Minor MLB Transactions: 5/28/17
Sunday’s minor moves from around baseball:
- The Red Sox have selected the contract of right-handed reliever Blaine Boyer from Triple-A and optioned left-hander Brian Johnson, per a team announcement. Boyer joined the Red Sox on a minor league contract in the latter half of April and has since thrown 14 1/3 innings with Pawtucket, where he has allowed five earned runs on 12 hits and seven walks (with 12 strikeouts). Boston is the eighth major league destination for the 35-year-old Boyer, who has recently generated quality results at baseball’s highest level despite having issues missing bats. As a member of the Padres, Twins and Brewers from 2014-16, the soft contact specialist logged a 3.31 ERA in 171 1/3 frames and helped offset a subpar K/9 (4.63) with an above-average BB/9 (2.31) and a respectable ground-ball percentage (47.1).
- The Mariners announced Sunday that they’ve selected righty reliever Ryne Harper‘s contract from Triple-A and optioned fellow righty Robert Whalen. The 28-year-old Harper could be in line to throw his first major league pitch after working in the minors since the Braves chose him in the 37th round of the 2011 draft. Atlanta sent Harper to Seattle in 2015 in exchange for reliever Jose Ramirez, and the former has been quite effective with the Mariners organization since the trade. Harper posted a 2.51 ERA, 12.57 K/9, 3.31 BB/9 and a 53.3 percent ground-ball rate in 68 Double-A innings last year. He has also been productive this year in his first taste of Triple-A action, having registered a 1.89 ERA, 11.37 K/9, 4.26 BB/9 and a 39.5 percent grounder rate in 19 frames.
Cafardo’s Latest: Marlins, Royals, Twins, Padres, Dodgers, Red Sox, Braves
The groups bidding on the Marlins have concerns over whether baseball will ever make it big in Miami, reports the Boston Globe’s Nick Cafardo, who adds that it’s possible the team needs a major Latin American star to market itself to a largely Hispanic population. With that in mind, it would make sense for the Marlins to pursue Orioles third baseman and Florida native Manny Machado if he were to hit free agency after the 2018 season, opines Cafardo. The club’s biggest star at the moment is right fielder Giancarlo Stanton, whose mammoth contract has been a burden in Jeffrey Loria’s attempt to sell the Marlins, according to Cafardo. Stanton is in Year 3 of a 13-year, $325MM deal and also has a full no-trade clause that the Los Angeles native would likely only waive to go to the West Coast, per Cafardo. There’s no indication that any West Coast teams are interested in acquiring the slugger, however.
Plenty more from Cafardo:
- Royals left-hander Jason Vargas, in the midst of a career year at the age of 34, has seen his value skyrocket and is drawing “considerable interest” as a result, relays Cafardo. Vargas has been quite stingy through 60 1/3 innings, having logged a 2.39 ERA and a strong 3.20 FIP. He has also registered respectable strikeout and walk rates per nine innings (7.61 and 2.24, respectively), though he’s not exactly a high-velocity hurler and his 33.9 percent ground-ball rate sits well below the 44.4 percent league-average mark for starters. Vargas is on an $8MM salary this season as he concludes the four-year, $32MM contract he signed with Kansas City prior to the 2014 campaign.
- Although the first-place Twins have been one of the majors’ biggest surprises this year, teams expect them to make righty Ervin Santana available before the trade deadline, says Cafardo. Long a decent starter, Santana has turned in a front-line-caliber ERA this year (1.80) through 70 innings, but his strikeout and walk rates (6.43 and 3.47, respectively, per nine), unsustainable batting average on balls in play (.136) and sky-high strand rate (91.5 percent) suggest regression is around the corner. To Santana’s credit, his success has hardly been all luck – hitters have had major difficulty squaring him up, evidenced by a relatively paltry average exit velocity against (84.1 mph). Any team acquiring Santana would land a multiyear rotation piece, as he’s signed through next season at $13.5MM and carries a $14MM club option for 2019.
