Angels Designate Steven Duggar, Jose Rojas For Assignment
The Angels announced Thursday that outfielder Steven Duggar and infielder Jose Rojas have been designated for assignment. Their spots on the 40-man roster will go to outfielder Ryan Aguilar and righty Zack Weiss, both of whom have had their contract selected from Triple-A Salt Lake.
Duggar, 28, was a sixth-rounder with the Giants back in 2015 and had some solid showings in San Francisco. He never established himself as a consistent presence in their outfield, however, in part due to injury troubles. Duggar suffered a torn labrum that required surgery in 2018, ending his rookie campaign. He avoided surgery on a second shoulder injury, sustained in August of 2019, but that issue still ended his season.
Duggar received minimal playing time in the shortened 2020 season but returned with a career-best .257/.330/.437 batting line in 297 trips to the plate in 2021. That success hasn’t carried over to the current campaign, however. He’s appeared with three different teams this season and batted .153/.225/.222 in 80 trips to the plate. Duggar, who’s capable of playing all three outfield spots, has already been traded once and claimed off waivers this season, so it’s possible there’s another club out there who’ll be interested in carrying him on the 40-man roster once he hits waivers. That outcome is a formality at this point; he’s ineligible to be traded and thus will be placed on outright or release waivers in the coming week.
Rojas, 29, has appeared in 83 games with the Halos over the past two seasons but managed just a .188/.245/.339 batting line in 241 plate appearances. He’s a .277/.344/.524 hitter in parts of four Triple-A campaigns, however, and has a minor league option remaining beyond this year, which enhances his appeal. Rojas also has notable amounts of experience in both outfield corners and at every infield slot other than shortstop, although he doesn’t have strong defensive grades at any of those spots in mostly limited MLB action.
Aguilar, 28 later this month, made his big league debut this year as a replacement player during the Angels’ series in Toronto. He’s in his first season with the Angels organization after spending his career in the Brewers system. Through 342 plate appearances of Double-A ball, he’s slashed .280/.427/.517 with 15 homers, 13 doubles, two triples and 11 steals.
Weiss, 30, is also in his first season with the Angels organization. The former Reds farmhand signed a minor league deal in the offseason and has turned in 50 innings of 4.50 ERA ball with a 29.7% strikeout rate against a 9.6% walk rate. Weiss received an extremely brief cup of coffee with the 2018 Reds but did not retire any of the four batters he faced (two walks, two home runs allowed). He’ll obviously hope for a shot at redemption four years after the fact.
Twins Select Billy Hamilton
12:23pm: The Twins announced that Hamilton’s contract has been selected and that lefty Austin Davis, whom they claimed off waivers from the Red Sox earlier this week, has been added to the active roster. Outfielder Trevor Larnach was moved from the 10-day IL to the 60-day IL to open a 40-man spot for Hamilton. Larnach has been out more than 60 days already after undergoing surgery to repair a sports hernia back in late June, so the move to the 60-day IL is a pure formality. The Twins are still hopeful that he can return this month.
8:53am: The Twins are set to select the contract of veteran speedster Billy Hamilton, as first reported by TwinsDaily’s Ted Schwerzler. It’s an off-day for Minnesota, but Hamilton will be with the team for tomorrow’s series opener against the division-rival White Sox, tweets Darren Wolfson of 1500 SKOR North radio. The team will need to make a corresponding 40-man roster move for Hamilton, as they’re currently at capacity.
Hamilton, 32 next week, signed a minor league deal with the Twins last month after declining an outright assignment with the Marlins, for whom he went 1-for-13 while appearing in 20 games (mostly as a defensive replacement) earlier this summer. He’ll be joining his eighth Major League team when he suits up for Minnesota. The longtime Reds center fielder is considered one of the best defensive players in the sport and will give the Twins two of the game’s most dynamic outfield gloves once Byron Buxton returns from the 10-day IL. (He’s eligible this weekend, though the team has not yet indicated when he’ll be reinstated.)
