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Minor MLB Transactions: 6/1/17

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

  • The Tigers announced that right-hander William Cuevas, who was outrighted to Triple-A Toledo earlier this week, has rejected the assignment and instead elected free agency. The 26-year-old allowed four runs in a third of an inning in his lone appearance for Detroit this season and has made just four total MLB appearances over the past two seasons (three with Boston in addition to this year’s game with Detroit), but he does have a nice track record in Triple-A. Through 216 1/3 innings of work at that level, Cuevas has a 3.87 ERA with 6.5 K/9 against 3.0 BB/9. He’ll look to latch on with another club, presumably on a minor league deal, now that he’s hit the open market.
  • The Royals announced a minor roster shuffle on Thursday. Infielder and former first-round pick Hunter Dozier has been reinstated from the MLB 60-day disabled list and optioned back to Triple-A Omaha after spending the first two months of the season sidelined with a strained oblique. The Royals had a full 40-man roster, so in order to clear a spot for Dozier, they’ve recalled outfielder Paulo Orlando and placed him directly onto the Major League 60-day disabled list. Rustin Dodd of the Kansas City Star tweets that Orlando suffered a fractured tibia a few weeks ago when he fouled a ball into his shin.

Rangers Trade Josh Wilson To Indians, Grant Cesar Puello His Release

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The Rangers made a pair of Triple-A moves on Thursday, announcing that veteran infielder Josh Wilson has been traded to the Indians in exchange for cash, while minor league outfielder Cesar Puello has exercised a June 1 out clause in his deal and been granted his release.

Wilson, 36, inked a minors pact with the Rangers back in mid-April and has gotten off to a torrid start with Triple-A Round Rock, slashing an eye-popping .329/.370/.548 with four homers and four doubles through 22 games (82 plate appearances). Obviously, that production isn’t sustainable — especially for a 36-year-old with a career .264/.325/.399 batting line in parts of 12 Triple-A campaigns — but he’ll give the Indians a versatile depth piece that has plenty of MLB experience. Wilson has seen action in parts of eight big league seasons and compiled a .229/.280/.319 triple slash while spending time at all four infield slots (mostly shortstop) and in left field.

Puello, 26, was once one of the top-regarded prospects in the Mets’ farm system and was regarded as a Top 100 prospect by Baseball America in the 2010-11 offseason. Puello had a terrific season with Double-A Binghamton in 2013, though that season was cut short by a suspension tied to the Biogenesis PED scandal. Puello’s bat never really took off at the Triple-A level after returning, as he’s now hit at a .261/.365/.403 clip through 839 career plate appearances at the minors’ top level. Thus far in 2017, he’s hit .247/.307/.420 with six homers and five steals through 179 plate appearances.

Twins Shuffle Bullpen In Series Of Roster Moves

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10:25pm: The Twins are selecting the contract of right-hander Alex Wimmers and recalling left-hander Randy Rosario to fill the two spots in the ’pen, as respectively first reported by Seth Stohs of TwinsDaily.com (Twitter link) and Mariana Guzman of 95.7 FM radio (Twitter link).

Wimmers wasn’t on the 40-man after being previously outrighted, but the former first-round pick will receive another chance to establish himself in the Majors. Minnesota plucked Wimmers out of Ohio State University with the 21st overall pick back in 2010, and though he was touted as a polished starter that could move quickly through the minors, injuries derailed his first several seasons as a pro. Now working out of the bullpen, Wimmers has a 3.94 ERA with a 13-to-7 K/BB ratio through 16 innings in Rochester.

The 23-year-old Rosario, who will be making his MLB debut, has torn through Double-A hitters this year, logging a 1.90 ERA with 7.6 K/9, 2.3 BB/9 and a 54.8 percent ground-ball rate. As noted by Stohs, he posted an 18-to-2 K/BB ratio with just four hits and one earned run allowed in 13 2/3 May innings. MLB.com rates him as Minnesota’s No. 27 prospect, praising his upper-90s fastball but calling his slider inconsistent.

4:33pm: The Twins have designated left-hander Jason Wheeler for assignment and optioned right-hander Ryan Pressly to Triple-A Rochester, the team announced to reporters following today’s loss (Twitter link via Phil Miller of the Minneapolis Star Tribune). Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN had first tweeted that Pressly would be optioned. A pair of corresponding roster moves will be announced tomorrow.

Wheeler, 26, saw his contract selected just yesterday and made his MLB debut on Tuesday. However, the former eighth-round pick struggled through a pair of relief appearances over the past two days, yielding three runs on six hits and four walks in three innings of work. Generally speaking, the Twins’ abysmal bullpen performance in a three-game sweep at the hands of the Astros (28 runs allowed) necessitated a shuffling of the pitching staff, which undoubtedly contributed to Wheeler’s quick loss of his 40-man spot.

