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Minor MLB Transactions: 6/19/21

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The latest minor moves from around baseball…

  • The Rangers have outrighted left-hander Hyeon-Jong Yang to Triple-A, the team announced.  Yang was designated for assignment earlier this week, on the heels of posting a 5.59 ERA over his first 29 Major League innings.  A veteran of 14 KBO seasons, Yang made the jump to North American baseball this past offseason, signing a minor league deal with Texas that guaranteed him a $1.3MM salary for reaching the active roster.
  • Astros right-hander Francis Martes has returned from the restricted list and been optioned to Triple-A, according Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle (via Twitter).  Martes was issued a 162-game PED suspension in February 2020, so it will still a while before he is eligible to pitch in the majors.  Between two suspensions and a Tommy John surgery, the former top prospect hasn’t pitched in the big leagues since the 2017 season.  Astros manager Dusty Baker told Mark Berman of Fox 26 (Twitter link) and other reporters that the team plans to use Martes out of the bullpen.
  • Earlier this week, the Giants purchased the contract of right-hander Akeel Morris from the independent Long Island Ducks, as announced via the Ducks’ Twitter feed.  Morris pitched in parts of three MLB seasons from 2015-18, posting a 6.14 ERA over 22 total innings for the Mets, Braves, and Angels.  He has since pitched in Australia and in the indy leagues before catching on with the Giants, who have assigned him to their Double-A affiliate.

Rangers Claim Shaun Anderson, Designate Tyson Miller

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The Rangers announced Friday that they’ve claimed righty Shaun Anderson off waivers from the Twins and designated fellow right-hander Tyson Miller for assignment in order to open a spot on the 40-man roster.

The waiver claim brings a quick Twins tenure for Anderson to a close and shines a spotlight on a now-regrettable swap that saw Minnesota send outfielder LaMonte Wade Jr. to San Francisco in exchange for Anderson over the winter. At the time, the Twins looked to be dealing from a position of depth and taking a shot on a reliever with a tantalizing slider, but the Twins have been beset by outfield injuries this season and gotten nothing from their end of that exchange. Wade, meanwhile, has batted .257/.350/.443 in an admittedly small sample of 81 plate appearances for the Giants while missing some time with an oblique injury.

Anderson, 26, has been clobbered for 12 runs (nine earned) on 13 hits and five walks with eight punchouts in 8 2/3 innings out of the Twins’ bullpen so far in 2021. A quadriceps strain and a blister issue on his pitching hand have limited him to just four big league appearances and five outings in Triple-A. He’s been sharp in the minors, firing six scoreless innings with five punchouts and three walks.

The Rangers will be the fourth organization for Anderson, originally a third-round selection of the Red Sox back in 2016. He went from Boston to San Francisco via the Eduardo Nunez trade and had a rough showing, mostly out of the rotation, in 2019 before a more intriguing 2020 performance. Anderson tossed 15 2/3 frames last year and fanned 27 percent of his opponents while recording a gaudy 39.7 percent whiff rate on his slider.

The Twins surely hoped they’d be able to pass Anderson through waivers based on his injuries and rough showing in the big leagues so far. Doing so would’ve allowed them to keep him in Triple-A while reallocating his 40-man spot. Had Minnesota not been hit so hard by the injury bug this season, perhaps the club would’ve been able to avoid trying to pass Anderson through waivers at all, but the loss of the right-hander is yet another ramification of the team’s injuries and generally poor showing in 2021.

As for the 25-year-old Miller, he only joined the Rangers a couple weeks back via a waiver claim out of the Cubs organization. The 2016 fourth-rounder at one point was considered to be one of the better arms in a thin Cubs minor league system, but he’s limped to a 7.26 ERA in 57 Triple-A frames between 2019 and 2021.

Miller made two appearances for the Cubs last year, allowing three runs on two hits and three walks without a strikeout in five innings against the Cardinals. Miller has multiple minor league options remaining, so he could pique the interest of another pitching-hungry club. Texas has a week to trade him or attempt to pass him through outright waivers.

Rangers Acquire Dennis Santana, Designate Hyeon-jong Yang

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The Rangers announced they’ve acquired right-hander Dennis Santana from the Dodgers in exchange for left-handed pitching prospect Kelvin Bautista. To create 40-man roster space for Santana, Texas designated left-hander Hyeon-jong Yang for assignment. Texas optioned Santana to Triple-A Round Rock.

The Dodgers designated Santana for assignment last week. The 25-year-old saw big league action in each season between 2018-21. Across 40 2/3 MLB innings, Santana has only managed a 6.42 ERA/4.88 SIERA with worse than average strikeout and walk rates (18.7% and 11.9%, respectively). He’s fared particularly poorly this season, allowing eleven runs (ten earned) on eighteen hits and eleven walks with just eight strikeouts across fifteen frames.

