Orioles Release Nate Karns, Outright Jose Rondon
The Orioles announced Wednesday that they’ve released right-hander Nate Karns and outrighted infielder Jose Rondon to Triple-A Norfolk. Both players cleared waivers; Karns, however, has the requisite service time to elect free agency.
Karns will head back to free agency after missing the bulk of the 2019 season due to forearm issues. He’d made it back to the mound prior to his DFA, pitching in three rehab appearances between July 12 and July 23. The 31-year-old Karns tossed 5 1/3 innings with the O’s and yielded only one unearned run early in the season, but he was tagged for 10 runs in 10 1/3 innings of work across two rehab stints this season (the first of which was halted after a late-April setback). Injuries, most notably thoracic outlet surgery, have largely wiped out the past four seasons for Karns, making 2015’s 147 innings of 3.67 ERA ball for the Rays feel like a distant memory.
Rondon, 25, received just one plate appearance with the O’s after being claimed off waivers out of the White Sox organization. He’d previously batted .197/.265/.282 in Chicago before being designated for assignment. Rondon is a versatile infield defender but hasn’t received strong grades for his small sample of innings at shortstop. He’s a lifetime .264/.300/.463 in 508 plate appearances at the Triple-A level.
Blue Jays Designate David Paulino For Assignment
The Blue Jays announced that they’ve designated right-hander David Paulino for assignment. His spot on the roster will go to right-hander Zack Godley, who has been claimed off outright waivers from the Diamondbacks (as previously reported by Nick Piecoro).
Paulino, 25, was once considered to be among baseball’s 100 best prospects but has seen his star dim in recent seasons — beginning with an 80-game PED suspension issued back in July 2017. Since that half-season ban, Paulino has also undergone surgery to remove bone spurs from his pitching elbow and generally performed at diminished levels. Toronto acquired him alongside Ken Giles in the 2018 trade that sent Roberto Osuna to Houston.
Paulino pitched 6 2/3 innings of one-run ball with the Jays late in the 2018 season but has been limited to 28 2/3 innings in Triple-A Buffalo in 2019. He’s currently on the minor league injured list, meaning that Toronto’s only course of action with Paulino will be to release him. Clubs can no longer trade players who’ve been on 40-man rosters under the league’s new August trade restrictions, and teams are also unable to pass injured players through outright waivers. Another club could claim Paulino off release waivers, and he’ll have the opportunity to sign with a new organization if he clears. However, it’s also fairly common in these situations for the released player to sign a new minor league deal with his former club.
Alex Reyes Headed For Additional Testing, May Not Pitch Again In 2019
It appears that Cardinals righty Alex Reyes is once again threatened by the potential of a season-ending injury. Mark Saxon of The Athletic tweets that Reyes is heading to St. Louis for another round of imaging and examinations on his ailing right pectoral muscle, adding that it “appears as if his 2019 season is over.”
Reyes, 25 later this month, has been limited to just 40 1/3 innings in 2019 — only three of which came at the MLB level. He hasn’t pitched in a game since a June 23 outing and hasn’t appeared in the Majors since April 5. At the time of the injury, it was announced as a pectoral strain that was only expected to cost Reyes two to three starts, but manager Mike Shildt said Wednesday that Reyes’ arm didn’t respond well to a bullpen session this week (Twitter link via Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch).
If Reyes is indeed shut down for the season, it’ll mark a third straight season for Reyes that has been virtually wiped out by injury. He didn’t pitch at all in 2017 due to Tommy John surgery, was limited to 26 innings last year thanks largely to surgery to repair a tendon in his lat muscle and has now only totaled 40 1/3 frames in 2019. Reyes is among the most highly touted pitching prospects in recent memory and was at one point hailed as a potential ace in the making, but he’s never even reached a total of 115 innings in a season between the Majors and minors combined.
The latest setback for Reyes comes at a poor time, as St. Louis has dropped four consecutive games after choosing not to add to its rotation at the trade deadline. Michael Wacha is currently holding the fifth spot in the rotation, but he’s lost that job twice already in 2019 and pitched poorly in his return to a starting role in his last outing.
Among internal alternatives, lefty Genesis Cabrera has struggled in the upper minors and in a pair of MLB starts. Right-hander Daniel Ponce de Leon made a handful of solid outings earlier this season but didn’t complete four innings in any of his three most recent starts. Lefty Austin Gomber, also on the 40-man roster, has been sidelined since mid-May. Adding depth in August is harder than ever before, and the Cardinals’ record is better than that of fellow postseason hopefuls in Milwaukee, New York, Arizona, San Francisco and Cincinnati, which lessens the likelihood of a palatable option making it to St. Louis on outright waivers.
