Minor Moves: Spence, Oeltjen, Germano, Billings
Here are today’s minor transactions, with the newest moves at the top of the post…
- The Marlins announced (on Twitter) that left-hander Josh Spence has been released from their Triple-A New Orleans affiliate. Spence, a 26-year-old from Australia, pitched reasonably well for the Zephyrs, posting a 3.97 ERA with 12 strikeouts in 11 1/3 innings. However, he also walked seven hitters in that time and hit a batter. Command hasn’t been an issue for Spence in previous minor league seasons, but he walked 24 batters in 40 innings for the Padres in 2011-12 despite a strong 3.15 ERA and 9.2 K/9 rate.
- The Diamondbacks‘ Triple-A affiliate, the Reno Aces, announced today that outfielder Trent Oeltjen has been released (Twitter link). The Australian 31-year-old batted just .219/.286/.313 in 35 plate appearances for the Aces, but he has a strong .294/.358/.479 batting line in his career at that level. His last Major League action came with the 2011 Dodgers.
- Right-hander Justin Germano has accepted his outright assignment to the Rangers‘ Triple-A affiliate, MLB Daily Dish’s Chris Cotillo reports (via Twitter). Germano had the option of becoming a free agent after he was outrighted off the Rangers’ 40-man roster, following being designated for assignment earlier this week. The veteran righty has been hit hard in his two appearances with Texas this season, posting an 11.81 ERA over 5 1/3 IP.
- The Yankees have outrighted right-hander Bruce Billings to Triple-A, according to MLB.com’s transactions page. Billings was designated for assignment on Thursday. The righty allowed four runs in four innings of work for New York this season, though he recorded seven strikeouts in that brief stretch.
- With Billings’ situation resolved, MLBTR’s DFA Tracker tells us that three players remain in DFA limbo: Royals outfielder Justin Maxwell, White Sox infielder Jeff Keppinger and Marlins reliever Carlos Marmol.
Steve Adams contributed to this post.
Injury Notes: Abreu, Gonzalez, Venters, Fielder, Yanks
Here’s the latest on the injury front:
- The White Sox have placed Jose Abreu on the 15-day disabled list with posterior tibial tendinitis in his left ankle, reports MLB.com’s Scott Merkin. Abreu returned to Chicago today for an examination and was placed in a boot to immobilize the ankle and help facilitate the recovery process. He also will undergo further tests, such as another MRI, and further treatment for at least another day. The rookie sensation is paying early dividends on his six-year, $68MM contract, batting .260/.312/.595 with a MLB-leading 15 home runs and 42 RBIs in 189 plate appearances.
- The Nationals placed Gio Gonzalez on the 15-day disabled list with shoulder inflammation, but the left-hander’s enhanced MRI exam revealed no further damage and confirmed he will only require rest, reports Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post.
- The Braves‘ Jonny Venters threw batting practice Wednesday and the session was cut short after he reported soreness in his left elbow, writes the Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s David O’Brien. “It was just a little sore, so they shut him down and didn’t continue,” said manager Fredi Gonzalez. “They didn’t seem concerned, they made it sound like it was part of the process – first time he’s faced hitters and that kind of stuff.” Venters is just over a year removed from his second Tommy John surgery.
- The Rangers‘ injury woes continue with Prince Fielder undergoing a nerve-root injection for a herniated disc in his neck, reports Jay Jaffe of SI.com. Fielder, slashing only .247/.360/.360 with three home runs in 178 plate appearances, says his neck has bothered him since last season, but has worsened lately. Jaffe notes Fielder waited until last month to inform the Rangers of his injury, which has caused pain and stiffness in his neck and weakness in his left arm.
- Yankees right-hander Michael Pineda is still on track for an early-June return after a successful bullpen session Friday, according to ESPNNewYork.com’s Wallace Matthews (h/t: Mike Axisa of River Ave. Blues).
- Yankees reliever Shawn Kelley could rejoin the team next Sunday, tweets Meredith Marakovits of the YES Network (h/t: Axisa). Kelley, nursing a back injury, will play catch Monday and Tuesday, throw a bullpen Wednesday, and make a minor league rehab appearance Friday.