To Santana’s credit, he has induced ground balls at a robust 54.9% clip in 2021. That’s a new development but not all that surprising for a pitcher who leans primarily on a 95 MPH sinker. Santana, though, throws an extremely high-spin sinker. Unlike with four-seam fastballs, sinkers tend to fare better as low-spin offerings, since higher-spin heaters can resist gravity and be less likely to dive down towards the bottom of the strike zone.

Nevertheless, Santana’s three-pitch mix (he throws a slider and changeup with relatively equal frequency) has long intrigued scouts. Entering the year, Baseball America ranked Santana the Dodgers #19 prospect, praising his repertoire but questioning his command. The Rangers will now attempt to actualize that upside. Santana is in his final minor league option year, so he can be sent back and forth between Arlington and Round Rock without being exposed to waivers for the remainder of this season. While all 32 of his MLB appearances have come in relief, Santana has started the majority of his minor league games, so it’s possible the Rangers could try to lengthen him back out as rotation depth.

Yang loses his roster spot after eight appearances (four starts). Signed to a minor league deal over the winter after a lengthy, successful career in the Korea Baseball Organization, the 33-year-old was selected to Texas’ MLB roster in late April. Yang struggled in 29 big league innings, working to a 5.59 ERA with a subpar 15% strikeout rate and an elevated 11.8% walk rate. The Rangers will have a week to trade him or place him on outright waivers.

Bautista signed with the Rangers as an amateur out of the Dominican Republic during the 2017-18 international signing period. Eric Longenhagen of FanGraphs ranked Bautista the #62 prospect in the Texas farm system last month, noting that the diminutive southpaw throws in the mid-upper 90s with a promising but inconsistent curveball and subpar command.

Rangers Activate Ian Kennedy From Injured List

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The Rangers announced they’ve activated reliever Ian Kennedy from the injured list in advance of tonight’s game against the Astros. Lefty Hyeon-jong Yang was optioned to Triple-A Round Rock to create active roster space.

Kennedy was placed on the IL last week with a mild hamstring strain, but he’s back after a minimal absence. He’ll presumably return to his ninth-inning role in Arlington, where he’s found plenty of success. The veteran righty has made 21 appearances and tossed 21 1/3 innings of 2.53 ERA/3.25 SIERA ball this season. Kennedy, who was forced to settle for a minor league deal over the winter after a terrible 2020 season in Kansas City, has seen significant jumps in his strikeout and swinging rates (to a strong 29.8% and 13.2%, respectively). Equally importantly, he’s held opponents to just two home runs after coughing up seven long balls in 14 innings last year.

That seems to have been driven by much grater reliance on his high-spin four-seam fastball, which he’s thrown 82% of the time in 2021, with fantastic results. Kennedy’s benefitting from an elevated strand rate (84.2%) and fairly low HR/FB rate (8.3%), so he’s unlikely to sustain quite this level of run prevention, but he’s made meaningful improvements that should allow him to continue to perform as a solid high-leverage relief option down the stretch.

Kennedy’s strong season makes him one of the likeliest players in baseball to change teams over the next six weeks. The Rangers didn’t expect to compete this year, and they’ve unsurprisingly posted the second-worst record in the American League. With Kennedy hitting free agency at the end of the season, there’s little reason for Texas not to move him to a contender in exchange for younger talent before the July 30 trade deadline.

Rangers, Mariners Complete Rafael Montero Deal

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The Rangers have acquired minor league shortstop Andres Mesa from the Mariners as the player to be named later from last December’s Rafael Montero trade. The two parties had until tomorrow to agree on the player involved, as PTBNLs must be determined within six months of a trade’s completion. Mesa has been assigned to the Rangers’ affiliate in the Dominican Summer League.

Mesa, 18, was signed as an international prospect in the summer of 2019, landing a $500K bonus from the Mariners. He’s yet to play in an official game with the Mariners yet thanks to lack of any minor league competition in 2020. At the time of his signing, Baseball America’s Ben Badler called Mesa a plus runner with a “huge” arm and the athleticism to handle an up-the-middle position, be it shortstop, second base or center field.

Mesa becomes the second member of the Mariners 2019-20 international class to join the Rangers as part of the deal. Seventeen-year-old righty Jose Corniell was announced to be part of the trade at the time of the swap, and he currently ranks as the Rangers’ No. 29 prospect at MLB.com. That both players acquired are so young and so far from MLB readiness is a reflection of the younger direction the Rangers have taken over the course of the past year.