Giants, Justin Haley Reportedly Agree To Minor League Deal
The Giants are set to sign right-hander Justin Haley to a minor league contract, according to Roster Roundup (Twitter link).
Haley, 28, appeared in 10 games with the 2017 Twins as a Rule 5 pick before he was returned to the Red Sox. He was selected to the Red Sox’ roster a year later in 2018 but pitched in only four games at the MLB level before being outrighted off the 40-man roster at season’s end. In the offseason, he opted to sign with the Samsung Lions of the Korea Baseball Organization rather than pursue a minor league contract with an MLB organization. Things didn’t go well for Haley in the hitter-friendly KBO. He made 19 starts there and was tagged for a 5.75 ERA with 84 strikeouts and 34 walks in 87 2/3 innings of work before being cut loose (somewhat ironically, in order to open roster space for former Giants outfielder Mac Williamson to sign with the Lions).
That may all be a relatively unappealing profile at first glance, but Haley has a strong track record in Triple-A, where he’s pitched to a 3.53 with 7.6 K/9 against 2.4 BB/9 in 260 1/3 innings across parts of three seasons (47 starts, two relief outings). He’s typically posted average or better ground-ball tendencies and has limited home runs fairly well, surrendering an average of 0.97 long balls per nine innings pitched.
IL Placements: Verdugo, Kintzler, Duffy, Luplow
The Dodgers announced Tuesday that outfielder Alex Verdugo has been placed on the 10-day injured list due to a right oblique strain. Corner infielder Edwin Rios is up from Triple-A Oklahoma City to give the club another bat in his place. Los Angeles also optioned right-hander Tony Gonsolin to Triple-A Oklahoma City and recalled lefty Caleb Ferguson to add a fresh arm. The Dodgers have the NL West all but wrapped up in early August, so the Dodgers have every reason to proceed with caution regarding Verdugo’s recovery. The longtime prospect has turned in a very strong .294/.342/.475 batting line with a dozen home runs, 22 doubles, two triples and four steals through 377 plate appearances in his first full big league season. Oblique injuries can often take a month to heal, though manager Dave Roberts kept things vague regarding Verdugo, simply telling reporters he’ll need 10 days or more to recover (Twitter link via Ken Gurnick of MLB.com).
Some more notable injury list placements from around baseball…
- The Cubs swapped out one right-hander for another Tuesday, placing Brandon Kintzler on the 10-day IL due to right pectoral inflammation and activating righty Pedro Strop in his place. The 35-year-old Kintzler has rebounded from an awful 2018 run with Chicago (7.00 ERA in 18 innings) to post a 2.33 ERA with 7.8 K/9, 1.9 BB/9, 0.78 HR/9 and a 53.3 percent ground-ball rate in 46 1/3 innings out of the ‘pen in 2019. Right-handers must wonder whether to bother stepping into the box against Kintzler, as they’ve managed just a .133/.200/.233 batting line against him this season. Lefties have had more success but still own a lackluster .245/.297/.382 line against Kintzler.
- Left-hander Danny Duffy was placed on the 10-day IL (retroactive to Aug. 4) due to a strained hamstring, the Royals announced. Kansas City has recalled right-hander Jake Newberry from Triple-A Omaha in his place. The 30-year-old Duffy is in the midst of his second straight rough season, having logged a 4.93 ERA with 8.1 K/9, 3.2 BB/9 and 1.70 HR/9 in 100 1/3 innings of work this season. The five-year, $65MM contract signed by Duffy prior to the 2017 season looked plenty affordable at the time, but he’s been hampered by elbow and shoulder impingements since signing that deal (in addition to this more recent, and minor, hamstring issue).
- Indians outfielder Jordan Luplow is headed to the 10-day IL due to a hamstring strain, the team announced. Speedster Greg Allen is back up from Triple-A in a corresponding move. Acquired in an offseason trade with the Pirates, Luplow has proven to be an outstanding platoon outfielder in Cleveland. While he’s only mustered a .230/.269/.322 line against right-handers, he’s laid waste to left-handed opponents with a .305/.407/.667 slash. Luplow has blasted 10 homers and eight doubles in just 105 plate appearances while holding the platoon advantage. The timing of the injury isn’t great for Cleveland, as the Indians are slated to face four lefty starters in the next eight days.