Martin Perez To Undergo Tommy John Surgery
SATURDAY: Perez will have his Tommy John procedure on Monday, tweets Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
THURSDAY, 6:56pm: Perez’s agent, Felix Olivo, tells Chris Cotillo of MLB Daily Dish that the decision to undergo Tommy John is not yet final (Twitter link). Olivo says that he and Perez will meet with Rangers GM Jon Daniels before making their ultimate decision, but the likelihood of Tommy John is very high.
5:05pm: Rangers lefty Martin Perez has decided to undergo Tommy John surgery to repair the torn ulnar collateral ligament in his left elbow, the pitcher himself told Marcos Grunfeld of Venezuelan newspaper La Vinotinto (Twitter link, with a hat tip to the Dallas Morning News’ Gerry Fraley).
The 23-year-old Perez is the latest in a landslide of Tommy John surgeries and the second Rangers pitcher to go down to the operation this season (lefty reliever Pedro Figueroa underwent the procedure earlier this year). The news is a crushing blow to a Rangers staff that has been bombarded with injuries. Derek Holland is out through the All-Star break, Yu Darvish opened the season on the DL (though he’s healthy now) and Matt Harrison‘s resurgent back injury could now be career-threatening, according to recent reports.
Among the game’s other young starters that have undergone the season-ending operation (or will undergo it) are Jose Fernandez, Jarrod Parker, Patrick Corbin, Kris Medlen, Brandon Beachy, Matt Moore, Ivan Nova, A.J. Griffin and Jameson Taillon.
Outrighted To Triple-A: Rodriguez, Germano
We’ll keep track of today’s outright assignments here..
- Athletics first baseman Daric Barton cleared waivers and has been outrighted to Triple-A Sacramento, according to Joe Stiglich of CSNBayArea.com (on Twitter). Barton, 28, has yet to repeat his outstanding 2010 campaign, when he played in 159 games and put up a .273/.393/.405 line while leading the league with 110 walks.
- The Marlins announced that they have outrighted Henry Rodriguez to Triple-A New Orleans. Rodriguez, designated for assignment on Wednesday, displayed what have become typical command problems for him in 2014, walking five batters in just 1 2/3 innings pitched for the Fish.
- The Rangers have outrighted Justin Germano to Triple-A Round Rock, according to the MLB.com transactions page. Texas designated the right-hander for assignment on Wednesday to make room on the roster for Scott Baker. Germano appeared in just two games for the Rangers, yielding seven runs in 5 1/3 innings of work. The veteran swingman has seen time in the Major Leagues in each of the past five seasons and owns a career 5.40 ERA in 330 innings pitched.
AL Notes: Beane, Solarte, Bell, Harrison
Athletics GM Billy Beane may have outdone himself with his most recent round of immense production from unheralded players, writes MLB.com’s Richard Justice. Third baseman Josh Donaldson, who has continued his torrid pace since seemingly emerging out of nowhere last year, stood out to Beane with his somewhat hidden elite athleticism and extreme competitiveness. Now, reclamation project Jesse Chavez is taking the league by storm from the mound. “We liked him in the minor leagues,” Beane explained, “and felt he’d never really got an opportunity in the big leagues.” While Beane’s much-publicized success with statistical analysis has required consistent adaptation to maintain an edge, he says that the club identified Chavez through the same use of “objective numbers” that drove the Moneyball era. “We’ve had to reinvent ourselves a few times,” he explained. “There were things we were doing 10 years ago we weren’t able to continue to do. To constantly solve the challenges we have is not easy. It’s very self-satisfying for all of us.” Given Beane’s comments on Chavez’s lack of opportunity, it will certainly be interesting to see whether recent addition Kyle Blanks is able to harness his potential with healthy, consistent playing time in Oakland.
