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Mariners, Ryan Dull Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Mariners have agreed to a minor league contract with veteran reliever Ryan Dull, tweets FanSided’s Robert Murray. He’ll presumably head to their Triple-A affiliate to join their bullpen.

Dull, 31, debuted with the A’s back in 2015 and had a huge 2016 season, delivering 74 1/3 innings of 2.42 ERA ball (3.33 SIERA) with what was then a well-above-average 25.2 percent strikeout rate and an excellent 5.2 percent walk rate. He’s never replicated that success, but Dull managed solid K/BB numbers and respectable fielding-independent marks in 2017-18.

A 2019 season split between the A’s, Yankees and Blue Jays, however, was an utter disaster for the righty. Dull tallied just 12 2/3 innings in the Majors that year and was slammed for 19 runs (18 earned) on 25 hits (including five homers) and seven walks with 15 strikeouts.

Dull hasn’t pitched in the big leagues since that time. He’d signed back with the Jays on a minor league deal last winter but wasn’t part of their 60-man player pool when play resumed last summer. Dull inked a deal with the Winnipeg Goldeneyes of the independent American Association back in January, but he’ll now return to affiliated ball just a couple of weeks before the American Association was set to commence its season.

Mariners relievers have been excellent this season, pitching to a collective 2.55 ERA that ranks third in the Majors, while their 3.62 FIP is good for sixth-best among MLB clubs. There won’t be an immediate spot for Dull, but he’ll give the club an experienced depth option as the organization looks to manage workloads on a generally young pitching staff after last year’s shortened schedule.

Royals Sign Alcides Escobar

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The Royals turned back the clock Tuesday, announcing that they’ve agreed to terms with veteran shortstop Alcides Escobar on a minor league deal. Escobar, the Royals’ everyday shortstop for their 2014-15 World Series teams, will head to Triple-A Omaha to begin the season.

Now 34 years old, Escobar was one of the key pieces Kansas City received in the 2010 trade that sent Zack Greinke to Milwaukee. Coming over alongside Lorenzo Cain, Jake Odorizzi and Jeremy Jeffress, Escobar quickly established himself as a foundational piece for the Royals. He was never a huge contributor at the plate, but at his best he hit for a respectable average while racking up 30-plus steals per year and flashing Gold Glove-caliber leather.

Escobar has appeared in parts of eight seasons with the Royals in the past, batting a combined .259/.292/.344 in just over 5000 plate appearances. He spent the 2020 season with the Yakult Swallows of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball, hitting .273/.312/.329 through 104 games.

Escobar is on hand as a depth piece right now, but with Adalberto Mondesi still sidelined and being no stranger to prolonged stints on the injured list, it makes sense to bring in some veteran depth. The Royals have already gotten a notable portion of the 2014-15 band back together, as they currently have Wade Davis, Greg Holland and Jarrod Dyson on the MLB roster alongside franchise cornerstones Salvador Perez and Danny Duffy.

Nicky Lopez has been handling shortstop work in Mondesi’s absence and has performed well in the early stages of the season, but he has a limited track record at the plat. If his bat steps back or if the Royals incur further injuries in the middle infield, it’s possible that Escobar will be brought back into the fold and given another reunion tour in front of the Kansas City faithful.

Brewers Sign Wade LeBlanc, Logan Forsythe

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The Brewers have signed left-hander Wade LeBlanc, infielder Logan Forsythe and catcher Christian Kelley to minor league contracts, per a team announcement. All three will open the season with their top minor league affiliate in Nashville.

LeBlanc, 36, began the season with the Orioles but was designated for assignment after six appearances. He spent the 2020 season with Baltimore as well, but the overall results weren’t pretty. The soft-tossing southpaw logged 29 frames with the Birds and was clobbered for 27 runs on 38 hits and nine walks with 19 strikeouts.

That said, LeBlanc has a pretty lengthy track record at the big league level and was particularly effective from 2014-18, when he tallied 321 2/3 innings of 3.92 ERA ball spread across stints with the Angels, Yankees, Pirates and Mariners. He notched a career-high 162 innings with the 2018 Mariners and turned in a very solid 3.72 ERA in that time.

Forsythe, 34, brings a solid track record of his own to the Brewers. He’s spent parts of 10 seasons in the Majors and is experienced at all four infield positions. His peak came with the 2015-16 Rays, when he slashed a combined .273/.347/.444 as the team’s primary second baseman. He’s struggled at the plate and bounced around the league in journeyman fashion since that time. Overall, Forsythe is a career .244/.326/.369 hitter. He’s a versatile right-handed bat who’ll give the Brewers a depth option with a similar skill set to that of 2020 utilityman Jedd Gyorko (albeit without as much success at the plate).

