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Minor MLB Transactions: 5/1/16

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Here are today’s minor transactions from around baseball:

  • The Indians have placed catcher Roberto Perez on the disabled list with a thumb injury and recalled Adam Moore from Triple-A to take his place, according to ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick (Twitter link). Perez, Yan Gomes’ backup, was a 1.7-fWAR player in just 70 games last year, but he has only appeared in four contests this season, going without a hit in 15 PAs. In 287 big league PAs, the 31-year-old Moore and has hit a weak .201/.241/.309.
  • The Nationals activated catcher Wilson Ramos from the bereavement list before their game against the Cardinals on Sunday and optioned backstop Pedro Severino to Triple-A, per Mark Zuckerman of MASNsports.com (on Twitter). Ramos, a career .259/.301/.413 hitter over 1,839 big league PAs, batted a solid .316/.328/.491 with two home runs and threw out four of eight base stealers in April. Severino appeared in only one game and logged three PAs in Ramos’ absence.
  • The White Sox have activated closer David Robertson from the bereavement list and optioned right-hander Tommy Kahnle to Triple-A, reports Dan Hayes of CSN Chicago (Twitter link). Robertson, who hasn’t pitched since Wednesday, has converted eight of nine save opportunities this season in dominant fashion. The 31-year-old has racked up 13 strikeouts in 10 1/3 innings of work while surrendering a single run. Kahnle threw an inning for the White Sox prior to today and walked two batters.
  • The Braves recalled utilityman Emilio Bonifacio from Triple-A and optioned right-handed reliever Chris Withrow on Sunday morning. However, because of a rule technicality the Braves were unaware of, they can’t activate Bonifacio today, tweets David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Specifically, the Braves need to wait 30 days from the date they released Bonifacio (April 6) to activate him, per O’Brien (Twitter link).  Atlanta brought back the switch-hitting Bonifacio on a minor league deal after it released him. He owns a career .259/.316/.337 line in 2,807 major league plate appearances and will lengthen the Braves’ bench if he’s ultimately activated. Atlanta needed reserve depth after it had utilized a 13-man pitching staff over the last couple weeks, as Mark Bowman of MLB.com wrote Saturday. Withrow, a former Dodger, threw seven innings with the Braves prior to today, striking out four and allowing three earned runs on five hits and five walks. Those seven frames were Withrow’s first in the majors since 2014, as he underwent Tommy John surgery that year and later required surgery on a herniated disk in his lower back.

AL Notes: Porcello, White Sox, Headley, J. Hamilton

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Red Sox right-hander Rick Porcello has been at his best during his 33 starts with Boston when he has relied on his sinker, Scott Lauber of ESPN.com details. During his first 20 starts last season, Porcello threw his sinker 28 percent of the time against lefties and 41 percent versus right-handed hitters – down from career rates of 42 and 52 percent, respectively – and he pitched to an ugly 5.81 ERA. After a stint on the disabled list, Porcello returned and finished the season strong (3.14 ERA in eight starts) while throwing sinkers 44 percent of the time to lefty batters and 58 percent against righties. He’s at 49 and 57 percent this year, respectively, and has been among the top pitchers in baseball with a 2.76 ERA, 9.92 K/9, 1.65 BB/9 and 49.4 percent ground-ball rate over 32 2/3 innings (five starts). “He had to work extremely hard to get the sink back, to get that mindset back, because he had gotten away from it a little bit,” pitching coach Carl Willis told Lauber. “But once you get to that point, I think it’s simple because it allows him to then be himself and pitch to his strengths.” In addition to throwing more sinkers, Porcello helped his cause by changing his arm slot late in Spring Training after he raised it slightly thanks to an increased use of four-seam fastballs, per Willis.

