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Joakim Soria

Blue Jays Designate Jacob Barnes For Assignment

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The Blue Jays announced that right-hander Jacob Barnes has been designated for assignment (hat tip to Sportsnet’s Ben Nicholson-Smith).  The move creates roster space so Joakim Soria could be reinstated from the COVID-related injury list, a necessary procedural transaction before Soria hits the free agent market.

Toronto acquired Barnes from the Mets in June, as the Blue Jays were eager to find reinforcements for their struggling bullpen.  Barnes didn’t provide many answers, as he posted a 6.30 ERA over only 10 innings with the Jays before being DFA’ed in July and then outrighted off the 40-man roster in August.

While Barnes did have a 30.6% strikeout rate during his brief time with the Jays, he didn’t help his cause by posting a 12.2% walk rate — a reawakening of the control problems that have occasionally hampered Barnes at both the major and minor league levels over the last few years, though his career walk numbers are respectable.  Barnes did only allow one homer in a Blue Jays uniform, after surrendering six home runs over just 18 2/3 frames with the Mets earlier this season.

After posting some solid numbers out of the Brewers’ bullpen from 2016-18, Barnes has since posted a 6.58 ERA over 79 1/3 innings for five different teams over the last three seasons.  As per Statcast, Barnes has continued to post solidly above-average fastball spin rates throughout his career, but while his four-seam fastball continues to get positive results, he hasn’t had much success with secondary offerings.

Barnes is eligible for arbitration this winter, projected for a $1.2MM salary.  The DFA essentially looks like an early non-tender for the Jays, and since Barnes has over three years of MLB service time and has already been outrighted once this season, he can opt for free agency now rather than accept another outright assignment.

COVID Notes: 9/25/21

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The latest coronavirus-related moves from around baseball…

  • The Blue Jays placed right-hander Joakim Soria on the COVID-related injury list, and recalled left-hander Kirby Snead from Triple-A to fill Soria’s roster spot.  Acquired in a trade deadline deal with the Diamondbacks, Soria has an ungainly 7.88 ERA over eight innings in his brief time with the Jays, though that number was inflated by a nightmarish outing (four runs allowed without retiring a batter) against the A’s on September 4.

Diamondbacks Acquire Two Players From Blue Jays To Complete Joakim Soria Trade

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The Diamondbacks announced they’ve acquired two minor league players — catcher J.J. D’Orazio and left-hander Yaifer Perdomo — from the Blue Jays. The move completes the teams’ deadline day deal that sent veteran reliever Joakim Soria to Toronto.

Arizona picks up a pair of low-level developmental prospects. Entering the season, Eric Longenhagen of FanGraphs ranked the 19-year-old D’Orazio the #26 prospect in the Jays’ system, praising his frame and bat-to-ball skills. Perdomo has never appeared on an organizational ranking at either FanGraphs or Baseball America. The 20-year-old posted gaudy strikeout totals with the Jays’ Florida Complex League affiliate this season though. Both D’Orazio and Perdomo were recently bumped up to Low-A.

Soria hasn’t yet had much of an opportunity to make an impact for his new club. The 37-year-old went down with inflammation in his right middle finger on August 4 and missed three weeks. He’s tossed 3 2/3 scoreless innings with five strikeouts for the Jays and will be a free agent at the end of the season.

Blue Jays To Acquire Joakim Soria From Diamondbacks

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The Blue Jays are acquiring reliever Joakim Soria from the Diamondbacks, according to John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7 FM.  The Jays will send a pair of players to be named later back to Arizona, according to the team.  Outfielder Jonathan Davis was designated for assignment to open a spot for Soria.

Soria, 37, joins the ninth team of his career.  A legendary closer in his first four seasons with the Royals back in 2007-10, Soria is now more of a useful depth piece.  This year the veteran owns a 4.30 ERA, 24.8 K%, and 6.4 BB% in 29 1/3 innings.  He lengthens a Blue Jays bullpen that also added Brad Hand, Adam Cimber, and Trevor Richards this summer.  Blue Jays Executive Vice President, Baseball Operations & General Manager Ross Atkins saved his big splash for the rotation, acquiring Jose Berrios from the Twins for Austin Martin and Simeon Woods Richardson.

The Blue Jays, who return to the Rogers Centre in Toronto tonight for the first time in 670 days, are currently 4.5 games out of a wild card spot.

Diamondbacks Place Joakim Soria On 10-Day Injured List

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APRIL 6: The Diamondbacks announced that they have placed Soria on the 10-day injured list, retroactive to April 5, with a left calf strain. They recalled righty Matt Peacock in a corresponding move.

APRIL 4: Diamondbacks reliever Joakim Soria left Sunday’s game after four batters due to injury, with manager Torey Lovullo telling reporters (including Nick Piecoro of The Arizona Republic) that the team’s initial thought is a possible calf strain.  More will be known once Soria undergoes tests tomorrow.

