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Pirates Release Tyler Lyons

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The Pirates released left-hander Tyler Lyons from their Triple-A club over the weekend, as first indicated on the Triple-A International League transactions log.

Lyons, 30, was briefly with the Pirates’ big league club earlier this season after having his contract selected from Triple-A Indianapolis, but he lasted just five days on the Major League roster before being designated for assignment. The former Cardinals reliever has enjoyed a strong season with the Bucs’ top minor league affiliate, though, pitching to a 3.55 ERA with 10.8 K/9, 3.2 BB/9, 0.79 HR/9 and a 39.8 percent ground-ball rate in 45 2/3 innings. Between those 45 2/3 innings and another four in the Majors, Lyons has limited opposing lefties to an awful .141/.205/.282 batting line. Right-handers have give him trouble, though, hitting him at a .278/.361/.444 clip.

It wasn’t that long ago that Lyons was a solid member of the bullpen with the division-rival Cardinals. From 2015-17, he totaled 162 innings with a 3.33 ERA and a 174-to-49 K/BB ratio (9.7 K/9, 2.7 BB/9). That strong three-year run was highlighted by a 2017 campaign in which Lyons logged a 2.83 ERA and a near-identical 2.86 FIP to go along with a career-best 30.9 percent strikeout rate (11.33 K/9).

Back and elbow issues hampered Lyons early in the 2018 season, and the Cardinals somewhat surprisingly jettisoned him in the midst of a summer bullpen shakeup that July. Lyons ultimately went unclaimed on waivers, though, and had to settle for a minor league deal this past offseason despite a respectable showing in Triple-A Memphis following that DFA. He’s now thrown just 20 MLB innings since that standout 2017 campaign, but clubs in need of some left-handed bullpen depth could certainly do worse than to take a flier on Lyons based on his track record and solid Triple-A numbers over the past two seasons.

Blake Swihart Clears Waivers, Accepts Outright Assignment

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Catcher/outfielder Blake Swihart went unclaimed on waivers after being designated for assignment by the Diamondbacks and accepted an outright assignment to Triple-A Reno, Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic reports (via Twitter).

Swihart, 27, has enough service time that he could’ve rejected the assignment, but doing so would’ve meant forfeiting the remainder of this season’s $910K big league salary. He’ll now remain with the Diamondbacks through season’s end, but he’ll quite likely elect free agency this offseason, as is his right as a player with three-plus years of service who has been outrighted off the 40-man roster.

It wasn’t long ago that Swihart was widely considered to be among the game’s elite prospects. Prior to the 2015 season, each of MLB.com, Baseball America, Baseball Prospectus and ESPN ranked him among the game’s top 20 overall farmhands — hardly a surprise given his status as a former first-round pick who hit .293/.341/.469 in 110 games between Double-A and Triple-A as a 22-year-old in 2014.

Swihart’s bat didn’t impress much in his 2015 MLB debut, however, as he batted just .274/.319/.392 through 309 trips to the plate. More concerning, though, were the escalating questions about his defensive abilities (or lack thereof) behind the dish. The Red Sox organization began playing Swihart in left field and at first base, but he continued to work with coaches and instructors to hone his defensive chops at catcher.

Unfortunately, those concerns never really dissipated, and his sparse use in 2018 surely didn’t help matters. The Red Sox were loath to lose Swihart, who was at that point out of minor league options, but they were also reluctant to commit to him as a regular catching option. As such, Boston carried both Christian Vazquez and light-hitting Sandy Leon to open the 2018 campaign, relegating Swihart to a seldom-used third catcher and infielder/outfielder. Swihart received virtually no playing time early in the season and had tallied fewer than 100 plate appearances by the time the All-Star break rolled around. That the Red Sox effectively played the 2018 season with a 24-man roster makes last year’s World Series win all the more impressive, but Swihart’s nonexistent role surely didn’t do him any favors.

With Arizona, Swihart was used exclusively as a corner outfielder and first baseman, tallying just 70 trips to the plate over the life of 31 games in a similarly minimal role. The fact that he went unclaimed on waivers when he’s earning less than $1MM and could’ve been controlled through the 2022 season via arbitration doesn’t bode well for his chances of landing a big league contract this winter. For now, though, he’ll try to open some eyes at Triple-A in an effort to work his way back onto the Diamondbacks’ 40-man roster before season’s end.

