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Mets Sign Cheslor Cuthbert To Minor League Contract

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The Mets have signed infielder Cheslor Cuthbert to a minors contract, according to Levi Luna of TN8 Nicaragua (Twitter link).  Cuthbert didn’t last long on the open market, as the Reds just released him from a previous minor league deal on Tuesday.

While the Mets are slowly starting to get some injured personnel back onto the field, Cuthbert will help provide some depth for a club that is still very short-handed.  He has played most of his MLB career as a third baseman, with a good chunk of playing time at first base and a handful of games at second.

Cuthbert hit .250/.300/.378 over 1160 plate appearances with the Royals from 2015-19, coming up through the pipeline as a notable prospect in Kansas City’s farm system and working as the regular third baseman in 2016.  K.C. non-tendered Cuthbert following the 2019 season and he joined the White Sox on a minors deal, ultimately appearing in one big league game in 2020.

Minor MLB Transactions: 6/3/21

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The latest minor moves from around the league:

  • The Diamondbacks announced they’ve acquired right-hander Tyler Jones from the Marlins, completing the teams’ December deal that sent Rule 5 draft pick Zach Pop to Miami. The Marlins selected Jones in the 26th round of the 2018 draft. He’d struggled to a 6.83 ERA over three seasons at Wichita State, but he’s been much more productive in pro ball. The 25-year-old has a 2.02 mark in 40 appearances (eight starts) in the low minors, punching out an impressive 27.8% of opposing hitters.

Mets Outright Cameron Maybin, Wilfredo Tovar

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The Mets have outrighted outfielder Cameron Maybin and infielder Wilfredo Tovar to Triple-A Syracuse after both cleared waivers, notes Tim Healey of Newsday (Twitter link). Both players have the right to refuse a minor league assignment and elect free agency.

With their outfield in shambles, New York acquired Maybin from the Cubs a few weeks ago. The hope was the respected veteran would prove a competent fill-in while many of the Mets regulars recovered from various injuries. That didn’t prove to be the case, though, as the 34-year-old went just 1-28 with three walks and twelve strikeouts in nine games. The Mets designated Maybin for assignment on Monday, selecting the hot-hitting Mason Williams from Triple-A in his place.

Tovar’s major league work was even sparser than Maybin’s. Selected to the roster on May 18, Tovar only picked up twelve plate appearances in six games before being removed from the roster. The Mets designated the 29-year-old for assignment after claiming Travis Blankenhorn off waivers on Tuesday.

Marlins Activate Elieser Hernandez, Designate Luis Marte

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The Marlins announced they’ve reinstated right-hander Elieser Hernández from the 60-day injured list to start tonight’s game against the Pirates. Infielder Luis Marté was designated for assignment to open active and 40-man roster spots.

Hernández hasn’t pitched since April 3. He left that start, his first of the year, with biceps inflammation that ultimately required a two-month absence. It was a disappointing beginning to the year for a hurler who earned himself a season-opening rotation spot with a quietly stellar 2020 campaign. Hernández made six starts for the Fish last season and worked to a 3.16 ERA over 25 2/3 innings, backed up by excellent strikeout and walk rates (32.1% and 4.7%, respectively).

Despite the absences of Hernández and Sixto Sánchez (who hasn’t pitched all year because of recurring shoulder discomfort), Miami’s rotation has been among the better groups in the league. Marlins starters rank eighth in MLB in ERA (3.38), with middle-of-the-pack placements in SIERA (4.07) and strikeout rate minus walk rate (15.4 percentage points). Pablo López, Sandy Alcantara and Trevor Rogers have each been quite good, while rookie Cody Poteet has put together four strong starts since making his MLB debut last month. In spite of that quality production, the Marlins sit in fourth place in the NL East at 24-30 thanks to some offensive struggles.

