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Darnell Sweeney

Pirates Sign Darnell Sweeney To Minors Contract

By Mark Polishuk | June 15, 2019 at 6:13pm CDT

The Pirates have signed utilityman Darnell Sweeney to a minor league contract, John Dreker of Pirates Prospects reports.  Sweeney will report to the Bucs’ Triple-A affiliate.

Sweeney appeared in two games with the Blue Jays last season, which marked his first taste of Major League action since debuting as a big leaguer with a 37-game stint for the Phillies in 2015.  The 28-year-old has a .172/.294/.345 slash line to show for his 102 career plate appearances in the Show, though he has a significantly better .267/.339/.412 career mark over 3302 minor league PA for four different organizations.  After being let go into free agency by the Jays last winter, Sweeney signed on with the Kansas City T-Bones of the independent American Association.

Sweeney has played mostly as an outfielder at the big league level, though he has amassed quite a bit of second base, shortstop, and third base experience in the minors.  This extra versatility will be helpful in earning a spot on the Pirates’ roster, as Pittsburgh is already dealing with a glut of outfielders (barring a trade, of course).

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Darnell Sweeney Pittsburgh Pirates Transactions

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Players Electing Free Agency

By Jeff Todd | October 8, 2018 at 7:20pm CDT

Quite a few players will hit the open market this fall, and they’ll do so by way of varying mechanisms. The end of the regular season triggered a recent wave of free agents, consisting of a certain subset of players — namely, those who were outrighted from 40-man rosters during the season and accepted minor-league assignments at that time despite having the right to elect free agency. Players in that situation are entitled instead to hit the open market at season’s end, if they were not added back to the 40-man roster in the meantime.

As conveyed by Matt Eddy of Baseball America, who also covers quite a few other minor moves, these players have now elected free agency:

Athletics: RHP Raul Alcantara, LHP Danny Coulombe

Blue Jays: RHP Mike Hauschild, INF/OF Darnell Sweeney

Braves: LHP Rex Brothers, RHP Miguel Socolovich

Cardinals: LHP Tyler Lyons

Indians: RHP Evan Marshall, RHP Alexi Ogando

Mariners: RHP Christian Bergman, LHP Ross Detwiler, RHP Mike Morin, INF Zach Vincej

Marlins: OF JB Shuck

Mets: RHP Chris Beck, OF Bryce Brentz, RHP Scott Copeland, OF Matt den Dekker, INF Ty Kelly

Nationals: LHP Tommy Milone, OF Moises Sierra, RHP Carlos Torres

Orioles: RHP Jhan Marinez, INF Luis Sardinas

Padres: OF Matt Szczur

Phillies: INF Trevor Plouffe

Pirates: LHP Buddy Boshers, RHP Casey Sadler, RHP A.J. Schugel

Rangers: C Juan Centeno, LHP Anthony Gose, RHP Drew Hutchison, INF Tommy Joseph, RHP Chris Rowley

Rays: INF Brandon Snyder, RHP Ryan Weber

Reds: C Tim Federowicz, RHP Kevin Quackenbush

Tigers: INF Dixon Machado, RHP Jacob Turner

White Sox: RHP Tyler Danish

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A.J. Schugel Alexi Ogando Anthony Gose Atlanta Braves Baltimore Orioles Brandon Snyder Bryce Brentz Buddy Boshers Carlos Torres Casey Sadler Chicago White Sox Chris Beck Chris Rowley Christian Bergman Cincinnati Reds Cleveland Indians Darnell Sweeney Detroit Tigers Dixon Machado Drew Hutchison Evan Marshall Jacob Turner Jhan Marinez Juan Centeno Kevin Quackenbush Luis Sardinas Matt den Dekker Matt Szczur Miami Marlins Miguel Socolovich Mike Hauschild Mike Morin Moises Sierra New York Mets Oakland Athletics Philadelphia Phillies Pittsburgh Pirates Raul Alcantara Rex Brothers Ross Detwiler Ryan Weber San Diego Padres Scott Copeland Seattle Mariners St. Louis Cardinals Tampa Bay Rays Texas Rangers Tim Federowicz Tommy Joseph Tommy Milone Toronto Blue Jays Transactions Trevor Plouffe Ty Kelly Tyler Danish Tyler Lyons Washington Nationals Zach Vincej

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Minor MLB Transactions: 8/7/18

