Rangers Claim Drew Strotman
The Rangers announced Monday that they’ve claimed right-hander Drew Strotman off waivers from the Twins, who’d designated him for assignment over the weekend. Texas opened a spot on the 40-man roster by transferring veteran utilityman Brad Miller from the 10-day injured list to the 60-day injured list.
Strotman, 26, came to the Twins in July 2021 alongside right-hander Joe Ryan in the trade that sent Nelson Cruz to Tampa Bay. At the time of the swap, Strotman had been in the midst of a solid season — albeit with some worrying command issues — at the Triple-A level and looked like he could potentially join Ryan as a fast-tracked arm to the big leagues. His walk rate, however, failed to improve in his new environs, and Strotman became increasingly homer-prone following the swap.
Strotman had Tommy John surgery in 2018, and while his velocity has generally recovered, that surgery and the ongoing command issues created some some concerns that he may have to move from a starting role to the bullpen. The Twins tried that approach in 2022, surely hoping that Strotman’s fastball and cutter would play up in shorter stints. It hasn’t worked out, however, as the 2017 fourth-rounder has pitched to a grisly 6.44 ERA with a career-worst 13.8% walk rate in 50 1/3 innings of bullpen work with Triple-A St. Paul this season. Strotman’s 24.2% strikeout rate and 51.1% grounder rate are both solid but aren’t strong enough to offset the persistent location issues.
This is Strotman’s second season on a 40-man roster, meaning he’s already been optioned to the minors twice (at the end of Spring Training ’21 and at the end of this past Spring Training). That burns through two of his minor league option years, leaving him with just one more season of options (2023) — assuming he even sticks on the Rangers’ 40-man roster that long.
As for Miller, the move to the 60-day injured list formally ends his season. He was originally placed on the 10-day IL with a right hip strain back on Sept. 9. After hitting .236/.331/.480 with 40 home runs in 718 plate appearances from 2019-21, Miller’s first season with Texas has to be considered a disappointment. He signed a two-year, $10MM deal over the winter but turned in an ugly .212/.270/.320 output in 241 plate appearances while thrice hitting the injured list due to neck and hip injuries. He’s set to earn $4MM next season on the back half of a slightly front-loaded two-year deal, so Texas will hope that better health brings about something closer to that 2019-21 form.
Ryan Weber Elects Free Agency
Stop me if you’ve heard this one before. The Yankees announced Monday that right-hander Ryan Weber rejected an outright assignment to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, instead electing free agency.
This marks the fourth time the Yankees have designated Weber for assignment and passed him through outright waivers since June. On each occasion, Weber has rejected the outright assignment, renegotiated a new minor league contract and returned to the organization in a matter of days. It seems eminently plausible that’ll happen yet again; Weber and the Yankees have clearly been comfortable with this arrangement all season, and at this juncture of the schedule, it seems unlikely that he’d jump to a new organization for the final couple weeks of the 2022 campaign. Re-signing would perhaps position him for one more run before the end of the season, should the Yanks yet again need to tap into their Scranton depth.
We’ve seen plenty of veterans ride this DFA carousel and routinely return to the same club, though rarely has it been so extreme. (The most recent similar case, oddly, is another Yankees scenario — with righty David Hale back in 2018.) It’s an atypical relationship, to say the least, but it’s also one that has paid dividends. Weber has given the Yankees 10 2/3 innings spread over five games this season and allowed just one run, striking out three and issuing one walk along the way. He’s also been sharp in Triple-A, logging 39 2/3 frames of 3.86 ERA ball with a 27-to-5 K/BB ratio.
Weber’s several stints with the Yankees this year have pushed him north of three years of MLB service time, so if he’s re-selected to the 40-man roster at any point between now and season’s end, he’d technically be controllable via arbitration. That said, given the frequency of this summer’s DFAs and outrights, it’s likely he’d be removed from the 40-man again following the season. Weber now carries a 5.02 ERA, 14.6% strikeout rate, 5.3% walk rate and 53.2% ground-ball rate in 177 2/3 Major League innings split between six teams over an eight-year span.
Wilmer Difo Elects Free Agency
Infielder Wilmer Difo went unclaimed on waivers after being designated for assignment and has rejected the Diamondbacks’ outright assignment to Triple-A Reno in favor of free agency, as first indicated on the transaction log at MiLB.com. As an outrighted player with more than three years of service time, he’d have been able to become a free agent at season’s end even if he accepted.