Marté was selected to the roster last week when starting shortstop Miguel Rojas went on the injured list. The 27-year-old utilityman made his MLB debut on Monday against the Blue Jays, going 0-2 with a walk. The Marlins will now have a week to trade Marté or place him on outright waivers in hopes of sending him back to Triple-A Jacksonville, where he’s hit .263/.279/.456 in 61 plate appearances this year.

Cardinals Activate Andrew Miller, Designate Tyler Webb

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The Cardinals announced they’re activating lefty reliever Andrew Miller from the 10-day injured list. Fellow southpaw Tyler Webb was designated for assignment to clear active roster space. Webb’s designation also creates a vacancy on St. Louis’ 40-man roster, which now sits at 39.

Miller has been out since April 30 due to a blister on his right foot. The 36-year-old got off to a poor start before the injury, allowing seven runs with eight strikeouts and four walks over 7 1/3 innings. Perhaps more worrisome, Miller’s raw stuff looks to have taken a significant step back. He averaged just 87.2 MPH on his four-seam fastball and 77.8 MPH on his slider in the season’s first month, down more than two ticks on both offerings relative to last season and nowhere near the mid-90s heater and mid-80s breaking ball he had at his dominant peak.

Despite the diminished stuff, Miller was a decent bullpen option as recently as 2020. He tossed 13 frames of 2.77 ERA/3.41 SIERA ball last year, continuing to miss bats at a quality rate. The St. Louis front office evidently felt he’d be a better second lefty bullpen option (behind Génesis Cabrera) than Webb.

Given how Webb has started the year, that’s certainly a reasonable belief. The 30-year-old has had a nightmarish campaign, allowing a whopping 26 runs (24 earned) over his first 16 1/3 innings. Webb has seemingly lost his control of the strike zone, issuing nineteen free passes while striking out just fourteen. Webb’s 20.7% walk rate is tied for fourth-highest among the 451 pitchers to have thrown at least ten MLB innings this season.

Webb is out of minor league option years, so the Cards could only continue to let him work through his control issues at the major league level or designate him for assignment. Ultimately, the front office made the decision to remove him from the 40-man roster. That’s no doubt a bitter pill to swallow given that Webb pitched to a strong 2.08 ERA/4.22 SIERA just last season. The Cardinals will now have a week to trade him or place him outright waivers.

Pirates Activate Ke’Bryan Hayes, Option Wil Crowe

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The Pirates are reinstating Ke’Bryan Hayes from the 60-day injured list, the team announced. Wil Crowe has been optioned to Triple-A Indianapolis to clear active roster space. Hayes is hitting second and starting at third base in this evening’s game against the Marlins.

Hayes is arguably the most important player in the Pirates organization, so his return is a welcome development for the team and its fans alike. The 24-year-old entered the year as a popular pick to win the NL Rookie of the Year award after he burst onto the scene in 2020. Hayes, known more for his elite glove than his bat in the minors, made his MLB debut last September and hit a spectacular .376/.442/.682 over his first 95 plate appearances. No one reasonably expected him to duplicate that kind of production, but the offensive outburst coupled with his sterling defensive reputation makes it easy to envision Hayes as a cornerstone position player whom the rebuilding club can build around over the next few years.

Unfortunately, a left wrist injury sent him to the injured list just two games into the regular season. While Hayes wasn’t initially expected to miss much time, he suffered a setback in late April that has kept him out of major league action for the past two months. In his absence, the Pirates have turned to Erik González, Phillip Evans and Wilmer Difo at the hot corner to dreadful results. Pittsburgh third basemen have hit just .201/.254/.282, which ties the Royals group for the worst offensive output at the position in the league.

Crowe, acquired from the Nationals as part of the Josh Bell deal last winter, has made eight appearances (seven starts) this season. They’ve not gone well, as the righty has only managed a 7.26 ERA/5.06 SIERA with worse than average strikeout and walk rates (19.3% and 11.7%, respectively). The Pirates viewed the 26-year-old as a big league ready rotation arm when they brought him in, so it wouldn’t be surprising to see him back in the majors in relatively short order if he can get on track in Indianapolis. The 20-34 Bucs aren’t contenders, so the primary focus this season is determining whether younger, cost-controlled players like Crowe can be a part of the organization’s long-term future.