The injury occurred while Soria was covering first base during the second out of the eighth inning.  After retiring the first two batters he faced, a clearly bothered Soria then issued two walks before being removed from the game.  Kevin Ginkel came on to record the final out of the frame, and Chris Devenski then pitched the ninth to lock up a 3-1 Arizona victory over the Padres.

It was a sour ending to Soria’s very first appearance in a D’Backs uniform.  The right-hander signed a one-year, $3.5MM free agent deal in February, joining fellow veteran reliever Tyler Clippard as the Diamondbacks’ biggest expenditures during an overall pretty quiet offseason for the team.  However, Clippard has already been sent to the 60-day IL due to a capsule strain in his shoulder, and now Soria might also miss time if he has indeed suffered at least a moderate calf injury.

Devenski and (by only 11 days of service time) Yoan Lopez are the only other relievers with more than two years of MLB experience within a young D’Backs bullpen.  Minor league signings Anthony Swarzak and Ryan Buchter are both available at the alternate training site if the Snakes want to add another veteran arm to replace an injured Soria.

NL West Notes: Diamondbacks, Widener, Closer, Ahmed, Dodgers, McKinstry

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Taylor Widener will open the season as a member of the Diamondbacks rotation, per MLB.com’s Steve Gilbert (via Twitter). Widener beat out Taylor Clarke to take Zac Gallen’s spot in the rotation. Widener has been a highly-regarded prospect, first in the Yankees’ system and then with the Diamondbacks. He made 12 appearances out of the Dbacks’ pen in 2020 with a 4.50 ERA/6.49 FIP across 20 innings. Clarke, meanwhile, will head to the bullpen. Elsewhere in the desert…

  • The Diamondbacks are going with a closer-by-committee approach to start the season, per Zach Buchanan of the Athletic (via Twitter). Joakim Soria has been the presumptive closer given his past experience in the role compared to the other options on the roster. Soria’s 223 career saves easily set the pace. Tyler Clippard is second with 68 career saves, and Stefan Crichton comes in third with just five career saves. Nevertheless, Crichton is one of the guys manager Torey Lovullo may turn to late in game. The Diamondbacks might simply want to push some of their less proven bullpen arms to see what exactly they have in someone like Crichton or Kevin Ginkel.
  • Nick Ahmed’s been experiencing knee pain, an issue that he has dealt with in the past. He received a platelet-rich plasma injection as treatment and plans to be ready for opening day, per Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic (via Twitter). Arizona doesn’t have a perfect solution to replace Ahmed, were he to miss time. Josh Rojas would likely slide to short with Asdrubal Cabrera seeing more regular time at the keystone. For now, however, they’ll assume good health and move ahead with Ahmed. While he’s not among the elite at his position, Ahmed has put together a quality three-year stretch, pairing gold glove defense with an acceptable 89 wRC+.
  • Dodgers manager Dave Roberts confirmed that none of the non-roster invitees are still in the running to make their opening day roster, per Jorge Castillo of the Los Angeles Times (via Twitter). Presumably, that means Zach McKinstry has made the roster as a utility option off the bench. There is still one roster decision pending for the champs, however, as Roberts says they are not yet decided about their fifth starter. David Price, Dustin May, and Tony Gonsolin are all still under consideration for the role. Price was scratched from his recent start because of illness. He plans to pitch today in a simulated game. (Twitter links). Gonsolin struggled through 3 2/3 innings against the Angels on Sunday night.

Diamondbacks Designate Taylor Guilbeau For Assignment

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The Diamondbacks have designated southpaw Taylor Guilbeau for assignment, as per a team announcement.  The move creates roster space for Joakim Soria, whose deal with the club is now official.  Guilbeau has only been a member of the D’Backs organization for a few months, after Arizona claimed him off waivers from the Mariners in October.

The 27-year-old has pitched in each of the last two seasons, posting a 2.70 ERA over 20 innings out of Seattle’s bullpen despite only recording 10 strikeouts and almost matching that total with nine walks.  However, Guilbeau did deal with a shoulder problem last season, which could have limited his effectiveness.

Originally a 10th-round pick for the Nationals in 2015, Guilbeau posted much better strikeout totals (20.33K%) and control (6.33BB%) over 347 career minor league innings, while continually posting grounder rates well above the 50 percent threshold.  Guilbeau has been a full-time reliever since the start of the 2018 season, so with this intriguing skillset, it’s possible the Diamondbacks could lose him on a DFA claim.  If no rival team jumps, Guilbeau can remain in the system as a potential option for a D’Backs bullpen that is short on lefty hurlers.