The 27-year-old Kelley has never appeared in the Majors. He’s spent his career to this point in the Pirates organization, topping out with a rough Triple-A showing in 2019. Kelley was an 11th-round pick by the Bucs back in 2015 and carries only a career .229/.311/.306 batting line as a professional. However, he’s regarded as a sound defender, rating as the best defensive catcher in Pittsburgh’s system from 2018-20, per Baseball America. He’ll give the Brewers some depth with both Omar Narvaez and Manny Pina on the injured list.

Cubs Announce Series Of Roster Moves

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The Cubs announced a series of roster moves Tuesday, placing righty Jake Arrieta, infielder Nico Hoerner and reliever Dan Winkler on the 10-day injured list. Arrieta is dealing with a right thumb abrasion, while Hoerner has a left forearm strain and Winkler is being slowed by tendinitis in his right triceps. In their absence, the Cubs have recalled lefty Kyle Ryan and right-hander Keegan Thompson. They’ve also selected the contract of infielder Ildemaro Vargas, filling their 40-man roster.

Arrieta, 35, has had a decent rebound effort with the Cubs thus far, making six starts and logging a 4.31 ERA through 31 1/3 frames out of the rotation. He signed a one-year, $6.5MM deal to return to the team with which he won a Cy Young Award in 2015 and a World Series ring in 2016. He’d been slated to take the mound tomorrow, but it appears the cut on his pitching thumb hasn’t healed to the point where he’s able to properly throw all of his offerings. Given the nature of the injury, it seems likely to be a short-term stay on the IL.

The 23-year-old is out to a brilliant start in 2021, slashing .389/.500/.556 with six doubles, three steals and eight walks against seven strikeouts through 44 trips to the plate. Hoerner collided with center fielder Ian Happ when chasing down a shallow fly-ball during Sunday’s game against the Reds, though it’s not clear if that play is the source of his current injury. Happ remains day-to-day after that incident, with manager David Ross telling reporters he’s been diagnosed with a rib contusion after getting kicked “pretty hard” by Hoerner in the process. Hoerner tells reporters he expects to be back from the IL when he’s first eligible (Twitter link via Gordon Wittenmyer of NBC Sports Chicago).

Winkler, meanwhile, has held opponents to just one run on five hits in 10 1/3 innings. It’s a strong start in terms of bottom-line results, but the fact that he’s walked seven batters, plunked another and snapped off a wild pitch suggest that he’ll need to improve his control if he’s to maintain anything close to that output. To his credit, Winkler has also punched out a dozen of the 44 hitters he’s faced, but this marks a second straight year of questionable command in the Cubs’ bullpen for the 31-year-old Illinois native.

Ryan leads Cubs relievers in innings pitched over the past few seasons and will give Ross another lefty to work with for the time being. Thompson, who made his MLB debut when he tossed an inning earlier this year, is slated to start the second game of today’s twin bill against the Dodgers. He’s a 26-year-old back-of-the-rotation/swingman candidate who ranks 14th among Cubs farmhands at MLB.com, 23rd at FanGraphs and 28th at Baseball America. The Cubs’ rotation doesn’t have room for him when it’s at full strength, but he’ll likely be called upon for multiple spot starts in situations just as this throughout the year, when injuries pop up among the team’s top few starters.

Vargas has appeared in eight games with the Cubs dating back to a 2020 waiver claim from the Twins. He’s spent the bulk of his career with the D-backs, primarily in a utility role, and is a lifetime .252/.280/.388 hitter in 300 trips to the plate as a big leaguer. He’ll factor into the mix at second base and off the bench while Hoerner is sidelined.

Twins Announce Series Of Roster Moves

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The Twins announced a series of roster moves Friday, most notably reinstating outfielders Max Kepler and Kyle Garlick from the Covid-19 list. To make room on the active roster, outfielder/first baseman Brent Rooker and catcher Ryan Jeffers were optioned to Triple-A St. Paul. Meanwhile, infielders JT Riddle and Tzu-Wei Lin have been designated for assignment, while catching prospect Ben Rortvedt has been recalled from Triple-A for his big league debut.

Kepler, 28, hasn’t played in a game since April 16 but will now return to his role as Minnesota’s everyday right fielder. He’s not out to a great start, slashing .234/.315/.362 through his first couple weeks of play, but that’s a sample of just 54 plate appearances. From 2019-20, he turned in a much stronger .246/.332/.499 batting line and clouted 45 homers in 792 plate appearances while playing strong defense in right field.

