Minor MLB Transactions: 6/1/19
The latest in minor moves from around the game…
- Veteran catcher Chris Stewart has opted out of his deal with the Padres, Robert Murray of The Athletic reports. The 12-year MLB vet, a reliable backup for the Giants, Yankees and Pirates, among others, since his debut all the way back in 2006, will again look to provide defensive stability for a club in the stretch run. Stewart’s never hit much, with a career line of .230/.297/.291, but does flash occasional on-base ability and unexpected pop against quality lefties. In 73 plate appearances for Triple-A El Paso this season, Stewart slashed .277/.333/.354 with a lone homer. He led all MLB catchers in 2011 with 21 defensive runs saved in a mere 460 innings behind the dish.
- Righty Jeanmar Gomez has been placed on unconditional release waivers by the Rangers, per the club. The 31-year-old was designated for assignment by the club last week. Gomez was a capable performer for the Pirates and Phillies from 2013-16, but has fallen on hard times in recent seasons. He’s had particular difficulty with stranding runners – a 55.2% LOB mark in ’19 spelled his end in Texas, the latest in a disturbing trend that began in the 2016 season, when his grounder-heavy excellence began slowly to erode.
3 Minor League Signings Helping Drive Rangers’ Offense
For Major League Baseball teams, there is essentially no risk in signing a player to a minor league contract. Cognizant of that, the Rangers were aggressive on the non-guaranteed market in the offseason, inking 20 players to minors contracts. Two months into the regular season, three of those players – Hunter Pence, Logan Forsythe and Danny Santana – have helped lead the Rangers’ offense to the game’s third-most runs (306) and a 10th-place ranking in wRC+ (103).
Pence, the most proven member of the trio, starred for much of his career with the Astros and Giants before recent struggles forced him to settle for a cheap pact with the Rangers. But the longtime outfielder looked done during the previous two years in San Francisco, especially when he hit .226/.258/.332 (59 wRC+) with four home runs and a .106 ISO in 248 plate appearances last season. To his credit, though, Pence spent the offseason working to turn things around, as he explained to Jessica Kleinschmidt of NBC Sports California in December. You may have scoffed at his efforts back then, chalking them up to a washed-up player grasping at straws, but it now looks as if Pence has discovered the Fountain of Youth during his age-36 season (Pence de Leon?).
Through 153 trips to the plate with the Rangers, Pence has slashed .295/.346/.619 with 11 homers and a .324 ISO. He has already given the Rangers 1.1 fWAR after combining for minus-0.2 with the Giants from 2017-18. Pence’s revival certainly doesn’t look like a product of luck or ballpark – there’s nothing abnormal in his batting average on balls in play or K/BB ratio, and he has logged far better numbers outside hitter-friendly Globe Life Park.
Pence is pulling more pitches, hitting more fly balls and making better contact, all of which has helped opened the door to his power resurgence, while swinging and missing less and chasing fewer pitches out of the zone. Pence’s average exit velocity on fly balls and line drives sits at a strong 96.6 mph, up from 91.5 in 2018, and his weighted on-base average/expected wOBA has spiked from .255/.267 to .401/.387. In the xwOBA department, Pence has gone from hitting like Joey Rickard to resembling Juan Soto. It’s an amazing one-year turnaround.
If there’s one knock on the 2019 version of Pence, it’s that he has largely been limited to the designated hitter spot at his advanced age. Forsythe, on the other hand, has spent the season in the field, registering most of his appearances at first base but also playing at least five games at shortstop, third and second. Now 32, Forsythe was one of baseball’s most valuable second basemen with the Rays from 2015-16, but he began falling off the next season and then cratered last year between the Twins and Dodgers. It looks as if Forsythe’s back after joining Texas on a deal in late February, though. Like Pence, a fellow right-handed hitter, Forsythe has offered better production outside of Arlington while posing a legitimate threat against pitchers of either handedness.
Forsythe has opened his Rangers career with a line of .309/.414/.485 (136 wRC+) and 1.2 fWAR in 163 attempts, far outdoing the minus-0.2 he posted in that category last season. An unsustainable .406 BABIP has aided Forsythe’s cause, but he has made real strides otherwise. While Forsythe’s power hasn’t been sensational (three homers, .176 ISO), he’s well ahead of his paltry 2018 output in that regard (two HRs, .059 ISO in 416 PA). As with Pence, a greater emphasis on pulling and elevating the ball has led to Forsythe’s uptick in the power department. His average exit velocity has climbed from 89.6 mph on liners/flies last year to 92.8 this season. Forsythe’s also swinging at far fewer pitches than ever outside the strike zone. Those factors have assisted in a strong .390/.362 wOBA/xwOBA, an enormous step up from the .274/.277 Forsythe recorded in 2018.
