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Rays Promote Junior Caminero

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Sept. 22: Caminero’s promotion to the Majors has now been formally announced by the Rays. Outfielder Luke Raley was placed on the 10-day IL, opening an active roster spot, and righty Trevor Kelley was designated for assignment to make space on the 40-man roster. (You can read up on those corresponding moves here.)

Sept. 21: The Rays are calling up top infield prospect Junior Caminero, reports Jeff Passan of ESPN. They’ll need to select him onto the 40-man roster, which is at capacity.

Caminero, who turned 20 years old in July, becomes the youngest player in the majors. He makes the jump directly from Double-A Montgomery, where he has spent the bulk of the 2023 campaign. Caminero began the year in High-A and was bumped to Montgomery at the end of May.

A native of the Dominican Republic, Caminero signed with Cleveland during the 2019-20 international signing period. He was playing in the Dominican Summer League when the Rays acquired him in a trade that has the potential to go down as one of the more lopsided in recent history. At the deadline for teams to set their 40-man rosters in advance of the 2021 Rule 5 draft, Cleveland sent Caminero to Tampa Bay for right-hander Tobias Myers.

Myers posted a 6.00 ERA in 14 Triple-A starts and was lost on waivers without getting to the majors. Caminero has broken through as one of the sport’s most talented young players. He reached full-season ball last season before this year’s true emergence as a top-tier prospect.

Caminero raked at a .356/.409/.685 clip in 36 High-A contests. He has barely slowed down since moving to Double-A, shredding older competition en route to a .309/.373/.548 line. The right-handed hitter has popped 31 home runs, 18 doubles and six triples over 510 cumulative trips to the dish. He has kept his strikeout rate to a lower than average 19.6%, including a meager 17.1% mark in Double-A.

Alongside the massive numbers, Caminero has impressed scouts with his physical tools. ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel named him the sport’s #5 prospect last month; he also checks in fifth on the updated ranking at Baseball America. Those reports credit him with plus or better power potential, with McDaniel noting that he has a chance to be a 40-homer hitter at peak. ESPN suggests his plate approach can be a little aggressive — he’s walking at an average 8.2% clip in the minors — but there’s general agreement that Caminero could be an impact offensive player.

It’s nevertheless a bold move for the Rays to call upon him in the midst of a pennant race. He’ll obviously face a massive escalation in the quality of pitcher he’ll face down the stretch. Tampa Bay has already secured a playoff spot but has little margin for error if they’re to track down the Orioles for the AL East title and top seed in the American League. They’re a game and a half back of Baltimore after they beat the Angels and the O’s dropped their matchup with Cleveland.

Caminero has mostly split his time between third base and shortstop in the minors. Scouting reports suggest he’s likely to settle in at third base as he fills out physically. Isaac Paredes and Curtis Mead are splitting the hot corner, while defensive specialist Taylor Walls is at shortstop. Walls has a dismal .170/.267/.226 batting line in the second half, so the Rays could give some reps there to Caminero if they’re in search of an offensive boost. Luke Raley is also day-to-day with a left arm issue that recently required an MRI, freeing up some designated hitter at-bats (either for Caminero directly or for Paredes if the Rays wanted to plug Caminero in at third base).

The Rays will be able to carry Caminero on the playoff roster if they decide he’s ready for October action. While he wasn’t on the 40-man roster at the start of September, he was in the organization. Teams can (and often do) petition the league for a player who wasn’t on the 40-man at the beginning of the month to get onto a postseason roster as an injury substitute.

Caminero will be paid at the MLB minimum rate and collect a couple weeks of service time. He won’t be eligible for free agency until after the 2029 season and won’t qualify for arbitration until the 2026-27 offseason at the earliest. Future assignments back to the minor leagues could push that timeline further. Caminero will remain a rookie headed into 2024, leaving open the possibility of netting the club an extra draft choice via the Prospect Promotion Incentive if they carry him for a full service year.

Yankees Recall Yoendrys Gómez For MLB Debut

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The Yankees announced that they have placed left-hander Wandy Peralta on the 15-day injured list, retroactive to September 19, with a left triceps strain. In a corresponding move, they recalled right-hander Yoendrys Gómez, who will be making his major league debut as soon as he gets into a game.

