Tigers, Dugan Darnell Agree To Minor League Deal
The Tigers agreed to a minor league contract with reliever Dugan Darnell, as first reflected on the MLB.com transaction tracker. Evan Petzold of The Detroit Free-Press reports that Darnell will receive a non-roster invite to MLB camp. He’d make a little more than the $780K league minimum if he cracks the big league roster.
Although Darnell will be with the club in camp, he’s not going to see any game action. The 28-year-old underwent surgery to repair a labrum tear in his left hip at the end of September. That came with an eight-month recovery timetable that’ll sideline him into May. He’ll presumably head to Triple-A Toledo at that point and look to pitch his way onto the MLB roster.
Darnell is a native of Northville, Michigan, who played collegiately in the state at Division III Adrian College. He went undrafted and pitched in the independent ranks before getting a professional look with the Rockies. Darnell pitched to a 3.74 earned run average across 200 minor league appearances in the Colorado organization. That included 53 2/3 frames of 3.19 ERA ball in a very difficult environment at Triple-A Albuquerque last season. Darnell earned his first MLB call as a result, allowing five runs over 11 2/3 innings until suffering the injury.
The righty has a three-pitch mix led by a 93-94 MPH fastball. He uses a splitter as his top secondary offering against left-handed hitters while relying more evenly on the split and a slider against righties. Darnell didn’t show enough in his limited MLB look to hold an offseason 40-man spot with Colorado. He bounced to Pittsburgh and Detroit on waiver claims. The Tigers non-tendered him shortly after but succeeded in bringing him back in a non-roster capacity. They did the same with non-tendered relievers Jack Little, Tyler Mattison, Tanner Rainey and Sean Guenther.
Meanwhile, Petzold reported yesterday that Detroit reached minor league deals with each of Dylan File, Woo-suk Go and Wandisson Charles. None of that trio received an invite to Spring Training, however. That indicates they’re viewed purely as organizational depth arms. All three of those pitchers have had stints on a team’s 40-man roster in the past, but none has gotten to the MLB level.
File is coming off a 4.70 ERA between the top two minor league levels in the Seattle farm system. He’s a starter who owns a 4.33 ERA over seven seasons in the minors. Go was a closer in his native South Korea. He signed a two-year, $4.5MM contract with the Padres over the 2023-24 offseason. Go failed to break camp and was quickly traded to the Marlins as a salary offset in the Luis Arraez deal. He has kicked around the upper minors over the past two years, including 20 appearances in the Detroit system a year ago. Charles is a 29-year-old reliever with a 98 MPH fastball who has never been able to find the strike zone. He has pitched in the A’s and Baltimore systems and spent the 2025 campaign in Mexico.
D-Backs Sign Dylan File, Dakota Chalmers To Minor League Deals
The Diamondbacks have signed right-handers Dylan File and Dakota Chalmers to minor league contracts, according to their Triple-A team in Reno. Chalmers will get an invite to big league Spring Training.
File returns to affiliated ball after a brief stint in Korea. A 21st-round draftee by the Brewers in 2017, he secured a spot on the 40-man roster three years later. Elbow surgery limited him during the 2021 campaign and Milwaukee outrighted from the roster the following May without ever calling him to the majors.
The 27-year-old signed with the KBO’s Doosan Bears last winter but only made two starts. His season debut was delayed when he was hit with a comebacker in preseason play. Not long after making his return, he was diagnosed with elbow soreness (link via Jee-ho Yoo of Yonhap News). The Bears released him in June to sign left-hander Brandon Waddell.
Chalmers, also 27, was a third-round pick by the A’s in 2015. Oakland traded him to the Twins for Fernando Rodney three years later. Like File, he was added to a 40-man roster (Minnesota’s in 2019) to keep him out of the Rule 5 draft but never got to the big leagues. The Cubs nabbed Chalmers off waivers during the 2021 campaign but ran him through outright waivers shortly thereafter. The 6’3″ righty has a 4.83 ERA while striking out just over a quarter of opponents across parts of seven seasons in the minors.
Dylan File Signs With KBO’s Doosan Bears
Right-hander Dylan File has inked a contract with the Doosan Bears of the Korea Baseball Organization, the team announced (h/t to Dan Kurtz of MyKBO.net). He’ll receive a $550K salary, and the deal contains up to $100K in incentives.