The acquisition of Montero hasn’t gone as well as the Mariners would’ve hoped. The former Mets top prospect was quite good in a resurgent showing with Texas from 2019-20, pitching to a combined 3.09 ERA with a hefty 28.9 percent strikeout rate and a tiny 5.9 percent walk rate. He’s sitting on a 5.21 ERA through 28 2/3 frames as a Mariner, and while a pair of rough outings in particular skew that ERA, the overall results have taken a dive from Montero’s 2019-20 levels. He’s striking out far fewer batters and issuing more walks, which have combined to offset an overwhelming uptick in ground-ball rate.

Montero isn’t giving up much in the way of hard contact, and fielding-independent numbers are more bullish on him than that bottom-line ERA, so there’s still some hope of a turnaround. He’s also controlled into the 2022 season via arbitration, so if he is ultimately able to right the ship, he has some value to the Mariners beyond the current campaign.

Rangers Release Khris Davis

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The Rangers announced they’ve placed Khris Davis on unconditional release waivers. This was the expected outcome after the club designated Davis for assignment on Tuesday.

Texas acquired the designated hitter/corner outfielder from the A’s over the winter. While they surely hoped he’d rebound from back-to-back down seasons at the plate, the primary motivation for the trade was financial. The Rangers sent Elvis Andrus, owed $14MM in each of 2021 and 2022, to Oakland in exchange for Davis’ expiring $16.75MM contract and a pair of prospects. (Texas is paying down $13.5MM of Andrus’ contract over the next two years). The deal allowed the Rangers to assume more money in 2021, when they didn’t expect to contend anyhow, to shave nearly $7MM off their 2022 books.

Ultimately, the Rangers didn’t give Davis much of a leash. He began the year on the injured list and received just 61 plate appearances- putting up a poor .157/.262/.333 slash line- before Texas cut bait. It’s the third consecutive year of well below-average hitting for Davis, who was one of the game’s top power bats during his 2016-18 peak in Oakland.

Technically, teams will have 48 hours to put in a claim for Davis. That’s a moot point, as he’ll assuredly pass through waivers unclaimed. Any team that claimed Davis would assume the remainder of his salary. No team will do that, leaving the Rangers on the hook for the money.

Once he clears the wire, Davis will be free to sign with any team. A signing club would then only owe him the league minimum salary for any time he spends on the major league roster, which would be subtracted from Texas’ outlay. Given his lack of defensive value and recent offensive woes, it’s possible he’ll have to settle for a minor league deal once he hits the open market.

Rangers Place Ian Kennedy On Injured List, Select Spencer Patton

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The Rangers announced Wednesday that they’ve placed right-hander Ian Kennedy on the 10-day injured list due to a “mild” hamstring strain and selected the contract of right-hander Spencer Patton from Triple-A Round Rock in his place. Texas already had an open spot on the 40-man roster, so an additional corresponding move is not necessary. Patton will be in the club’s bullpen for today’s game.

Kennedy, 36, has proven to be one of the best minor league signings in all of baseball this season. He inked a non-guaranteed pact with an invite to Spring Training and parlayed a strong showing there into a $2.15MM base salary. He’s not only justified that modest investment, he’s thrived as one of the game’s more effective late-inning relievers. Kennedy has pitched 21 1/3 innings and racked up 12 saves to go along with a 2.53 ERA, a hefty 29.8 percent strikeout rate and a tidy 8.3 percent walk rate.

That standout performance, coupled with a generally poor performance from the team as a whole, makes Kennedy one of the most obvious trade candidates on this summer’s market. Texas has dropped nine of its past ten games, falling to 16 games south of the .500 mark and 13 games back of the division-leading Athletics. As such, it’s good news for the Rangers that Kennedy is dealing with only a “mild” strain. While a timeline for his return wasn’t provided, the mild nature of the injury should allow him to return long before the July 30 trade deadline.

As for Patton, today’s promotion will mark the culmination of a nearly five-year journey back to the big leagues. A 24th-round pick of the Royals back in 2011, Patton made his MLB debut as a Ranger in 2014 and spent parts of the next three seasons as an up-and-down member of the bullpen for both the Rangers and Cubs.

From there, Patton went on to spend four seasons pitching with the Yokohama DeNA BayStars of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball. The righty was one of NPB’s best relievers in 2017-18 before struggling, in part due to injury, in 2019-20. Even with the downturn in his final two years in Japan, however, Patton’s overall NPB track record was strong: 205 2/3 innings of 3.68 ERA ball with a 27.4 percent strikeout rate against a 9.5 percent walk rate.