Garlick, meanwhile, was out to a solid .280/.321/.400 start through 28 trips to the plate and was getting some run as a right-handed bat against lefties. He’ll continue on in that role, giving the Twins a right-handed bat to take some reps in left field. That spot has been occupied by top prospect Alex Kirilloff as of late, but Kirilloff can also play some first base in the absence of Miguel Sano. Luis Arraez could get some time in left field as well, now that the Twins’ middle infield is back to full strength.

Optioning Jeffers began to look increasingly necessary given the 23-year-old’s early struggles. The 2018 second-rounder has emerged as one of the game’s top catching prospects in recent seasons, ranking as a consensus top 100 talent heading into the 2021 season. Jeffers’ big debut effort last year helped to fuel that ranking, as he stepped up for a then-injured Mitch Garver and gave the Twins 64 plate appearances with a hearty .273/.355/.436 batting line and three home runs.

The 2021 season has been a disaster for the promising young backstop, however, as he’s mustered only a .147/.216/.176 slash through 37 plate appearances. Jeffers is still surely viewed as a key part of the organization’s future, but with the minor league season now slated to begin next week, sending Jeffers down for some regular at-bats — as opposed to splitting time with Garver — makes sense to get him on track. It’s also worth noting that he’s only played 24 games of Double-A ball and has never taken a single plate appearance in Triple-A, so he could simply need some more time to polish off his development.

With Jeffers going down, the Twins will now lean on the versatile Willians Astudillo and the young Rortvedt as backup options to Garver. The 23-year-old Rortvedt was Minnesota’s second-round pick back in 2016 and is a career .240/.315/.347 hitter in the minors who is regarded as a strong defensive backstop. He ranks 24th among Minnesota farmhands, per FanGraphs, and 26th on Baseball America’s rankings. BA calls him an “excellent receiver and blocker” with “standout defensive skills” but a limited offensive ceiling.

Turning to the pair of DFAs, neither comes as much of a surprise. Riddle was only selected to the big league roster when Andrelton Simmons initially tested positive for Covid-19, and he wound up being placed on the Covid list himself not long after. Once Riddle hit the Covid list, the Twins turned to Lin and brought him to the MLB roster. With Simmons now back in the fold alongside Jorge Polanco and utility man Luis Arraez, there’s little room for either Lin or Riddle.

Riddle went 2-for-6 with a run scored in four games with the Twins and is a career .223/.261/.355 hitter in 793  MLB plate appearances. Lin appeared in just one game and didn’t take a plate appearance. He was a .223/.298/.316 hitter in parts of four seasons with the Red Sox from 2017-20.

Nationals Activate Jon Lester

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2:00pm: The Nationals officially announced that Lester has been reinstated from the injured list. The team optioned righty Steven Fuentes to open a spot on the 26-man roster and moved southpaw Luis Avilan to the 60-day injured list to open a spot on the 40-man roster. Avilan will miss the 2021 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery.

8:50am: Veteran left-hander Jon Lester will be activated from the injured list and make his 2021 debut (and Nationals debut) tonight against the Marlins, reports Jesse Dougherty of the Washington Post. Corresponding roster moves are still being sorted out.

Lester, 37, signed a one-year deal worth $5MM to step into the Nats’ rotation this winter. His trajectory to their active roster has been impeded multiple times, however. The southpaw underwent surgery to remove his thyroid gland early in Spring Training after experiencing abnormal levels of fatigue and having that course of treatment recommended by multiple doctors. He then was one of several Nationals players to land on the Covid-19 list amid the team’s early-season outbreak.

A five-time All-Star and three-time World Series champion, Lester recently wrapped up a six-year, $155MM contract with the Cubs and will now suit up for the fourth team of an exceptional career. Unlike so many big-money free-agent contracts, Lester’s proved to be a worthwhile investment for the Cubs. His production waned in the final years of the deal, particularly in 2020, but he was every bit the ace they hoped he be early on. Lester carried a 3.33 ERA through the contract’s first four years, including a superlative 2.44 mark during 2016’s World Series-winning season. He finished second in NL Cy Young voting that year and was dominant in the playoffs, earning NLCS MVP honors along the way.

The Nationals know they’re not getting the same Lester, but they’ll hope that he can continue to serve as a workhorse rotation stabilizer, throwing competitive innings behind a high-priced and high-profile trio atop the rotation. That trio of Max Scherzer, Stephen Strasburg and Patrick Corbin was expected to be the team’s strength in 2021, but instead their inconsistency has been one of the primary drivers of Washington’s struggles as a team.

