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Brandon Waddell

Twins Select Brandon Waddell, Place Brent Rooker On Injured List

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The Twins will place outfielder/first baseman Brent Rooker on the 10-day injured list with a cervical strain in his neck and select the contract of left-hander Brandon Waddell from their alternate training site today, the club announced. Hard-throwing young righty Edwar Colina was transferred from the 10-day IL to the 60-day IL to open a spot on the 40-man roster for Waddell. Colina is dealing with inflammation in his right elbow.

Rooker, 26, was the No. 35 overall pick back in the 2017 draft and has had some rough luck early in his big league career. He burst onto the scene with a .316/.381/.579 slash through seven games last summer before sustaining a fractured forearm when he was hit by a pitch. That injury ended his season, and Rooker will now head back to the injured list after just appearing in just three games in 2021.

Rooker is a bat-first prospect who isn’t likely viewed as the team’s long-term answer in left field, but his power bat is still expected to get a legitimate audition when he’s healthy. He can shift between first, left field and DH, and given that his most recent minor league work in 2019 produced a .282/.399/.530 batting line in 67 games between Double-A and Triple-A, it’s not hard to see why the organization is bullish on him. The Twins did not give an immediate indication as to how long the new injury is expected to sideline Rooker.

As for the 26-year-old Waddell, an eventual big league audition with the Twins appeared likely after the former Pirates farmhand turned heads in Spring Training. Waddell yielded five runs in 9 1/3 innings, but he also struck out 15 of the 36 hitters he faced (41.7 percent) and showed what the Twins felt was a demonstrably improved arsenal. Minnesota claimed him off waivers from Pittsburgh at the end of the 2020 season and managed to sneak Waddell through waivers in late February, but his absence from the 40-man roster proved brief.

Waddell has a pair of minor league options remaining, so the Twins will be able to send him down to their alternate site in St. Paul without exposing him to waivers for a second time. For now, he’ll join Taylor Rogers and Caleb Thielbar as a third lefty in manager Rocco Baldelli’s bullpen.

Minor MLB Transactions: 2/13/21

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Some minor league moves from around the sport…

Latest Moves

  • The Cardinals have signed outfielder Matt Szczur to a minor league deal that contains an invite to their big league Spring Training camp, NBC Sports Philadelphia’s Jim Salisbury reports (via Twitter).  Szczur hit .231/.312/.355 over 667 plate appearances with the Cubs and Padres from 2014-18 but he hasn’t since returned to the majors.  The 31-year-old signed minor league contracts with the Diamondbacks prior to the 2019 season and the Phillies prior to 2020, with Philadelphia releasing Szczur back in June.

Earlier Today

  • The White Sox signed infielder Marco Hernandez to a minor league contract back in January, as originally noted by the transactions page for Triple-A East (formerly the International League).  Hernandez was released by the Red Sox in August, ending a six-year stint in the Boston organization that saw Hernandez hit .265/.300/.342 over 271 plate appearances in parts of three MLB seasons.  He was part of Boston’s 60-man player pool but didn’t see any big league action in 2020.  Hernandez played mostly second base with the Red Sox but he also has experience at third base and shortstop, so he will be competing for a utility infield job in Chicago’s camp.
  • The Angels announced that left-hander Dillon Peters was outrighted Triple-A at clearing waivers.  Peters will be invited to the team’s Spring Training camp after being designated for assignment last week.  The southpaw pitched in just one MLB game in 2020, getting hit for four runs (three earned) over 1 2/3 innings for the Angels.  A groundball specialist while coming up in the Marlins’ farm system, Peters has a 5.83 ERA and only a 16.7K% over 132 2/3 career Major League innings with Miami and Anaheim.
  • Diamondbacks left-hander Taylor Guilbeau has been outrighted to Triple-A, the team announced.  Guilbeau cleared waivers after being designated for assignment last week, and he will also be invited to Arizona’s big league Spring Training camp.  Guilbeau posted a 2.70 ERA over 20 MLB innings with the Mariners from 2019-20, with the D’Backs acquiring the grounder specialist on a waiver claim in October.
  • The Twins announced that southpaw Brandon Waddell has cleared waivers and been outrighted to Triple-A after being designated for assignment last Thursday.  Waddell has been invited to the Twins’ Major League Spring Training camp.  A fifth-round pick for the Pirates in the 2015 draft, Waddell made his MLB debut in 2020, tossing 3 1/3 innings over two games with Pittsburgh.  Minnesota claimed Waddell off waivers from the Pirates in October.