Hayes’ activation from the 60-day IL required the opening of a 40-man roster spot. Right-hander JT Brubaker, who went on bereavement leave last weekend, has been placed on the COVID-19 IL while he goes through intake testing protocols. That temporarily creates the 40-man vacancy for Hayes’ return, although the club will need to make another 40-man move once Brubaker clears the intake process.

Giants Release Shun Yamaguchi

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The Giants have released right-hander Shun Yamaguchi, tweets Andrew Baggarly of The Athletic. The former Blue Jays right-hander, who inked a minor league contract with San Francisco after he was released by Toronto, announced on Instagram that he is headed back to his native Japan.

Yamaguchi, 33, starred for the Yokohama DeNA Bay Stars and the Yomiuri Giants in a 14-year career in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball before pursuing MLB opportunities in the 2019-20 offseason. He parlayed a career 3.35 ERA in Japan — including a 2.91 ERA and 26.7 percent strikeout rate in his final NPB season — into a multi-year deal with Toronto. The Blue Jays inked Yamaguchi to a two-year, $6.35MM deal on the heels of that terrific NPB career. It was a low-risk investment, but one that simply didn’t pan out.

Through 25 2/3 innings with the Jays last year, Yamaguchi pitched to an 8.06 ERA with a lackluster 26-to-17 K/BB ratio and six home runs allowed. The Blue Jays designated Yamaguchi for assignment and released him before Spring Training games began. He latched on with San Francisco and had a strong spring showing (one run n six innings), but his work in Triple-A thus far has been sub-par. He’s been tagged for 18 runs (16 earned) on 19 hits and 14 walks with 25 strikeouts through 23 1/3 innings.

Given Yamaguchi’s track record in Nippon Professional Baseball, it’s quite possible that he’ll latch on with another club in Japan. There’s certainly nothing that rules out another attempt in MLB somewhere down the road, but for the time being it seems that’s not Yamaguchi’s focus.

Red Sox Designate Colten Brewer For Assignment

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The Red Sox have designated right-hander Colten Brewer for assignment in order to create 40-man roster space for righty Brandon Workman, per a club announcement. Skipper Alex Cora announced earlier today that Workman would be selected to the MLB roster and Brewer would be optioned, but the Sox have now removed Brewer from the 40-man roster entirely.

Brewer, 28, has spent parts of the past three seasons with the Sox after coming over from the Padres in a trade that sent minor league infielder Esteban Quiroz to San Diego. He pitched just one inning for Boston in 2021, yielding four runs in his lone game of the season.

The 2020 campaign was also a struggle for Brewer, who was tagged for a 5.56 ERA in 25 2/3 innings last summer. He posted a respectable 4.12 ERA in 54 2/3 innings with the Sox back in 2019, but that year’s 13.4 percent walk rate was a red flag that made it fair to question whether he’d be able to sustain that level of run prevention.

All told, Brewer has pitched 91 innings in the Majors between the Padres and the Red Sox, logging a collective 5.04 ERA (4.94 SIERA) with a 20.3 percent strikeout rate, a 13.4 percent ground-ball rate and a 50.4 percent ground-ball rate. Brewer sits about 94 mph with his go-to cutter and has, at his best, missed bats at a solid level. The past few seasons have been a struggle both in the Majors and in Triple-A, however. The Sox will have a week to trade Brewer or place him on outright waivers.

Red Sox Select Brandon Workman

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The Red Sox are selecting the contract of right-hander Brandon Workman, manager Alex Cora announced to reporters this morning. Righty Colten Brewer is being optioned to Triple-A Worcester in a corresponding 26-man roster move. A 40-man roster move will be announced later today as well. Workman, who signed a minor league deal to return to the Sox after being cut loose by the Cubs, had triggered a June 1 opt-out clause in his Red Sox deal earlier this week. That gave the Sox 48 hours to either release him or add him to the big league roster, and they’ve chosen the latter.