Hamilton’s blistering speed and glovework helped to overshadow perennial lackluster showings at the plate for the first several seasons of his career in Cincinnati. He hit just .244/.297/.332 in 2714 plate appearances from 2014-18 but remained the Reds’ everyday option in center thanks to his glove and an average of 53 stolen bases per season. His offense fell off even harder in 2019, however, and the switch-hitting Hamilton has moved into journeyman status, batting a combined .209/.266/.293 in 539 plate appearances spread across six teams in the past four years.
With the Twins, Hamilton will provide a valuable late-game defensive replacement and pinch-running option as Minnesota looks to close a 1.5-game deficit and retake the AL Central lead from the Guardians. And, at least for now, with Buxton, Trevor Larnach and Alex Kirilloff all on the injured list — Kirilloff’s season is over, following August wrist surgery — there could be some additional opportunities to make a few starts. At present, the Twins have shortstop-turned-outfielder Nick Gordon in left field, Gilberto Celestino in center and stalwart Max Kepler in right field. Kyle Garlick gives them a corner option against left-handed pitching, and lefty-swinging Jake Cave gives them another outfielder capable of playing any of the three positions.
Because Hamilton was in the organization prior to Sept. 1, he’ll be postseason-eligible, although the fact that he wasn’t on the 40-man roster as of midnight last night means he’d require league approval as postseason replacement for a player on the injured list. Still, teams make such swaps every year, so if Minnesota ultimately qualifies for the playoffs and wants to roster Hamilton as a bench option, they’ll be able to do so.
Orioles Select Jesus Aguilar, Designate Richie Martin For Assignment
The Orioles announced another series of roster moves Thursday, selecting the contract of first baseman Jesus Aguilar (whom they signed to a minor league deal yesterday), recalling top pitching prospect DL Hall from Triple-A Norfolk and designating infielder Richie Martin for assignment.
An All-Star when he hit 35 home runs for the 2018 Brewers, the now-32-year-old Aguilar was with the Marlins from 2020 up until a couple weeks ago, when Miami designated him for assignment and released him. Aguilar was a solid middle-of-the-order bat for the Fish in 2020-21 but has stumbled to a .236/.286/.388 batting line through 456 plate appearances this season — including a dismal .188/.246/.347 output since the All-Star break.
Ugly as those numbers are, Aguilar hit a combined .262/.338/.476 in just shy of 2000 plate appearances from 2017-21, so there’s a track record of solid productivity in his bat. The O’s will hope that he can return to form and provide a boost to a lineup that has struggled to score runs of late. If Aguilar can indeed recapture that form, he’ll help to replace the production of Trey Mancini, whom the Orioles shipped to Houston at the trade deadline despite being within striking distance of a Wild Card berth. Mancini hit .268/.347/.404 in 401 plate appearances this year prior to being traded.
Hall, the No. 21 overall pick back in 2017, made his big league debut earlier in 2022 but was tagged for five runs in 3 2/3 innings that day. He’s had an uneven season in the minors this year, pitching to a combined 4.48 ERA with a huge 36.6% strikeout rate but an ugly 13.4% walk rate in 84 1/3 innings between one start in High-A, one in Double-A and another 22 appearances (18 starts) in Triple-A.
Those shaky numbers notwithstanding, Hall still ranks among the game’s top 100 prospects due to a fastball that reaches triple digits and a collection of offspeed pitches that all have the potential to be plus offerings. This year’s 13.4% walk rate is an exact match with his career mark in the minors, however, which underscores the ongoing location issues he’s battled throughout his time as a professional.
Martin, 27, was the top pick in the 2018 Rule 5 Draft. A former first-rounder of the Athletics, Baltimore pounced on the opportunity to add him to the organization and hoped he could eventually carve out a role on the big league club. That hasn’t happened yet, however, as Martin floundered through a rookie season in which he couldn’t be optioned due to his Rule 5 status, hitting .208/.260/.322 in 2019. He’s only had 138 Major League plate appearances during that time, due in no small part to a fluke pair of broken wrists — both his left and his right — which obviously led to considerable time on the injured list.