Phillies Select Logan Morrison

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4:26pm: Morrison’s contract has indeed been selected, per a club announcement. He’ll fill the 25-man roster spot that was vacated with Jake Arrieta landing on the 10-day IL with what looks to be a season-ending elbow issue. Righty Jerad Eickhoff was moved to the 60-day injured list to open a 40-man roster spot for Morrison.

1:33pm: The Phillies will select the contract of veteran first baseman Logan Morrison from Triple-A Lehigh Valley today, ESPN’s Jeff Passan reports (via Twitter). He’ll join the roster a day after fellow lefty slugger Corey Dickerson exited the game with an apparent hand injury after being hit by a pitch from Jose Quintana.

The 31-year-old Morrison had an awful season in 2018 when he tried to play through a hip injury with the Twins. That issue, initially believed to be an impingement, wound up being far more severe, as season-ending surgery also revealed a torn labrum in Morrison’s hip. Morrison still managed to swat 15 home runs with the Twins in 359 plate appearances last year, but his overall .186/.276/.368 batting line was obviously an eyesore.

Morrison inked a minor league deal with the Yankees earlier this summer once he was sufficiently recovered from that procedure, but he didn’t make it to the big leagues in the Bronx despite laying waste to Triple-A pitching in Scranton. He then signed on with the Phillies and hasn’t missed a beat in Triple-A. In fact, he’s been even better with the Phillies’ top affiliate. Overall, in a combined 233 Triple-A plate appearances, Morrison has ripped 18 home runs and 16 doubles while putting together a superlative .308/.369/.640 batting line. Even in a league-wide, supercharged offensive environment in Triple-A this season, Morrison’s bat has been more than 50 percent better than that off an average hitter (by measure of wRC+).

With the Phils, Morrison will look to sweep last year’s woeful ratios under the rug and bounce back to the 2017 form that saw him hit .246/.353/.516 with a career-high 38 home runs as a member of the Rays.

Jameson Taillon Undergoes Tommy John Surgery

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The Pirates announced today that right-hander Jameson Taillon underwent his second career Tommy John surgery. Taillon had been slated for surgery to repair his right flexor tendon, which was initially expected to sideline him for seven to nine months. However, according to the Pirates, it was determined during the course of that procedure that he required a UCL revision in his right elbow. Taillon is expected to miss the entire 2020 season and return to competition in 2021.

It’s a brutal loss for the Pirates, who just a couple of months ago were hoping that Taillon would be able to return at some point in 2019. Now, they’ll be without their best pitcher not only for this season but the entire 2020 campaign as well. That’ll leave the Buccos with a rotation mix comprised of Joe Musgrove, Chris Archer, Trevor Williams, Steven Brault and well-regarded prospect Mitch Keller. Pittsburgh also hopes to have Chad Kuhl back in 2020, when he’s recovered from his own Tommy John surgery, and other options are present on the 40-man roster in the form of Dario Agrazal, JT Brubaker, Yefry Ramirez and Rookie Davis. Still, it’s a largely non-established group that could well be in need of offseason augmentation.

Taillon, 27, was the No. 2 overall draft pick back in 2010 and long rated as one of baseball’s elite prospects. Injuries, headlined by a prior Tommy John surgery and a frightening battle with testicular cancer, stalled his development and delayed his path to the big leagues. However, upon arrival, Taillon quickly demonstrated why he’d received such lofty fanfare, and in 2018 looked to have cemented himself as a front-of-the-rotation piece in Pittsburgh. After a pair of solid seasons to begin his career in 2016-17, Taillon broke out in 2018 with 191 innings of 3.20 ERA ball. Along the way, he averaged 7.2 strikeouts, 1.9 walks and 0.96 homers per nine innings pitched to go along with a grounder rate just a hair under 50 percent.

Taillon will be eligible for arbitration for the first time this winter and figures to receive a relatively small raise given that injuries limited him to 37 1/3 innings of 4.10 ERA ball in 2019. Whatever price he and the Pirates agree on will quite likely be his salary in 2021 as well, given that it’s common for arbitration-eligible players who miss an entire season due to injury to simply re-sign at the same rate. Taillon will get a bump into seven figures to reflect the contributions he’s made in his career to date, but the potential $4.5-6MM salary he might’ve received with a healthy 2019 campaign now looks firmly out of the question.

