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Blue Jays Designate Edgar Gonzalez For Assignment

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The Blue Jays have designated righty Edgar Gonzalez for assignment, according to a press release from the team.  They also optioned lefty Ricky Romero to Triple-A and selected the contracts of righties Ramon Ortiz and Mickey Storey.

Gonzalez has been on and off 40-man rosters in recent months.  The Astros removed him in November of last year, only to re-sign him to a minor league deal weeks later and re-add him to the 40-man on March 31st.  They designated him for assignment on April 5th, and the Blue Jays claimed him two days later.  The Jays were quickly able to outright Gonzalez to Triple-A.  They selected his contract yesterday and he tossed 4 2/3 innings in relief of Romero, who recorded only one out against the Rays.  All in all, Gonzalez has thrown 35 big league innings since 2011.  He's shown good control at the Triple-A level, but has generally allowed more than a hit per inning.

Ortiz and Storey have been part of the Jays' revolving 40-man roster door as well, having both been removed in the past and added again today.  The team's bullpen has been taxed given Romero's start yesterday and J.A. Happ's 1 1/3 inning outing on Tuesday.  Happ survived a line drive off the head with a minor fracture on the left side of his skull, spraining his knee as well on the play.  To everyone's relief, Happ said yesterday the injuries are "not serious or threatening."

Minor Moves: Bell, Magnuson, Green

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Today's minor moves:

  • Infielder Josh Bell has been released by the White Sox, according to Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune (on Twitter).  Bell, 26, was with the club's Triple-A affiliate in Charlotte where he hit .273/.310/.345 in 58 plate appearances this season.  He was the key player in the July 2009 trade that sent George Sherrill to the Dodgers.
  • The Blue Jays released righty Trystan Magnuson, tweets Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.ca.  Magnuson, a 27-year-old Canadian, struggled in his ten Double-A appearances this year.  The 56th overall pick in the 2007 draft, Magnuson was traded to the Athletics in 2010 in the deal that brought Rajai Davis to Toronto.  A year later, the Blue Jays bought Magnuson back from the A's.
  • Marlins second baseman Donovan Solano was placed on the 15-day DL last night, reported MLB.com's Joe Frisaro, prompting the club to purchase the contract of infielder Nick Green from Triple-A.  Henderson Alvarez was transferred to the 60-day DL in a corresponding move.  Green, signed to a minor league deal in January, lost his 40-man roster spot last Thursday in favor of Matt Diaz but has already regained it.
  • Four players currently reside in DFA limbo: Jonathan Sanchez of the Pirates, Kameron Loe of the Cubs, and Rick Ankiel and Fernando Martinez of the Astros.

White Sox Claim Mike McDade

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The White Sox claimed first baseman Mike McDade off waivers from the Indians, according to the Tribe's official Twitter feed.  They also announced outfielder Ezequiel Carrera cleared waivers and was outrighted to Triple-A.  The White Sox made room for McDade on the 40-man roster by putting Gavin Floyd on the 60-day DL, adds Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune.

McDade, 24, had been designated for assignment by the Indians last Thursday to open a 40-man roster spot for Carrera, who was designated himself three days later.  McDade has struggled in 83 Triple-A plate appearances this year.  The Las Vegas native came up through the Blue Jays' system, hitting .285/.360/.445 with 19 home runs in 508 plate appearances across Double and Triple-A last year.  Drafted by the Jays in the sixth round in '07, McDade never ranked among the Baseball America's top 30 prospects for the team in any season.

Luhnow Discusses Astros’ Moves

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With an 8-24 record so far this season, the Astros have played down to the incredibly low expectations of most preseason prognosticators, matching the 120-loss pace of the 1962 Mets.  They made a series of moves yesterday, designating outfielders Rick Ankiel and Fernando Martinez for assignment and calling up Trevor Crowe and Jimmy Paredes.  The latest on the team:

  • "The reality is the team is not where we wanted to be at this point and we feel like outfield is one of our weakest positions, and we wanted to give some guys who are having some success at Triple-A a chance to continue that up here," GM Jeff Luhnow told reporters including MLB.com's Brian McTaggart yesterday.
  • The 2010 Diamondbacks own the team strikeout record with 1,529, but the Astros are on pace for 1,635 this year.  Curbing whiffs is one reason for the team's recent moves, as Luhnow explained, "The profile of our team being a feast-or-famine type team, we felt we needed different types of players, and with Robbie Grossman there now and Paredes coming, hopefully the numbers in Triple-A are a reflection of the success [Paredes] can have up here. It will change the mix a little bit."
  • Ankiel would probably be released if he refuses a minor league assignment, notes McTaggart.
  • "We believe Humber is a Major League pitcher and can add value to our team. For now, no decision has been made about any different roles on the pitching side at this point," Luhnow said in regard to righty Philip Humber.  The 30-year-old has a 7.03 ERA in 135 2/3 innings for the White Sox and Astros since the start of the 2012 season.
  • With a collective 6.53 ERA, the Astros' rotation is the worst in baseball by almost a full run.  Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports wonders if the Astros could possibly make that rotation even worse by trading Bud Norris or Lucas Harrell.  "Trading them in the middle of the season would only lead to further chaos," writes Rosenthal.  So far Luhnow has been fearless in his teardown efforts; we'll see if the possibility of a 40-win type season would compel him to hang on to Norris or Harrell.

Cubs Notes: Feldman, Draft, Marmol, Stewart, Jackson

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The Cubs are 12-20 on the season, good for the second-worst record in the National League.  On the plus side, four of their five starting pitchers have performed well, and the team has shown surprising power in the early going.  The latest on the North Siders:

  • Scott Feldman is a name to keep in mind leading up to the trade deadline and in free agency after the season, writes ESPN's Buster Olney, after the 30-year-old pitched seven strong innings to defeat his former Rangers teammates last night.  Feldman has a 2.70 ERA through his first six starts, but should his peripheral stats remain steady, SIERA suggests something around 4.30 would be a better bet moving forward. 
  • The Cubs have not missed a start from college righties Mark Appel or Jonathan Gray, but they have expanded their search beyond those two, GM Jed Hoyer told Jim Bowden on MLB Network Radio on Sirius XM yesterday.  The Cubs draft second overall next month, and despite Hoyer's lip service, they're widely expected to take Appel or Gray after the Astros pick.
  • Asked by reporters why reliever Carlos Marmol continues to get chances, Hoyer instead offered that Marmol has been "ridden hard by a number of managers here" as an explanation for the former closer's struggles (via Jesse Rogers of ESPNChicago.com).  Given his $9.8MM guaranteed salary, the Cubs are presumably reluctant to release Marmol.
  • Asked whether $52MM man Edwin Jackson is a candidate for the bullpen when Matt Garza returns, Hoyer ducked the question, noting that surplus starting pitching "always seems to take care of itself and we're a ways away from having to deal with that kind of issue."  Rogers feels that allowing Jackson to stay in the rotation due to his contract, at the expense of a better-performing starter, sends a poor message to the team.  I wonder, though, what kind of message would be sent to future free agents if the Cubs make a large four-year commitment to a pitcher and demote him to the bullpen after fewer than ten starts.  Regarding Hoyer's comment, the Cubs are really only two healthy weeks away from having to deal with the rotation surplus, as Garza should be ready to return after two more rehab starts.
  • "An apparent lack of commitment" is behind Ian Stewart taking his allowed 72 hours to report to the Cubs' Triple-A Iowa team on his optional assignment, since Stewart had already been playing with the club on his rehab assignment, opines Rogers.  Stewart, earning $2MM this year, recently finished rehabbing a left quad injury.  UPDATE: Stewart did report back with Iowa yesterday, tweets Rogers.
  • Padres third baseman Chase Headley "would be perfect for the Cubs," suggests Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports.  The Cubs have three premium position player prospects in Javier Baez, Albert Almora, and Jorge Soler, and for me it's difficult to picture a Headley trade without one of them and equally difficult to imagine Hoyer and Theo Epstein parting with one during a non-contending season.