Twins Claim Kyle Garlick, Designate Brandon Waddell

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The Twins have claimed outfielder Kyle Garlick off waivers from the Braves, per a team announcement. Left-hander Brandon Waddell was designated for assignment in order to open a space on the 40-man roster.

It’s the latest stop in a growing list of organizations for Garlick, 29, whose stay with the Braves will only prove to last for a few days. Garlick was the Dodgers’ 28th-round pick back in 2015, but in the past calendar year he’s been traded to the Phillies, claimed by the Braves and now claimed by the Twins.

Minnesota still needs a 40-man spot to make Alex Colome’s one-year deal final, so it’s far from a sure thing that Garlick will last on the roster for too long. It’s fairly common for clubs to claim a player and then try to pass him through outright waivers shortly thereafter — thus allowing the team to retain him without committing a 40-man roster spot.

Garlick spent most of the 2020 season at the Phillies’ alternate site in Lehigh Valley, though he did appear in a dozen games at the MLB level. He went just 3-for-22 with a double and seven strikeouts in that time, however. Garlick showed a bit of promise with the Dodgers in 2019 when he made his big league debut and hit .250/.321/.521 with three long balls and four doubles in a small sample of 53 plate appearances. He’s a career .281/.332/.568 hitter in 645 Triple-A plate appearances and does have a minor league option remaining as well.

As for the 26-year-old Waddell, he was a 2015 fifth-rounder by the Pirates out of Virginia. He made his MLB debut last year with Pittsburgh and tossed 3 1/3 innings with a pair of strikeouts and walks apiece. The Twins claimed him off waivers back on Oct. 30.

Waddell has a strong track record up through the Double-A level and was solid at Triple-A in 2018 as well. Like most Triple-A pitchers in 2019, however, his season was an unmitigated disaster as offensive levels spiked to all-time highs in that league amid the widely held belief that the ball was juiced. (Triple-A adopted the same ball used in MLB that season.) Even after being clobbered for 59 runs in 61 innings of Triple-A ball that year, Waddell has a 4.12 ERA in 478 minor league frames with a 20.4 percent strikeout rate and a 9.8 percent walk rate. He’s not a huge strikeout pitcher but induces grounders at an above-average clip and has two minor league options remaining.

Minor MLB Transactions: 10/30/20

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Rounding up some minor moves around the game:

  • Royals left-hander Mike Montgomery and right-hander Kevin McCarthy cleared outright waivers and have elected free agency, reports Jeffrey Flanagan of MLB.com (Twitter link). Montgomery, 31, was limited to 5.1 innings in 2020 due to a lat injury, derailing his chance of cementing himself in the Kansas City rotation. McCarthy was an oft-used bullpen piece in 2019 but only got into five games last season. Additionally, Kansas City claimed righty Carlos Sanabria off waivers from the Astros, per Flanagan (Twitter link). The 23-year-old reliever performed well in the high minors in 2019 and made his MLB debut in this year.
  • The Twins claimed right-hander Ian Gibaut off waivers from the Rangers, per an announcement from Texas. The 26-year-old pitched to just a 6.57 ERA in 12.1 innings this year but was once a well-regarded relief prospect. He comes with one option year remaining. Fellow Texas righty Luke Farrell cleared outright waivers.
  • The Twins also claimed left-hander Brandon Waddell off waivers from the Pirates, per Do-Hyoung Park of MLB.com (Twitter link). Additionally, Pirates’ catchers John Ryan Murphy and Luke Maile, utilityman Kevin Kramer, right-hander Yacksel Rios and outfielder Jason Martin all cleared outright waivers, per an announcement from Pittsburgh.
  • The Mets claimed right-hander Nick Tropeano off waivers from the Pirates, per an announcement from Pittsburgh. The 30-year-old pitched in seven games with a 1.15 ERA for the Pirates in 2020. He’s projected for a salary just under $1MM in arbitration.
  • The Nationals announced they’ve selected the contract of right-hander Steven Fuentes. The 23-year-old pitched to a 2.69 ERA/2.24 FIP in 63.2 Double-A innings in 2019 and would’ve been eligible for the Rule 5 draft this winter. Baseball America ranks Fuentes the #27 prospect in the Washington system.
  • The Cubs announced that they have claimed infielder Max Schrock via waivers from the rival Cardinals. Chicago also outrighted lefty Rex Brothers to Triple-A Iowa. Schrock picked up just 17 plate appearances for St. Louis in 2020 and collected three hits (two singles and a homer). Brothers, 32, threw only 3.1 innings with the Cubs and allowed three earned runs.
  • Speaking of the Cardinals, they announced outright assignments for righty Nabil Crismatt and lefty Ricardo Sanchez. Crismatt was successful for the Cardinals in 2020, notching 8.1 frames of three-run ball with eight strikeouts and one walk. Sanchez had some difficulty across 5.1 innings, though, as he gave up four earned runs and issued five walks.