The 30-year-old Difo appeared in just three games with the D-backs, going 0-for-6 in that time. He’s spent parts of eight seasons in the Majors and logged nearly five years of MLB service time, however, hitting a combined .250/.311/.353 in 1306 big league plate appearances. Most of that time has been spent with the Nationals in a utility capacity, although Difo did make 240 plate appearances with the Pirates in 2021 and post a respectable .269/.329/.384 slash.
Difo has spent the bulk of the current season in Reno, where his offensive output largely mirrors that Pittsburgh production from one year ago (albeit in a much more hitter-friendly setting). In 306 Triple-A plate appearances, the switch-hitter has a .269/.312/.398 batting line with seven homers, 15 doubles and four steals. He’s played primarily shortstop and third base this season, but Difo also has more than 2300 professional innings at second base and has now appeared at every spot on the diamond other than catcher (though he’d probably prefer to forget the eight runs he allowed in two innings of mop-up duty with the ’21 Pirates).
Given that he cleared waivers, there may not be an immediate opportunity for Difo in the dwindling 2022 regular season. However, he grades out as a solid defender at shortstop and has plenty of defensive versatility, so he ought to find another opportunity on a minor league deal with a team hunting for infield depth this offseason.
Rays Claim Bligh Madris
The Rays announced Friday that they’ve claimed first baseman/outfielder Bligh Madris off waivers from the Pirates. He’s been optioned to Triple-A Durham. In order to open a spot on the 40-man roster, Tampa Bay transferred right-hander Ryan Thompson to the 60-day injured list due to triceps inflammation.
Madris, 26, made his big league debut with Pittsburgh earlier this season, appearing in 39 games but stumbling to a .177/.244/.265 batting line through his first 123 Major League plate appearances. The lefty-swinging Madris, however, has been far better in Triple-A Indianapolis, where he’s posted a .294/.366/.482 batting line in 2022 (124 wRC+). Because he was just selected to the 40-man roster this season, Madris has two option years remaining beyond the current campaign.
Beyond veteran David Peralta, the Rays’ outfield mix is primarily right-handed at the moment. Each of Jose Siri, Manuel Margot and Randy Arozarena swing from the right side of the dish. Tampa Bay has given left-handed-hitting infielder Jonathan Aranda a handful of looks in left field at the minor league level this season, but he’s yet to play the outfield in the Majors. Madris won’t be dropped directly into that mix just yet, but he’s posted a decent .261/.336/.449 against righties this season, so perhaps he’ll get a look as a platoon option at some point before season’s end. He won’t be eligible for any postseason consideration, however, as he wasn’t in the organization prior to Sept. 1.
As for Thompson, he only went on the injured list in late August, so today’s move to the 60-day IL formally ends his season. A Rule 5 pick out of the Astros organization back in 2018, Thompson has risen to be an important member of the Rays’ bullpen. He’s tossed 42 2/3 innings of 3.80 ERA ball this year and, dating back to 2021, carries an overall 3.17 ERA with a 24.1% strikeout rate 6.3% walk rate and 50% ground-ball rate in 76 2/3 innings of relief work. He’s picked up 21 holds and three saves in that time, drawing high-leverage work with increasing frequency.
Thompson will be arbitration-eligible for the first time this winter. The Rays can control him through the 2025 season, but he can now be officially ruled out for the remainder of the current season and for any postseason games Tampa Bay might play.
Orioles Outright Alexander Wells
The Orioles announced Friday that lefty Alexander Wells has cleared outright waivers and been assigned to Triple-A Norfolk. He’ll remain with the club but no longer occupy a spot on the 40-man roster.
Prior to today’s announcement, the Orioles hadn’t designated Wells for assignment or publicly indicated that he was on waivers. He’s been out since May 1 due to a UCL sprain in his pitching elbow but seemingly avoided surgery. Injured players aren’t allowed to be placed on outright waivers, so it seems that Baltimore quietly returned him from the rehab assignment on which he’d been sent earlier this month and passed him through waivers. They’d otherwise have had to place Wells back on the 40-man roster, but that’s no longer necessary.