Trade Candidate: Kevin Slowey

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It's never fun to punt a season, as the Marlins decided to do before the 2013 campaign began.  But one silver lining is the ability to offer more opportunity to minor league free agents.  29-year-old righty Kevin Slowey is one such example, and he's rewarded the team with a 1.81 ERA through seven starts after joining the organization on a minor league deal.  He was a contributing member of the Twins' rotation as recently as 2010 despite missing time with an elbow and triceps injury, but then things took a turn.

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Slowey failed to make the Twins' rotation out of camp in 2011, and then quickly hit the DL with a shoulder strain.  After returning from that, he missed time with an abdomen strain, expressed displeasure with working as a reliever, and pitched in the minors before finally rejoining the rotation in August of that year.  With a non-tender looming, Slowey was shipped to Colorado during the offseason, and then traded to the Indians shortly thereafter.  He was unable to crack the Indians rotation out of camp in 2012, and missed most of the season with a stress fracture in his rib cage.  He was removed from the Indians' 40-man roster in October, pitched in the Dominican Winter League, and signed a minor league deal with the Marlins in January of this year.  This time Slowey did win a rotation spot out of Spring Training, which was further solidified with injuries to Henderson Alvarez and Nate Eovaldi.

After seven starts this year, Slowey ranks sixth in the National League with a 1.81 ERA.  His control has always been stellar, leading to a seventh-ranked 4.5 K/BB ratio so far.  Though he's never averaged six innings per start in a season, Slowey is at nearly 6.4 this year.  Aside from his injury history, the biggest concern with Slowey is his flyball tendency.  His 32.3% groundball rate is the fourth-lowest in all of baseball, and he's benefited from one of the least homer-happy ballparks in the game (though he's pitched well in all three starts on the road).

The Marlins are playing .300 baseball, so why shouldn't they move Slowey?  One reason is that he'll be arbitration eligible after this season, and therefore under team control for 2014.  Given his $750K salary – barely above the league minimum – trading Slowey now would not be a cost-cutting move.  It'd simply be a way of cashing in a 29-year-old off to a hot start for at least one credible prospect.  Slowey has his flaws, but he'd fit well with teams like the Giants or Pirates come the July trade deadline.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Minor Moves: Greg Smith, Zach Clark, Cody Eppley

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Today's minor moves:

  • The Phillies signed left-hander Greg Smith, assigned him to Double-A Reading and released outfielder Ronnie Welty to create roster space, according to Reading Fightin Phils' director of PR Eric Scarcella (Twitter links). Smith, 29, was twice traded with Carlos Gonzalez — first to the A's for Dan Haren and second to the Rockies for Matt Holliday. The LSU product has a 4.51 ERA in 229 1/3 big league innings. The Phillies originally acquired Welty at the end of Spring Training in a swap of minor leaguers with the Orioles. The 25-year-old has a career .281/.356/.464 batting line but hasn't climbed higher than Double-A.
  • Orioles righty Zach Clark cleared waivers and was outrighted to Double-A, announced the team (via Steve Melewski of MASNSports.com).  The 29-year-old had been designated for assignment on Saturday to open a 40-man roster spot for Freddy Garcia.  Signed as an amateur free agent in 2006, Clark has spent his entire career in the Orioles' organization and made his big league debut with last Wednesday's relief appearance against the Mariners.
  • Yankees righty Cody Eppley cleared waivers and was outrighted to Triple-A, tweeted Daniel Barbarisi of the Wall Street Journal yesterday.  The 27-year-old had been designated for assignment on Friday to open a 40-man roster spot for Preston Claiborne.  Eppley did a nice job keeping the ball on the ground in 46 frames for the Yankees last year.
  • Three players currently reside in DFA limbo: Ezequiel Carrera and Mike McDade of the Indians and Jonathan Sanchez of the Pirates.
  • The Cubs are expected to call up outfielder Ryan Sweeney today and option Dave Sappelt to the minors, reports MLB.com's Carrie Muskat.  The Cubs will need a 40-man roster spot for Sweeney, so it appears someone will be designated for assignment today.  

Steve Adams contributed to this post.