Overall, Martin is a .212/.261/.311 hitter in 447 Major League plate appearances, and his .234/.333/.349 slash in 390 trips to the plate at the Triple-A level aren’t all that much better. It’s fair to wonder whether his development would’ve turned out differently were it not for that pair of fractures, but as a 27-year-old former prospect on a team that’s looking to turn the corner and emerge from a years-long rebuilding effort, Martin’s place on the 40-man roster has increasingly looked to be on shaky ground. He’ll be placed on outright waivers or released within a week’s time, as he’s ineligible to be traded at this point in the season.
Dodgers Activate Clayton Kershaw, Place Brusdar Graterol On Injured List
The Dodgers announced Thursday that left-hander Clayton Kershaw has been reinstated from the 15-day injured list and infield prospect Miguel Vargas has been recalled from Triple-A Oklahoma City. That pair represents the team’s initial September call-ups, though it’s not the only pair of moves made today. Los Angeles also placed right-hander Brusdar Graterol on the 15-day injured list due to inflammation in his right elbow. Fellow righty Phil Bickford is up from Oklahoma City to take his spot on the roster.
Kershaw wound up missing just under a month of action after being placed on the injured list due to a lower back injury. He’ll step back into the rotation and look to continue what has been yet another largely successful campaign when healthy; in 85 1/3 innings this season, Kershaw carries a 2.64 ERA with a sharp 26.2% strikeout rate against a tiny 4.5% walk rate. He’ll join the recently activated Dustin May, Julio Urias, Andrew Heaney and Tyler Anderson in a Dodgers rotation that is currently missing Walker Buehler (Tommy John surgery) and Tony Gonsolin (forearm strain).
For Graterol, it’ll be a quick return to the injured list. The 24-year-old flamethrower was out from July 14 through Aug. 22 due to a shoulder injury and will now be placed back on the shelf for a yet-to-be-determined period of time. He’s been an integral part of a Dodgers relief corps that has been frequently beset by injuries in 2022, contributing 44 2/3 innings of 3.02 ERA ball with a 22.2% strikeout rate, 5.7% walk rate and massive 62.9% ground-ball rate. The Dodger bullpen has remained strong even amid myriad injury troubles, however, and they’re expected to reinstate Blake Treinen, who’s been out since late April, as soon as tomorrow, which should help to soften the blow of losing Graterol.
This is the second Major League stint of the season for the 22-year-old Vargas, who’s widely considered to be among the game’s 50 or so top prospects. He’s had a big year in the upper minors, hitting .304/.404/.511 in 520 plate appearances at the Triple-A level. Bickford, 27, has a 5.14 ERA in 49 innings of bullpen work with the Dodgers this season.
Reds Select Spencer Steer, Fernando Cruz
11:15am: The Reds have formally selected the contracts of Steer and right-hander Fernando Cruz, per a team announcement. Mike Moustakas and righty Jeff Hoffman were transferred from the 10-day injured list to the 60-day injured list to open space on the 40-man roster.
Cruz, 32, reaches the big leagues in the culmination of one of the more remarkable baseball journeys in recent memory. Drafted by the Royals as an infielder back in 2007, he toiled through four minor league seasons before beginning to experiment off the mound in 2011 and giving up infield work for good by 2012. Cruz still struggled to advance through the minors, however, and after a one-year stop in the Cubs organization, was out of affiliated ball entirely by 2016.
From 2016-21, Cruz split his time between the Puerto Rican Winter League, the Mexican League (both winter and regular season) and the independent Canadian-American Association, where he worked as a starter and closer alike for the New Jersey Jackals. The Reds signed him this past winter on the heels of his latest indie ball campaign, and he’s broken out with 56 innings of 2.89 ERA ball in Triple-A, where he’s punched out 29.3% of his opponents against an 8.4% walk rate.
Whether Cruz is truly a long-term piece for the Reds can be debated, but it’s hard not to be happy for a 32-year-old rookie who was out of affiliated ball for six seasons. A call to the Majors must have seemed like a pipe dream not long ago for Cruz, but that MLB debut could come any day now.
8:27am: The Reds are promoting top infield prospect Spencer Steer to the Majors, reports C. Trent Rosecrans of The Athletic. He’ll join the big league team today as part of September roster expansion and should get regular opportunities down the stretch.
