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Mariners Sign Trio Of Players To Minor League Deals

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The Mariners have signed utilityman Ty Kelly to a minor league deal, per an announcement from the Long Island Ducks of the independent Atlantic League (Twitter link). Kelly had signed with the Ducks in April but will now return to affiliated ball. He’s been assigned to Triple-A Tacoma.

Kelly, 32, announced his retirement from professional baseball in August 2019. He sat out the 2020 season but is making a comeback attempt after more than a year and a half away. Kelly’s MLB time to this point has been bookended by stints with the Mets in 2016 and 2018, although his most extensive playing time came with the 2017 Phillies. Altogether, he’s taken 188 plate appearances at the highest level, slashing .203/.288/.323. Kelly carries a much better .268/.368/.382 mark in parts of eight seasons at Triple-A and has experience all around the diamond.

The Mariners also signed southpaw Williams Jerez to a minors deal, per his transactions log at MLB.com. He’s also been assigned to Triple-A. Jerez tossed 25 1/3 innings across 29 major league relief appearances for the Angels, Giants and Pirates from 2018-19. He didn’t find much success at the MLB level, working to a 5.33 ERA/5.02 SIERA. Jerez has been better in Triple-A, where he’s tossed 123 2/3 frames of 4.15 ERA ball with solid strikeout and walk rates (27.1% and 8.9%, respectively).

Kelly and Jerez are joined on the Rainiers active roster by longtime big leaguer Héctor Santiago. The veteran lefty signed with Seattle earlier this month and has already made a pair of starts for Tacoma, working nine innings of four-run ball with a whopping 16 strikeouts and five walks. Santiago was a mainstay in big league rotations for much of the last decade, throwing 100-plus innings in five different seasons. He didn’t pitch last year after being released by the Tigers in July. Santiago offers an experienced depth option for a Seattle club relying on quite a few young arms at the major league level right now.

Braves Acquire Yoan Lopez From Diamondbacks

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The Braves announced they’ve acquired reliever Yoan López from the Diamondbacks. Outfield prospect Deivi Estrada has been sent to Arizona in return. Atlanta optioned López to Triple-A Gwinnett.

Arizona designated López for assignment earlier this week to clear 40-man roster space for the selection of Josh Reddick. The righty has gotten off to a difficult start to the year, pitching to a 6.57 ERA over 12 1/3 innings. That’s his second straight season of poor run prevention, as López only managed a 5.95 mark across 19 2/3 frames in 2020.

Those struggles led the D-Backs to move on from the 28-year-old, ending his six-year tenure in the organization. The previous front office regime signed López to an $8.27MM bonus as an amateur coming out of Cuba in January 2015. Under the terms of the previous collective bargaining agreement, the López signing barred the Diamondbacks from signing any other international amateur prospects for greater than a $300K bonus during either of the 2015-16 or 2016-17 international signing periods.

That decision proved to be one the organization would regret, as López never lived up to those lofty standards. He wasn’t completely unproductive in Arizona, though. López tossed 60 2/3 innings of 3.41 ERA ball in 2019, proving to be one of the D-Backs more reliable relievers that season. While he’s struggled to keep runs off the board the past two seasons, he has at least shown some flashes of promise.

López is inducing ground balls at a decent 45.2% rate, and he’s seen a slight uptick in swings and misses this year. His 21.3% strikeout rate is a career best (albeit still three percentage points worse than average for a reliever), excluding a 2018 season in which he only pitched nine innings. More impressively, López has generated whiffs on 12.7% of his pitches, a mark that’s slightly better than league average. He also brings a power arm to Atlanta, sitting 95.7 MPH on his heater.

Perhaps most appealing for the Braves is López’s contractual flexibility. He still has all three minor league option years remaining, so the front office can shuttle him back-and-forth between Atlanta and Gwinnett as they see fit for the next few seasons, so long as he sticks on the 40-man roster. As a player with 2.011 years of MLB service, he’s only making slightly more than the league minimum salary this year.

In return, the Diamondbacks will pick up a low-level developmental flyer. Estrada, 20, didn’t advance past the Dominican Summer League in the Atlanta organization. He hit .307/.433/.366 with more walks than strikeouts in 255 plate appearances at that level in 2019, playing mostly center field. Estrada has never been included on a Braves system ranking at Baseball America or FanGraphs.