The Pittsburgh front office will have a tall order when it comes to replacing the value lost with a full season of Taillon. While the roster has several rotation alternatives, there are few, if any, with Taillon’s ceiling among them. (Keller, perhaps, stands out as a notable exception.) The worst-case scenario in the rotation comes at a time when other members of the lineup — namely Josh Bell and breakout rookie Bryan Reynolds — have stepped into the spotlight and given the Pirates hope that each can be a core piece around which to build. Now, with new core assets emerging, Pittsburgh will see one of its most crucial core members fade from the picture for the foreseeable future.

Jake Arrieta’s Season Likely Over

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The Phillies have placed right-hander Jake Arrieta on the 10-day injured list, and Arrieta himself told reporters today that his season is likely over (Twitter link via Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune). “I’ll probably miss the remainder of the season,” said Arrieta, who is slated to undergo an MRI on Thursday.

The elbow troubles that are sidelining Arrieta aren’t a new revelation. Early in July, it was announced by the Phils that Arrieta was pitching through bone spurs in his elbow that would require eventual surgery. Arrieta has continued to pitch through the discomfort, though it seems as though he’s now reached a tipping point. Right-hander Zach Eflin, who was recently dropped to the bullpen, will return to the rotation to start in place of Arrieta on Saturday, tweets Scott Lauber of Philly.com.

It’s been a rather middling season for Arrieta, 33, as he’s pitched to a 4.64 ERA with 7.3 K/9, 3.4 BB/9 and 1.4 HR/9 through 24 starts — a total of 135 1/3 innings. Arrieta carried a 3.96 ERA through Memorial Day, but the summer hasn’t been kind to him as he’s pitched through those injuries; over his past 65 2/3 frames, he’s stumbled to a 5.76 ERA with a 51-to-25 K/BB ratio, four hit batters and a dozen home runs allowed.

Arrieta is in the second season of a three-year, $75MM contract that contains an opt-out clause after the 2019 season. Given the current injury and his summer struggles, that opt-out seems decidedly unlikely to be exercised, meaning he’ll remain under contract in Philadelphia through the 2020 season, when he’s slated to earn $20MM. The Phillies also hold a two-year, $40MM club option on Arrieta that they’ll surely forgo in light of his current health and recent struggles.

With Arrieta headed to the shelf for what looks to be the duration of the year, the Phillies will lean on Aaron Nola, Eflin, Vince Velasquez and a pair of recent newcomers — Drew Smyly and Jason Vargas — to round out the rotation for now. Both Smyly and Vargas have given the Phillies a pair of strong outings, though Smyly’s two most recent turns haven’t been as sharp. The Phillies have fallen to nine games out of the division lead in the NL East but are still just two games out of an NL Wild Card spot.

Orioles Designate Jimmy Yacabonis For Assignment

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The Orioles announced this afternoon that they’ve designated right-hander Jimmy Yacabonis for assignment. His spot on the roster will go to fellow righty Ryan Eades, whose previously reported waiver claim out of the Twins organization has now been formally announced by the Orioles.

Yacabonis, 27, has struggled substantially in the Majors despite solid, if unremarkable results in the upper minors. He’s in the midst of his final season with minor league options, so the Orioles seemingly value the flexibility that Eades brings to the table over a righty who has received numerous auditions in recent seasons.

Dating back to his 2017 MLB debut, Yacabonis has pitched 101 2/3 innings for the Orioles, mostly as a reliever or opener. In that time he’s turned in a 5.75 ERA while averaging 6.6 strikeouts, 5.0 walks and 1.68 home runs per nine innings pitched. Yacabonis’ heater has averaged 94 mph with slightly above-average spin in that time, but he’s given up far too much hard contact and struggled both throwing strikes and commanding the ball within the zone. He’ll be made available to the other 29 teams in the league via outright waivers in the coming days., though if he clears, the Orioles will be able to retain him and assign him to a minor league affiliate without dedicating a 40-man roster spot to him.

Yankees Claim Ryan Dull

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The Yankees announced Wednesday that they’ve claimed right-hander Ryan Dull off outright waivers from the Giants. In order to open a spot on the 40-man roster, right-hander Brady Lail was designated for assignment.

Dull, 29, was designated for assignment by both Bay Area teams in the span of nine days this month. The longtime Athletics reliever never made it to the Majors with the Giants in his extremely brief time with the organization, as San Francisco optioned him to Triple-A Sacramento immediately upon acquiring him.