Peralta, 32, has been a quietly effective reliever over the past few years. Dating back to the start of the 2020 campaign, he has an earned run average of 3.01 over 200 appearances. That includes a 2.83 ERA in 63 appearances for the Yankees this year, along with a 22.5% strikeout rate, 13.2% walk rate and 57.4% ground ball rate.

He hasn’t appeared in a game in over a week due to the triceps issue. Manager Aaron Boone told Bryan Hoch of MLB.com this week that the issue is considered “pretty minor,” but he’ll now land on the injured list regardless. Perhaps with the Yankees playing out the string on a lost season, they decided it best not to risk making the issue worse. Regardless of the severity, Peralta’s season is now done just based on the time left on the schedule.

Peralta is a free agent this winter and should be able to market himself well based on his aforementioned strong results in recent years. Ending the season on the injured list isn’t ideal, but there’s nothing at this point to suggest it will significantly impact his market or his 2024 season.

As for Gómez, the 23-year-old gets to the big leagues for the first time. Signed as an amateur out of Venezuela in 2016, he has been driving through the minors since then, but with his share of speed bumps. His work in the lower levels had impressed the club enough to get him a 40-man spot in November of 2020, to keep him out of that year’s Rule 5 draft. But he would only throw 23 2/3 innings of Single-A ball in 2021 due to a combination of a shoulder injury, contracting COVID-19 and then Tommy John surgery.

In the second half of 2022, he was able to throw 47 innings across three levels, finishing at Double-A with a combined 2.49 ERA in that time. This year, he’s made 19 Double-A starts with a 3.58 ERA and a strong 28.5% strikeout rate, but a concerning 13.5% walk rate. He’s been on Baseball America’s list of top 30 Yankee prospects since 2019, peaking at #8 going into 2021 but dropping to the back end due to recent hiccups.

Despite all the challenges he has faced, Gómez has persisted and will now get a brief look in the majors as this season winds down. He should be able to provide Boone with a multi-inning relief option as the club gets through the final week-plus of their schedule.

Gómez is in his final option season and will be out of options next year. Clubs are sometimes granted a fourth option if a player misses significant time due to injury, which could apply to Gómez based on his surgery, but that’s purely speculative.

Braves Place Max Fried On 15-Day Injured List

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The Braves announced Friday that ace Max Fried has been placed on the 15-day injured list due to a blister on his left index finger. Righty Darius Vines has been recalled from Triple-A Gwinnett to take his spot on the roster.

Fried’s placement on the injured list will cause some brief panic for Braves fans, but the 15-day term will expire before the National League Division Series kicks off. As such, the injury isn’t likely to impact his postseason availability. Mark Bowman of MLB.com tweets that Fried suggested his regular season might be over last night after the blister issue flared back up, but his playoff status isn’t likely to be in jeopardy.

The IL stint will give Fried a couple weeks of rest before he takes the mound again — likely in the first or second game of the Division Series. Atlanta has long since clinched a postseason berth, and as the NL’s top seed, they’ll have a bye for the Wild Card round of play. Their commanding lead in the National League will give them the luxury of skipping a couple starts for Fried and also recalling a fresh arm (Vines) to keep the pitching staff fully stocked.

Fried’s 2023 season has been shortened by a hamstring strain, a forearm strain and now this blister issue. He’ll finish out the year at just 77 2/3 innings, though he’s been characteristically excellent when on the mound. In 14 starts, he’s pitched to a pristine 2.55 ERA with a 25.7% strikeout rate, 5.8% walk rate, 57.7% ground-ball rate and 0.81 HR/9. Dating back to 2020, Fried boasts a 2.66 ERA in 484 2/3 big league innings.

Assuming the blister issue heals as expected, Fried will step into a playoff rotation alongside veteran Charlie Morton and sophomore hurler Spencer Strider — baseball’s strikeout leader. Righty Bryce Elder would be next in line, although he’s at a career-high workload already and has struggled after a brilliant three-month run to begin the season. Since July 9, Elder has pitched to a 5.40 ERA in 68 1/3 frames.