- The expectation is that the Padres will deal second baseman/third baseman Yangervis Solarte by the deadline, per Cafardo. Solarte’s name came up in trade rumors last winter on the heels of a career season (.286/.341/.467, 2.8 fWAR in 443 plate appearances), but he hasn’t helped his stock this year. So far in 2017, Solarte has slashed a meek .240/.330/.345 in 197 PAs. While it’s encouraging that his walk and strikeout rates match (10.2 percent), the 29-year-old has shown considerably less power than he did last season, with his ISO having dropped from .180 to .105. He’s quite affordable, though, with a $2.5MM salary this year and $4MM coming his way in 2018. Solarte also has a $5.5MM club option or a $750K buyout for 2019.
- The Marlins “are actively looking for a taker” for righty Tom Koehler, writes Cafardo. Koehler, whom the Marlins were going to send to the minors before he went on the disabled list May 19 with shoulder bursitis, has drawn interest from both the Dodgers and Red Sox. Los Angeles would use Koehler as a reliever if it were to acquire him, suggests Cafardo, which would be a change of pace for someone who registered 30-plus starts in each of the previous three seasons. Koehler was a fairly stable option over those 97 outings, combining for a 4.07 ERA, 7.08 K/9, 3.74 BB/9 and a 43.7 percent ground-ball rate, but has struggled mightily this season. Across eight starts and 38 1/3 innings, Koehler has pitched to a 7.08 ERA, with 7.26 K/9, 4.46 BB/9 and a 37.1 percent grounder rate. Koehler, 31 in June, is making $5.75MM and will be arbitration eligible for the last time over the winter.
- Teams in need of relief help are eyeing Braves closer Jim Johnson, according to Cafardo, who notes that some clubs are considering him as a setup man. The 33-year-old has plenty of experience in both roles and is amid his second straight productive season, having logged a 3.48 ERA, 9.58 K/9, 1.74 BB/9 and a 57.4 percent grounder mark in 20 2/3 innings. He’s making $4.5MM this year and is due another $4.5MM next season.
AL Notes: Jimenez, Kintzler, Hahn, Johnson
The Orioles have moved righty Ubaldo Jimenez to the bullpen, tweets Eduardo A. Encina of the Baltimore Sun. The 33-year-old Jimenez is struggling for the second consecutive season, posting a 7.17 ERA, 6.8 K/9 and a way-too-high 5.3 BB/9 in 42 2/3 innings over nine outings so far. Jimenez is in the last season of a four-year, $50MM deal that largely hasn’t worked out for Baltimore. It appears the O’s will go forward with a rotation of Chris Tillman, Kevin Gausman, Dylan Bundy, Wade Miley, and Alec Asher, who has thrived in a bullpen role this season and who’s set to start tomorrow. Here’s more from the American League.
- The Twins have not seriously considered extending closer Brandon Kintzler, 1500ESPN’s Darren Wolfson tweets. Kintzler is eligible for free agency this winter, so Wolfson suggests he could become a trade chip later this summer. Of course, the Twins are currently, and somewhat surprisingly, in first place, so while they don’t appear to be considering an extension for Kintzler, a trade probably isn’t yet on their radar either. It would perhaps be mildly surprising if the Twins were considering extending Kintzler, since he’ll be 33 in early August. The righty is, however, off to a strong start this season, posting a 1.71 ERA, 2.6 BB/9 and 12 saves, albeit with a modest 5.6 K/9.
- In an expected move, the Athletics have announced that they’ve placed righty Jesse Hahn on the 10-day DL with a right triceps strain. To take his place in their rotation, they’ve recalled righty Jharel Cotton from Triple-A Nashville. Hahn’s recent MRI didn’t reveal any structural damage, although it still appeared likely he’d need to head to the DL. Hahn isn’t the only Athletics starting pitcher to encounter injury trouble lately — Kendall Graveman is dealing with shoulder trouble and could require a DL stint of his own.
- In another expected move, the Red Sox have announced that they’ve promoted lefty Brian Johnson to start today, with righty Ben Taylor heading to Triple-A Pawtucket to make room on their 25-man. As Brian MacPherson of the Providence Journal notes, Johnson’s stay in the big leagues could be brief with David Price about to return from the DL. But Johnson has a chance to make a statement to a Red Sox team that has struggled to find good rotation depth this season, with Kyle Kendrick and Hector Velazquez struggling in scattered starts and Henry Owens walking 6.6 batters per nine innings at Pawtucket. Johnson didn’t fare well in one big-league start of his own this season, but he’s pitched well at Triple-A, with a 2.82 ERA, 7.5 K/9 and 3.4 BB/9 over 44 2/3 innings there.