Dull has been up and down with Oakland over the past five seasons, pitching to a collective 4.08 ERA with 8.7 K/9 against 2.6 BB/9 in 167 2/3 innings of work. The right-hander’s best year came with the 2016 A’s, when he logged 74 1/3 frames of 2.42 ERA ball, but he’s been hampered by knee and shoulder injuries since that time. In a total of 76 1/3 big league innings since Opening Day 2017, Dull has posted an underwhelming 5.66 ERA with a 74-to-27 K/BB ratio. He’s averaged just over 11 strikeouts and 2.3 walks per nine innings pitched throughout his minor league career.

Lail, 25, was the Yankees’ 18th-round pick back in 2012 and made his MLB debut just last week, tossing 2 2/3 innings but allowing three runs (two earned) on five hits. He’s been solid out of the bullpen across three minor league levels this year, as evidenced by a 2.79 ERA with 11.8 K/9 and 2.8 BB/9 in 42 innings of work.

Orioles Claim Ryan Eades

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The Orioles have claimed right-hander Ryan Eades off outright waivers from the Twins, Roch Kubatko of MASNsport.com reports (via Twitter). Baltimore’s 40-man roster is full, so a corresponding roster move will need to be made.

Eades, 27, was Minnesota’s second-round pick out of Louisiana State University back in 2013. He made his big league debut earlier this summer when he tossed 3 2/3 innings of shutout ball, but his minor league track record has been rather spotty. The 6’2″, 210-pound righty has never ranked among the Twins’ best pitching prospects, despite his draft status, and he was shifted to the bullpen back in 2016 after posting lackluster numbers in the rotation.

Eades showed well out of the ’pen in 2018, tossing 76 1/3 innings with a 3.54 ERA, 10.4 K/9, 2.6 BB/9, 0.6 HR/9 and a 40 percent ground-ball rate in 76 1/3 innings between Double-A and Triple-A. The bottom-line results for Eades in 2019 haven’t been as encouraging; he’s posted a 5.51 ERA in 50 1/3 innings with Minnesota’s top affiliate in Rochester. However, he’s also averaging a career-best 11.2 K/9 against 2.8 BB/9. Eades’ HR/9 mark has doubled to 1.2, but long balls throughout all of Triple-A are through the roof now in 2019 after the decision to switch over to the Major League ball (the same one that has led to record home-run paces throughout MLB).

The addition of Eades will give the Orioles some optionable depth for the foreseeable future. Because his contract was only selected this season, Eades can be optioned back and forth not only for the remainder of the 2019 season but also in two additional seasons beyond the current campaign.

Who Else Could Hit Outright Waivers In August?

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The Reds have made a pair of claims already, nabbing Kevin Gausman from the Braves and Freddy Galvis from the Blue Jays. While the Cincinnati organization still hasn’t manage to make a run into clear postseason contention, it’s in shouting distance and obviously wants to send a message to its fanbase. With a marginal place in the standings, the Reds also have waiver priority over all other contenders. (Current rules do not distinguish between league status, except in cases where two teams with the same record each put in a claim.) The claims are relatively low-cost since there’s not much time left in the regular season (around $4MM in total) and both players can be controlled for 2020 (Gausman via arbitration, Galvis via club option). It’s also possible the Reds could pass along the contracts via the waiver wire later this month.

[RELATED: So, What Can Teams Do In August?]

It stands to reason that players in similar positions will be exposed to waivers as well. Those likeliest to hit the wire — beyond younger, fringe 40-man members — are arbitration-eligible players who are obvious non-tender candidates and impending free agents who no longer fit onto their current club. Gausman and Kyle Barraclough, whom the Giants recently claimed from the Nationals, represent recent examples of the first group. In such cases, teams stand to save a nice chunk of money if another team places a claim; if not, they only lose a player whose days in the organization were clearly numbered. Certain veterans on expiring contracts may also be allowed to leave, even if their non-contending current team would happily pay their salary down the stretch, in order to generate goodwill in pursuing future free agents. (That possibility explains why we’ve listed, say, Hunter Pence as a conceivable waiver candidate.)

It should be noted that players with guaranteed salaries beyond the 2019 season aren’t as likely to be waived in this manner. There’s little incentive for the Mariners to waive Dee Gordon, for instance. He’s owed more than $16MM and would surely go unclaimed as a result. At that point, he’d reject an outright assignment in favor of free agency, leaving the Mariners on the hook for the entirety of his contract. At best, Seattle would save the prorated league minimum if Gordon signed with another team. It makes more sense to hold him and try to move him in the offseason or even next year.