Here’s more out of the American League:
- If Chavez is not the most surprising top performer through the season’s first quarter, that is only due to the emergence of 26-year-old journeyman Yangervis Solarte, who sports a .907 OPS in his rookie campaign. The Tigers were keen to sign Solarte before acquiring Ian Kinsler, reports Joel Sherman of the New York Post. With Detroit assistant GM Al Avila reportedly a big fan of Solarte, the team had also unsuccessfully pursued him as a minor league free agent before the 2011 and 2012 campaigns. Solarte’s agent, Peter Greenberg, says that Solarte chose to go to the Yankees because the team had an easier path to a big league opening and ultimately gave him a relatively robust $22K monthly salary in the minors (with three months guaranteed).
- Orioles executive VP Dan Duquette addressed today’s signing of free agent reliever Heath Bell, who will look to revive his career by starting over at Triple-A. “Bell is a proven veteran pitcher with experience who has agreed to a Triple-A deal,” Duquette told Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com (Twitter link). “We believe he can help our major league club later this season.”
- Injured Rangers starter Matt Harrison will undertake an epidural injection in hopes of quieting the pain from his back condition, but the next steps remain unclear, reports Anthony Andro of FOX Sports Southwest. “It’s kind of put me in the position where either I deal with it or have the surgery and get it fused together and try to make a comeback from that,” said Harrison. “It’s going to be even tougher than it was the last time but I’m willing to give it a try. I’m still trying to wrap my head around what’s going on at this point in time and trying not to let it sink in that it may have been my last game.” Ultimately, while he clearly hopes to do whatever it takes to return, Harrison indicated that he would keep his long-term future in mind with the dangerous condition he has. “Obviously your health is most important but I know there are guys who’ve come back before,” he said. “I’m going to give that a shot if I end up having it but if I come back and things are the same or worse as they were before it’s not worth the risk. It’s really not worth me being 29 years old and not being able to walk.”
AL West Links: Rangers, Tepesch, Blanks, Sipp, McHugh
The surprising outbreak of injuries to Rangers pitchers has forced GM Jon Daniels to turn his attention from an underperforming offense to the gaping holes in the rotation, writes MLB.com’s T.R. Sullivan. Texas will rely on Colby Lewis, Nick Tepesch, Robbie Ross and Nick Martinez to fill in behind ace Yu Darvish for the time being, with Scott Baker representing an alternative as Joe Saunders and Derek Holland mend. Daniels’ preference is to remain in-house, writes Sullivan, who also briefly notes that the Rangers have scouted Kendrys Morales to help the offense, but don’t want to meet his asking price.
Here are some more links pertaining to the Rangers’ pitching woes and the rest of the AL West…
- Over at Fangraphs, Dave Cameron compares injured Rangers lefty Martin Perez to his likely replacement — Nick Tepesch. Cameron points out that despite Perez’s prospect status and the perception that Tepesch doesn’t have as much ceiling, the two have had remarkably similar results in their short careers. Tepesch’s ERA looks worse due to a high BABIP with runner in scoring position, but aside from that, they compare favorably. While Tepesch’s numbers have come in a smaller sample, his recent work at Triple-A and his MLB track record cause the ZiPS and Steamer projection systems to project that he’ll be as good or better than Perez over the rest of the season.
- Joe Stiglich of CSN Bay Area was among the reporters to speak with Athletics GM Billy Beane about his acquisition of Kyle Blanks. The A’s were looking for a right-handed bat that could capably play both first base and the outfield, and Beane feels that Blanks fits that bill “exactly,” adding that “there aren’t many out there.” As Stiglich notes, Tommy John surgery and shoulder surgery have slowed what once looked to be a promising career for Blanks. Said Beane: “He was a pretty highly thought of prospect coming through the minors. It looked like he was going to be that guy in the majors until injuries derailed him.”
- The Astros have gotten big contributions from lefty Tony Sipp and right-hander Collin McHugh in the season’s early stages, but Evan Drellich of the Houston Chronicle reports that the team’s first attempts to acquire each player failed. The Astros pursued Sipp this offseason and made an offer before he elected to sign with the Padres, and GM Jeff Luhnow told Drellich he tried to acquire McHugh from the Mets and Rockies in trades last season.