More from around the American League…

  • White Sox executive vice president Ken Williams says the team has gotten over the Spring Training Adam LaRoche saga, which isn’t a surprise considering the club’s AL-best 17-8 record. “I had to do what was best for all parties. I’ve tried to stay above the fray and chose the road less traveled — the high road. We don’t talk about it anymore,” he told Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe. Williams, of course, took plenty of heat from White Sox players when he told LaRoche that his son had to spend less time in the clubhouse, leading the first baseman/designated hitter to retire in March with $13MM left on his contract.
  • Yankees third baseman Chase Headley failed to amass a single extra-base hit in April while batting .150/.268/.150 in 71 plate appearances, and his struggles are thanks in part to his home ballpark. “Everybody talks about how good of a ballpark Yankee Stadium is to hit in, but it’s pretty big with the exception of right field,” he told FanGraphs’ David Laurila. “The rest of it plays as big, or bigger, than most yards. It’s maybe a better fit for guys who hit the ball high down the line than it for guys who hit the ball like I have for a lot of my career.” Headley is “working on” hitting the ball in the air more to right field and wants to increase elevation in general to combat defensive shifts. The 31-year-old has a 46.8 percent ground-ball rate and a fly ball percentage of 29.8 percent this season. Both of those numbers are worse than his career rates of 44.6 and 33.6, respectively.
  • Rangers outfielder Josh Hamilton began a minor league rehab assignment Saturday in Double-A and totaled two at-bats, per Dave Sessions of MLB.com. Hamilton, who missed all of Spring Training with left knee problems, will need to accrue at least 20 to 30 ABs during his rehab assignment before rejoining the Rangers, manager Jeff Banister said. It’s unclear how Hamilton, who hit .253/.291/.441 with eight home runs in 182 plate appearances last year, will fit into the Rangers’ outfield plans when he returns. In addition to Hamilton, Shin-Soo Choo should come back later this month month from a calf injury to join an outfield that has mostly relied on Nomar Mazara, Delino DeShields and Ian Desmond this year.

AL Central Notes: Abreu, Murphy, Gonzalez, Bauer

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Court records have provided new insight into allegations against the former representatives of White Sox first baseman Jose Abreu, as Jared Hopkins of the Chicago Tribune reports. The Cuban emigre is said to have paid his agents $5.8MM in the first year after signing as a free agent, after they successfully engineered his complicated and shadowy escape from his home island. Human trafficking charges have been brought against agent Bart Hernandez and others relating to the scheme, which allegedly involved as many as 15 other players.

Here’s more from the AL Central:

  • The Twins were making preparations to call up outfielder David Murphy before he advised GM Terry Ryan that he wished to return to his family, Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer-Press reports. Minnesota attempted to pass catcher John Hicks through waivers to clear a roster spot, ultimately losing him to the division-rival Tigers as a result. It certainly appears that the 34-year-old Murphy is headed for retirement, though nothing has been formally announced. Murphy had high praise for the way that Ryan handled things, saying that the veteran executive “showed that he genuinely cared about the situation I was in.”
  • After calling up veteran righty Miguel Gonzalez for a start yesterday, the White Sox haven’t yet decided whether he’ll stick in the rotation, manager Robin Ventura told reports including Colleen Kane of the Chicago Tribune (via Twitter). Gonzalez, 31, allowed five earned on 11 hits and two walks while recording six strikeouts over his 5 1/3 frames last night. That’s obviously not terribly promising, but Gonzalez did put up two solid outings at Triple-A and did show a 90 mph average fastball that wasn’t too far off of his prior years’ levels. And fellow veteran John Danks hasn’t exactly set a high bar in the fifth starter’s role, as he owns a 6.23 ERA with 6.2 K/9 against 4.7 BB/9 over 17 1/3 innings in three starts.
  • Trevor Bauer will move back into the Indians rotation while Carlos Carrasco is on the shelf, MLB.com’s Jordan Bastian tweets. The 25-year-old lost the competition for a starting job out of camp, with Josh Tomlin and Cody Anderson grabbing those spots. But it’s certainly possible to imagine him forcing his way back in even after Carrasco returns, particularly with Anderson off to a rough start.

Todd Frazier Sought Extension With Reds Prior To Trade

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Prior to being dealt to the White Sox, third baseman Todd Frazier sought to reach agreement with the Reds on a deal to stay in Cincinnati for the long haul, Jon Heyman of MLB Network reports (Twitter links). Frazier was ultimate swapped in a three-team trade that brought Jose Peraza, Scott Schebler, and Brandon Dixon in from the Dodgers.

According to Heyman’s report, Frazier and his representatives at CAA “made many proposals” to the Reds, one of which looked something like the seven-year, $100MM pact between the Mariners and Kyle Seager. Indeed, Frazier met with ownership just before he was dealt in an effort to find a way to add years to his contract and stick with the Reds.

Certainly, it isn’t surprising that the organization decided it was time to move on. While some have criticized the quality of the return, the decision to part with Frazier — a 30-year-old who is set to reach free agency after the 2017 campaign — made sense for a team in transition. It certainly would have been difficult to take on another significant contract for an older player with so much already committed to pieces like Joey Votto and Homer Bailey.