Nationals Designate Kyle Barraclough For Assignment
The Nationals have designated right-hander Kyle Barraclough for assignment, per a team announcement. His spot on the roster will go to infielder Asdrubal Cabrera, whose previously reported one-year contract has now been officially announced by the Nationals. Infielder Adrian Sanchez has been optioned to Double-A Harrisburg in an additional corresponding move.
Acquired in a rare October trade that sent international bonus allotments from Washington to Miami, Barraclough was viewed as a controllable, buy-low ‘pen option at the time the Nationals picked him up. While he was fresh off a fairly disappointing 4.20 ERA in 55 2/3 innings, Barraclough joined the Nationals with a long track record of missing bats and posting quality bottom-line results to match his gaudy strikeout totals. From 2015-18, Barraclough pitched to a 3.21 earned run average with 11.5 K/9 against 5.5 BB/9 in 218 2/3 innings of work. Although his walk rate was too high, he offset some of those strike-throwing issues with a minimal 0.6 HR/9 mark.
The 2019 campaign, however, proved to be an unmitigated disaster for Barraclough. Gone was his penchant for limiting the long ball — a problem that has plagued many hurlers throughout the league, albeit not to this extent — as he served up eight dingers in just 25 2/3 innings. Barraclough’s time with the Nationals will likely come to a close with a dismal 6.66 ERA and a 30-to-12 K/BB ratio in those 25 2/3 frames.
The Nats won’t have the opportunity to trade him thanks to the newly implemented August trade restrictions, but they could potentially save a bit of cash if another organization claims Barraclough on outright waivers. While this year’s results are obviously troubling, the 29-year-old Barraclough is making $1.725MM in 2019 and is controllable through the 2021 season.
A team willing to take on his remaining $510K salary this season would only owe him a small raise in arbitration and then would have the opportunity to help the right-hander round back into form. Between that and the fact that Barraclough has two minor league option years remaining beyond the 2019 campaign, a claim seems fairly likely. Other clubs have limited access to acquiring depth, and an optionable bullpen piece with a solid pre-2019 track record will be difficult to come by between now and the Aug. 31 deadline for postseason eligibility.
Tigers Claim David McKay
The Tigers announced that they’ve claimed right-hander David McKay off waivers from the Mariners and optioned him to Triple-A Toledo. The move fills Detroit’s 40-man roster.
McKay, 24, made his big league debut with Seattle earlier this season, tossing seven innings out of the bullpen. He was tagged for four runs on five hits and eight walks with five strikeouts in that time, continuing to display the control problems that began to plague him upon reaching Triple-A this season.
McKay logged 43 2/3 innings with Seattle’s Tacoma affiliate but struggled to a 5.15 ERA with 31 walks and 10 hit batsmen in that time. While that’s obviously an ugly line, McKay also racked up an eye-popping 71 strikeouts in that time (14.63 K/9). Control wasn’t an alarming issue for him prior to this season, and he punched out 85 hitters in 59 1/3 innings a season ago when topping out in Double-A, so the Tigers will try their hand at sorting out his location issues. McKay averaged 93 mph on his fastball in his brief big league time this season and drew a plus grade on his slider in MLB.com’s scouting report on him. He lacks a third average pitch, though, making him a rather clear-cut bullpen prospect.
Reds, Brad Boxberger Agree To Minor League Deal
The Reds have agreed to a minor league contract with veteran righty Brad Boxberger, tweets C. Trent Rosecrans of The Athletic. It’s a full-circle moment for Boxberger, who was drafted by Cincinnati with the No. 43 overall pick of the 2009 draft.
Boxberger, now 31, never pitched for the Reds in the Majors before being included alongside Yasmani Grandal, Yonder Alonso and Edinson Volquez in the blockbuster deal that sent Mat Latos to Cincinnati. There’s no guarantee that Boxberger will get the opportunity to do so now, although one can easily envision him being added to the big league roster as a September call-up — if not at some point this month.
Boxberger began the season with the Royals and got out to a rocky start. The former AL saves leader — 41 with the 2015 Rays — was clobbered for a 7.30 ERA in 12 1/3 March/April innings, although he rebounded with just three runs allowed in 9 1/3 frames the following month. Even as Boxberger’s ERA dropped, however, he posted questionable K/BB numbers out of the Kansas City bullpen. He was ultimately designated for assignment on June 26 and released on July 1.