By Jeff Todd | August 7, 2018 at 8:15pm CDT

We’ll use this post to track the day’s minor moves …

Latest…

  • The Blue Jays will hold Darnell Sweeney on their active roster no longer. The club has announced that he cleared waivers and has been outrighted to Triple-A. Sweeney earned just four plate appearances with Toronto this season prior to being designated for assignment; it was his first taste of major league action since 2015, when the 27-year-old was with the Phillies. It seems as though the move was more motivated by projected potential than performance. Although Sweeney didn’t get a hit in his four trips to the plate, he did manage to draw two walks. He did, however, hit just .235/.310/.398 at the Triple-A level, and while that’s good for a nearly-average 98 wRC+, he also struck out in more than 30% of his plate appearances.
  • The Angels announced that they’ve placed infielder Luis Valbuena on release waivers. The 32-year-old is finishing up a two-year, $15MM contract with a 2019 club option, which clearly won’t be exercised. He’s long been a useful major-league asset, providing at least 1 fWAR across each of the past six seasons while with the Cubs, Astros and Angels. Unfortunately, this year has been an entirely different story, as he’s mustered just a .199/.253/.335 batting line across 288 plate appearances for the Halos while striking out a whopping 34.7% of the time. Valbuena’s performance has also suffered from a 6.6% walk rate that’s nearly four full percentage points below his career average of 10.5%.

Earlier…

  • The Twins have released right-hander Todd Van Steensel, according to Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN (via Twitter). It seems the organization simply ran out of room for the 27-year-old reliever, who has been with the Twins since 2011. The Aussie had spent the 2018 season at the Double-A level, working to a 3.07 ERA with 10.0 K/9 against 4.7 BB/9 while allowing just 26 hits over 44 innings.
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Chicago Cubs Darnell Sweeney Los Angeles Angels Luis Valbuena Minnesota Twins Philadelphia Phillies Todd Van Steensel Toronto Blue Jays Transactions

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Blue Jays Sign Mike Hauschild

By Steve Adams | August 2, 2018 at 9:24pm CDT

The Blue Jays have signed right-hander Mike Hauschild to a Major League contract, as first noted by Shi Davidi and Mike Wilner of Sportsnet (Twitter links). The Jays didn’t make a formal announcement of the move via press release or on Twitter, but Hauschild is on tonight’s lineup card. Furthermore, Davidi tweets that manager John Gibbons said Hauschild is expected to follow Tyler Clippard in a bullpen game of sorts tonight. It appears that infielder/outfielder Darnell Sweeney was the necessary roster casualty, as he’s not on tonight’s lineup card, and the Jays had a full 40-man roster prior to bringing Hauschild aboard.

Hauschild, 28, was recently released by the Astros after posting a 4.88 ERA with 8.6 K/9, 3.5 BB/9, 0.65 HR/9 and a 53.6 percent ground-ball rate. He has a bit of big league experience, having been a Rule 5 pick of the Rangers in 2016 and subsequently logging eight innings at the MLB level for them in 2017. He was ultimately returned to the Houston organization after surrendering 10 runs in that small sample.

Though Hauschild’s numbers in Triple-A this season weren’t his best, he still brings a career 3.97 ERA with better than eight strikeouts per nine innings and a ground-ball rate north of 50 percent at the Triple-A level to his new club. He’ll join the Jays’ bullpen for the time being, though all 76 of his career appearances at the Triple-A level have been starts. He could eventually emerge as a rotation option in Toronto, particularly if the team moves a veteran like Marco Estrada in the month of August.

Sweeney, 27, appeared in a pair of games for the Jays and went hitless in four plate appearances. He’s spent most of the season at Triple-A Buffalo, where he’s batted .235/.310/.398 in 255 plate appearances. The former Dodgers and Phillies prospect has a career .254/.322/.393 slash in 1718 career plate appearances at that level.

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Darnell Sweeney Mike Hauschild Toronto Blue Jays Transactions

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Blue Jays Outright Darnell Sweeney

By Jeff Todd | July 6, 2018 at 9:11pm CDT

The Blue Jays announced today that utilityman Darnell Sweeney has been outrighted. He had been selected to the 40-man roster recently, appearing briefly in the majors before being optioned to Triple-A.

The 27-year-old saw action in one game but did not take a plate appearance. He’ll presumably head back to Buffalo, though he does have the right to take his free agency instead. In 178 plate appearances there to this point, he carries a .228/.309/.430 slash with six long balls.

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Darnell Sweeney Toronto Blue Jays Transactions

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Blue Jays Select Contract Of Darnell Sweeney

By Jeff Todd | June 29, 2018 at 3:46pm CDT

The Blue Jays have selected the contract of utilityman Darnell Sweeney, as Ben Nicholson-Smith first observed on Twitter. He’ll take the open roster spot created by last night’s trade of Steve Pearce.