Latest On Mariners COVID Situation

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MAY 22: Dugger and Misiewicz were each reinstated from the IL before this evening’s game against the Padres, per a team announcement. Fletcher and Mills were optioned back to Tacoma.

MAY 21, 6:17pm: The Mariners announced a series of roster moves related to the positive test. Right-handers Robert Dugger, Drew Steckenrider and Will Vest were all placed on the IL, as was lefty Anthony Misiewicz. The Mariners did not indicate that a player tested positive but rather that the moves were made “out of an abundance of caution” due to a “potential” positive. Further testing and contact tracing is being conducted.

In a slate of corresponding moves, the Mariners reinstated right-hander Keynan Middleton from the injured list, selected the contract of journeyman infielder Eric Campbell and recalled three relievers from Triple-A Tacoma: lefty Aaron Fletcher and righties Wyatt Mills and Yohan Ramirez.

MAY 21, 2:08pm: The Mariners are dealing with a COVID-19 situation, as reported by both The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal and ESPN.com’s Jeff Passan.  At least one player has tested positive for the virus, Passan reports, “and there is concern within the organization that the relatively low level of vaccination within the clubhouse could be problematic.”  Not only are the Mariners under the league-mandated 85% vaccination threshold for the lessening of COVID protocols, but the M’s “are among the least-vaccinated teams in” the entire league.

The Mariners are in San Diego tonight to begin a three-game series with the Padres.  Any of those games or perhaps even the three-game set with the Athletics from May 24-26 could perhaps face postponement in the event of a widespread outbreak amongst the team, though there isn’t yet any word that the M’s have anything beyond just the one positive test.

Giants Select Scott Kazmir, Designate Braden Bishop

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Scott Kazmir’s comeback story is complete, as the Giants have selected the veteran southpaw’s contract from Triple-A.  Kazmir will start for the Giants in today’s game against the Dodgers — ironically, the team Kazmir last pitched for in the big leagues, back during the 2016 season.  In corresponding moves, outfielder Braden Bishop was designated for assignment, and left-hander Sam Selman was optioned to Triple-A.

After appearing in parts of 12 MLB seasons from 2004-16, Kazmir pitched 12 innings with the Dodgers’ Triple-A team in 2017 but it seemed like his career was drawing to a close.  However, the left-hander announced in early 2020 that he was preparing a comeback attempt, and after a stint in independent baseball, Kazmir landed a minor league deal with San Francisco last February.

Giants president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi is no stranger to Kazmir, as the southpaw pitched for the Athletics and Dodgers when Zaidi was working in those clubs’ front offices.  Since being hired as the Giants’ PBO, Zaidi has also developed a knack for finding hidden gems and reviving stalled careers — this roster development can be seen in the standings, as many of those unheralded players have helped the Giants to a 28-17 record.

Kazmir might represent the most impressive revival yet, considering his 37-year-old age, his long absence from the big leagues, and the number of injuries that dotted his career.  It is worth remembering, however, that when Kazmir was in his prime, he was a very effective pitcher.  Kazmir has appeared in three All-Star games, helped the Rays reach the World Series in 2008, and he has a 4.01 ERA over 1689 2/3 innings.

San Francisco has received excellent results from its rotation so far, though Kazmir will now get an opportunity due to injuries to Aaron Sanchez and Logan Webb.  Sanchez’s return may be a while off and Webb’s shoulder strain isn’t thought to be overly serious, but Kazmir will get some time to show what he can do in 2021.

Bishop’s tenure with the Giants could come to a quick end, as the team only claimed him off waivers from the Mariners on May 17.  Bishop has appeared in each of the last three MLB seasons, hitting .133/.188/.156 over 99 plate appearances with Seattle.

Phillies Promote Spencer Howard, Place Matt Moore On 10-Day IL

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The Phillies have officially called up right-hander Spencer Howard to start tonight’s game against the Red Sox.  A roster spot was created when left-hander Matt Moore was placed on the 10-day IL due to a back injury, according to Matt Breen of the Philadelphia Inquirer (Twitter link).  According to the Phillies, Moore is suffering from back spasms, and his placement is retroactive to May 21.