Wells, 25, was an international signee out of Australia back in 2015 and made his big league debut with Baltimore this past season. He’s pitched a total of 46 1/3 innings in the big leagues and posted a 6.60 ERA with a 15% strikeout rate, 7.5% walk rate and 30.2% ground-ball rate. Wells has never been a hard-thrower, evidenced by an average fastball of just 88.6 mph in his brief big league tenure, but he has some of the best command in the system. Scouting reports gave him potential 70-grade command prior to his MLB debut, and indeed, Wells has walked just 3.9% of his opponents in 544 2/3 minor league innings to this point in his career.
Wells has fared decently on his minor league rehab stint this month, tossing 15 innings across three levels and pitching to a 3.60 ERA with an 11-to-3 K/BB ratio. He’s worked almost exclusively as a starting pitcher to this point in his professional career, and now that he’s seemingly put this elbow issue behind him, he’ll be able to continue working toward an MLB return at the Triple-A level, where he still has just 66 innings of work and just 17 career appearances (including his only five bullpen outings).
John Stearns Passes Away
The Mets announced Friday morning that former catcher John Stearns, who earned four All-Star nods over a decade-long career with the team and also served on the Major League coaching staff from 2000-01, passed away last night at 71 years of age. He’d been battling cancer.
“No one played the game with more spirit or determination than John Stearns,” Mets president Sandy Alderson said in a statement within this morning’s press release. “He literally willed himself to attend Old Timers’ Day last month so he could visit friends and old teammates. Despite his illness, he even managed to step into the batting cage to take a few swings. His nickname, ‘Bad Dude’ couldn’t have been more appropriate. A four-time All Star, John was one of the most complete catchers in Mets history. Our thoughts and prayers are with his friends and family.”
The No. 2 overall pick by the Phillies in 1973, Stearns was traded to the Mets alongside Del Unser and Mac Scarce in a Dec. 1974 deal that sent Tug McGraw, Don Hahn and Dave Schneck back to Philadelphia. Stearns appeared in just one game with the Phils prior to that trade and spent the other 809 games of his career with the Mets, for whom he batted .259/.341/.375 in 3081 plate appearances. Stearns was named to All-Star teams in 1977, 1979, 1980 and 1982 — his final full, healthy season in the big leagues. In his career behind the plate, he threw out 37 percent of runners who attempted to steal against him. Persistent elbow troubles, however, cut Stearns’ career short in his early 30s.
Following his playing days, Stearns spent another two decades in baseball, working as a scout, minor league manager and Major League coach between the Reds, Yankees, Orioles, Mets, Nationals and Mariners organizations. He was the bench coach for the 2000 Mets and their third base coach in 2001, and his famous, enthusiastic cry — “He’s out of the cage! The monster is out of the cage!” — following a Mike Piazza double in the 2000 NLCS will forever live on in the memories of Mets fans. Over at MLB.com, several of Stearns’ former teammates and colleagues shared fond memories following this morning’s announcement.
Our condolences go out to Stearns’ family, his friends and to his countless fans as they mourn his passing.
Alec Mills Undergoes Back Surgery
Cubs right-hander Alec Mills underwent a discectomy procedure on his lower back Wednesday, the team announced this morning. He’d been out since July 3 with a lower back strain and was moved to the 60-day injured list late last month.
The surgery obviously closes the book on Mills’ 2022 season, and it also raises the question of whether he’ll be back with the team in 2023 and beyond. The Cubs can control the 30-year-old righty for three more years, but he’d be due his first arbitration raise this winter after throwing just 17 2/3 innings this season due to that balky back. Mills also pitched 119 frames with the 2021 Cubs, logging a 5.07 ERA with more promising peripheral marks (6.6% walk rate, 51.3% grounder rate, 4.49 FIP, 4.33 xFIP).
Mills has now spent parts of six seasons in the big leagues, nearly all of which has been as a member of the Cubs. He’s tallied 256 1/3 innings of 4.95 ERA ball with a 19.5% strikeout rate, 7.2% walk rate and 48.5% ground-ball rate. At various points in his Major League tenure, he’s looked the part of a back-of-the-rotation starter and interesting reliever, offsetting a below-average strikeout rate with good command and above-average ground-ball tendencies. However, Mills has now also had three separate IL stints due to lower back issues over the past two seasons.
The general hope is that this week’s surgery will alleviate that issue for good. Only time will tell whether he’ll get an opportunity to continue with the Cubs. Chicago has Marcus Stroman, Justin Steele, Keegan Thompson, Adrian Sampson and prospects Caleb Kilian and Hayden Wesneski as potential rotation options for the 2023 season, with lefties Drew Smyly and Wade Miley set to reach free agency. They’ll also hope for better 2023 health for former top prospect Adbert Alzolay. Still, as the team looks to take steps forward, owner Tom Ricketts has vowed to be “active” in free agency, and the rotation is a logical place for president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer to pursue fortifications.