Sweeney, 27, has only seen brief action in the majors, with a brief run with the Phillies back in 2015. He hasn’t shown enough offensive potential in the upper minors to force further opportunities, with a .255/.323/.397 cumulative slash in 400 career games a Triple-A.

That said, Sweeney does offer immense versatility, with significant professional experience in the infield (at second, third, and shortstop) and outfield (left and center). Though he has swiped quite a few bags in the minors, Sweeney has also been caught rather frequently. In total, he has 156 steals but has been tagged out 83 times.

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Darnell Sweeney Toronto Blue Jays Transactions

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Minor MLB Transactions: 4/13/18

By Steve Adams | April 13, 2018 at 11:05am CDT

Here are the day’s minor moves from around the league, all courtesy of Baseball America’s Matt Eddy unless otherwise noted…

  • The Angels have added right-handed reliever Jordan Jankowski on a minor league contract. The 28-year-old got his first taste of the big league in 2017, tossing 4 1/3 frames for the Astros before landing with the Dodgers via waiver claim. Jankowski has averaged 11.9 strikeouts per nine innings in 177 1/3 Triple-A frames in his career, though he’s struggled with control since being selected in the 34th round of the 2012 draft as well.
  • Former big league infielders Tyler Ladendorf and Darnell Sweeney have signed minor league pacts with the Blue Jays. Ladendorf, a former Twins second-rounder who was once traded to the A’s in exchange for Orlando Cabrera, logged 68 MLB plate appearances with Oakland from 2015-16 but hit just .123/.149/.154 in that brief time. He’s a career .258/.326/.350 hitter in Triple-A and has played second base, shortstop, third base and corner outfield as a pro. Sweeney, meanwhile, posted a .639 OPS in 98 plate appearances with the Phillies in 2015 after they acquired him from the Dodgers in the Chase Utley trade. He’s a career .258/.325/.394 hitter in Triple-A.
  • The Giants released outfielder Daniel Carbonell, who they’d originally signed Carbonell to a four-year, $3.5MM contract back in 2014 after he left Cuba. Signed because of his defensive prowess and speed, Carbonell’s bat never came around, as he appeared in just two Triple-A games with the Giants after stalling out in Double-A. In 437 plate appearances at that Double-A level, the now-27-year-old Carbonell hit just .188/.227/.273.
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Daniel Carbonell Darnell Sweeney Jordan Jankowski Los Angeles Angels San Francisco Giants Toronto Blue Jays Transactions Tyler Ladendorf

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Reds Acquire Darnell Sweeney From Dodgers

By Connor Byrne | May 28, 2017 at 3:21pm CDT

The Dodgers have traded infielder/outfielder Darnell Sweeney to the Reds for future considerations, tweets J.P. Hoornstra of the Southern California News Group.

Los Angeles has now traded Sweeney twice, the first time coming when it sent him to Philadelphia in 2015 to acquire second baseman Chase Utley. Then, the Dodgers got Sweeney back last offseason as part of the return they received from the Phillies in trading veteran infielder/outfielder Howie Kendrick. Sweeney returned to LA in the deal with infielder Darin Ruf. Given that Ruf is now playing in the Korea Baseball Organization, the Dodgers have nothing to show for the Kendrick trade anymore.

Sweeney, a 26-year-old switch-hitter, has seen major league action in one season – 2015 – and hit .176/.286/.353 during that 98-plate appearance showing with the Phillies. The plurality of his work has come at Triple-A, where he owns a .250/.314/.383 slash in 1,100 PAs (including a .227/.290/.412 line in 131 Pacific Coast League plate trips this season). While Sweeney hasn’t gotten on base much in the minors, he is somewhat of a threat when he does, having swiped 141 bags at Triple-A (albeit with 67 caught stealings). Defensive versatility is a selling point for Sweeney, who has lined up at second, short, third and two outfield positions (left and center) in the minors.

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Cincinnati Reds Darnell Sweeney Los Angeles Dodgers Transactions

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Phillies Acquire Howie Kendrick

By Jeff Todd | November 11, 2016 at 3:21pm CDT

The Phillies have acquired infielder/outfielder Howie Kendrick from the Dodgers, per a club announcement. First baseman Darin Ruf and second baseman/outfielder Darnell Sweeney will head to Los Angeles in return.