Cubs Designate Kameron Loe For Assignment

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The Cubs designated reliever Kameron Loe for assignment to open a 40-man roster spot for outfielder Ryan Sweeney, tweets MLB.com's Carrie Muskat.  In related moves, the team optioned outfielder Dave Sappelt and promoted reliever Rafael Dolis.  The Cubs now have six outfielders on the active roster: Alfonso Soriano, David DeJesus, Nate Schierholtz, Scott Hairston, Julio Borbon, and Sweeney.

Loe, 31, made only seven appearances this year for the Cubs before losing his 40-man roster spot.  The Cubs had claimed him off waivers from Seattle in mid-April upon that team's acquisition of Aaron Harang.  Last year, Loe posted a 4.61 ERA, 7.2 K/9, 2.6 BB/9, 1.19 HR/9, and 57.3% groundball rate in 68 1/3 innings for the Brewers.

Sweeney was signed to a minor league deal by the Cubs on April 2nd after being released by the Red Sox.  The 28-year-old hit .337/.396/.627 in 91 Triple-A plate appearances to earn a trip back to the Show.   Sweeney knows Chicago well.  He was drafted by the White Sox in the second round ten years ago, and began his career with the South Siders before being traded to Oakland in the 2008 Nick Swisher/Gio Gonzalez trade.

Gavin Floyd To Undergo Tommy John Surgery

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White Sox righty Gavin Floyd will undergo season-ending surgery tomorrow in New York to repair the ulnar collateral ligament and a torn flexor muscle in his pitching elbow, announced the team today.  The procedure has a 14-19 month recovery period, according to the press release.

Floyd, 30, may have thrown his last pitch for the White Sox.  He's eligible for free agency after the season; the team exercised his $9.5MM club option last October.  Floyd's expected recovery period is longer than the typical one for Tommy John surgery, presumably because of the torn flexor muscle from which he also must recover.  It appears he'll be ready to pitch in mid-July of 2014 in the best case, with a chance of missing all of next season.  Floyd, who is represented by Moye Sports Associates, seems in line for a one-year deal with a low base salary and perhaps a club option for 2015.

Floyd was drafted fourth overall by the Phillies in 2001 and after appearing in parts of three seasons with them was traded with Gio Gonzalez to the White Sox for Freddy Garcia in '06.  Garcia made only 11 starts for the Phillies and Gonzalez never pitched in the Majors for the Sox, but Floyd pitched over 1,000 big league innings for Chicago over parts of seven seasons.  From 2008-12, Floyd averaged 190 innings a year with a 4.12 ERA.  He won 17 games with a 3.84 ERA in '08, leading to a four-year, $15.5MM contract that ultimately became a five-year, $25MM deal once the option was exercised.      

New York Notes: Yankees Needs, Zack Wheeler

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Sporting an 18-12 record, the Yankees will be in Coors Field tomorrow with Hiroki Kuroda on the hill.  The Mets, currently at 12-16, host the White Sox tomorrow and will send Matt Harvey to the mound.  The latest on New York's teams:

  • Derek Jeter is out indefinitely and Eduardo Nunez is day-to-day with a rib cage injury.  But even healthy, "Nunez is not an everyday player," a scout tells Andy Martino of the New York Daily News, prompting the writer to wonder if the Yankees will make an acquisition this season.  Martino speculates that a Ronny Cedeno type could help in the short-term, while Jimmy Rollins could be intriguing despite a potential awkward situation when Jeter returns.  In my estimation, one of the only other viable targets this summer might be Asdrubal Cabrera, but only if the Indians fall well out of contention.
  • "Even if the Yankees were willing to meet a big asking price for a significant upgrade, that significant upgrade just doesn’t exist," writes Mike Axisa of River Ave. Blues regarding the shortstop market, while noting that perhaps gloveman Brendan Ryan of the Mariners could be had.  Axisa also looks at potential Yankees trade targets at catcher, in the bullpen, and from the right side of the plate.
  • Following a second consecutive strong outing, Adam Rubin of ESPNNewYork.com wonders when Mets pitching prospect Zack Wheeler might get the call.  He notes that the Mets will need an extra starter in late June at Turner Field, which could serve the dual purpose of having Wheeler fail to achieve Super Two status later and allowing him to make his big league debut in his home state.

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