File was a 21st-round draftee of the Brewers back in 2017. He made it to Milwaukee’s 40-man roster over the 2020-21 offseason, as the club was concerned about losing him in the Rule 5 draft. File hadn’t pitched that year on account of the cancelation of the minor league season, but he’d performed well between High-A and Double-A in 2019. He appeared among the top 30 prospects in the Milwaukee system at Baseball America that winter, remaining on the list in each of the subsequent two seasons.
Bumped up to Triple-A Nashville in 2021, the Dixie State product spent the entire year on optional assignment. He posted a 5.27 ERA in nine starts with the Sounds in 2021 but held his 40-man spot all winter. The Brewers eventually took him off the roster this past May, although he remained in the organization after clearing outright waivers. File started 19 of his 26 outings in Nashville, pitching to a 4.57 ERA with a modest 19.9% strikeout rate but an excellent 7.1% walk percentage across 114 1/3 innings. He’s still yet to make his big league debut.
The Brewers could have kept File in the organization as non-roster rotation depth, but they officially granted him his release yesterday. The 26-year-old could ostensibly look to return to the majors at some point down the line, but he’ll make the jump to the KBO for at least the 2023 season. Players like Chris Flexen and Merrill Kelly were all on the fringes of a 40-man roster before signing and having success in South Korea and eventually returning stateside on guaranteed big league deals. Drew Rucinski seems likely to follow that path this offseason.
There’s no guarantee File will have the same amount of success, of course. He’s an excellent strike-thrower, however, and he’ll presumably get a guaranteed rotation spot with the Seoul-based team. File secures the largest payday of his career and will get an opportunity to perform at Korea’s highest level.
Naver Sports first reported File and the Bears were negotiating a deal earlier this month.
Brewers Outright Dylan File
The Brewers announced Monday that right-hander Dylan File has cleared waivers and been assigned outright to Triple-A Nashville. The team had not previously announced that File had been designated for assignment or placed on waivers.
File, 25, was selected to the 40-man roster back in Nov. 2020, as the Brewers looked to protect him from the forthcoming Rule 5 Draft. In his most recent full season of work at that point, the former 21st-rounder had pitched to a combined 3.24 ERA with a 22.7% strikeout rate and a microscopic 3.7% walk rate in 147 frames between Class-A Advanced and Double-A.
Things haven’t gone as well for File in Triple-A, though his results have been better so far in 2022 than in 2021. Last season, the righty limped to a 5.27 ERA in 42 2/3 frames. He’s sitting at 4.10 through his first 37 1/3 innings this year, but while the ERA is improved, File’s rate stats have taken a turn for the worse. His already meager 19.4% strikeout rate has dipped to 17.9%, while last year’s strong 6.5% walk rate has swelled to 9.9%.
The Brewers’ 40-man roster now sits at 37 players.
Central Notes: Kimbrel, White Sox, Cubs, Donaldson, Boyd, Warren, File
White Sox GM Rick Hahn and Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer began trade discussions on July 9, ESPN.com’s Jesse Rogers reports, and it wasn’t until July 20 that the two sides reconnected for what became more intensive talks that led to a pair of major trades. In separate deals, the Sox acquired Ryan Tepera on July 29 and then a deadline-day blockbuster that saw Craig Kimbrel head to the south side of Chicago.
Nick Madrigal emerged as the top piece in the Kimbrel deal, though it wasn’t until the day of the trade that the White Sox also added right-hander Codi Heuer to make it a two-player package. That was enough to put the Sox ahead of a competitive market, and in Kimbrel, the team landed a player that Hahn and executive VP Ken Williams had both prioritized as a key acquisition to bolster the bullpen.
More on both the AL and NL Central divisions…
- Josh Donaldson continues to be bothered by soreness in his right hamstring, and he didn’t see any action for the second consecutive game. Over the Twins‘ last 10 games, Donaldson has started twice and come off the bench three times, and manager Rocco Baldelli said the club is “still going to wait and see” if Donaldson can avoid the injured list. “JD is still a little sore and we are still working our way through, just figuring out a timeline as far as when he’ll be able to return,” Baldelli told Betsy Helfand of the St. Paul Pioneer Press and other reporters.
- Matthew Boyd threw a live batting practice session at the Tigers‘ Spring Training facility in Lakeland, manager A.J. Hinch told MLB.com’s Jason Beck and other reporters. Boyd hasn’t pitched since June 14 due to a triceps issue, so a move to the 60-day injured list could be in the works should Detroit require some 40-man roster space in the near future. Boyd’s BP session does represent some progress, and a proper minor league rehab assignment could follow provided Boyd doesn’t hit any setbacks. The left-hander was off to a solid start to the 2021 season, posting a 3.44 ERA over his first 70 2/3 innings.