Mills could certainly be retained as rotation depth, although he’s also out of minor league options, so if he’s tendered a contract he’d need to be carried on the Major League roster or injured list. Non-tendering him and re-signing him to a minor league deal is always a possibility, though all of those decisions will hinge on just how quickly he’s expected to recover from Wednesday’s surgery. At present, the Cubs have not provided a timetable for his rehabilitation.
Braves Activate Ozzie Albies, Designate Jay Jackson For Assignment
The Braves announced Friday that second baseman Ozzie Albies has been reinstated from the 60-day injured list. Fellow infielder Ehire Adrianza was placed on the 10-day injured list with a strained quadriceps to open a spot on the active roster, while righty Jay Jackson was designated for assignment in order to clear a 40-man spot for Albies.
Albies, still just 25 years old, hasn’t appeared in a game since June 13 thanks to a broken left foot that ultimately required surgery. The Braves, at one point, were hopeful of a mid-August return for the two-time All-Star and Silver Slugger winner, but Albies’ recovery took a bit longer than that best-case scenario. Even without Albies’ all-around excellence, however, the Braves have been one of MLB’s hottest teams. Since his injury, Atlanta has played at a sweltering 52-28 pace, surging to just one game back of the NL East lead.
Inserting Albies back into the lineup will only make the Braves all the more dangerous. He is, after all, a .270/.321/.470 career hitter whose most recent full-season, 2021, was also the first 30-homer campaign of his impressive young career.
In Albies’ absence, the Braves have cycled through several options at the keystone. None of Orlando Arcia, Phil Gosselin or the aforementioned Adrianza hit particularly well in limited action at the position, however, and the organization eventually made the decision to call top prospect Vaughn Grissom up directly from Double-A in an effort to get more production from second base. Grissom has flashed all the tools that make him such a ballyhooed prospect in his initial look at the MLB level, but his bat has also cooled after a blistering start to the his career. Grissom slashed .420/.463/.660 through his first 14 games (54 plate appearances), but he’s batting just .210/.269/.333 in 17 games since and is has only one hit in his past five games.
For now, Grissom will stay on the big league roster despite the fact that Albies will step back into a full-time role at second base. There’s been talk of giving Grissom some time in left field, where neither Eddie Rosario nor Marcell Ozuna has provided much value to the lineup this season. There are also DH at-bats to go around, of course, so it’s possible for both Albies and Grissom to be in the lineup — which would come at the expense of playing time for some combination of Rosario, Ozuna and deadline acquisition Robbie Grossman.
The 34-year-old Jackson wasn’t on the active roster prior to today’s move but had been occupying a 40-man spot while pitching with Triple-A Gwinnett. He’s handled himself quite nicely there, to put things mildly; in 17 2/3 frames with Gwinnett, Jackson allowed just three runs on 13 hits and three walks with 20 strikeouts — good for a 1.53 ERA.
Jackson’s DFA is largely a case of poor timing and unfortunate (for him) circumstances. He missed the first several months of the season due to a lat strain and never really got much of a look in Atlanta thanks to an already loaded bullpen. The Braves are deep in quality veteran options, with Kenley Jansen, Raisel Iglesias, A.J. Minter, Tyler Matzek, Collin McHugh and Kirby Yates all under contract and pitching well. Rookie left-hander Dylan Lee has quietly been dominant for Atlanta, and the only other spot in the bullpen is currently occupied by out-of-options righty Jackson Stephens, who has pitched to a solid 3.74 ERA in a multi-inning role there.
The Braves could’ve opted to jettison Stephens and go with Jackson, but doing so would have required them to place Stephens on waivers, given his lack of minor league options. Jackson, who returned to the Majors in 2021 after spending the 2020 season in Japan, can become a free agent at season’s end under the terms of the contract he inked, MLBTR has confirmed. As such, the choice effectively boils down to four more years of Stephens versus a few more weeks of Jackson.