It’s obviously not entirely clear what kind of arrangement Frazier might have settled for, but the Seager comp doesn’t exactly scream value. To be sure, the veteran has largely matched the production of his competitor in Seattle over the last couple of seasons. But Frazier is also about three years older than Seager was at the time of his deal, and the latter’s extra year of control doesn’t really close the gap all the way.

The report is mostly of historical interest now, of course, as Frazier is under control of the White Sox until qualifying for free agency before the 2018 campaign. But the information about Frazier’s price point and interest in a long-term deal could certainly become relevant again if the Sox are more inclined than were the Reds in a significant extension.

Minor MLB Transactions: 4/24/16

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Here are today’s minor transactions from around baseball:

  • The Rangers will purchase the contract of southpaw Cesar Ramos on Monday so he can make a spot start in place of the injured Cole Hamels, Texas executive VP of communications John Blake tweets.  There is no word yet on the corresponding moves that would create roster space for Ramos; Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram speculates that Keone Kela could be moved to the 60-day DL and Alex Claudio could head to Triple-A.  Only ten of Ramos’ 251 career games have been starts, though he made seven starts as recently as 2014 with the Rays.  Ramos posted a 2.75 ERA and 2.87 K/BB rate in 52 1/3 relief innings with the Angels last season before being rather surprisingly non-tendered.  He signed a minor league deal with Texas in January.
  • The Rays transferred Alex Cobb to the 60-day DL in order to create a 40-man roster spot for Jhan Marinez, the club announced.  Cobb has been out of action for almost a full year recovering from Tommy John surgery and is expected back late this season.

Earlier Updates

  • The White Sox have recalled right-hander Miguel Gonzalez from Triple-A and optioned righty Erik Johnson in a corresponding move, tweets Scott Gregor of the Daily Herald. Gonzalez will start for the White Sox on Monday in Toronto. Gonzalez joined the Sox as a free agent earlier this month after the Orioles unexpectedly released him. The 31-year-old has made 95 career starts and owns a lifetime 3.82 ERA to go with a 6.47 K/9 and 2.96 BB/9.
  • The Red Sox recalled lefty Henry Owens and right-hander Pat Light, sending southpaw Roenis Elias and righty Noe Ramirez to Triple-A in corresponding moves, per a team announcement. Owens, 23, will start the Red Sox’s game against Houston tonight. He made 11 starts for the Sox last year and logged a 4.57 ERA with a 7.14 K/9 and 3.43 BB/9 in 63 innings. Light has been in Boston’s system since the club used a first-rounder on him in the 2012 draft, and he’s just now breaking into the majors. Light owns an underwhelming 4.63 ERA in 266 1/3 minor league innings, though he has flashed impressive strikeout ability since moving to a relief role last season and can hit 100 mph.
  • The Reds announced that right-hander Tim Melville (who was designated for assignment Friday) cleared waivers and has been outrighted to Triple-A Louisville. The 26-year-old Melville allowed 11 earned runs in nine innings — including two starts — while recording eight strikeouts against nine walks before the Reds designated him. Melville worked to a 4.63 ERA in 151 2/3 innings at the Triple-A level last year in the Tigers organization.
  • The Tigers have placed closer Francisco Rodriguez on the family medical emergency list and recalled left-hander Matt Boyd from Triple-A, the team announced. There’s no word yet on how long Rodriguez will be away from the club. K-Rod has converted on 4 of 5 save opportunities for the Tigers this season, but the process hasn’t been pretty (.75 K/BB ratio, 7.11 ERA). Boyd, whom Detroit acquired from Toronto in the David Price trade last year, debuted in the majors in 2015, logging a combined 13 appearances with the Tigers and Blue Jays. The 25-year-old pitched to an unsightly 7.53 ERA in 57 1/3 innings, though he has been quite successful at the Triple-A level (2.53 ERA, 8.5 K/9 and 2.2 BB/9 in 10 starts dating back to last season).

White Sox Place Alex Avila On DL With Strained Hamstring

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The White Sox have placed catcher Alex Avila on the disabled list with a strained right hamstring and called up Triple-A backstop Kevan Smith to replace him, reports Jon Morosi of MLB Network (Twitter link).

Prior to suffering the injury against the Rangers on Saturday, the lefty-swinging Avila posted a .214/.333/.250 batting line in 28 plate appearances. While those numbers certainly aren’t great, they’re easily superior to the ones his platoon mate, Dioner Navarro, has compiled thus far (.100/.129/.100 in 30 PAs).