Steer, 24, came to the Reds alongside left-hander Steven Hajjar and infielder Christian Encarnacion-Strand in the deadline trade that sent right-hander Tyler Mahle to Minnesota. He recently moved into the back end of Baseball America’s top 100 prospect rankings, checking in at No. 98 on this month’s update.
A third-round pick by Minnesota back in 2019, Steer was the headliner in that Mahle trade, due in no small part to the numbers he posted between Double-A (.307/.385/.591, 144 wRC+) and Triple-A (.242/.345/.485, 117 wRC+) during his time with the Twins. Steer has continued at a strong pace with Cincinnati’s Triple-A affiliate in Louisville, hitting at a .297/.375/.467 pace. Between the two organizations, he’s combined for 23 home runs, 30 doubles, a pair of triples and four steals (in seven tries). He’s walked at a 10.4% clip and punched out in 18.1% of his trips to the plate this season.
The Reds have played Steer at all four infield positions, plus one game in right field, but he’s spent the vast majority of his time at second base and third base — both this season and in his professional career. With 2021 National League Rookie of the Year Jonathan India entrenched at second base, Steer seems likely ticketed for the hot corner, at least in the long term. For the short term, however, the Reds could potentially continue to bounce him around the diamond while getting a look at his bat against big league pitching. With Joey Votto out for the season and Mike Moustakas back on the injured list (and clearly not factoring into the team’s long-term plans), Steer should have plenty opportunities for at-bats alongside India and shortstop Jose Barrero, giving Reds fans a potential glimpse of the future infield.
Steer displayed an ability to make consistent contact this year, has steadily improved his power output since being drafted, and is a solid defender at multiple positions. Steer sits outside the top-100 rankings at FanGraphs and MLB.com but ranks ninth and seventh in the Reds’ system on those respective rankings. Scouting reports on him generally agree that he lacks a true plus tool but also lacks any glaring flaws; his blend of defensive versatility, solid bat-to-ball skills, improved power and an at-least average arm give him the potential to be a regular in the Cincinnati infield for years to come.
Depending on how much playing time Steer receives down the stretch, it’s possible he’ll exhaust his rookie status over the next five weeks. He’d need more than 130 at-bats to do so, but regardless, he won’t receive a full year of service in 2022 and won’t put himself on a path to Super Two trajectory, based on this September promotion. If he remains rookie-eligible heading into 2023, the Reds would retain the ability to receive compensatory draft picks based on potential Rookie of the Year voting in 2023.
Athletics Designate David McKay For Assignment
The A’s announced Thursday that right-hander David McKay has been designated for assignment. His spot on the 40-man roster will go to lefty Ken Waldichuk, whose previously reported promotion to the big leagues is now official. Oakland also recalled outfielder Cody Thomas from Triple-A Las Vegas.
McKay, 27, was a waiver claim out of the Rays organization back in July. He pitched 2 2/3 innings with the A’s, who were his third big league team of the season (Rays, Yankees). All told, McKay allowed five runs in 6 2/3 Major League innings between the three teams in 2022. He’s tallied 33 1/3 innings in his big league career, dating back to 2020, and has a 6.21 ERA with an above-average 24.7% strikeout rate but a grisly 14.7% walk rate.
McKay has also pitched with the Triple-A affiliates for all three of those organizations in 2022, working to a collective 4.50 ERA with a 25.1% strikeout rate that’s similar to his big league rate and a 10.4% walk rate (an improvement over his MLB numbers but still much higher than average). He’ll be placed on waivers or released within the week, as he’s ineligible to be traded at this point.
Thomas, like Waldichuk, will make his big league debut when he first takes the field for the A’s. The 27-year-old was a 13th-round pick by the Dodgers back in 2016 but landed with the A’s organization as part of the trade that sent infielder Sheldon Neuse to Los Angeles. (Neuse has since returned to the A’s on a waiver claim.)