There ought to be demand on the claiming side. Plenty of needs remain unmet even on competitive rosters. It’s notable that the Nats and Braves saved money with their above-cited waiver placements; that could leave some addition free cash to utilize in adding other players. Some clear non-contenders will even work the wire, as the Blue Jays did with Zack Godley. It would seem there’s nothing to stop teams from discussing their intentions in advance — “hey, we’d claim him if you cut him loose” — to assuage any concerns about a player going unclaimed, which could perhaps even open the door to a surprising late-month claim or two.

With that in mind, it’s worth taking a look around the league to see which other players could land on waivers, focusing on contract status and other factors. Rebuilding and/or clearly non-contending clubs will obviously be contemplating ways to save some cash with moves of this nature. Some players on contending teams may be candidates to be cut loose regardless of their organization’s place in the standings — hence, the prior moves on Gausman and Barraclough — but we’ll focus here on organizations with sub-.500 records.

Just because a player lands on the list doesn’t mean we think it’s especially likely he’ll move by way of waivers; it just indicates we can see a path to such an outcome. Without further ado (teams listed by inverse order of record):

Tigers: Jordy Mercer, Gordon Beckham, Edwin Jackson

Orioles: Jace Peterson, Jonathan Villar

Royals: Billy Hamilton, Mike Montgomery

Marlins: Curtis Granderson, Neil Walker, Starlin Castro, Martin Prado, Adam Conley

Mariners: Cory Gearrin, Anthony Bass

Blue Jays: Zack Godley, Neil Ramirez, Justin Smoak

Pirates: Francisco Liriano, Melky Cabrera

Rockies: Chris Iannetta (DFA limbo), Chad Bettis

White Sox: Ivan Nova, Welington Castillo, Jon Jay, Yolmer Sanchez

Padres: Craig Stammen, Ian Kinsler

Reds: Jose Iglesias, Freddy Galvis, Alex Wood, Kevin Gausman, Jared Hughes

Angels: Justin Bour, Trevor Cahill

Rangers: Hunter Pence, Logan Forsythe, Delino DeShields, Shawn Kelley, David Carpenter

Additional Possibilities: Adeiny Hechavarria (Mets; DFA limbo), Addison Russell (Cubs), Travis Shaw (Brewers), Michael Taylor (Nationals), Michael Wacha (Cardinals)

(It’s possible that the win/loss outcomes over the next two weeks will push some other organizations to consider dropping short-term veterans, but we won’t guess here as to how that’ll shake out. The players on contending teams just listed could be pushed out due to performance/roster considerations, regardless of their teams’ place in the standings.)

Minor MLB Transactions: 8/8/19

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Here are Thursday’s minor moves from around the game…

Latest Moves

  • The Marlins announced that infielder Yadiel Rivera cleared waivers and has been outrighted to Triple-A, after he was designated for assignment on Tuesday.  Rivera has seen action in each of the last five MLB seasons, but doesn’t have much to show for it at the plate, including a .183/.258/.217 slash line in 66 PA for Miami in 2019.

Earlier Today

  • The Reds announced that infielder Blake Trahan has been outrighted to Triple-A Louisville after clearing waivers.  Trahan was designated for assignment earlier this week.  The 25-year-old has spent much of his season at Louisville already, hitting only .230/.280/.324 over 323 plate appearances, continuing Trahan’s struggles at the plate during his five-year pro career (which included 11 games for the Reds at the big league level in 2018).
  • The Royals released 23-year-old first baseman Samir Duenez from their Triple-A club, Jeffrey Flanagan of MLB.com reports (via Twitter). Duenez ranked as Kansas City’s No. 13 prospect, per Baseball America, as recently as the 2017-18 offseason. However, he’s endured a miserable season at the plate in 2019, batting a combined .199/.261/.307 in 361 plate appearances between Double-A and Triple-A. BA’s 2017-18 report on him tabbed him as a potential “impact power bat” with average glovework at first base and below-average speed. That outlook has clearly become more clouded with Duenez’s recent struggles, though as a 23-year-old who posted solid Double-A numbers in 2018 (when he was still rather young for the Texas League), he’ll likely find another opportunity elsewhere.

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