- Within that same piece, Luhnow discussed the early success of left-hander Dallas Keuchel, which has come as no surprise to him. Each member of the Astros front office made a “pick to click” during Spring Training this year, writes Drellich, and Luhnow’s was Keuchel, and the GM certainly makes it sound like Keuchel is viewed as a long-term rotation piece. “He’s never been handed a job … I think after this year he will put himself in a position where that’s no longer a question.”
Minor Moves: Moore, Sosa, Schwinden, Liddi
Catcher Adam Moore, who had a May 15 opt-out date in his current minor league deal with the Padres, has elected to remain with the team’s Triple-A affiliate in El Paso, reports Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune (Twitter link). Chris Cotillo of MLB Daily Dish adds that Moore and the Padres have agreed to a rolling opt-out date, in which Moore is free to opt out at any time should a big league opportunity present itself (Twitter link). The former top prospect is hitting .357/.410/.527 with four homers in 122 PA this season. Here are some more minor moves from around the league…
- Former big league right-hander Henry Sosa has signed with the Nexen Heroes of the Korea Baseball Organization, according to a report from Korean media outlet Yonhap (hat tip: Dan Kurtz of MyKBO.net). The 28-year-old Sosa posted a 5.23 ERA in 51 1/3 innings with the Astros’ bullpen in 2011, averaging 6.4 strikeouts and 3.9 walks per nine innings pitched. Sosa, who had been with the Dodgers’ Triple-A affiliate, has pitched for KBO’s Kia Tigers previously.
- Right-hander Chris Schwinden has inked a minor league deal with the Rangers, reports Mike Ashmore of the Trentonian (Twitter link). Schwinden, who appeared in seven games (six starts) for the 2011-12 Mets, was pitching for the Atlantic League’s Lancaster Barnstormers, where he’d notched a 1.96 ERA with a 13-to-2 K/BB ratio in 23 innings.
- Cotillo also reports (via Twitter) that the Dodgers have signed corner infielder Alex Liddi to a minor league deal. Liddi, who was recently released by the White Sox, will head to the team’s Triple-A affiliate. He’s a career .252/.314/.450 hitter in 1501 Triple-A plate appearances and has also seen big league action in parts of three seasons with the Mariners.
Martin Perez, Matt Harrison Have Significant Injuries
10:19pm: The team would expect to recover a “significant portion” of Harrison’s $13MM annual salary over 2015-17 in the unfortunate event that he cannot throw due to the injury, Grant adds in an update to his post.
7:51pm: Should Perez try to avoid a TJ procedure, he would sit out for ten to twelve weeks while rehabbing, per an updated report from Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News. Of course, that strategy comes with the risk of delaying his recovery time by that period if he ultimately goes under the knife.
The prospects for Harrison, should he elect surgery, seem fairly grim. “There just aren’t a lot of guys who have had it and come back successfully,” said GM Jon Daniels. “I’m hoping that while the odds might not be good he will be the exception.” Grant does note that an insurance policy on Harrison paid out $2.5MM last year and could afford the club coverage of $6MM of the $8MM salary owed for 2014. The report does not indicate how the policy impacts the future years of the deal.
In terms of dealing with the injuries, Daniels said that the team is going to stick with internal options for the time being. “We will look to ride it out,” he said. “We might consider the trade market at some point, but right now, we’ll look to ride it out.”
6:02pm: Two key Rangers starters — lefties Martin Perez and Matt Harrison — have significant injuries that could result in long DL stints, reports Anthony Andro of FOX Sports Southwest (Twitter links).
Perez, 23, has a partial UCL tear in his left elbow. While he is weighing the possibility of resting and pitching through the injury, a Tommy John procedure is on the table.
Meanwhile, the 28-year-old Harrison has another serious back issue (called spondylolisthesis) that could require a form of spinal fusion surgery. He, too, could potentially try to throw without surgery. However, if it becomes necessary, the procedure could potentially be career-threatening, according to a tweet from Jeff Wilson of the Forth Worth Star-Telegram.