Jul 6, 2015; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers second baseman Howie Kendrick (47) rounds second base on a triple in the first inning against the Philadelphia Phillies at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Still, adding the veteran would seem to make it somewhat more likely that the Phils would feel comfortable parting with Cesar Hernandez, the incumbent at second. Hernandez, 26, added on-base ability to his speed and defense in 2016 for a surprisingly excellent campaign. With three years of control remaining, he is a rather appealing potential trade piece — not least of which since he has also spent time at short and center. Jim Salisbury of CSNPhilly.com reports that Hernandez drew strong interest at the GM Meetings, and while Kendrick may not currently be slated to step right in to replace him, it remains plausible that the Phillies could look to cash him in at some point over the coming months.

[RELATED: Updated Phillies & Dodgers Depth Charts]

Regardless of precisely how he fits, Kendrick will provide the Phillies with just the kind of veteran presence they entered the offseason in search of. And he’ll do so without requiring a multi-year commitment. If all goes well, he’ll bounce back after an uncharacteristically poor season at the plate. Kendrick ended with a .255/.326/.366 batting line, with eight home runs and ten steals, over 543 plate appearances. That was easily the worst full-season effort of his career.

If Kendrick can regain his form, he’ll help the team improve its level of play and may even turn into a trade or (perhaps less likely) qualifying offer candidate. There is some reason for hope. He maintained a strong 33.8% hard-hit rate even as his typically high BABIP dipped to .301 — easily a career-low. And Kendrick managed to boost his walk rate to a career-best 9.2% while maintaining his characteristically palatable strikeout numbers (his 17.7% K rate last year landed just north of his 17.2% career rate).

For the Dodgers, the swap was more about clearing payroll and roster space — particularly after Kendrick expressed disappointment with his usage. Now, the team’s needs in the corner outfield, and at second and third base, are all the more pronounced. Already a lefty-leaning club with the bats, Los Angeles seems primed to pursue right-handed hitting in more than one area this winter. But while the return wasn’t the driving force here, there’s reason to believe it could deliver some function, especially for the always-clever Los Angeles front office.

Ruf, 30, is perhaps likeliest to make an impact. He had a short and forgettable MLB stint last year, but raked at Triple-A and owns a .299/.379/.542 lifetime slash against left-handed pitching. True, the right-handed hitter has been sub-par without the platoon advantage, and contributes nothing on the bases or in the field (though he can play some first and, at least in limited doses, the corner outfield). He’s also out of options. But the Dodgers have a number of flexible assets and may like the idea of allowing Ruf to spell Adrian Gonzalez at first base and function as a right-handed bench bat — or, at least, giving him the chance to unseat Scott Van Slyke in such a role in camp.

Sweeney, too, has some potential uses. The 25-year-old switch-hitter, who originally came to Philadelphia from Los Angeles in the Chase Utley deal, is capable of playing all over. He didn’t hit much in a brief MLB debut in 2016, and struggled last year at Triple-A. But he has shown better at times in the past, even flashing double-digit home run power and real stolen base potential in several separate seasons, and it wouldn’t be all that surprising if he found his way onto the Dodgers’ roster at some point. Doing so would mean adding him back to the 40-man, as he had been outrighted by the Phils, but that too increases his appeal at this stage since he won’t occupy a roster spot upon his arrival.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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Darin Ruf Darnell Sweeney Howie Kendrick Los Angeles Dodgers Newsstand Philadelphia Phillies Transactions

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Phillies Outright Darnell Sweeney

By Jeff Todd | September 5, 2016 at 8:03pm CDT

The Phillies have outrighted infielder/outfielder Darnell Sweeney, as Matt Breen of Philly.com tweets. While it isn’t yet clear how the 40-man spot will be used, Breen’s colleague Matt Gelb previously reported that righty Alec Asher could get the call.

Sweeney, 25, struggled in brief MLB action last year and had spent the entire 2016 season at Triple-A. Over his 443 plate appearances, he slashed just .232/.299/.346. Sweeney, who came over in the Chase Utley trade, had been looked upon as a possible utility piece, given his wide positional flexibility.

The 24-year-old Asher, meanwhile, is in an interesting situation. He is now eligible to return from a PED suspension, but cannot participate in the minor league playoffs because of that ban. Instead, he may become the latest piece of the Cole Hamels deal to join the current Philadelphia roster.

Like Sweeney, Asher scuffled in his major league debut in 2015. But he has been strong in his limited action on the farm this year, posting a 2.37 ERA over 64 2/3 innings — most of them at Double-A or Triple-A — with 6.4 K/9 against just 1.4 BB/9. Per Gelb, the Phils are interested in getting a look at the right-hander while also helping to fill innings down the stretch.

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