And then there’s the 28-year-old Santana, who was a 3.9-fWAR player with the Twins during a 430-PA debut in 2014. Until this season, that looked like a total fluke (and perhaps it still does). Santana combined for minus-2.3 fWAR from 2015-18 with the Twins and Braves, though he’s back above water this year. Granted, with a 0.6 fWAR over 125 trips to the plate, Santana’s no world-beater. Still, that’s more than the Rangers could have reasonably expected when they took a flier on Santana in December. Since then, the switch hitter has slashed .296/.339/.478 (107 wRC+) with four HRs and six steals in 125 PA, also showing off his defensive flexibility by appearing multiple times at first, second, short and in center field.
Santana, however, could have a tougher time than Pence and Forsythe maintaining his numbers. In fact, they’ve already started to drop over the past month. The fact that he’s running ugly strikeout and walk rates (4.0 percent versus 29.6) and enjoying a .400 BABIP doesn’t offer a ton of hope going forward. Beyond that, Santana’s struggling against left-handed pitchers and hitting noticeably worse on the road. That said, there’s little difference between Santana’s wOBA (.347) and xwoBA (.341).
Should Santana continue to impress the Rangers through the season, they’ll have a chance to keep him via arbitration for the next two years. Otherwise, they could easily say goodbye to him. Meanwhile, Pence and Forsythe – two impending free agents – could either stick with the surprising Rangers (27-27) through the season if they’re in contention or emerge as summer trade chips if the team falls out of the race. Texas is in a win-win situation with all three of these minor league pickups, which is surely what general manager Jon Daniels hoped for when he added them over the winter.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Rangers Select David Carpenter
The Rangers have selected the contract of righty David Carpenter, per a club announcement. He’ll take the place of outfielder Zack Granite, who was optioned back.
Carpenter will see MLB action for the first time in quite some time. He last appeared with the Nationals back in 2015, with health problems halting what had been a productive career.
After some indy ball action and a Driveline makeover, Carpenter earned a shot with the Rangers this spring. The 33-year-old has turned in 15 1/3 innings of 1.76 ERA ball thus far at Triple-A, allowing just ten hits and posting a strong combination of 17 strikeouts and four walks.
Rangers Notes: Odor, Gallo, Heineman
Rougned Odor‘s persistent offensive struggles have become difficult to overlook, but it doesn’t sound as though there’s much thought to benching him or sending him down to Triple-A for a reset. Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram writes that while veteran Logan Forsythe and journeyman Danny Santana have each outperformed Odor, manager Chris Woodward continued to support his struggling second baseman this week. “I would only make that decision if I thought Rougie was to the point where, ‘I can’t do it anymore.’ If he lost hope,” said Woodward of Odor, who is hitting just .161/.231/.329 through 170 plate appearances. “If he keeps fighting the way he does, I feel like I’ve got to support that.” The fact that Odor inked a seven-year, $49.5MM contract on the heels of a 33-homer campaign in 2016 surely plays into the calculus as well, of course. He’s being paid $7.5MM this season and still owed $36MM from 2020-22 (including a buyout on a 2023 option) under the terms of that ill-fated deal.
More from the division…
- The Rangers and slugger Joey Gallo haven’t touched base about a possible long-term deal since spring of 2018, Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News reports in his latest mailbag piece. At that point, talks with agent Scott Boras didn’t progress. Now in the midst of a breakout season in which he’s playing a surprisingly competent center field (+3 Defensive Runs Saved, +0.6 Ultimate Zone Rating, +2 Outs Above Average), Gallo will of course have a substantially price tag if there’s any interest at all. Grant notes that the two sides should take some time this summer to gauge whether Gallo has any interest in such a deal, though there isn’t necessarily any urgency to get a deal done given that Gallo is controlled through 2022. The 25-year-old is hitting .273/.418/.624 with 15 homers through 208 plate appearances. While his average is being propped up to an extent by a .390 BABIP, Gallo is also walking at a career-high 19.7 percent clip and leading the Majors in hard-hit rate and exit velocity. If anything, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Gallo actually hit for more power even if his average trends downward a ways.