Howard began the season in Philadelphia’s bullpen, as the team intended to deploy him as a reliever in order to better manage his innings.  However, since Moore and Chase Anderson both struggled as the team’s fourth and fifth starters, the decision was made to stretch Howard out back into a starting role.

Manager Joe Girardi told reporters (including NBC Sports Philadelphia’s Jim Salisbury) yesterday that Howard would be limited to roughly 55-60 pitches today.  It remains to be seen how long Howard’s stint in the rotation will last, or whether or not the Phillies will eventually use him as something of a “normal” starter, or whether they’ll continue to use him in these rather limited starts to get as much game action out of the young righty as possible.

Vince Velasquez’s health status will certainly be a factor, as Velasquez was a late scratch from his most recent start due to a finger numbness issue that has bothered him in the past.  Beyond the impressive top trio of Aaron Nola, Zach Eflin, and Zack Wheeler, Velasquez had been giving the Phillies some quality work as the fourth starter, so if he is able to stay healthy and Howard is able to pitch up to expectations, the Phils might suddenly have one of the more solid rotations in the game.  Of course, there isn’t much depth beyond those options, given how Anderson has been relegated to bullpen work and Moore will be out of action for at least the next 10 days.

Howard has a 6.28 ERA over 28 2/3 innings in his brief MLB career thus far, though the 2017 second-rounder is considered to be one of baseball’s better pitching prospects.  Injuries have slowed Howard’s progress (hence the innings limit), though he has performed well when healthy in the minor leagues.  Getting his first taste of Triple-A this year, Howard has allowed only a single run over nine innings, though he has issued five walks.

Cardinals Activate Miles Mikolas From Injured List

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The Cardinals have activated Miles Mikolas off the 10-day injured list, and the right-hander will start against the Cubs tonight.  Righty Seth Elledge was sent to Triple-A to open up a 26-man roster spot for Mikolas.

October 11, 2019 marked the last time Mikolas appeared in a big league game, as he allowed one run over six innings in Game 1 of the 2019 NLCS.  Flexor tendon surgery caused Mikolas to miss the entire 2020 season, and then shoulder problems delayed his return until today.

This isn’t the first time Mikolas’ Major League career has been interrupted, as he headed to Japan following the 2014 season and revived his stock with three outstanding seasons with the Yomiuri Giants.  After signing a two-year, $15.5MM deal with the Cardinals in the 2017-18 offseason, Mikolas took that new form back into MLB, finishing sixth in NL Cy Young Award voting in 2018.

That success led to another contract with St. Louis, as Mikolas signed a four-year extension worth $68MM.  Since that extension started with the 2020 season, however, Mikolas has yet to throw even a single pitch since that new deal kicked in, making it a questionable investment to date for the Cards’ front office.  Still, there is plenty of time for Mikolas to still deliver, and his return should further bolster the Cardinals’ pitching staff.

Jack Flaherty, Kwang Hyun Kim, and John Gant have all been very solid for the Cards this season, while Carlos Martinez and Adam Wainwright have been a little more inconsistent.  St. Louis plans to use a six-man rotation for the time being, unless plans change due to other injuries.

Mariners Claim Daniel Zamora From Mets

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The Mariners announced that left-hander Daniel Zamora was claimed off waivers from the Mets.  Zamora was designated for assignment just yesterday by New York, and now will quickly head to a new team.

Originally a 40th-round pick for the Pirates in the 2015 draft, Zamora reached the majors and posted a 4.08 ERA over 17 2/3 innings with the Mets during the 2018-19 seasons, striking out 24 of his 77 batters faced.  He didn’t make an appearance during the 2020 campaign, and Zamora has been hit hard in Triple-A action this season, with a whopping 20.25 ERA over four appearances and 6 2/3 innings for Triple-A Syracuse.

Despite those recent results, Zamora found a new home in short order.  Like many teams this season, Seattle has been dealing with a number of pitching injuries, and also put four players on the COVID list yesterday.  The Mariners currently have Aaron Fletcher as the only left-handed option in their bullpen, so there appears to be an opportunity for Zamora to find a place back in the majors.

Mets Designate Jake Hager

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The Mets designated outfielder Jake Hager for assignment, the team announced.  Right-hander Jordan Yamamoto was called up from Triple-A, and southpaw Stephen Tarpley was activated off the COVID-related injury list.