AL Injury Notes: Hanley, Paxton/M’s, Graveman/Hahn, Griffin
The Red Sox won’t count on Hanley Ramirez being capable of playing first base again this year, president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski told reporters including Tim Britton of the Providence Journal. Shoulder troubles have persisted for the veteran, relegating him to DH duties. “The potential negatives of him going out and [playing first], at this point don’t outweigh the positives that we get from having his bat in as our DH,” Dombrowski explained. “We just have to maneuver around it.” For the time being, at least, rookie Sam Travis is up to provide a right-handed-hitting option at first along side lefty Mitch Moreland.
Here’s more on some injury situations around the American League:
- There’s some welcome news on the injury front for the Mariners, who watched lefty James Paxton through four innings and 55 pitches tonight in a rehab outing, as MLB.com’s Greg Johns reports (Twitter links). The expectation is that he’ll take the ball for Seattle on Wednesday. Fellow rehabbing starters Felix Hernandez and Hisashi Iwakuma are slated for bullpen sessions in the coming days, too, leading skipper Scott Servais to say that the club is finally “starting to see light at the end of the tunnel.”
- Two Athletics pitchers, meanwhile, are dealing with injury issues. Right-hander Kendall Graveman is suffering from some shoulder issues, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle tweets, though the seriousness isn’t yet clear. And while the MRI results were promising for fellow righty Jesse Hahn, MLB.com’s Jane Lee reports on Twitter, his triceps problem is likely to require a DL stint. Jharel Cotton will come up to take a rotation spot this weekend.
- Finally, the Rangers will be awaiting the results of further evaluation on righty A.J. Griffin, but he’s heading to the DL, according to Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News (via Twitter). Per a club announcement, he left his start tonight with a left intercostal strain. Even if Griffin ends up missing some time, though, it may not work out too badly for Texas. As Grant notes (Twitter links), the team could fill the opening with Tyson Ross — if he’s ready. Alternatively, Yohander Mendez could be an option. For the time being, though, veteran Dillon Gee will head onto the active roster.
Red Sox Shut Down Brock Holt From Baseball Activity
The Red Sox have halted rehab work for utilityman Brock Holt, as Pete Abraham of the Boston Globe was among those to report on Twitter. Holt was advised “to shut down from playing for the foreseeaable future” by a head trauma specialist, per the report.
Holt, 28, has already missed significant time with vertigo. It seemed he was nearing a return when recurring symptoms arose, leading to the change in plans. It seems the experts advised a more cautious approach after prior efforts at recovery proved halting.
There’s no timeline at present for Holt’s return; indeed, the entire undertaking seems designed to allow the issues to fully abate before Holt pushes again. As Jason Mastrodonato of the Boston Herald tweets, the plan is to wait until Holt’s “symptoms totally fade.” It’s obviously not possible to know just when that will occur; the focus will surely be on ensuring Holt’s overall well-being before considering how to get him back on the field.
Boston would surely have liked to have Holt available to help out at third base, but instead the club has gone most of the year without the versatile defender. Holt has appeared in just six contests after averaging more than one hundred annually over the past three campaigns. Over that span, he compiled a .274/.335/.381 slash with 13 home runs and 24 stolen bases over 1,325 plate appearances.
Minor MLB Transactions: 5/25/17
Here are the day’s minor moves:
- The Orioles released outfielder Henry Urrutia, per a club announcement. The 30-year-old had been removed from the 40-man roster last year after seeing minimal major league action in 2013 and 2015. Urrutia, who the O’s signed out of Cuba, had struggled to a sub-.500 OPS in seventy plate appearances this season at Triple-A. Through parts of five seasons and over 1,000 plate appearances at the highest level of the minors, he owns a .277/.327/.374 batting line with 13 long balls.
- Outfielder Jeremy Barfield is heading to the Red Sox after his contract was purchased from the indy ball Sugar Land Skeeters, per an announcement from Boston’s Double-A affiliate. Barfield, 28, has spent quite a bit of time in the upper minors with the Athletics and Rockies organizations but has never cracked the major leagues. He was performing well again for the Skeeters early this season, leaving him with a composite .299/.379/.539 batting line in 878 trips to the dish in Atlantic League action since leaving the affiliated ranks in 2015.