- Outfield prospect Scott Heineman‘s rehab assignment has been halted after he experienced renewed discomfort in his surgically repaired left shoulder, MLB.com’s T.R. Sullivan writes. Heineman, 26, hit .295/.355/.429 with 11 homers, 20 doubles, two triples and 16 steals a season ago in Triple-A, perhaps putting himself on the radar for an eventual look at the MLB level. However, he struggled in just six games with Triple-A Nashville on a rehab assignment before being called back. There’s no immediate timeline on when he’ll return to the field, though that determination will presumably come in the near future once he’s further evaluated by the team’s medical staff.
Poll: Mike Minor’s Future In Texas
The Rangers’ surprising flirtation with the .500 mark and the American League Wild Card race — they’re currently 27-26 on the season and a half game from the second Wild Card spot — make them one of the more surprising teams of the year. Texas tried to patch together an entire rotation behind holdover Mike Minor this past offseason, trading for Drew Smyly, adding Edinson Volquez to the big league roster (he’d been on a two-year minor league deal) and signing the duo of Lance Lynn and Shelby Miller. With the Astros owning the division for the past several seasons and the A’s coming off a 97-win campaign of their own, there wasn’t much hope that Texas would contend for much of anything.
That may ultimately prove to be the case in the end, but at the moment the team is in better standing than most would’ve expected at the (nearly) one-third mark of the season. At the very least, it’s created some interesting questions moving forward — with Minor’s own future in the organization perhaps chief among them. The Athletic’s Jayson Stark tweeted yesterday that Minor’s potential presence on the summer trade market is a frequent topic of discussion among rival front offices, while his colleague, Ken Rosenthal, touched on the subject as the lead-in to his latest notes column.
Minor, indeed, seems like he’d be a highly coveted asset should the Rangers shop him this July. Starting pitching is always in heavy demand and short supply on the summer trade market — particularly when you’re discussing options that are more than pure rentals. Minor is earning $9.5MM in 2019 (with about $6.28MM yet to be paid out), and he’s guaranteed that same salary in 2020 under the three-year, $28MM contract he signed with Texas prior to the 2018 season. Considering his performance, that looks eminently reasonable.
The Rangers were surely pleased with the 4.18 ERA that Minor authored over 157 innings out of the rotation in 2018, especially given that it was his first work as a starting pitcher since 2014 with the Braves. Texas signed him on the heels of a terrific run out of the Royals’ bullpen, and the organization’s decision to put him back in a starting rotation looked justified based on that alone.
In 2019, Minor has taken things a step further. He’s pitched 70 2/3 innings of 2.55 ERA ball with improvements in his strikeout rate, ground-ball rate and swinging-strike rate. He’s been less prone to home runs as well, averaging 0.89 per nine innings pitched despite the launching pad in which he pitches his home games. Fielding-independent pitching metrics forecast a bit of regression on his excellent ERA but still are generally bullish on him as a solid mid-rotation arm. As is the case every summer, solid mid-rotation arms will likely be hard to come by this year, and Minor’s contractual status only enhances his appeal.
Back on Opening Day, it would’ve been simpler to see those numbers and expect that Minor would be among the top assets on the trade market. The overall team performance at least makes that thought more debatable, though. The question the Rangers have to ask themselves is whether the current club can conquer its obvious shortcomings enough to remain in the race. And, even if that’s not in the cards, whether Minor could be part of a more legitimate contender a year from now. Their defense is porous based on Defensive Runs Saved (-25) and UZR/150 (-2.8). Their bullpen, headlined by a terrible start from closer Jose Leclerc, has pitched poorly. The rotation is top-heavy and lacks depth. The chances of a postseason berth, even with Minor on board, appear thin, and the team is lacking in upper-level pitching talent — the type that could be netted in a Minor deal.
On the flipside of the coin, the Rangers rank third in the Majors in runs scored. Texas also has just $85MM committed to the next year’s payroll and a tiny arbitration class where only Joey Gallo and Nomar Mazara project for raises of note. For a team whose Opening Day payroll was $165MM as recently as 2017, there’ll be ample room to supplement the current roster. That will mean filling multiple holes, as the Rangers are currently enjoying production from one-year stopgaps like Logan Forsythe and Hunter Pence, but they’ll have plenty of budget room — particularly with Shin-Soo Choo finally off the books after 2020.
The Minor contract has turned into a success for the Rangers, but it now also leaves them with a bit of a decision on their hands. How should they proceed?
What should the Rangers do with Mike Minor this summer?