- Reds manager David Bell provided an update on Art Warren, telling reporters (including The Cincinnati Enquirer’s Bobby Nightengale) that Warren will require roughly another month to recover from a left oblique strain. The rookie right-hander has already missed about four weeks due to the injury, which interrupted a strong beginning to Warren’s first season in Cincinnati. Warren struck out 36.2% of opposing batters while posting a 1.88 ERA over 14 1/3 innings out of the Reds’ bullpen.
- The Brewers announced that right-hander Dylan File has been activated off the 60-day injured list and optioned to Triple-A Nashville. File underwent elbow surgery in February and has yet to pitch this season, apart from some minor league rehab outings. Considering that the Brewers are dealing with several bullpen absences due to injuries and a COVID-19 outbreak, it might not be out of the question that the 25-year-old File is called up to make his MLB debut before the 2021 season is through.
Health Notes: Pham, File, Rodriguez, Reyes
Padres outfielder Tommy Pham estimates he’s at 80% strength after he was stabbed in the lower back last October, he told reporters (including Dennis Lin of the Athletic and Bob Nightengale of USA Today). The 32-year-old opened up about the incident, telling reporters he initially believed he would never play again. Scarier still, Pham says doctors later told him he could have been killed or paralyzed by his wound, which ultimately required more than 200 stitches to close, per Nightengale. Fortunately, he’s on the path to recovery and played in the Padres’ first spring training game today, although he says he’s still not at his previous weight-lifting capabilities. In addition to the stabbing, Pham underwent an offseason surgery to correct a wrist issue, but it seems he’s recovered from that procedure.
More injury-related situations around the game:
- Brewers right-handed pitching prospect Dylan File underwent surgery to repair a stress fracture in his throwing elbow, team personnel told reporters (including Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and Adam McCalvy of MLB.com). The surgery is expected to keep him out of action until at least the middle of June. File was added to Milwaukee’s 40-man roster over the offseason. Given his recovery timetable, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see the Brewers place him on the 60-day injured list if a need for a 40-man spot arises in the coming weeks.
- Rangers reliever Joely Rodríguez is “a couple of weeks behind” schedule of the team’s other relievers, president of baseball operations Jon Daniels told reporters (including Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News). The southpaw was bothered by an offseason ankle issue; he’s now pain-free, but the injury delayed his ramp-up before spring training. It remains to be seen if he’ll have enough time to build up before Opening Day. Rodríguez was a bright spot in limited time with Texas last season, striking out seventeen while issuing five walks across 12.2 innings of three-run ball.
- The Angels announced that pitching prospect Packy Naughton has a Grade 1 flexor pronator strain, per Fabian Ardaya of the Athletic (Twitter link). He’ll be out of action for three to five weeks. There was some concern for the left-hander after an MRI revealed a UCL sprain yesterday but it seems he’ll avoid the worst case scenario. Naughton was acquired from the Reds in advance of last summer’s trade deadline and could be a big league option for Los Angeles at some point in 2021.
- Another of the Angels’ acquisitions at the 2020 trade deadline, right-hander Gerardo Reyes, left this afternoon’s spring training contest with discomfort in his throwing elbow, per a team announcement. The 27-year-old reliever came over from the Padres in the Jason Castro deal. Reyes has a 7.62 ERA/3.38 SIERA over 26 MLB innings.
Brewers Add 3 To 40-Man Roster
Catcher Mario Feliciano and right-handers Alec Bettinger and Dylan File are now on the Brewers’ 40-man roster, Will Sammon of The Athletic tweets. Their roster stands at 39 players.
All three of Feliciano (No. 4), Bettinger (24) and File (25) rank among the Brewers’ highest-regarded prospects at MLB.com. Feliciano is an offensive-minded catcher, though MLB.com writes that “his defense should be good enough to allow his bat-first profile to play at the highest level.”
Bettinger and File seem to profile as back-end starters/relievers, but they were rather effective in their most recent minor league experience in 2019. Bettinger threw 169 1/3 innings of 3.44 ERA/3.13 FIP in Double-A ball then, while File amassed 80 2/3 frames of 2.79 ERA/3.04 FIP pitching at the same level.
