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Dustin Garneau

Minor MLB Transactions: 6/11/19

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Here are Tuesday’s minor moves from around the league…

  • The Angels announced that catcher Dustin Garneau has cleared waivers and been assigned outright to Triple-A Salt Lake following last week’s DFA. The 31-year-old Garneau appeared in seven games with the Halos and posted a solid .250/.455/.313 line in 22 plate appearances as a replacement for the injured Kevan Smith. Once Smith returned from a concussion, however, Garneau lost his hold on a roster spot. He’s a career .198/.282/.321 hitter in 302 Major League plate appearances and also owns a lifetime .260/.335/.501 line through 1187 plate appearances in Triple-A. Garneau has long excelled in terms of preventing the running game (39 percent caught-stealing in Triple-A and 40 percent in the big leagues). He’s drawn slightly below-average framing grades in recent seasons, per Baseball Prospectus.

Angels Reinstate Kevan Smith, Designate Dustin Garneau

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The Angels have announced that backstop Kevan Smith is back from the concussion injured list. To create space on the active roster, the team designated catcher Dustin Garneau for assignment.

That move also freed up a 40-man spot to make way for the team to bring up infielder Wilfredo Tovar. The final active roster space was created by optioning righty Jaime Barria.

Garneau, 31, will either end up landing elsewhere or back at Sale Lake City. He got on base at a healthy clip over his seven-game showing and was slashing .247/.368/.589 in 87 Triple-A plate appearances before his promotion. He has at times posted strong offensive numbers in the upper minors, but carries only a .198/.282/.321 slash in 302 trips to the dish over five seasons of action at the game’s highest level.

Angels Select Dustin Garneau’s Contract, Place Kevan Smith On 7-Day Concussion IL

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The Angels have selected the contract of catcher Dustin Garneau from Triple-A, the team announced.  Garneau will take the spot of backup catcher Kevan Smith, who has been placed on the seven-day version of the injured list due to a concussion.  No additional roster move was necessary, as the Angels had an open 40-man roster spot.

Smith left last night’s game in the fifth inning after taking a C.J. Cron foul tip off his mask.  Selected off waivers from the White Sox roster last fall, Smith has played quite well in his first season with the Angels, hitting .290/.397/.435 over 73 plate appearances.  Between Smith’s strong numbers and Jonathan Lucroy’s comeback season, the Halos have been receiving both good production and good pitch-framing behind the plate.

Garneau inked a minors deal with Los Angeles over the offseason, and will look to at least get a bit more Major League action than he did in 2018, when he appeared in just a single game for the White Sox.  Garneau, 31, has a .194/.269/.321 slash line over 280 career plate appearances for the White Sox, A’s, and Rockies over the last four seasons.

Angels To Sign Dustin Garneau To Minors Deal

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The Angels have agreed to a minor league contract with catcher Dustin Garneau, MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo reports (Twitter link).  The White Sox outrighted Garneau off their 40-man roster after the season, following a year that saw the 31-year-old appear in just a single big league game.

Over the previous three seasons, Garneau saw substantially more action in part-time duty with the Rockies and Athletics, playing in 87 games total from 2015-17.  For his career, Garneau has posted a .194/.269/.321 slash line over 280 Major League plate appearances.  Originally a 19th-round pick for Colorado in 2011, Garneau has put up solid numbers (.253/.340/.455) over 2675 minor league PA, though he has yet to display that sort of hitting prowess at the MLB level.

Garneau, 31, will now toss his hat into an Angels’ catching mix that currently includes Jose Briceno and Kevan Smith as the only full-time catchers on the 40-man roster.  The Halos have been heavily rumored to be targeting catchers this offseason, so it seems likely that Garneau, Briceno, and Smith will be battling for backup duty in Spring Training.

White Sox Outright Dustin Garneau

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The White Sox have outrighted catcher Dustin Garneau to Triple-A Charlotte, Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times tweets. The club now has one open spot on its 40-man roster.