Scherzer is sitting on a terrific 3.00 ERA and is still posting elite K/BB numbers, but it’s been an uneven road. He’s mixed in a pair of poor outings with three utterly dominant starts. The end results are solid, though, and he’s easily the least worrisome of the Nats’ top three.

Strasburg has thrown just 10 innings so far in 2021 and is currently on the 10-day injured list with a bout of inflammation in his right shoulder. There’s no clear timeline for his return, but he’s already past the 10-day minimum and a return does not appear to be on the immediate horizon.

Corbin has been the most troublesome of the team’s rotation triumvirate. He was lights-out against the Cardinals back on April 20, but his other three starts have been outright nightmares. The lefty was absolutely torched for 10 runs (nine earned) in two innings by the D-backs on April 15, and he’s yielded a combined 10 runs through 8 1/3 innings in his other two starts. Overall, Corbin is lugging a 10.47 ERA through 16 1/3 frames. His velocity has ticked up about a mile per hour in his two most recent outings, including that excellent start against the Cardinals (six shutout innings), so the Nats can only hope that he’s begun to turn the corner.

Given the ups and downs throughout the Washington rotation at the moment, there’s perhaps a bit more expectation placed on Lester’s shoulders than most would’ve expected heading into the season. Lester is no stranger to weighty expectations, of course, but he’ll be looking for a rebound of his own after logging a career-worst 5.16 ERA in 61 innings last season. He said during Spring Training that the improved energy levels he felt post-thyroidectomy were higher than he’d felt in years, which could be a source of some optimism regarding a bounceback effort in 2021.

A’s Sign Cam Bedrosian

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The Athletics have signed right-hander Cam Bedrosian to a minor league contract, Melissa Lockard of The Athletic reports (Twitter link). He’ll open the year with their top affiliate in Las Vegas.

The 29-year-old Bedrosian is no stranger to the AL West, having spent the majority of his career in the division-rival Angels’ bullpen. The Halos non-tendered Bedrosian this winter and, after latching on with the Reds on a minor league deal, he broke camp with Cincinnati on the heels of a strong spring showing. Bedrosian punched out 16 of the 32 hitters he faced during Cactus League play en route to that Opening Day roster nod.

Unfortunately, things took a turn for the worse once the regular season was underway. Bedrosian was rocked for seven runs on 10 hits, including a pair of homers, while posting a 7-to-6 K/BB ratio in 5 2/3 innings.

That said, Bedrosian has a strong track record with the Angels. From 2016-20, he gave them 225 innings of 3.20 ERA ball with a 3.74 SIERA, a 25.1 percent strikeout rate and a 9.1 percent walk rate. He’s missed fewer bats in recent years after seeing his strikeout rate peak in 2016-17, but Bedrosian has been a largely reliable bullpen option who even saw a bit of an uptick in fastball velocity this year in Cincinnati. He’ll give the A’s a rather experienced depth option to call upon should injuries or poor performances among their big league relief corps necessitate some personnel change.

Indians Notes: Allen, Rotation, Vargas, Hankins, Jones

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The Indians optioned lefty Logan Allen to Triple-A following a trio of rough starts, including this week’s six-run drubbing at the hands of the Twins. Three of that game’s first four batters homered off Allen to put Cleveland in an early hole. Manager Terry Francona told reporters, including Cleveland.com’s Paul Hoynes, that Allen’s fastball command has been off. The pitcher himself agreed, calling his location “spotty” and acknowledging that he’s regularly put himself behind in the count and tipped the advantage in the hitters’ favor. Allen was brilliant in Spring Training, allowing just one run in 14 innings with an 18-to-3 K/BB ratio, but the early results this year just haven’t been there. He’s allowed 18 runs (16 earned) on 20 hits (seven homers) and seven walks with 12 strikeouts in 15 2/3 frames.

With Allen out of the rotation for now, it’s not clear who will step into the fifth spot. Righty Cal Quantrill and lefty Sam Hentges are possible options, and Hoynes notes that Hentges was stretched out to 85 pitches at the alternate site before being recalled and plugged into the team’s bullpen. Cleveland had an off-day yesterday, but the Indians are embarking on a stretch of 10 straight days with games, so they’ll need a fifth starter this coming Tuesday.