While Fried’s absence won’t impact the Braves’ playoff position, his placement on the IL could still impact the postseason picture as a whole. The Cubs are in a tight race with the Marlins and Reds for the final National League Wild Card spot — the three teams are separated by just a half game — and Chicago would’ve drawn Fried at some point during next week’s penultimate series of the season in Atlanta. Much to the chagrin of Reds and Marlins fans, the Cubs will now dodge that bullet.

Royals Outright Matt Beaty

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The Royals have sent Matt Beaty outright to Triple-A Omaha, according to the transaction tracker at MLB.com. The left-handed hitter was designated for assignment on Tuesday.

Beaty appeared in 26 games after re-signing with K.C. on a minor league pact in June. He’d also signed with the Royals in Spring Training before being traded to the Giants on Opening Day. San Francisco immediately called him up but only played him four times before waiving him. After going unclaimed, Beaty chose free agency and circled back to Kansas City.

In 67 trips to the plate, Beaty hit .232/.358/.304. He walked six times with 12 strikeouts but only had four extra-base hits, all of which were doubles. Beaty is best suited for first base or a corner outfield position, putting extra pressure on his bat.

The former 12th-round draftee posted above-average offensive numbers in a part-time role with the Dodgers from 2019-21. He hit .262/.333/.425 in 240 contests. Los Angeles nevertheless DFA him before the start of the 2022 campaign. Beaty hasn’t hit well in scattered looks over the two seasons since then. He’s a .173/.271/.240 hitter in 119 big league plate appearances since the Dodgers dealt him.

Beaty has the right to again test free agency. He’d be a minor league free agent at the beginning of the offseason anyhow unless the Royals add him back to the roster.

Guardians To Activate Shane Bieber From Injured List

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The Guardians are listing Shane Bieber as the probable starter for tomorrow evening’s matchup with the Orioles. He’ll go up against Baltimore right-hander Dean Kremer.

That indicates that Cleveland will reinstate Bieber from the 60-day injured list tomorrow. As reflected on the MLB.com injury tracker, the club is hoping for Bieber to throw around 80 pitches. The 2020 AL Cy Young winner tossed 64 pitches on Sunday in a rehab appearance with Triple-A Columbus.

Bieber hasn’t pitched in a big league game since July 9. Coming out of the All-Star Break, the Guardians announced he’d been dealing with forearm discomfort. An MRI revealed elbow inflammation that led the club to shut him down entirely for a few weeks. While there was never any suggestion he could require surgery, the issue was serious enough to cost him almost all of the second half.

His return comes too late for Cleveland to make a move in the standings. They’ll be eliminated from postseason contention with their next loss or a Minnesota win. Barring a nine-game win streak to close out the year, they’ll finish with a sub-.500 record. Bieber’s return won’t mean much in the standings, though he’ll get to make two or three starts to hopefully demonstrate a clean bill of health heading into the offseason.

Assuming he’s healthy, Bieber figures to be a popular target in trade discussions. The Guardians have shown a willingness to move quality starters as they get close to free agency, dealing away the likes of Corey Kluber, Trevor Bauer, Mike Clevinger and Carlos Carrasco. There was some thought they’d do the same with Bieber this summer, though his injury took that off the table. Cleveland did flip Aaron Civale to Tampa Bay for top first base prospect Kyle Manzardo instead.

Bieber is making just north of $10MM this season. He’ll be due a raise on that sum for what’ll be his final arbitration campaign next year. Bieber is coming off a relative down year by his standards. Prior to the stint on the injured list, he’d turned in a 3.77 ERA with a career-low 19.4% strikeout rate through 19 starts.

Opposing teams will surely still have interest in prying him from Cleveland. It remains to be seen if the offers will be strong enough for the Guardians to make a move. Cleveland figures to make another run at competing in the AL Central. The second-year trio of Gavin Williams, Tanner Bibee and Logan Allen makes for a strong rotation nucleus, but Cal Quantrill and Triston McKenzie have struggled through injury-plagued 2023 campaigns.

McKenzie could also make it back in the coming days. MLB.com notes that the Guardians are hopeful the righty could take the ball in Sunday’s series finale; the club still lists their probable starter for that game as to be determined. The Guardians already have an opening on the 40-man roster for Bieber after waiving Matt Moore this week. They’d need to create a spot for McKenzie if he comes back this weekend, which could be accomplished by transferring Bibee to the 60-day IL due to his season-ending hip issue.