Given that Jackson is still owed the balance of a $1.5MM Major League salary, wouldn’t be playoff-eligible for a new team and is a free agent after the season, there’s a good chance he’ll clear waivers even in spite of his big showing in Gwinnett. If that’s the case, he could remain on hand as a depth option who could be summoned in the event of a late injury. Either way, he’ll reach the open market again this winter on the heels of a solid 2021-22 showing in Triple-A and having posted a combined 3.52 ERA with a 30.5% strikeout rate and 12.6% walk rate in 23 big league innings between San Francisco (21 2/3) and Atlanta (1 1/3) over the past two seasons.
Orioles Release Kelvin Gutierrez
The Orioles released third baseman Kelvin Gutierrez yesterday, as first indicated on the transaction log at MiLB.com. He’d have been a minor league free agent this offseason anyhow and will now get an early jump on trying to secure a new landing spot for the 2023 season, likely on a minor league contract.
It feels like far more than just a few months ago that the 28-year-old Gutierrez was the Opening Day third baseman for the O’s, but that is indeed the case. Gutierrez got the Opening Day nod at the hot corner and started 10 games at third base for the O’s early this season (in addition to a pair of pinch-hit appearances). He appeared in a dozen games, hit .143/.250/.179 in 33 plate appearances, and was designated for assignment on May 2.
Gutierrez went unclaimed on waivers and was assigned to Triple-A Norfolk, where he spent the bulk of the 2022 season. In 238 plate appearances with the Tides, he turned in a .242/.315/.384 slash with six homers, eight doubles, a pair of triples, a 21.4% strikeout rate and a 10.1% walk rate. He’s now a .265/.334/.411 hitter in parts of three Triple-A campaigns.
There’s been some turnover in the Baltimore infield, as the O’s have gotten first looks at younger players such as Tyler Nevin, Terrin Vavra and, most recently, top prospect Gunnar Henderson. The latter of that trio has stepped in for six games at third, three apiece at shortstop and second base, and another two at designated hitter. He’s posted a combined .320/.370/.520 in his first 54 big league plate appearances and, in the process, continued his torrid minor league pace and illustrated just why the O’s are so confident he can be a future building block in the infield.
Outrights: Mazeika, Davis, Arihara
An update on a trio of players who’ll remain with their prior organizations after being designated for assignment and clearing waivers…
Latest updates
- The Giants outrighted catcher Patrick Mazeika to Triple-A Sacramento, tweets Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area. Mazeika, who’d been DFA this week, didn’t make a big league appearance with San Francisco. Claimed off waivers from the Mets last month, he’s spent the past couple weeks on optional assignment to Sacramento. Mazeika hasn’t hit well there, but he’d posted solid numbers with New York’s top affiliate earlier in the season. Mazeika has never previously been outrighted and doesn’t have three years of MLB service, so he’ll stick in the organization for this year’s final few weeks. He’d reach minor league free agency over the offseason if he’s not added back to the 40-man roster.
Earlier
- Red Sox outfielder Jaylin Davis went unclaimed on outright waivers and was assigned to Triple-A Worcester, tweets Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com. The 28-year-old Davis has spent time with the Twins, Giants and Red Sox organizations over the past five years but has never carried his stout Triple-A production over to the big league level. Granted, none of those clubs has given him much of a look in the Majors; Davis has just 95 plate appearances in the big leagues, during which time he’s posted a tepid .207/.274/.299 batting line. Davis turned in a colossal .306/.397/.590 slash with 35 homers in 541 plate appearances between the Triple-A affiliates for Minnesota and San Francisco in 2019, but even his Triple-A output has deteriorated since that standout showing. He’s had 353 turns at the plate in Triple-A this season and hit just .211/.317/.343 with a 30.9% strikeout rate.
- Right-hander Kohei Arihara, designated for assignment by the Rangers this week, cleared outright waivers and has been assigned to Triple-A Round Rock, per the team’s transaction log at MLB.com. That’s not particularly surprising, given Arihara’s struggles and the fact that he’s still owed the balance of this season’s $2.6MM salary. It’s “only” about $286K, but given that Arihara has yielded 21 earned runs in 20 innings this season and carries a 7.57 ERA in 60 2/3 frames dating back to 2021, he was never likely to be claimed. Texas signed the now-30-year-old righty on the heels of a solid six-year run in NPB (3.74 ERA, 18% strikeout rate, 5.6% walk rate), hoping that he could provide some innings at the back of the rotation. That two-year, $6.2MM contract hasn’t panned out, however, and this is now the second time Arihara has been outrighted by the Rangers.