Pressly’s significant struggles this season have been one of the primary reasons that the Twins rank last in the Majors in bullpen ERA. The right-hander had pitched to a 3.36 ERA over his past 131 1/3 Major League innings prior to the 2017 campaign and has steadily seen his fastball velocity rise over the years. Pressly is averaging nearly 96 mph on his heater this season and entered the day with a considerably above-average 13.4 percent swinging-strike rate. However, despite his knack for missing bats, Pressly has been exceptionally home-run prone and has also had quite a bit of poor fortune on balls in play (.356 BABIP). He’s yielded five homers in just 18 innings this season after surrendering eight in 75 1/3 innings last year.

Minor MLB Transactions: 5/31/17

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Here are today’s minor moves from around the league…

  • The Orioles announced today that they’ve selected the contract of catcher Francisco Pena from Triple-A Norfolk to replace Welington Castillo, who’s been placed on the 10-day DL due to a groin injury. Pena made the Baltimore roster out of Spring Training in part due to the fact that he’s out of minor league options, but the team ultimately decided that it could not carry three catchers and designated the 27-year-old for assignment. Pena cleared waivers and was outrighted to Triple-A, where he’s batted .229/.260/.375 in 50 plate appearances since clearing waivers. Pena has shown power but a penchant for strikeouts in his brief big league time, though he’s a strong-armed catcher that is regarded as a solid all-around defender.
  • Righty William Cuevas was outrighted to the Tigers’ Triple-A affiliate, as first noted on the club’s transactions page at MLB.com. Cuevas was designated over the weekend, with his 40-man spot going to fellow righty Arcenio Leon. The 26-year-old Cuevas made one appearance for Detroit this season and surrendered four runs in one-third of an inning. He has a 4.06 ERA in nine starts (44 1/3 innings) for the Tigers’ Triple-A affiliate this season and a career 3.87 ERA with 6.5 K/9 against 3.0 BB/9 in 216 1/3 Triple-A innings.

Orioles Notes: Castillo, Alvarez, Jackson, Andino

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The Orioles placed catcher Welington Castillo on the 10-day DL this afternoon after he suffered a groin injury that stemmed from a ball that deflected off the foot of Didi Gregorius when Gregorius was hit by a pitch yesterday. As MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubatko writes, Castillo spent several hours in the emergency room yesterday, though the injury is “not nearly as serious” as the testicular injury suffered by Caleb Joseph last year that cost Joseph a month of the season and required surgery. “He’s got a hematoma there in his groin that we’re going to monitor and see how it progresses,” manager Buck Showalter told reporters (via Kubatko). The O’s debated whether they should even put Castillo on the DL, per Kubatko, as the current belief is that he won’t require 10 days.

A few more notes on the Orioles…

  • Kubatko also points out (on Twitter) that Pedro Alvarez has an opt-out clause in his contract tomorrow. The 30-year-old slugger entered play today hitting just .219/.293/.443 through 51 games, though he belted his 12th homer of the season in today’s game. That continues an outrageous tear for Alvarez, who has now homered eight times in his past 13 games and is hitting well over .300 in that stretch. Alvarez has been trying his hand in right field with Baltimore’s Triple-A affiliate in Norfolk, though most teams would likely still view him as a first base/designated hitter candidate.
  • I’ll also point out that the minor league deal that veteran right-hander Edwin Jackson inked with the Orioles back in April reportedly contained a June 1 opt-out provision as well (according to Eduardo A. Encina of the Baltimore Sun). While Jackson has had issues with his control down in Norfolk, he’s logged a 3.86 ERA with 14 strikeouts through 16 1/3 innings. Of course, he’s also issued 10 walks, hit two batters and uncorked a pair of wild pitches, so there are plenty of red flags with the mercurial righty.
  • The league announced today that veteran infielder Robert Andino, who was playing with Baltimore’s Triple-A affiliate, has been hit with a 50-game suspension after testing positive for Amphetamine. The 33-year-old Andino logges his first 13 games in the Majors since 2013 last season and was off to a .234/.282/.375 start through 2016 plate appearances in Triple-A.

Pirates Place Alen Hanson On Waivers

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The Pirates have placed infielder Alen Hanson on waivers, according to Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Additionally, infielder Gift Ngoepe has been optioned to Triple-A Indianapolis. A pair of corresponding moves will be announced tomorrow, Biertempfel notes, adding that infielder Max Moroff is one candidate to be added to the big league roster.

Hanson, 24, long rated as one of the Bucs’ top prospects and at one point was a consensus top 100 prospect in the game. However, his offensive production began to trail off upon reaching Triple-A, and he’s batted just .205/.239/.261 in a combined 92 plate appearances between the 2016 and 2017 seasons. The bulk of his time in the field as a big leaguer has come at second base, though defensive metrics such as Ultimate Zone Rating and Defensive Runs Saved don’t paint a favorable picture.

Hanson broke camp with the Pirates due largely to the fact that he’s out of minor league options, and that same fact may at least give Pittsburgh hope of passing him through outright waivers. Any club placing a claim on Hanson would have to be prepared to carry him on its 25-man roster (or simply attempt to run him through waivers once again with the hope that he’d clear a second time around).