Patton returned to the Rangers on a minor league deal of his own this winter, and he’s fired off 12 scoreless innings to begin his season in Round Rock. He’s walked six hitters, which clearly isn’t ideal, but has also yielded only six hits and whiffed a dozen of the 45 batters he’s faced. He’ll now get the chance to prove that the gains he appeared to make in NPB are sustainable here at the game’s top level in North America. Patton turned 33 back in February, so if he is indeed able to replicate his NPB success here in MLB, he could have several years remaining as a productive, late-inning reliever — be it with the Rangers or with another club.

Rangers Designate Khris Davis For Assignment

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The Rangers have designated DH/outfielder Khris Davis for assignment, Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News tweets.

A three-time 40-home run hitter, Davis joined the Rangers in the offseason in a trade with the Athletics, who acquired shortstop Elvis Andrus as their headlining piece. Neither player has performed well this season, however. Davis missed the first month-plus of the season with a left quad strain and has since batted .157/.262/.333 with a pair of home runs in 61 plate appearances. So far, it’s the third straight year in which Davis has posted subpar production at the plate.

Davis is making $16.7MM this season, the last of a two-year, $33.5MM contract. Considering Davis’ offensive issues and his lack of defensive value, he’s unlikely to appeal to any team in a trade over the next week.

To replace Davis, the Rangers recalled infielder/outfielder Eli White, whom they also acquired from the A’s in a past trade. White has hit a dismal .155/.214/.194 with zero home runs in 112 PA since he debuted last year.

Padres Remain “Particularly Interested” In Joey Gallo

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If the Padres continue to scuffle offensively, they could turn to a familiar target from outside the organization: the Rangers’ Joey Gallo. The Padres are trying to weather a storm of injuries and cold bats, but while they wait for Austin Nola and Trent Grisham to return from the injured list, it’s easy to speculate about potential additions, and few would be as exciting as Gallo.

Remember, the Padres had interest in Gallo at last year’s trade deadline, but they balked at moving CJ Abrams or Luis Patino. That price may still be too high, but the Padres remain “particularly interested” in Gallo, writes the Athletic’s Dennis Lin. The trade market is still developing, however, and the Ranger’s aren’t likely to make Gallo a quick-strike target. Even with diminished power outputs the past two seasons – .197 ISO in 2020 and .181 ISO this season – Gallo would be one of the higher-end pieces available, should the Rangers make him so.

After all, even though his slugging percentage has fallen under .400 SLG the past two seasons, Gallo has begun to bounce back this year thanks to an above-average ability to get on base (18.7 percent walk rate). Through 241 plate appearances, he now has a 119 wRC+ with a batting line of .207/.365/.389. He has an improved .226 ISO/.435 SLG since May 15th.

For the Padres, Gallo’s ability to play all three outfield positions holds some value, mostly because of the injury concerns around their starting trio of Grisham, Tommy Pham, and Wil Myers. All three have spent time on the injured list this season. But it’s Gallo’s overall offensive ability that brings the most appeal for a team that has struggled to score runs of late. The Friars have just a 74 team wRC+ over the past two weeks, the third-lowest mark in the Majors in that time.

 

KBO’s SSG Landers Sign Sam Gaviglio

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The SSG Landers of the Korea Baseball Organization have signed former Mariners, Blue Jays and Royals right-hander Sam Gaviglio for the remainder of the season, the team announced (hat tip: Jee-ho Yoo of South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency, on Twitter). The KVA Sports client was on a minor league deal with the Rangers, who have announced the sale of his contract to the Landers. Gaviglio will earn a $246K salary in addition to a $100K signing bonus, per Yoo.

Gaviglio, 31, had tossed 26 1/3 innings in Triple-A Round Rock while awaiting a big league opportunity in Texas, but he’ll now take a guaranteed six-figure payday for a bit more than a half season’s work to close out the 2021 campaign. The move overseas also serves as something of an audition for him; if he throws well with the Landers, he could very well earn an offer to return in 2022 or generate interest elsewhere in the KBO or Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball. A strong performance could also earn him another look back with a big league club.

A fifth-rounder by the Cardinals back in 2011, Gaviglio made his MLB debut with the 2017 Mariners. He spent parts of the next four seasons in the big leagues, tallying a combined total of 296 2/3 innings and pitching to a 4.88 ERA with a 19.1 percent strikeout rate and a 7.2 percent walk rate.

Gaviglio has worked as both a starter and a reliever in the Majors, but he appears ticketed for the Landers’ rotation. Yoo notes that he’ll be taking the roster spot of right-hander Artie Lewicki, who started four games for the Landers before a pectoral injury sidelined him for the foreseeable future.

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