From there, Boxberger went on to sign a minor league deal with the Nats and toss 8 2/3 innings with just one run allowed for their Double-A club. However, Washington cut Boxberger loose over the weekend rather than giving him a look in the big leagues — the Nationals acquired three relievers at the trade deadline — leaving Boxberger to search for a new opportunity.
Boxberger will bring a career 3.59 ERA, 11.4 K/9, 4.7 BB/9, 1.24 HR/9 and 77 saves with him back to the Reds organization, although most of his success came with the Padres and Rays from 2012-15. Over his past 133 2/3 innings, Boxberger has a 4.44 ERA with a 160-to-79 K/BB ratio.
Rangers To Promote Kolby Allard
Left-hander Kolby Allard‘s time with the Rangers’ Triple-A affiliate will apparently only span one start. Texas announced on Tuesday that Allard will be promoted from Triple-A Nashville to start against the Brewers.
Allard, the No. 14 overall pick by the Braves in the 2015 draft, was traded from Atlanta to Texas in the deadline swap that saw reliever Chris Martin go to the Braves. It was a fairly steep price to pay for a two-month rental of Martin, as Allard is a big-league-ready arm who has pitched well in 21 Triple-A starts this season. Through 115 innings, he’s logged a 3.99 ERA with averages of 8.3 K/9, 3.0 BB/9 and 1.17 HR/9 to go along with a grounder rate a hair under 50 percent. Allard is one of only seven qualified starters in all of Triple-A — both the Pacific Coast League and International League — with an ERA under 4.00 this season.
Texas announced that right-hander Adrian Sampson is available out of the ‘pen beginning tonight, so it seems that Allard will step into his starting spot for the time being. He’ll join Mike Minor, Lance Lynn and Ariel Jurado in the Texas rotation, with young righty Pedro Payano perhaps getting a look as well.
The acquisition of Allard, who’ll turn 22 next week, gave the Rangers precisely the type of MLB-ready arm of which the upper levels of their farm were largely devoid. Scouting reports on Allard portray him as more of a fourth starter than a top-of-the-rotation arm, but if that is indeed the eventual outcome, the Texas organization will happily plug him into the rotation for years to come.
While further options to and from Triple-A will impact Allard’s service time, he’s currently controllable through at least the 2025 season. He entered the 2019 campaign with 43 days of big league service and won’t be able to cross the one-year threshold in 2019 even if he sticks in the MLB rotation from here on out. As such, the earliest Allard would be eligible for arbitration would be after the 2022 season, as he won’t accrue enough service to be under consideration as a Super Two player when the time comes.
Marlins Designate Yadiel Rivera, Select Hector Noesi
The Marlins have selected the contract of veteran right-hander Hector Noesi to start tonight’s game and designated infielder Yadiel Rivera for assignment in order to clear roster space, per a club announcement.
Noesi, 32, will return to the big leagues for the first time since 2015 when he takes the mound tonight. He spent the interim seasons pitching for the Kia Tigers of the Korea Baseball Organization and throwing rather well; in 582 1/3 KBO innings, Noesi notched a 3.79 ERA with 6.6 K/9 against 2.0 BB/9.
The well-traveled righty has enjoyed a strong season thus far in a deadly Triple-A environment for pitchers, working to a 3.82 ERA with 9.6 K/9, 2.2 BB/9 and a 39.4 percent ground-ball rate. That 3.82 ERA might not sound like much, but Noesi, somewhat remarkably, is one of just seven qualified starters in all of Triple-A with an ERA south of 4.00. The adoption of the homer-happy big league ball in Triple-A has transformed an already hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League into a nightmare for pitchers, and the International League has become extremely hitter-friendly as well.
Noesi’s success has come, in part, due to some good fortune. He’s averaged a whopping 1.94 homers per nine innings pitched, but the majority of the round-trippers he’s yielded have been of the solo variety. He’s likely a short-term option for the Marlins anyhow, although the trades of Zac Gallen and Trevor Richards have thinned out the Miami staff somewhat.
The 27-year-old Rivera appeared in 34 games with Miami but made just 66 plate appearances. He managed only a meager .183/.258/.217 batting line in that time — a similar output to the .173/.269/.216 slash he logged last season in 160 plate appearances as a Marlin.