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Trade him to bolster the farm. 64% (3,355)
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Extend him. He's part of their next winning club. 20% (1,025)
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Hang onto him in hopes of a Wild Card run and shop him in the offseason if they miss. 16% (838)
Total votes: 5,218
Rangers Notes: Leclerc, Gallo
The Rangers will deploy reliever Jose Leclerc as an opener in today’s game, the club announced. He’ll throw in front of Drew Smyly. The 25-year-old Leclerc will open for the second time this year. He entered the campaign as the indisputable closer after inking an extension over the winter, but lost that job when his prior control problems resurfaced. It seems the Rangers are looking to provide some stability for the live-armed hurler, who has dealt with minor shoulder and calf issues recently. Otherwise, he has been much more impressive of late, with a whopping 16:1 K/BB ratio in his last seven frames.
- Though he departed last night’s game with wrist soreness, Rangers slugger Joey Gallo doesn’t seem to be at any risk of a trip to the injured list. As Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports, Gallo will get a day of rest today. That had already been planned, says Texas skipper Chris Woodward. Even as he has ramped up his offensive productivity by boosting his walk rate and continuing to launch prodigious long balls, Gallo has stretched his legs in the field. He has graded as a clear positive at all three outfield positions in recent seasons, though he had never before been utilized exclusively on the grass and had limited experience in center field. That modified deployment might itself warrant a few added days off to keep Gallo fresh over the course of the season.
Grant On Gallo Extension Possibilities
There’s little doubt that Rangers slugger Joey Gallo has drastically increased his career earnings outlook with a massive start to the current season. Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News takes a look at the state of affairs on the extension front for baseball’s reigning three-true-outcomes king. The organization is obviously impressed, with manager Chris Woodward tabbing Gallo the club’s “best player” and GM Jon Daniels saying that he’s “mentally in a great spot.” Gallo says he’s not thinking about contracts, but agent Scott Boras surely is. As Grant notes, Boras’s assessment of Gallo’s season to date — “we are seeing the evolution of a superstar player” — offers a hint as to the kind of contract it might take to lock him up.
Rangers Designate Jeanmar Gomez
The Rangers have designated righty Jeanmar Gomez, per a team announcement. His active roster spot will go to lefty Kyle Bird.
Gomez, 31, was brought in on a minors deal that included a $1MM salary in the majors. He made the roster out of camp when the team decided to keep him rather than control-challenged flamethrower Connor Sadzeck.
That decision hasn’t worked out for the Rangers to this point. While Sadzeck has found a home in Seattle, Gomez has mostly been ineffective.
Through 15 1/3 innings this year, Gomez carries an ugly 8.22 ERA. That’s due in no small part to a low 55.2% strand rate, as well as a .389 BABIP that would be expected to trend down over a full season.
Gomez does carry a 55.2% groundball rate. ERA estimators think he has been better than the results. Still, with just 5.9 K/9 against 3.5 BB/9 and a minuscule 5.9% swinging-strike rate, he did not exactly have the peripherals of a successful reliever.
Latest On Edinson Volquez
- Veteran righty Edinson Volquez has begun to play catch, Rangers manager Chris Woodward told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram’s Jeff Wilson and other reporters, as Volquez continues to make his way back from an elbow sprain. Volquez made just two starts for Texas before being placed on the injured list, and he even hinted at retirement should his injury be another UCL tear (Volquez has already undergone two Tommy John surgeries). Playing catch is a preliminary step, but nevertheless a good sign that Volquez may have avoided a more serious injury.
Rangers Place Willie Calhoun On IL, Recall Delino DeShields
The Rangers announced today that outfielder Willie Calhoun is heading to the 10-day injured list with a strained left quadriceps. He’ll be replaced on the active roster by fellow outfielder Delino DeShields.
It’s inopportune timing for the 24-year-old Calhoun, who just got a long-awaited promotion back to the majors. He has been in good form since coming up, slashing .435/.458/.739 with a pair of long balls in two dozen plate appearances.
There’s no reason to think the injury will be more than a speed bump for Calhoun, who was the headlining prospect of the 2017 Yu Darvish trade. But he hadn’t really thrived in his new organization since that swap, struggling especially in limited opportunities at the game’s highest level. Calhoun earned his way back up with a strong beginning to the season at Triple-A.
DeShields was demoted earlier this month after another rough showing at the plate. He just hasn’t hit enough since the start of the 2018 season to warrant a steady MLB roster spot, though his speed and defense remain appealing tools. DeShields wasn’t exactly tearing the cover off of the ball at Triple-A, with a .211/.318/.421 slash in 44 plate appearances since going down, though that was an improvement over his major league output.