Braves Outright Dereck Rodríguez, Lucas Luetge

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The Braves have sent right-hander Dereck Rodríguez outright to Triple-A Gwinnett, according to his transactions tracker on MLB.com. That indicates he cleared waivers after being designated for assignment earlier this week. The same is true for left-hander Lucas Luetge, per Justin Toscano of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Rodríguez, 31, signed a minor league deal with the Twins in the offseason. He was selected to the big league roster in May and made one appearance before heading to Atlanta on a waiver claim. He spent most of his time on optional assignment before being passed through waivers in July. He stuck with the organization and was added back to the roster this past weekend. He was sent in for some mop-up duty on Sunday and didn’t exactly get the floor clean, allowing eight earned runs in two innings before being designated for assignment again.

He now has an earned run average of 15.19 this year over four appearances, though that’s mostly due to that recent drubbing. He has a career 4.49 ERA in 234 1/3 innings dating back to 2018, mostly with the Giants. He has thrown 64 Triple-A innings this year with a 5.91 ERA.

Since he has a previous career outright, Rodríguez has the ability to reject this assignment and elect free agency. It’s not clear whether or not he has chosen to do so, but given that the season is almost over and he accepted an outright a few months ago, it’s possible he reports to Gwinnett for a few more outings before the winter arrives.

Luetge, 36, was acquired from the Yankees in the offseason and has bounced on and off the roster all year, with this being the third time Atlanta has passed him through waivers. In the first two instances, he was able to elect free agency since he has more than three years of service time. But since he’s shy of the five-year mark, doing so would have meant forfeiting what was left of his $1.55MM salary.

By sticking around, he kept that money and got selected back to the roster later. Around those transactions, he made 12 big league appearances with a 7.24 ERA. In 20 Triple-A outings this year, he has a 3.91 ERA. He now has the chance to elect free agency again but will likely accept as he has done earlier this season, giving the club some non-roster relief depth for the final weeks of the season.

Cardinals To Place Willson Contreras On Injured List

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The Cardinals are going to place catcher Willson Contreras on the injured list, with manager Oli Marmol relaying the news to reporters, including Katie Woo of The Athletic. The issue is tendonitis in his left wrist, per Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat.

Contreras left yesterday’s game with discomfort in that wrist and didn’t play in today’s contest. It’s unclear how significant this wrist issue is, but it will end his season strictly based on timing since there’s just over a week left on the schedule.

After spending his entire career with the Cubs, Contreras reached free agency after last season. The Cards had a vacancy behind the plate for the first time in years after the retirement of Yadier Molina and eventually moved Contreras across the division by signing him to a five-year, $87.5MM deal with a club option for 2028.

The results of his first year in St. Louis were mixed, to say the least. He has long been considered a bat-first catcher and that continued this year. He hit 20 home runs and walked in 10.3% of his plate appearances, leading to a batting line of .264/.358/.467 and wRC+ of 128. But he was given a grade of -9 Defensive Runs Saved, the worst such mark of his career. Both FanGraphs and Statcast gave him negative grades for his framing, though Statcast did like his blocking and throwing.

Concerns about his defense were seemingly the issue as he was moved off his position in May, serving exclusively as the designated hitter for a time. The club’s president of baseball operations John Mozeliak described the issue as a “lack of confidence” from the pitching staff, but Contreras was put back behind the plate a week later.

That ended up being one strange blip in a disappointing season for the Cards, who are currently 67-86 and in last place in the National League Central, guaranteed to finish with a losing record for just the second time in this century. It’s hard to know how much of those results are part of the transition from Molina to Contreras, but pitching was clearly a problem area for the club. They have a collective 4.81 earned run average at the moment, which places them 25th in the league in that category.

Going forward, it’s possible that the Cards could look to trade a catcher this winter, with Contreras still under contract for four more years. They are looking to add three starting pitchers in the offseason and could do some of that via free agency, but trading from their position player mix will likely have to be a consideration as well. Iván Herrera has always hit well in the minors and that continued to be the case this year, as he slashed .297/.451/.500 in 83 Triple-A games. Andrew Knizner had a serviceable season as well, hitting .241/.284/.433 in his 64 major league games. His 94 wRC+ indicates he was a bit below average in a vacuum but that’s quite good by backup catcher standards.

