joe Beimel that he will get an Opening Day slot, meaning that he'll need to be added to the club's 40-man, reports Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times (via Twitter). In addition to the 36-year-old, Seattle will need to add 25-year-old lefty Roenis Elias to the 40-man after he made a surprise run through camp to join the Opening Day rotation, as Shannon Drayer of ESPN Radio Seattle reports on Twitter. To clear room, the club designated Carlos Triunfel and Xavier Avery for assignment.
Mariners Designate Carlos Triunfel, Xavier Avery
The Mariners Have designated Carlos Triunfel and Xavier Avery for assignment, reports Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times (via Twitter). The moves opened 40-man spots for the club's final Opening Day roster moves.
Both players are 24. Triunfel is a middle infielder on a team that is stocked up the middle. He has only limited MLB experience, but in 413 Triple-A plate appearances last year he was good for a .282/.328/.394 line. Meanwhile, Avery came to Seattle in last year's Michael Morse deal. The speedy former Oriole came in with a chance to earn a spot in the outfield, but did not impress enough in camp to crack the Opening Day roster, or to keep his 40-man spot.
It is worth noting as well that the club has decided to option Nick Franklin to Triple-A, where he is expected to handle the shortstop duties. Franklin has come up frequently in trade rumors, and had been experimenting in the outfield in hopes of landing a big league roster spot.
Mariners Sign Chris Young, Designate Bobby LaFromboise
TODAY: Young agreed to an advance consent clause, tweets Dutton, which is somewhat notable because it was Seattle's demand for such a provision that led Randy Wolf to request his release.
YESTERDAY 5:31pm: Young gets a $1.25MM guarantee, reports Dutton. Performance bonuses could tack on an additional $3.475MM if maxed out, which would occur at 28 starts and 180 innings.
11:14am: The Mariners have officially signed starter Chris Young and designated Bobby LaFromboise for assignment to create space, reports Bob Dutton of the Tacoma News Tribune (via Twitter). After recently parting with veterans Randy Wolf and Scott Baker, Seattle had a clear need for starting pitching.
Young, 34, appeared to be rejuvenated this spring, spending camp with the Nationals after undergoing thoracic outlet surgery on his shoulder. The towering righty has not appeared in the bigs since 2012, but threw to a 3.48 ERA in 10 1/3 spring innings. In his last MLB turn, Young threw to a 4.15 ERA in 115 innings with the Mets.
Meanwhile, LaFromboise is a 27-year-old lefty who has seen only ten chances to make a big league appearance, all in a brief stint in the Mariners pen last year. He has put up some solid numbers in the upper minors in recent seasons, working to a 3.39 ERA in 61 innings at Triple-A last year and putting up a 1.36 mark in 66 1/3 innings at Double-A and Triple-A in 2012. LaFromboise has averaged better than nine strikeous and less than three free passes per nine innings in both of the last two years.
MLB, MLBPA Announce Changes To Joint Drug Program
In a joint press release, Major League Baseball and the Major League Player's Association have announced a newly enhanced testing and suspension protocol in the Joint Drug Program (often abbreviated "JDA").
First come changes to the number of PED tests conducted. The new standards more than double the number of in-season random urine tests. Also, the number of random blood tests for hGH will increase to 400.
Second, the new agreement enhances the suspension penalties that can be applied. A first offense will now carry an 80-game suspension; a second offense comes with a full-season, 162-game suspension and loss of the full year's salary; and a third offense will result in a permanent ban. Notably, also, a player hit with a suspension cannot return to play in that years post-season.
Notably, the new terms make clear that an Arbitration Panel may choose to reduce the discipline in the event that the player can prove that the use was not intended to enhance performance. But any player who has a suspension upheld will be subject to six additional random, unannounced urine tests and three blood tests for every year in the remainder of his career.
Several months back, I took a look at the question of how best to craft deterrents to curb PED use, and argued that merely enhancing the current regime would not provide the best set of disincentives (for all parties involved). Of course, it is worth noting that today's agreement comes well in advance of its December 1, 2016 expiration. And, as ESPN's T.J. Quinn assesses things on Twitter, with these enhancements, MLB is "now miles ahead of NFL, and light years ahead of NBA, NHL, [and] FIFA" in its PED program.
Rays To Sign Mike Fontenot
The Rays have added infielder Mike Fontenot on a minor league deal, tweets Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. Fontenot was released earlier today by the Nationals.