Thomas has missed nearly the entire season after undergoing surgery to repair his Achilles tendon in Spring Training, but he went out on a minor league rehab assignment in mid-August and got 10 games under his belt before today’s call to The Show. Thomas hit just .226/.306/.419 in 36 minor league plate appearances, but the A’s have surely wanted to get a look at him ever since last year’s massive .289/.363/.665 showing in Triple-A (143 wRC+).
Despite tallying just 245 plate appearances in 2021, Thomas racked up 18 home runs, 20 doubles and four triples. He whiffed in 31.8% of his plate appearances, which is an obvious concern, but Thomas also posted a solid 10.2% walk rate in Vegas a year ago. He’ll turn 28 next month, making him much older than the standard “prospect,” but last year’s big showing certainly merits at least a late audition at the MLB level.
Astros Trade Lewis Brinson To Giants
The Giants have acquired outfielder Lewis Brinson in a trade with the Astros, as first indicated on the transactions log at MLB.com. Brinson was eligible to be traded by virtue of the fact that he’s on a minor league deal with Houston and has not, at any point, been on a Major League roster or injured list this season.
[Related: How to Acquire Players After the Trade Deadline]
Once one of the sport’s consensus top prospects, Brinson’s blend of raw power, speed and a plus throwing arm have never been enough to outshine his strikeout issues, minimal walk rate and lack of hard contact. A first-round pick by the Rangers back in 2012, he was traded to the Brewers as the centerpiece in Texas’ acquisition of former All-Star catcher Jonathan Lucroy and then to Miami as the headliner in Milwaukee’s acquisition of 2018 NL MVP Christian Yelich.
Brinson was widely considered to be among baseball’s 30 best prospects from 2016-18, but he’s now appeared in 341 big league games — mostly with the Marlins — and posted just a .199/.248/.323 batting line in 1111 plate appearances. He’s punched out in 28.2% of his Major League plate appearances against just a 5% walk rate, and when he’s made contact, the plus raw power Brinson possesses hasn’t shined through, likely due to his poor pitch selection (career 40.2% chase rate on pitches off the plate). Brinson’s 88.6 mph average exit velocity and 37.1% hard-hit rate are both pedestrian marks that align roughly with the collective league averages over his big league tenure.
All that said, there’s no denying that Brinson has posted strong results in Triple-A this season. Through 364 trips to the plate in Sugar Land, he’s slashed .299/.356/.574 with 22 home runs, 21 doubles, five triples and five steals (in eight tries). He’s still fanned in 28% of his plate appearances, however, and his 7.1% walk rate doesn’t suggest he’s become much more selective at the dish. Brinson has also had comparable Triple-A success in the past (.331/.400/.562 in a similar sample of plate appearances back in 2017).
The Astros seemingly weren’t going to bring Brinson to the big leagues and have several players they’d like to get some playing time in Triple-A, including recently optioned center fielder Jake Meyers. A trade of Brinson to the Giants gives Houston some extra playing time for younger players who are viewed as potential contributors beyond the 2022 season; Brinson would simply have been a free agent at season’s end unless added to the 40-man roster.
For the Giants, Brinson will give them some depth and a potential September call-up to the join the outfield mix. If he indeed reaches the big leagues with San Francisco and shows some signs of improvement against MLB pitching, he’d be controllable for another three years via arbitration. It may be a long shot, but given what’s surely a minimal cost of acquisition — the teams have not yet announced the moves, and the transactions log does not specify a return — there’s little harm in rolling the dice on a former top prospect who won’t turn 29 until next May.
Carlos Martinez Receives 85-Game Suspension
Free-agent righty Carlos Martinez has been suspended 85 games under Major League Baseball’s joint domestic violence, sexual assault and child abuse policy, commissioner Rob Manfred announced Thursday via press release. The suspension is retroactive to June 19 and comes on top of an 80-game PED suspension he received back in May after testing positive for Ibutamoren.
Martinez, who’ll turn 31 later this month, spent time with the Giants and Red Sox organizations early in the 2022 season but never pitched for either club in the Majors. He spent the 2013-21 seasons with the Cardinals and, from 2015-18, was one of the better young starting pitchers in the National League (3.22 ERA in 698 2/3 innings).