Navarro looks poised to accrue more playing time with Avila down, though Smith has put up an outstanding line at Triple-A Charlotte this year, batting .345/.394/.586 with two home runs in 33 PAs. The 27-year-old has hit an impressive .290/.367/.454 in 1,988 career minor league trips to the plate while throwing out 31 percent of base stealers in six seasons. He’s now primed to see his first major league action.

AL Central Notes: Kepler, Latos, Dyson, Soria, McCann

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ESPN.com’s Jim Caple provides some interesting background on Twins prospect Max Kepler, ranging from his professional ballet-dancing parents to his unlikely introduction to the game of baseball in Germany. Needless to say, the old ballgame still doesn’t have a very high profile in the European nation, but it may surprise some to learn that there’s a fairly notable niche of enthusiasts. As Kepler puts it, “I think since I started playing as a small kid, when it was mainly Americans who were playing baseball, now it’s actually Germans who are starting to play.” No doubt, Kepler’s own career could have a significant impact in driving future growth. (By the way, if you’re interested in the topic, check out this MLBTR podcast episode from last fall, when I chatted with Euroball expert Josh Chetwynd.)

Here’s more from the American League Central:

  • Mat Latos has paid huge dividends to the White Sox cin his first three starts for the organization, as Colleen Kane of the Chicago Tribune writes. Since signing for just $3MM in an effort to rebuild his career, Latos has spun 18 1/3 innings in which he’s allowed just six hits and one earned run. While there are plenty of indicators suggesting that Latos hasn’t been quite as dominant as those results would suggest, and his velocity is back down, he’s been in the zone more than ever before and has still managed to induce a lot of easy outs (35.3% soft contact rate; 11.8% line-drive rate).
  • The Royals activated Jarrod Dyson from the DL yesterday after he missed the first several weeks of the season with a strained oblique. Manager Ned Yost says he’ll be deployed in a “loose platoon” with Paulo Orlando, Rustin Dodd of the Kansas City Star tweet. Of course, the left-handed-hitting speedster figures to get a solid majority of the action in that arrangement.
  • Meanwhile, the Royals’ vaunted bullpen hasn’t been quite the well-oiled machine thus far in 2016 that it was in the recent past, as Dodd explores. Really, it’s mostly a matter of some early struggles from Joakim Soria, who has allowed six earned runs on ten hits and five walks over his first seven frames. Notably, he’s only managed to get hitters to chase pitches out of the zone 14.7% of the time, which is less than half his career rate. For now, at least, the club isn’t ready to move him out of the primary set-up job, though Kelvin Herrera and Luke Hochevar have both looked strong. “Our roles are set until we need to change our roles,” Yost says.
  • The Tigers received fairly promising news on the injury front yesterday, as manager Brad Ausmus noted in an appearance on MLB Network Radio on Sirius XM (Twitter link). Catcher James McCann’s absence is expected to land “on the shorter side of the two to four week timetable” that he’d been given for a sprained ankle. (Though it’s fair to note that Jarrod Saltalamacchia has filled in admirably in his stead.) Also, outfielder Cameron Maybin is nearly ready to make his season debut, opening up some options with Anthony Gose off to a slow start.

Minor MLB Transactions: 4/19/16

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Here are the day’s minor moves:

  • The Tigers announced that they have signed veteran catcher Humberto Quintero to a minor league contract and will assign him to Triple-A Toledo. The 36-year-old,  who was released by the Blue Jays earlier this week, will step into the Triple-A roster spot that was vacated when the Tigers summoned Bobby Wilson to fill in for the injured James McCann. Quintero briefly saw the Majors in 2014, but his last significant big league action came in 2013 with the Mariners and Phillies. Quintero is a veteran of 12 big league seasons and has a lifetime .234/.267/.327 batting line in 1423 trips to the plate. Quintero is repped by Octagon.

Earlier Updates

  • The White Sox have inked righty John Holdzkom to a minor league deal, as Robert Murray of Baseball Essential reported on Twitter. The towering 28-year-old, a client of the Ballengee Group, was designated for assignment and subsequently released by the Pirates earlier this season. Holdzkom came out of nowhere in 2014 with Pittsburgh, dominating at Triple-A and then allowing just two earned runs on four hits and two walks while striking out 14 opposing batters in nine MLB innings. But he struggled with his control at the highest level of the minors last year while battling through injuries and a loss of velocity. Chicago will hope that Holdzkom can get back on track and re-discover the mid-90s heater that made him such an intriguing independent ball find for the Bucs.