Ngoepe, the first African-born player ever to reach the Major Leagues, made his big league debut earlier this season and has seen action in 27 games with the Pirates. In 63 plate appearances, the 27-year-old has batted .222/.323/.296 with a pair of doubles and a triple. Ngoepe turned in strong defensive marks in a small sample of 110 innings at second base and also saw time at shortstop (26 innings) and third base (14 innings). However, he struck out in 41 percent of his trips to the plate, demonstrating that there’s still more for him to work on at the dish.

Angels Designate Daniel Wright, Select Contract Of Shane Robinson

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The Angels announced today that they’ve selected the contract of outfielder Shane Robinson and designated right-hander Daniel Wright for assignment in order to clear a spot on the 40-man roster. Righty Parker Bridwell was optioned to Triple-A Salt Lake to clear a spot on the active roster.

[Related: Updated Los Angeles Angels depth chart]

Robinson, 32, saw action in 65 games with the Halos last season and hit .173/.257/.235 over the life of 111 plate appearances. The veteran outfielder has seen action in each of the past six big league seasons, though the resulting .227/.298/.302 batting line has clearly been sub-par. Robinson, though, has plenty of experience at all three outfield positions and has routinely delivered above-average ratings in left field, center field and right field. He’ll give the Halos a defensive-minded reserve in the absence of Mike Trout, as Cameron Maybin and Ben Revere each see an uptick in playing time while Trout recuperates.

The 26-year-old Wright, meanwhile, has pitched just 17 1/3 innings with Anaheim this season after logging 39 2/3 frames between the Reds and Angels last year. Through 57 Major League innings, Wright owns a 5.84 ERA with 5.1 K/9, 2.4 BB/9 and a 37.1 percent ground-ball rate. Wright has a respectable track record in Double-A but has struggled in both Triple-A and the Majors across the past two seasons. He does have a pair of minor league options remaining, so a club in need of optionable pitching depth could pick him up and send him to the minors without once again exposing Wright to waivers.

Cardinals Release Jonathan Broxton

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The Cardinals have released struggling right-hander Jonathan Broxton, GM John Mozeliak told reporters (Twitter link via Benjamin Hochman of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch). Right-hander John Gant has been recalled from Triple-A Memphis to take his spot in the St. Louis bullpen.

Broxton, who’ll turn 33 in a little more than two weeks, has been roughed up for a 6.89 ERA with the Redbirds through 16 1/3 innings this season. In that time, the former Dodgers closer has yielded 12 earned runs on the strength of 23 hits and 11 walks (two intentional).

Broxton’s 42.6 percent ground-ball rate is the second-lowest mark he’s posted in any full season of his big league career, as well. His 11.9 percent swinging-strike rate is his best since 2009, however, and he’s still averaging better than 94 mph on his heater, which helped him tally 16 punchouts in those 16 1/3 frames. That, of course, is a modest silver lining, though it does at least create a bit of optimism that the veteran could at least resurface as a serviceable relief arm.

The veteran Broxton is playing out the second season of a two-year, $7.5MM contract with the Cardinals, which guarantees him $3.75MM this year. The Cards will be on the hook for the remainder of that salary even if Broxton signs with another club after formally clearing release waivers. A new team would only be responsible for the pro-rated portion of the league minimum for any time Broxton spent on its Major League roster. (That sum would be subtracted from the remaining $2.54MM that the Cardinals owe Broxton.)

Gant, 24, was one of three prospects acquired by the Cardinals this offseason in the trade that sent left-hander Jaime Garcia to the Braves. He struggled a bit in 50 big league innings with Atlanta last season but has pitched to a very strong 2.19 ERA with 8.0 K/9, 3.6 BB/9 and a 50 percent ground-ball rate through three starts (12 1/3 innings) with the Cardinals’ Triple-A affiliate this year. He missed the first several weeks of the season due to a groin strain.

Red Sox Place Dustin Pedroia On Disabled List, Activate Pablo Sandoval

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1:51pm: The Red Sox have now announced that Pedroia has been placed on the DL, with Sandoval indeed being activated in his place.

1:10pm: The Red Sox will place second baseman Dustin Pedroia on the 10-day disabled list with a “severe” sprain of his left wrist, according to Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe. Pedroia is expected to miss at least the next two weeks and is headed for a second opinion, Abraham adds. Pablo Sandoval is expected to be activated from the disabled list in a corresponding move, per the report.

The injury to Pedroia is the latest blow to the Red Sox’ infield depth, as the team has also lost Marco Hernandez for the season (shoulder surgery) and is unsure when Brock Holt will be able to return to action due to ongoing symptoms of vertigo. Recent trades of Travis Shaw (for Tyler Thornburg) and Carlos Asuaje (part of the Craig Kimbrel package) have also thinned out Boston’s infield depth.

The 33-year-old Pedroia, who suffered the wrist injury in a recent collision at first base with Chicago’s Jose Abreu, had been off to a solid start at the plate this season. In 197 plate appearances, he’s slashed .292/.369/.380 with a pair of homers while chipping in his typically strong defensive contributions at second base. With Pedroia out through at least mid-June, the Sox can shift Deven Marrero from third base over to second base and/or give more playing time to Josh Rutledge, who has plenty of experience at second.

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