The 33-year-old had seen at least some time at the Major League level in every season since 2006 before spending last year with the Rays' Triple-A affiliate. He hit .264/.335/.379 in 120 games.
Rays To Re-Sign Erik Bedard
The Rays have agreed to re-sign left-handed starter Erik Bedard to a minor league deal, reports MLB.com's Bill Chastain via Twitter. Bedard will provide the club with some depth in the upper minors.
Bedard posted a 4.59 ERA in 151 innings (26 starts and six relief appearances) last year with Houston. He struck out 8.2 and walked 4.5 batters per nine, registering a 36.4% ground ball rate.
Minor Moves: Armstrong, Vitek, Keck, Arroyo, Broxton
We'll keep track of the day's minor moves here:
- Jack Armstrong, a 2011 third-round choice of the Astros, has hung up his spikes, reports Evan Drellich of the Houston Chronicle (Twitter links). Selected as a pitcher and given a $750K signing bonus, Armstrong never even got on the hill professionally due to a series of arm injuries. He had been hoping to switch to first base.
- 2010 Red Sox first-rounder Kolbrin Vitek has retired, reports Alex Speier of WEEI.com. Injuries slowed the toolsy player, who never managed to translate his raw abilities into production. As Speier notes, however, several other players taken in that draft have panned out quite nicely.
- Reliever Jon Keck has signed on with the Rockies on a minor league pact, according to the MLB transactions page. The 25-year-old southpaw had spent his entire career in the Royals organization, and threw 52 relief innings of 3.81 ERA ball at the Double-A level last year. It would appear that he had some significant control issues, however, as he walked 6.8 batters (striking out 8.7) for every nine innings.
- The Diamondbacks have acquired lefty Spencer Arroyo from the White Sox for cash, according to the MLB transactions page. The 25-year-old spent most of his time as a starter in Double-A last year, putting up a 3.50 ERA in 149 1/3 innings while posting 5.8 K/9 against 2.7 BB/9.
- The Pirates have acquired outfielder Keon Broxton from the Diamondbacks in exchange for a player to be named later, Pittsburgh announced via press release. Selected 95th overall in the 2009 draft, Broxton was outrighted off of the Arizona 40-man roster back in October. Broxton has struggled to translate his athleticism — he was the D'backs most athletic prospect last year, per Baseball America — into consistent production. Playing at Double-A last year, Broxton was unable to follow up on a strong 2012 campaign in his repeat of the HIgh-A level, and hit just .231/.296/.359 with eight home runs and five steals in 372 plate appearances.
- At the start of the day, two players — Carlos Peguero of the Royals and Johnny Monell of the Orioles — were in limbo in the MLBTR DFA Tracker. They have since been joined by Bobby LaFromboise of the Mariners and Raul Valdes of the Astros.
AL West Notes: Harden, Boesch, Franklin, Taylor
Longtime Athletics starter Rich Harden is still pursuing his throwing program and is planning to hold a mid-season showcase, reports Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle. Over 624 1/3 innings in seven seasons with the A's, the 32-year-old threw to a 3.65 ERA. Here are a few quick notes out of the AL West:
- Angels outfielder Brennan Boesch has a March 30 "soft out" in his deal, tweets Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register. In essence, the clause requires the club to add him to its 25-man roster or allow him to go to any other team that is willing to do so. The 28-year-old has enjoyed a strong spring, putting up a .278/.350/.472 line in 40 plate appearances.
- Mariners infielder Nick Franklin has been spending some time working in the outfield, and says that he is simply "trying to be versatile," reports Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times. The 23-year-old has been a hot subject of trade speculation, as he lacks a regular spot in the Seattle infield and could appeal to a variety of clubs. But his focus is on getting to the bigs with his current organization. "Some way, somehow I want to get on the field, whatever it takes," said Franklin. "What am I going to do, wait around for someone to get hurt?"
- Athletics outfielder Michael Taylor has learned that he will not make the Opening Day roster, reports Joe Stiglich of CSNBayArea.com. As the 28-year-old is out of options, he figures to be dealt or plucked off of the waiver wire, though a move has yet to be made. Once a top prospect, Taylor has certainly put his best foot forward this spring with a .274/.348/.532 line and three long balls in 69 plate appearances, though he has struck out 17 times while drawing six walks. Last year, in 481 trips to the plate at Triple-A, Taylor had a .281/.360/.474 triple-slash with 18 home runs.
- The division has two new additions from this morning, as the Mariners added starter Chris Young and the Astros claimed outfielder Alex Presley.