AL Notes: LaRoche, Indians, Murphy

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Former White Sox first baseman Adam LaRoche, who retired amidst a storm of controversy in Spring Training, has an outlook different than that of most ballplayers, ESPN’s Tim Keown writes. Now that LaRoche has stepped away from his big-league career after a disagreement with his front office about the presence of his son in his team’s clubhouse, he’s planning a lengthy RV trip with his family to the Pacific Northwest. LaRoche also stars in a reality show (Buck Commander) and owns a meat company. And improbably, in November, he joined with Brewers pitcher Blaine Boyer and a nonprofit to try to travel to Southeast Asia to go undercover to try to save underage sex slaves. “Something huge happened there for us,” says Boyer. “You can’t explain it. Can’t put your finger on it. If you make a wrong move, you’re getting tossed off a building.” Here’s more from the American League.

  • Michael Brantley (shoulder) and Lonnie Chisenhall (wrist) have begun rehab assignments with Triple-A Columbus, so the composition of the Indians’ outfield seems likely to change soon, Cleveland.com’s Paul Hoynes writes. Part of the issue, in Brantley’s case, is that he missed most of Spring Training, so he needs to get enough repetitions in his rehab assignment so that he can be ready to play. “With Michael it’s about him building enough volume and feeling comfortable at the plate,” says Indians president of baseball operations Chris Antonetti The Indians’ roster currently includes four outfielders — Marlon Byrd, Collin Cowgill, Rajai Davis and Tyler Naquin. Of those, only Naquin is optionable. The 38-year-old Byrd, interestingly, shares that no teams showed interest in him before the Indians signed him to a minor-league deal in mid-March. “There was no interest … zero,” he says. “I would have to ask the 29 other teams what the reason was.”
  • Veteran outfielder David Murphy does not plan to retire and is looking for an MLB job, the MLB Network’s Jon Morosi tweets. Murphy had opted out of his deal with the Red Sox in Spring Training. He had previously said he might retire if he did not get a big-league job.

Minor MLB Transactions: 4/11/16

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Here are the day’s minor transactions, with the newest moves at the top of the post…

  • The Pirates have placed John Holdzkom on release waivers, a week after the righty was designated for assignment.  Holdzkom went from independent baseball to a key role in the Bucs’ bullpen in 2014, recording a 2.00 ERA and 14 strikeouts in nine relief innings (his first and, to date, only taste of MLB action) to help Pittsburgh reach the postseason.  Holdzkom battled injuries, a loss of velocity and control issues in 2015, however, and he pitched only 24 1/3 innings of minor league ball.
  • The Angels selected the contract of left-hander Greg Mahle and optioned A.J. Achter to Triple-A in a corresponding move, the club announced.  (The Angels already had a 40-man roster spot open, so no further transactions were necessary to add Mahle.)  A 15th-round draft pick in 2014, Mahle has a 2.97 ERA, 10.8 K/9 and 4.00 K/BB rate over 97 career minor league relief innings.  The 2016 Baseball America Prospect Handbook ranked him as the 13th-best prospect within the Halos’ thin farm system, noting that Mahle delivers his pitches from three different arm angles, including a sinking fastball that ranges from 85-94mph depending on from where Mahle is throwing it.  He also has a plus changeup.
  • The Diamondbacks outrighted Kyle Drabek to Triple-A after the righty went unclaimed, MLB.com’s Steve Gilbert reports (via Twitter).  Drabek signed a minor league deal with the D’Backs during the offseason and pitched in one game for the club before being designated for assignment last Friday.  The 18th overall pick of the 2006 draft, Drabek has struggled at the big league level and also battled injuries, most notably two Tommy John surgeries.  Drabek has only thrown 12 2/3 innings over the last four seasons.
  • The Lancaster Barnstormers of the independent Atlantic League have signed left-hander Phil Coke and right-hander Ryan Kelly, Jason Bristol tweets.  Coke threw 12 2/3 innings with the Cubs and Blue Jays last season, and has also since signed minor league deals with the A’s and Braves.  The veteran southpaw was released by Atlanta during Spring Training.  Kelly was also released by the Braves during the offseason, ending a three-year stint in the organization.  Kelly made his Major League debut last season, posting a 7.02 ERA over 16 2/3 innings out of Atlanta’s bullpen.

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