Red Sox To Activate David Price
The Red Sox will activate lefty David Price to make his season debut on Monday, skipper John Farrell told reporters including Ian Browne of MLB.com (via Twitter). He had spent the early portion of the season rehabbing from an elbow injury.
That’s obviously welcome news for a Boston organization that hasn’t exactly sprinted out of the gates. While the club is in fine position at three games over .500, it sits third in a tightly packed AL East.
The rotation, in particular, has been a source of some consternation. Chris Sale has been every bit as good as advertised, and Eduardo Rodriguez is throwing quite well. But reigning AL Cy Young Award winner Rick Porcello hasn’t been nearly as dominant as he was last year, Drew Pomeranz has struggled, and Steven Wright was knocked out for the rest of the year with a knee injury.
With the plug-in options scuffling in Wright’s stead, Price will be welcomed back with open arms. The expectation had been that he and Sale would make up the best lefty-lefty rotation duo in the game, but his worrying spring injury threw that in doubt. Now, the team will finally see what it has in a complete staff, though all eyes will remain on Price to see how he responds.
After all, the 31-year-old southpaw isn’t just another pitcher. He signed the richest-ever contract for a starter in the 2015-16 offseason, landing with the Red Sox for $217MM over seven years. But the long-time ace managed only a 3.99 ERA in his league-leading 230 frames last year before the elbow injury arose this spring. His return — and his health and effectiveness — are thus of significant importance to the team. (It matters for Price’s bottom line, too; he can opt out after 2018, but will surely only do so if he thinks he could earn quite a bit more money.)
Given the stakes, it’s perhaps a bit surprising that the Sox are moving Price back up to the majors right now. He has thrown only 5 2/3 innings over two starts on his rehab assignment, allowing six earned runs on 12 hits with eight strikeouts and two walks. Perhaps that’s not particularly concerning for a pitcher of Price’s standing, but if nothing else it’ll increase the challenge for managing his workload. Skipper John Farrell acknowledged that he expects to hold Price to a pitch count — that coming by way of Jason Mastrodonato of the Boston Herald, on Twitter — while also saying that he thinks the poor rehab starts were attributable to the veteran shaking off the rust from his long layoff.
AL East Notes: Farrell, Jimenez, Miller, Ramos, Torres
Though the Red Sox haven’t lived up to their preseason status as division favorites, president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowksi told reporters Tuesday that he doesn’t place the blame for the team’s relatively slow start on manager John Farrell (link via Jen McCaffery of MassLive.com). Dombrowki pointed to the fact that the Sox won the AL East under Farrell’s guidance last season and also noted that injuries up and down the roster are beyond Farrell’s control. Indeed, the team has been without David Price, Tyler Thornburg and Carson Smith all season, while injuries to Pablo Sandoval, Brock Holt and now Marco Hernandez have created a revolving door at third base.
That said, FOX’s Ken Rosenthal penned a lengthy column of his own on Farrell’s job security today, noting that while the manager doesn’t necessarily appear to be at immediate risk, there are some Red Sox players that would like to see Farrell defend them more to the Boston media during the team’s struggles. Rosenthal points to the Manny Machado debacle and a more recent dugout altercation with Drew Pomeranz as two instances this season in which Farrell hasn’t looked his best.
A few more notes on the AL East…
- Orioles manager Buck Showalter was evasive when the subject of Ubaldo Jimenez‘s spot in the rotation came up with reporters, as MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubatko writes. Showalter noted that Jimenez’s next scheduled start is set for Sunday and said, “…we’ll see what happens,” regarding the potential outing. Right-hander Alec Asher is the top candidate to step in for Jimenez prior to Sunday, Kubatko notes, but Showalter suggested that taking Asher out of his current late-inning relief role would only open another need. “…[H]e’s shown the ability to serve a need in our bullpen with Zach (Britton) being down,” said the skipper. “There’s some different challenges in our bullpen with Zach out that you need to have an optionable bullpen, you need to have some versatility down there and some guys that can pitch physically more than once every four days down there.” The 33-year-old Jimenez is in the final season of a four-year, $50MM contract and has followed up last year’s 5.44 ERA with an even more unbecoming 7.17 ERA through 42 2/3 innings in 2017.
- Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports that Rays second baseman Brad Miller won’t be ready for activation from the disabled list when he’s first eligible this coming Friday. Manager Kevin Cash told reporters today that Miller’s abdominal strain still needs to “cool down,” and Topkin notes that Miller has not yet begun running since suffering the injury. Wilson Ramos, on the other hand, is ahead of schedule in his rehab from last September’s torn ACL. He’ll head to extended Spring Training this week and begin a minor league rehab assignment next week. Ramos, according to Topkin, has been hitting, running and participating in full workouts behind the plate.
- Yankees prospect Gleyber Torres debuted with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on Tuesday night at third base writes Newsday’s Erik Boland. While the Yankees still expect to give Torres work at shortstop, third base and second base — as was the case in Double-A — he’ll see an uptick in playing time at third base in Triple-A, according to Boland. While Torres is a natural shortstop, the Yankees’ current infield need lies at third base due to Chase Headley‘s recent slump. (Didi Gregorius and Starlin Castro, on the other hand, are both hitting well.) Boland spoke to a talent evaluator from an opposing club that felt Torres is more than capable of handling the hot corner, even if he’s looked his best at his natural position of shortstop thus far in 2017. “Playing over there is more reactionary, he’s shown his first step toward the ball is good,” said the scout. “His feet are good after he makes the play. He doesn’t have that quick-twitch quickness that the elite third basemen have, but he does some things well that will get better.” Boland’s piece offers additional quotes as well as further details on Torres’ defensive scheduling with Scranton.
Marco Hernandez To Undergo Shoulder Surgery
Red Sox infielder Marco Hernandez will undergo surgery to repair his injured left shoulder on Friday and is likely to miss the remainder of the regular season, tweets Tim Britton of the Providence Journal. Hernandez has been on the disabled list due to a left shoulder subluxation since May 4.
The 24-year-old Hernandez hasn’t solidified himself as a regular big league contributor to this point in his career, but he’s been a useful utility option for the Sox since making his MLB debut last year. In 61 games and 116 plate appearances, Hernandez has batted .284/.328/.349, and he’s logged time at second base, shortstop and third base in the Majors.
[Related: Boston Red Sox depth chart]
Hernandez’s season-ending injury further thins out a depleted third base mix for the Sox. In addition to Hernandez, both Brock Holt and Pablo Sandoval are on the disabled list, leaving Deven Marrero and Josh Rutledge to split third base duties for the time being in Boston. Hernandez will now accrue a full year’s worth of Major League service in 2017, and the ability to move him to the 60-day disabled list will give Boston a bit of flexibility with the 40-man roster.
As for Boston’s third base alternatives, it doesn’t seem that the 28-year-old Holt is especially close to returning to action; Britton also tweeted that the versatile 28-year-old was removed from his rehab assignment due to the fact that he wouldn’t be ready for activation within the requisite 20-game window. He’s being shut down for another five days as he continues to deal with the aftereffects of a concussion. Sandoval, meanwhile, is on a rehab assignment in Triple-A but is out of the lineup today due to illness, per Britton.
Top Prospect Promotions: Travis, Lamet
Here are the latest top prospect promotions of note:
- The Red Sox have announced that first baseman Sam Travis has been called up for his first taste of the majors. The team demoted righty Hector Velazquez to create roster space. Travis, 23, missed much of last year with a torn ACL. He has hit well in 139 plate appearances this year at Triple-A, though, slashing .286/.353/.452 with four home runs while taking 13 walk against 24 strikeouts. Travis, a right-handed hitter, was taken in the second round of the 2014 draft out of Indiana University — where he was a teammate of young Cubs outfielder/catcher Kyle Schwarber — and currently rates third among Red Sox prospects in the eyes of MLB.com.
- Meanwhile, the Padres will get their first look at interesting pitching prospect Dinelson Lamet, per Craig Mish of Sirius XM (Twitter links). He’ll start on Thursday, per the report. Lamet, 24, has shown well in his first full attempt at the highest level of the minors. After streaking through the system last year, he has started the current campaign with 39 innings of 3.23 ERA ball on the back of 11.5 K/9 against 4.6 BB/9. He opened the year rated tenth among Padres’ prospects, according to MLB.com, which noted that his ability to improve his command will likely dictate whether he can stay in the rotation for the long run.