New York just selected Hager to the roster a week ago. The 28-year-old earned that promotion with a fantastic start to the year at Triple-A Syracuse, hitting .405/.436/.703 with three homers in 39 plate appearances. Hager only tallied eight plate appearances with the big league club this week, collecting one hit (a single). The Mets will have a week to trade him or expose him to outright waivers.

Yamamoto and Tarpley will add some depth to a New York pitching staff that went through seven relievers in last night’s 12-inning victory over the Marlins. Both hurlers have pitched in one game for the Mets this season.

Marlins Place Jordan Holloway On 10-Day IL, Select Shawn Morimando

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The Marlins have placed righty Jordan Holloway on the 10-day injured list, GM Kim Ng told the Miami Herald’s Jordan McPherson and other reporters.  The Marlins will select the contract of left-hander Shawn Morimando to take Holloway’s spot on the active roster, and right-hander Elieser Hernandez will be moved to the 60-day IL to open up a 40-man roster spot for Morimando.

Holloway threw one inning in last night’s 6-5 loss to the Mets, but left the game due to groin soreness.  Holloway was the second of 10 Miami pitchers to take the mound during the 12-inning game, and the addition of Morimando gives the Marlins at least one more fresh arm heading into today’s action.

While Holloway’s 19.2% strikeout rate and 13.7% walk rate are both well below average, the righty has nonetheless been effective over 17 2/3 innings of work this season, posting a 2.55 ERA.  Holloway’s 5.20 SIERA reflects some significant good fortune, but Holloway has avoided damage with some outstanding hard-contact numbers.

Morimando is now in line to receive his first MLB action since the 2016 season.  Originally a 19th-round pick for the Indians in the 2011 draft, the lefty’s Major League resume consists of 4 2/3 innings for Cleveland in 2016.  Since that cup of coffee in the Show, Morimando pitched in the Blue Jays’ farm system in 2018-19 and he had a stint in the Australian Baseball League before inking a minor league deal with Miami this past offseason.

Hernandez has only pitched in one game this season due to biceps inflammation, so the shift to the 60-day IL covers the time he has already spent on the sidelines.  The right-hander has already thrown one rehab outing, and Hernandez should be in line for at least one more rehab start before being eligible for activation.

Rays Promote Taylor Walls, Claim Deivy Grullon From Mets

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The Rays have officially promoted infield prospect Taylor Walls, as was originally reported yesterday in the aftermath of the club’s four-player trade with the Brewers.

This is one of multiple transactions for the Rays, as Tampa also claimed catcher Deivy Grullon off waivers from the Mets, then optioned Grullon and the newly-acquired Drew Rasmussen to Triple-A.  Right-hander Chris Mazza was also sent to Triple-A after being activated off the 10-day injured list.  Left-hander Cody Reed was moved to the 60-day injured list to open up a 40-man roster spot.

With Willy Adames off to Milwaukee, the Rays addressed their shortstop vacancy not by calling up uber-prospect Wander Franco, but rather yet another well-regarded Tampa Bay farmhand in Walls.  Defensively, Walls has long been big league-ready, as he is considered a plus defender at shortstop and “widely considered the best defensive player at any position in the Rays’ Minor League system,” as per MLB Pipeline’s scouting report.  Walls has also stolen 66 bases (though in 99 attempts) during his minor league career and hit .327/.468/.490 over 62 Triple-A plate appearances this season.

This is the fifth time Grullon has been claimed off waivers since September 2020, and the second time Tampa Bay has claimed him in as many months.  After initially taking Grullon from the Reds in early April, the catcher was again DFA’ed later in the month and claimed by the Mets.  Through it all, Grullon has yet to appear in any Major League games in 2021, but he’ll now head to Triple-A as a depth option.

Shoulder inflammation cost Mazza just under a month of action.  The righty posted an 8.49 ERA over his first 11 2/3 innings with the Rays, after being acquired from the Red Sox in the February trade that also brought Jeffrey Springs to Tampa.

Reed only went to the 10-day IL on Wednesday, marking the second time this season that Reed has been sidelined by a numbness/weakness issue in his left thumb.  Manager Kevin Cash told Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times and other reporters that Reed has yet to see a specialist about the problem, though it’s probably safe to assume that next step is coming soon.  The left-hander has a 3.72 ERA over 9 2/3 relief innings for the Rays this season.

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