The pair of hurlers had been expected to be key rotation pieces in Texas for the long haul. Perez was signed this November to a four-year, $12.5MM extension, which includes club options for 2018 through 2020. Harrison inked his own, even larger deal before the 2013 season. The extension, which covers the 2013 through 2017 campaigns and comes with a club option, guarantees him $55MM.
Needless to say, even if both Perez and Harrison see enough to gain in attempting to avoid surgery, the news clouds the outlook this year for a club that has already been hit hard by injuries. With fellow long-term commit Derek Holland still working back from his own serious knee injury, there are plenty of questions in the staff outside of ace Yu Darvish. While the rotation has fared reasonably well by measure of fWAR to date, it ranks fourth from the bottom in the league in terms of earned run average. Sitting at .500, Texas now seems an obvious potential pitching buyer over the summer — if, that is, the team can stay within striking distance.
Of course, the downside scenarios — a one-year plus recovery for Perez, and an uncertain rehabilitation process for Harrison — could have major implications for the franchise’s trajectory. Texas has committed significant future payroll (through extensions, free agency, and trades), and certainly is built to win in the immediate future. Lacking surefire pitching prospects who appear ready to step into the MLB rotation, Texas could face some tough decision-making if Perez and Harrison are gone for extended periods of time.
Rangers Designate Justin Germano For Assignment
The Rangers have designated right-hander Justin Germano for assignment in order to clear a 40-man roster spot for Scott Baker, reports Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News. The team will also place lefty Martin Perez on the 15-day DL with left elbow inflammation and recall right-hander Nick Tepesch from Triple-A Round Rock.
Germano appeared in just two games for the Rangers, yielding seven runs in 5 1/3 innings of work. The veteran swingman has seen time in the Major Leagues in each of the past five seasons and owns a career 5.40 ERA in 330 innings pitched. He signed a minor league deal with the club this offseason.
For Baker, this is the second time he’s had his contract selected by the team. General manager Jon Daniels and his staff were likely thrilled that they were able to sneak Baker through outright waivers, as Daniels expressed considerable regret over the circumstances that led to Baker’s original DFA. The longtime Twin pitched well in his lone Rangers appearance, allowing two runs in 5 1/3 innings of long relief, and he’s pitched very well in 38 Triple-A frames. Baker is trying to reestablish himself after 2012 Tommy John surgery and multiple setbacks in his recovery from that procedure last year.
Minor Moves: Komatsu, Brown, Boshers, Wilson, Rosario
Here are today’s minor transactions, with the latest moves at the top of the post…
- The Angels have signed outfielder Erik Komatsu to a minor league deal, tweets Chris Cotillo of MLBDailyDish.com. Komatsu, a 26-year-old former Rule 5 choice who saw brief MLB time with the Cardinals and Twins, was recently released by the Nationals.
- The Rangers have released outfielder Jordan Brown, tweets Cotillo. The 30-year-old was struggling in the upper minors this year with a .212/.286/.363 line in 126 plate appearances. Brown has seen some MLB time in the past, but his Triple-A production has been in steady decline since a strong 2009 season (.913 OPS, 15 home runs).
- Angels director of communications Eric Kay tweets that left-hander Buddy Boshers has cleared waivers and been outrighted to Triple-A Salt Lake. Boshers was designated for assignment last week when the Halos claimed Brooks Raley off waivers from the Twins.
- Infielder Josh Wilson has accepted an outright assignment to Triple-A Round Rock from the Rangers, tweets Anthony Andro of Fox Sports Southwest. Texas outrighted the veteran yesterday, leaving him with 72 hours to accept his assignment or elect free agency.
- The Giants re-signed Sandy Rosario to a new minor league contract after the team released the right-hander earlier in the week, Baseball America’s Matt Eddy reports. Rosario was bothered by leg injuries during Spring Training and has yet to pitch in 2014. The righty posted a 3.02 ERA, 1.2 K/BB rate and 24 strikeouts over 41 2/3 relief innings with San Francisco last season and was non-tendered, though Rosario was a non-roster invitee to the Giants’ Spring Training camp.