Chicago claimed Garneau off waivers from the Athletics in late May, and he went on to collect just three plate appearances with his new team. The 31-year-old spent the majority of the season in Charlotte, where he hit a solid .252/.340/.468 with seven home runs in 160 plate appearances. That continued a strong Triple-A run for Garneau, a career .262/.332/.494 hitter in 1,101 PA at the minors’ highest level.

While Garneau has hit well in the minors, his bat has been decidedly less impressive in the majors. Garneau owns a .194/.269/.321 line in 280 trips to the plate in MLB.

White Sox Claim Dustin Garneau

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The White Sox have claimed catcher Dustin Garneau off waivers from the Athletics, per a club announcement. Righty Miguel Gonzalez was bumped to the 60-day DL to create a 40-man spot.

Garneau had just been designated for assignment. Now, he’ll head to Chicago to help bolster a catching unit that just lost starter Welington Castillo for much of the rest of the season.

The 30-year-old Garneau hasn’t played in the majors this year, but has appeared in 87 games over the past three seasons. He hasn’t hit much in his limited opportunities at the game’s highest level, and is carrying a paltry .208/.263/.333 batting line in 80 plate appearances this season at Triple-A, but at times he has posted quality offensive numbers in the upper minors.

Athletics Designate Dustin Garneau For Assignment

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The Athletics announced on Monday that they’ve designated catcher Dustin Garneau for assignment. His roster spot will go to fellow catcher Bruce Maxwell, who has been reinstated from the restricted list. Josh Phegley was optioned to Triple-A Nashville to open an active roster spot for Maxwell’s return.

Maxwell had been on the restricted list over the weekend due to the fact that his ongoing legal issues prevented him from traveling out of the country for the Athletics’ series in Toronto. In essence, however, Garneau’s DFA is largely a corresponding move for yesterday’s waiver claim of reliever Carlos Ramirez (also from Toronto). Had the Jays been playing in another location, they’d likely have designated Garneau to facilitate the claim anyhow in more direct fashion.

[Related: Oakland Athletics depth chart]

The 30-year-old Garneau has had a rough start to the season in Nashville, batting just .206/.253/.338 over the life of 75 plate appearances. That’s a departure from an otherwise strong (albeit Pacific Coast League-aided) track record in Triple-A for the former Rockies farmhand, as Garneau boasts a career .263/.331/.499 slash line at the minors’ top level. In the Majors, however, he’s mustered a meager .192/.264/.320 batting line in 277 trips to the plate. The A’s will now have seven days to trade Garneau or place him on either outright or release waivers.

With Maxwell back on the roster, he’ll continue to serve as the primary backup to starter Jonathan Lucroy. Phegley will head back to Triple-A, where he’s hitting .224/.320/.412 in 100 plate appearances. He’d be next in line in the event of another absence for either of the Athletics’ current top two catchers.

Athletics Claim Dustin Garneau From Rockies

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The Athletics announced on Friday that they’ve claimed catcher Dustin Garneau off waivers from the Rockies. Oakland already had a spot open on its 40-man roster, so no corresponding move is necessary.

With Jonathan Lucroy now in Colorado following last Sunday’s trade, in addition to fellow catchers Tony Wolters and Tom Murphy, Garneau became a somewhat expendable piece for the Rox. The A’s, however, aren’t as well-stocked in terms of catching depth, with Bruce Maxwell, Josh Phegley (currently on the disabled list with an oblique strain) and Ryan Lavarnway currently representing their top options.

Garneau, who’ll soon turn 30, has seen limited MLB action in each of the past three seasons — 76, 75, and then 74 plate appearances in each successive campaign. He owns a subpar .199/.259/.335 slash with four home runs in that span.

That said, there could be more in the tank. Garneau has thrived over the past two years at Triple-A Albuquerque. Though it’s a noted hitter’s paradise, his numbers there stand out: through 355 plate appearances, he has knocked 25 long balls and a .962 OPS.

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