Herrera doesn’t have much left to prove in the minors and will be out of options next year anyway, meaning he’ll need to hang onto an active roster spot. Knizner still has an option year remaining, which could allow the club to hang onto all three, but gauging league interest could be one path to finding the pitching upgrades they seek.

Reds Release Hunter Renfroe

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The Reds announced that Hunter Renfroe, who was designated for assignment earlier this week, has been released. He’ll head to the open market and will be free to sign with any club.

Renfroe, 31, began the year with the Angels, hitting 19 home runs but otherwise producing underwhelming results at the plate. His .242/.304/.434 slash line translated to a wRC+ of 98, indicating he was just below average overall.

As the Halos fell out of contention in August, Renfroe was one of six impending they put on waivers, hoping for other clubs to take on their contracts as a way to save money and dip under the luxury tax. The Reds took a flier on him but Renfroe’s production tailed off significantly after switching jerseys, as he hit .128/.227/.205 for Cincinnati. That was in a small sample of 44 plate appearances in which he had a .154 batting average on balls in play but the club nonetheless decided to move on.

The slugger is making $11.9MM this year and had about $1.98MM left on his deal when the Reds decided to grab him. That will now go down as a sunk cost, as they will remain on the hook for the approximately $702K left to be paid out. No club was willing to absorb that by claiming him off waivers but perhaps one will be willing to sign him now that they would only be responsible for the prorated league minimum, with that amount subtracted from what the Reds pay.

He’s not having his best season and wouldn’t be postseason eligible for any signing club, but perhaps someone is willing to give him a shot, hoping to give their lineup a boost for the final few weeks. Renfroe has 177 homers in his career and an overall batting line of .239/.300/.478 for a wRC+ of 106. It’s a fairly limited profile since he doesn’t get on base much, steal many bags or provide quality glovework, but many clubs have been intrigued by the power. Since 2019, he’s played for the Padres, Rays, Red Sox and Brewers, before bouncing to the Angels and Reds this year. If he doesn’t find a new club in the next week or so, he can at least start to gauge the interest level for this winter, when he will be a free agent.

Giants Place Brandon Crawford On Injured List, Release Paul DeJong

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The Giants announced a slate of roster moves Thursday, most notably placing shortstop Brandon Crawford on the 10-day injured list due to a hamstring strain and requesting unconditional release waivers on fellow shortstop Paul DeJong. San Francisco has also selected the contract of infielder/outfielder Tyler Fitzgerald, recalled right-hander Tristan Beck and infielder Marco Luciano from Triple-A Sacramento, and optioned right-hander Sean Hjelle to Sacramento. Crawford will be eligible for reinstatement on the final day of the season.

Crawford, 36, exited yesterday’s contest after experiencing discomfort and acknowledged his frustration with the injury following the game (link via Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle). A free agent at season’s end, Crawford is perhaps playing out his final days as a Giant. That he’s eligible to return on the final game of the season could give him the opportunity to still get back in front of the home crowd for a potential sendoff. The Giants host their archrival Dodgers on Oct. 1. “It’s the most frustrating timing I’ve probably ever had with an injury,” Crawford told Slusser.

The 2023 season has been the least-productive of Crawford’s career. He’s posted a .197/.276/.319 batting line with a career-high 25% strikeout rate in 316 plate appearances. It’s a step down from last year’s output and a major departure from the 2021 season, when Crawford was a bona fide MVP candidate, placing fourth in the National League voting that year. Crawford’s .298/.373/.522 slash and world-class defense in ’21 prompted the Giants to sign him to a two-year, $32MM extension covering his age-35 and age-36 seasons, but he’s batted just .217/.295/.334 in 774 plate appearances over the life of that contract.

It’s not clear whether Crawford will continue his playing career beyond the current season. He’s spoken in the past about the possibility of spending his entire career with the Giants, which surely holds extra appeal given that he’s a Bay Area native who grew up following the team. However, Luciano has ranked among the organization’s top prospects for several years now and could be ready for a full-time audition.