Martinez made a pair of All-Star teams during his time with St. Louis and signed a five-year, $51MM contract extension in Feb. 2017. Injuries derailed the majority of that contract, however, as the right-hander was limited to just 150 2/3 innings over the contract’s final three seasons.
Orioles Sign Jesus Aguilar To Minors Contract
The Orioles have signed first baseman Jesus Aguilar to a minor league contract, MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubatko reports (Twitter link). Aguilar, who was released by the Marlins after being designated for assignment, has been added to Baltimore’s taxi squad for the time being. With rosters set to expand from 26 to 28 players tomorrow, he could potentially be selected to the Major League roster in short order.
It’s been a poor season for the 32-year-old Aguilar, who batted just .236/.286/.388 through 456 trips to the plate with Miami prior to being designated for assignment. The Fish reportedly explored the trade market to find takers prior to the deadline but did not find much of a market. At the time, Aguilar was in the midst of a weeks-long slump, and he failed to right the ship in his final weeks as a Marlin. Since the All-Star break, he’s turned in a disastrous .188/.246/.347 slash line.
Poor as his 2022 season has been, there’s plenty of track record with Aguilar, a 2018 All-Star who swatted 35 home runs with the Brewers that season. That year represents a clear peak in Aguilar’s career, but he’s been an above-average hitter with Miami in each of the 2020 and 2021 seasons. From 2018-21, Aguilar touted a .262/.339/.471 batting line with 77 home runs and 70 doubles in 1661 plate appearances. The righty-swinging slugger also has a negligible platoon split in his career, so when he’s at his best, he’s a potential everyday option at either first base or designated hitter.
Aguilar could give the O’s some thump off the bench at a time when much of the lineup has been struggling to produce, and if he hits the ground running, there ought to be increased playing time available to him. Rougned Odor, Ryan Mountcastle, Jorge Mateo and Kyle Stowers, in particular, have had rough showings across the past couple weeks, while bench options like Robinson Chirinos, Ryan McKenna and Tyler Nevin have provided next to no offense in that time. Based on Aguilar’s own struggles, he shouldn’t be expected to come in and play the role of savior for an O’s team that’s still improbably jockeying for Wild Card position, but there’s little harm in taking what amounts to a free look at this juncture of the season.
Aguilar had been playing on a $7.5MM guarantee in Miami this year, but now that he’s been released and signed a new contract, the O’s will only owe him the prorated league minimum for any time spent on the MLB roster. The rest of Aguilar’s salary, plus the buyout on a now-moot 2023 mutual option, will all come out of the Marlins’ pockets.
Mets Outright Yolmer Sanchez
Veteran infielder Yolmer Sanchez went unclaimed on waivers and was assigned outright to Triple-A Syracuse by the Mets, tweets Anthony DiComo of MLB.com. New York designated Sanchez for assignment recently upon reinstating Eduardo Escobar from the injured list.
Sanchez, 30, appeared in three games with the Mets but didn’t receive a plate appearance, so he didn’t get the opportunity to improve even marginally upon a dismal .108/.214/.108 slash he posted in a tiny sample of 44 plate appearances with the Red Sox earlier in the year (4-for-37, seven walks, 13 strikeouts).
At his best, Sanchez was a Gold Glove-caliber defender at second base with just slightly below-average offense. From 2017-18, he slashed .253/.313/.390 as the White Sox’ primary second baseman. His already minimal power output dipped in 2019, but Sanchez also took home a Gold Glove that year, lessening the sting of his fairly punchless approach at the dish. Since that 2019 campaign, however, he’s logged just 65 big league plate appearances and mustered only a .170/.303/.282 output.
Sanchez will have the ability to reject the outright assignment in favor of free agency. (He’s previously been outrighted and also has more than three years of service — either of which would grant him that right on its own.) He’d have to be with a new club by midnight ET tonight if said new team wanted to be able to rely on him as a defensive-minded insurance option for the postseason roster. If he simply accepts the outright and sticks with the Mets, he’d give them a strong glove and some speed to fall back on, should the incur an injury (or multiple injuries) in the infield between now and the playoffs.