Workman, 32, pitched just eight innings for the Cubs earlier this season, allowing nine runs (six earned) on a dozen hits and seven walks with 11 punchouts in that short time. He looked quite effective until being tagged for three runs in each of his two final appearances with Chicago. Workman was on a one-year deal worth $1MM, so the Cubs didn’t have a particularly long leash when he struggled early in the year. That he was even available on such an affordable deal was a reflection of similar struggles he endured following a trade from Boston to Philadelphia last summer.

Of course, Workman is no stranger to the Red Sox organization. Boston selected him out of the University of Texas with their second-round pick in 2010, and he spent his entire professional career in the organization up until last August’s trade. Things didn’t pan out for Workman as a starter early in his big league tenure, but a full-time move to the bullpen proved to be a career-changing decision. From 2017-20, Workman threw 157 1/3 innings out of the Boston bullpen and notched a 2.57 ERA with a hearty 29 percent strikeout rate against an 11.8 percent walk rate.

As evidenced by that elevated walk rate, control has long been an issue for Workman, but he’s managed to overcome his sub-par strike-throwing skills by missing bats at a high rate and keeping the ball on the ground at an above-average 46.8 percent clip. Outside of his rocky stints with the Phillies and the Cubs, he’s been a solid late-inning reliever. He’s unlikely to be thrown right back into the fire as the Red Sox’ closer — especially with Matt Barnes pitching so well — but it wouldn’t be all that surprising if Workman resurfaced as a viable setup option before too long. He has some work to do to right the ship, but his poor performance since last summer’s trade effectively amounts to a two-month slump.

Mariners Place Justin Dunn On Injured List, Outright Eric Campbell

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10:10 pm: Dunn doesn’t sound overly concerned about the injury, telling the Mariners television crew his shoulder “just didn’t bounce back” the way he’d expected after his start on May 29 (h/t to Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times). Dunn believes he’ll only need a few days of rest before he can ramp activities back up.

8:45 pm: The Mariners announced they’re placing right-hander Justin Dunn on the injured list, retroactive to June 1, with inflammation in his throwing shoulder. Fellow righty Robert Dugger has been recalled to take his active roster spot. The team did not provide a timetable for Dunn’s potential return.

Dunn has made nine starts for Seattle this year, tossing 45 1/3 innings of 3.18 ERA ball. That’s high-end bottom line production, although his underlying metrics indicate he’s been rather fortunate to keep runs off the board at that level. Dunn’s striking out batters at an average 23.4% clip, but he’s issuing walks at a very high 14.1% rate. Opposing hitters have only managed a .196 batting average on balls in play against Dunn, who has stranded an unsustainably high 82% of baserunners to this point.

To his credit, Dunn has missed a few more bats than ever this season. The aforementioned strikeout rate is his career-best mark, as is his 9.9% swinging strike rate. He’s also working with career-high velocity. Dunn’s average four-seam fastball speed sits at 93.7 MPH, up more than two ticks relative to last year’s mark. His development is welcome news for a Mariners club counting on the former Mets first-rounder to cement himself as a long-term rotation option.

Seattle has rolled with a six-man rotation throughout the season. Dugger, who has started a pair of his eight MLB appearances, seems likely to step into that mix. Alternatively, the M’s could allow each of Yusei Kikuchi, Chris Flexen, Logan Gilbert, Justus Sheffield and Marco Gonzales to take the ball every fifth day. The Mariners have remained committed to the six-man starting staff all year, but depth starters Nick Margevicius, Ljay Newsome and Erik Swanson are all now on the injured list.

Seattle also announced they’ve outrighted corner infielder Eric Campbell to Triple-A Tacoma. Campbell, who has already cleared waivers, has the right to reject the assignment in favor of free agency, having previously been outrighted in his career. He played in four games for Seattle this year, his first big league action since 2016. The Mariners now have two vacancies on their 40-man roster.

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