It’s possible the Giants could bring in a stopgap in the event that the 22-year-old still needs more minor league seasoning, but that’d likely be an awkward role for both Crawford and the organization; it’s feasible he could shift to a bench role if and when Luciano proves ready, but it’d be hard for the Giants to carry Crawford in a part-time role if his production mirrors his 2023 output. Similarly, it’d be hard for them to move on somewhat unceremoniously midway through the ’24 campaign. The Giants faced a similar situation with Crawford’s longtime teammate Brandon Belt this past offseason and ultimately opted to let him walk. Belt signed a one-year deal with the Blue Jays and has had a highly productive but also injury-marred season.

There was no such commitment or legacy to ponder in the decision to cut ties with the veteran DeJong. San Francisco signed the former Cardinals shortstop to a Major League deal one month ago after he was released by the Blue Jays, who’d acquired him at the deadline when Bo Bichette sustained an injury.

DeJong gave the Giants 114 innings of strong defense at shortstop but hit just .184/.180/.286 in 50 plate appearances. He had a relative bounceback year at the plate with the Cardinals prior to his trade, but since leaving St. Louis he’s batted a combined .129/.128/.183 with no walks and 34 strikeouts in 94 plate appearances between Toronto and San Francisco. He’ll be a free agent once he formally clears release waivers, although at this point of the schedule, he may simply wait until the offseason to find a new club.

Fitzgerald, 26, was the Giants’ fourth-round pick in 2019 and will be making his big league debut when he first takes the field. He’s had a nice season in the minors, batting .324/.410/.588 in a small sample of 78 Double-A plate appearances before moving up to Triple-A and hitting .287/.358/.499 in 466 trips to the plate. Fitzgerald has smacked a combined 22 home runs and swiped 32 bags in 35 tries this year. His 9.7% walk rate in Triple-A is an above-average mark, while his 23.8% strikeout rate was also slightly higher than average.

San Francisco has bounced Fitzgerald all over the diamond in 2023. He’s logged time at shortstop, second base, third base and in center field this season, in addition to occasional stints at designated hitter. While he’s never been considered one of the Giants’ top prospects, Fitzgerald has been an above-average hitter at virtually every minor league stop and clearly possesses above-average speed (career 70-for-79 in stolen bases). He’ll add a versatile defensive repertoire and right-handed bat to the club’s bench mix.

Nick Madrigal Suffers Grade 2 Hamstring Strain

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September 20: The strain is of a Grade 2 variety, Madrigal told reporters (including Bruce Levine of 670 The Score). That’s a reasonably significant injury that often requires a few weeks of recovery, though Madrigal stated he’s without a current timetable for a return.

September 19: The Cubs placed infielder Nick Madrigal on the 10-day injured list, with a retroactive placement date of September 17.  Infielder Jared Young was called up from Triple-A Iowa to take Madrigal’s spot on the active roster.

Madrigal suffered a right hamstring strain that forced him to make an early exit from Saturday’s game, and after a few days of examination, a trip to the IL became inevitable.  “We got some imaging and it’s worse than expected,” Cubs manager David Ross told MLB.com and other reporters.

This is the second time Madrigal has strained his right hamstring this season, with the previous injury costing him most of July.  Despite that somewhat lengthy past timeline, Ross is “not ruling out hopefully postseason [availability]” for the infielder should the Cubs reach the playoffs.  “He’ll still be working and trying to get back, but it’s just the same hamstring — just worse than we thought.”

Madrigal has hit .263/.311/.352 over 294 plate appearances this season, and that lack of pop made playing time hard to come by earlier in the season.  With Dansby Swanson and Nico Hoerner entrenched in the middle infield positions, Madrigal was limited to mostly part-time at-bats with Patrick Wisdom at third base.  Madrigal began to earn a larger share of playing time throughout the summer, and even after Jeimer Candelario was acquired at the trade deadline, Madrigal still got some looks at the hot corner when Candelario was utilized at first base (with Cody Bellinger playing center field).

More third base time opened up when Candelario hit the IL with a bad back last week, and with Madrigal now also out, Wisdom and Christopher Morel figure to split time until Candelario returns.  Chicago’s fight for a wild card slot has been hampered by a few notable injuries in the last few weeks, with Marcus Stroman missing significant time and the likes of Candelario, Adbert Alzolay, Michael Fulmer, and now Madrigal all out.

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