A few more notes out of Cleveland…

  • The Indians received poor news on a pair of their top pitching prospects, Zack Meisel of The Athletic reports (via Twitter). Right-hander Carlos Vargas will miss the 2021 season after recently undergoing Tommy John surgery, while fellow righty and 2018 No. 35 overall pick Ethan Hankins has been sidelined by an elbow injury of his own that is currently being evaluated by team doctors. Vargas ranks 15th among Indians prospects at FanGraphs, 17th at MLB.com and 18th at Baseball America. Hankins respectively lands 12th, 10th, and ninth on those same rankings. Neither pitcher was likely to emerge in the Majors this season, as Vargas hadn’t pitched above short-season Class-A and Hankins hadn’t progressed beyond A-ball himself. Still, it’s a noted setback for a pair of promising arms who’ll now see their timeline to the big leagues pushed back — by at least a full season in the case of Vargas.
  • Top organizational prospect Nolan Jones will see the bulk of his time at his natural position, third base, in Triple-A to begin the season, but VP of player development James Harris tells Mandy Bell of MLB.com that Jones will also see work at first base and in the outfield in order to improve his versatility. “…[W]e just don’t know where the opportunity will be,” Harris says of working Jones at multiple positions. Both first base and the outfield have been much weaker spots in the Cleveland lineup than third base in recent seasons — in part due to Jose Ramirez’s emergence as an MVP-caliber talent but also due to a generally lackluster collection of hitters in a cobbled-together mix in the outfield and at first base. Jake Bauers has been among the game’s least-productive hitters at first base this season, and the Indians’ piecemeal approach to the outfield has again resulted in sub-par production. Indians outfielders have combined for a lowly 83 wRC+ in 2021, which ranks 23rd in MLB. Their first basemen are 29th of 30 by that same measure, checking in at just 58. Jones entered the season widely regarded as one of MLB’s top 50 overall prospects.

Reds Sign Tim Adleman To Minor League Deal

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The Reds announced this morning that they’ve signed righty Tim Adleman to a minor league contract and assigned him to their alternate training site. He’ll presumably open the year with their Triple-A club.

It’s a blast from the past for Cincinnati fans, who likely recall that the now-33-year-old Adleman pitched in 43 games (33 starts) for the Reds back in 2016-17. Adleman racked up 192 innings in that time, logging a combined 4.97 ERA with an 18.9 percent strikeout rate and an 8.7 percent walk rate. He spent the 2018 season with the Samsung Lions of the Korea Baseball Organization and split the 2019 season between the Atlantic League’s Long Island Ducks and the Tigers’ minor league system.

That 2016-17 run with the Reds is the only big league experience Adleman has to date. He does own a career 2.97 ERA in parts of three Triple-A seasons (166 2/3 innings), however, to go along with a similarly strong 2.70 mark in parts of three Double-A campaigns (243 innings).

Braves Activate Sean Newcomb, Transfer Mike Soroka To 60-Day IL

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The Braves announced this morning that lefty Sean Newcomb has been reinstated from the Covid-19 injured list. To open a spot on the 40-man roster, righty Mike Soroka was transferred to the 60-day injured list. Atlanta also recalled righty Edgar Santana and optioned both Bryse Wilson and Johan Camargo to their alternate site.

The Soroka portion of the announcement may cause some alarm among fans, but that 60-day term refers to the total number of days he must spend on the injured list — including days already spent there. In other words, it’s 60 days from his initial placement on Opening Day — not 60 days from today. Soroka will be eligible to return at the end of May, but the latest reports out of Atlanta suggest he’s not likely to be ready to return to the roster until mid-June anyhow. It’s a largely procedural move.

Newcomb, 27, got out to a fast start this season but has been sidelined since being placed on the Covid list back on April 17. The starter-turned-reliever has pitched 5 1/3 innings and allowed just one run while striking out a whopping 12 of the 22 hitters he’s faced. Granted, he’s also walked four batters and hit another, but the early uptick in strikeout rate, average fastball velocity (95.2 mph, up from 93.6 mph in 2020) and swinging-strike rate (14 percent, up from seven percent in 2020) are intriguing small-sample things for Braves fans to keep an eye on.

The 23-year-old Wilson started last night’s game, so he’ll head down to the alternate site as a means of getting some fresh arms into the ’pen. Santana will be making his club debut when he first gets into a game. The former Pirates righty missed the 2019 season due to an elbow injury that eventually required Tommy John surgery. He didn’t make it back to the big leagues in 2020 due to that surgery and an 80-game PED suspension. The Braves picked him up earlier this month in exchange for cash. Prior to surgery, he sat 95 mph with his heater and carried a career 3.31 ERA with a sub-par 21 percent strikeout rate but a 6.8 percent walk rate that was much better than the league average.

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