Pirates Promote Ke’Bryan Hayes

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TODAY: The Pirates have officially called Hayes up, and also promoted recent waiver claim Anthony Alford to the active roster.  Southpaw Brandon Waddell and outfielder Jason Martin were optioned to the club’s alternate training site in corresponding moves.

AUGUST 31: The Pirates will promote top third base prospect Ke’Bryan Hayes before their game against the Cubs on Tuesday, Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports. Hayes’ promotion was slowed thanks in part to a positive coronavirus test in July.

Now 23 years old, Hayes was a 2015 first-round pick (No. 32) who has established himself as a high-end major league prospect since the Pirates drafted him. In fact, Kiley McDaniel of ESPN (No. 26), FanGraphs (30), MLB.com (45), Keith Law of The Athletic (46) and Baseball America (59) recently placed Hayes among the game’s 60 best farmhands. McDaniel wrote that Hayes, the son of ex-major leaguer Charlie Hayes, possesses “plus speed, a plus arm and a potential 70 glove,” and if he proves to be a capable offensive player in the majors, the package could make him a star.

So far, Hayes has not necessarily thrived against minor league pitching. He owns a .752 OPS in the minors, and in his most recent showing at the lower levels in 2019, he batted .265/.336/.415 (92 wRC+) with 10 home runs and 12 stolen bases across 480 Triple-A plate appearances. Still, his promotion makes for a rare bit of excitement in a Pittsburgh season that has largely been devoid of it.

The Pirates are a major league-worst 10-21 and have received below-average production from the third base tandem of Erik Gonzalez and JT Riddle, two players who probably won’t be part of the solution over the long haul. Hayes, on the other hand, has a chance to emerge as a franchise cornerstone for years to come. Because the Pirates are waiting until Sept. 1 to call him up, he’ll miss out on Super Two status and won’t be on track to reach free agency until after 2026.

Pirates Place Phillip Evans On 45-Day IL; Promote Jose Osuna, Brandon Waddell

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10:09AM: The Pirates have officially placed Evans on the 45-day injured list.  The Bucs also announced the Mears option, the Osuna call-up, and the selection of Waddell’s contract.

8:55AM: Evans will likely miss the rest of the season after suffering a broken jaw and a concussion, Mackey reports.

8:33AM: The Pirates will be calling up infielder/outfielder Jose Osuna and left-hander Brandon Waddell from their alternate training site, Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports (Twitter links).  Righty Nick Mears will be one of the players being sent to make room on the active roster, a day after Mears tossed an inning of relief to mark his Major League debut.

While no formal announcement has yet been made by the Pirates, Phillip Evans is surely headed to the injured list in the wake of yesterday’s brutal collision with teammate Gregory Polanco.  Evans and Polanco were both chasing for a fly ball in foul ground during the sixth inning of Pittsburgh’s 11-5 loss to the Tigers, and ran into each other at full speed with Evans’ head taking the full brunt of Polanco’s elbow and forearm.  Evans appeared to be conscious, though he was taken off the field in a stretcher and taken to hospital for evaluation.

Osuna is back on the Bucs’ roster for the second time this season, having already appeared in six games for the club before being optioned to the alternate camp on Thursday.  Experienced at both corner infield and outfield positions, Osuna has shown flashes of promise over his 256 MLB games, and generated some roughly league-average offense (99 OPS+, 97 wRC+) with his .264/.310/.456 slash line and 10 home runs over 285 PA in 2019.

Waddell was only added to the Pirates’ 60-man player pool on Friday, and another transaction will be forthcoming in order for the Bucs to make room for him on their 40-man roster.  The southpaw is set to make his Major League debut a little over five years after being selected out of the University of Virginia with a fifth-round pick in the 2015 draft.  Waddell has a 4.12 ERA, 2.07 K/BB rate, and 8.0 K/9 over 478 innings in Pittsburgh’s farm system, starting 85 of his 115 games.  It’s possible Waddell could just be getting a cup of coffee on the roster (like Mears) as the Pirates continue to cycle through pitchers, though the Bucs’ almost team-wide pitching struggles could provide opportunity for Waddell to gain a foothold in the big leagues.

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