Brewers Announce 12 Additions To Player Pool
The Brewers announced Thursday that they’ve added a dozen minor leaguers to their 60-man player pool. In addition to the previously reported addition of righty Dylan File, Milwaukee has added the following players:
- LHP Clayton Andrews
- RHP Phil Bickford
- RHP Antoine Kelly
- LHP Angel Perdomo
- LHP Ethan Small
- RHP Trey Supak
- C/OF Thomas Dillard
- C Mario Feliciano
- OF Tristen Lutz
- OF Corey Ray
- INF Brice Turang
Many of the prospects added today are viewed a key future pieces for the Brewers but shouldn’t be expected to contribute at the MLB level this coming season. Turang, the team’s top pick from 2018, is considered the organization’s best prospect but hasn’t above Class-A Advanced yet. Lutz, Small, Feliciano, Dillard, Bickford and Kelly have all yet to log any notable time even at the Double-A level.
The others in the bunch, though, could potentially reach the Majors for the first time in 2020. File’s quick rise through the system was already touched upon here. Perdomo, who has a strong minor league track record, tested positive for COVID-19 recently but could be a lefty option for the ‘pen assuming a full recovery. Andrews, a two-way star in college who also logged some time in center field this past season, reached Double-A in 2019 and fared well (2.59 ERA, 3.97 FIP, 9.5 K/9, 4.3 BB/9 in 31 1 /3 frames).
Supak, 24, breezed through 122 2/3 innings of Double-A ball in 2019, pitching to a 2.20 ERA and 3.14 FIP with 6.7 K/9, 1.7 BB/9, 0.44 HR/9 and a 44.8 percent ground-ball rate before struggling in a much briefer run in Triple-A (30 innings). He could be a multi-inning relief piece or make some starts should the need arise. Supak’s 152 2/3 total innings last year were the 13th-most of any pitcher in minor league baseball.
As for Ray, the Brewers have had high hopes for him since selecting him with the No. 5 pick back in 2016. He’s coming off a brutal 2019 season but posted a 124 wRC+ in Double-A a season prior, hitting .239/.323/.477. Strikeouts are a significant issue for Ray, who has whiffed in 29.7 percent of his professional plate appearances (including an alarming 36.6 percent clip in 2019). But Ray also belted 27 homers in a pitcher-friendly Double-A setting in 2018 — a season that also saw him swipe 37 bases. The contact issues probably aren’t going to improve dramatically, but there’s still some intrigue surrounding someone with that blend of power and speed — particularly when they can play any of the three outfield slots.
With today’s moves now set, the Brewers have filled 58 of the 60 possible slots in their 2020 player pool. Team can still make additions once all 60 spots are filled, but doing so requires removing a current player via a transaction (e.g. trade, release, outright waivers).
Brewers Add Dylan File To 60-Man Player Pool
The Brewers are adding Double-A right-hander Dylan File to their 60-man player pool, The Athletic’s Emily Waldon reports (via Twitter). Milwaukee’s initial player pool was only 45 players, so it’s seemed quite likely some additional players will be added — be they internal add or external pickups. File is the first name added to the bunch.
A 21st-round pick back in 2017, the now 24-year-old File has delivered steady results while climbing through the system. The Dixie State University product tossed 136 1/3 frames of 3.96 ERA ball at Class-A during his first full pro season in 2018 and enjoyed considerably better results between Class-A Advanced and Double-A in 2019. File racked up 147 innings with a combined 3.24 ERA — though he spent more time in Double-A and pitched better there against most advanced competition. His 80 2/3 frames with the Brewers’ Biloxi affiliate resulted in a 2.79 ERA and a pristine 73-to-15 K/BB ratio with a 44.4 percent ground-ball rate.
FanGraphs’ Eric Longenhagen ranks File 17th among Brewers farmhands, calling him a “high-probability fifth starter” with plus command and an above-average curveball. MLB.com tabs him 24th in the system and is more bullish on his slider than his curve but generally offers a similar picture of File’s future as a back-of-the-rotation starter or a multi-inning reliever.
Given the Brewers’ somewhat piecemeal approach to putting together a rotation and their unconventional use of pitchers in general, it only makes sense that they’d continue deepening the stockpile of arms from which they can draw. File hasn’t been added to the 40-man roster yet, but his quick rise through the system and sharp results in Double-A a year ago have positioned him for a potential call-up at some point in this year’s abbreviated season.