Diamondbacks Sign Joakim Soria

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The Diamondbacks have agreed to terms with free-agent reliever Joakim Soria, reports Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic (via Twitter). Soria, a client of agent Oscar Suarez, will receive a one-year deal. He’ll earn a $3.5MM salary and can earn an additional $500K worth of bonuses based on his total number of appearances, Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic tweets.

Joakim Soria | Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

Soria, 36, is a two-time All-Star and 13-year big league veteran who spent the past two seasons with the A’s under a two-year, $15MM contract. He fared well for the most part in Oakland, working to a combined 3.94 ERA, a 3.46 FIP and a 3.69 SIERA. Soria’s strikeout and walk rates went the wrong direction in 2020, but he managed a 2.82 ERA in 22 1/3 innings due largely to the fact that he held opponents to just one home run.

While many pitchers see their velocity erode as the move into their mid-30s, Soria’s 92.4 mph average heater in 2020 was right in line with his career marks. He’s not a flamethrower and never has been — his career-high average fastball in a season is 92.7 mph — but that hasn’t stopped Soria from missing bats at a high level. He’s faced 2987 batters in his Major League career and punched out 26.5 percent of that group despite average or slightly below-average velocity.

Arizona lacks a set closer at the moment, having traded Archie Bradley to the Reds back at the 2020 trade deadline. Soria becomes the most experienced member of manager Torey Lovullo’s bullpen and, at least for now, would appear to be the favorite to close games. He’s handled ninth-inning work for multiple teams in his career — most recently for the 2018 White Sox, where he saved 16 games. Soria has piled up 223 saves over his decade-plus in the big leagues.

Soria is the first player of much note added by a D-backs club that has been in a dormant state throughout the offseason. Questions about how much the team would be willing to spend have dated back to the trade deadline, when Arizona shipped Starling Marte to the Marlins — a trade reportedly fueled by the team’s uncertainty regarding an eminently reasonable $12.5MM club option. D-backs owner Ken Kendrick has been among the most vocal owners in lamenting lost revenue from 2020, however, and the team’s actions (or lack thereof) so far this offseason are reflective of that.

FA News & Rumors: Puig, Phils, Mets, Dee, Soria

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Despite sitting out all of last season, outfielder Yasiel Puig looks as if he could be an interesting and inexpensive pickup for someone this winter. The problem is that no one seems to be aggressively pursuing Puig. The Royals, Marlins and Yankees have all been connected to Puig in recent weeks, but none of them are going after him, Jon Heyman of MLB Network reports. Puig, who turned 30 in December, was a standout with the Dodgers earlier in his career, but he endured a mediocre 2019 between the Reds and Indians and sat on the open market for all of last year. While Puig did appear to have a deal with the Braves in the summer, that collapsed when he tested positive for COVID-19 in mid-July.

  • The Phillies have shown interest in a pair of utility players – Marwin Gonzalez (previously reported) and Brad Miller – as well as outfielder Shin-Soo Choo, according to Heyman. The division-rival Mets are also considering Gonzalez, Anthony DiComo of MLB.com relays. Gonzalez and Miller are fits just about anywhere because of their histories of combining respectable offense with defensive versatility, whereas the Phillies and other NL teams look like an imperfect match for Choo. Not only is he 38 years old, but Choo has struggled as a defender for most of his career.
  • Four to five teams are in the mix for middle infielder/outfielder Dee Strange-Gordon, and he could make a decision on his next club by week’s end, Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com tweets. The Red Sox were interested in Strange-Gordon earlier this offseason, but they’re likely out of the running after signing fellow infielder/outfielder Enrique Hernandez, per Cotillo. The Reds are reportedly one of the teams in on the 32-year-old speedster, who’s a free agent at an inopportune time after three consecutive dismal seasons with the Mariners.
  • Veteran reliever Joakim Soria agreed to join the Diamondbacks for a $3.5MM guarantee Wednesday, but he turned down bigger offers from elsewhere to do so, per Bob Nightengale of USA Today. The 36-year-old right-hander, a two-time All-Star who turned in his latest solid season with the Athletics in 2020, is in line to close for Arizona.

Twins Interested In Colome, Wilson, Clippard

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3:56pm: Minnesota’s “expected” to sign Colome, Bob Nightengale of USA Today tweets.

1:32pm: In addition to Colome, the Twins have shown interest in re-signing Clippard and in signing lefty Justin Wilson, Hayes further reports. Minnesota has also at least gauged the price tags of Shane Greene, Mark Melancon, Joakim Soria and Trevor Rosenthal, though the latter two could be seeking more than the Twins are comfortable committing to them, Hayes adds. It’s a wide slate of candidates, but the Twins could sign multiple relievers to bolster their relief corps.

9:07am: It’s been a busy couple of weeks for the Twins, but they’re still pursuing upgrades after finally agreeing to a new deal with designated hitter Nelson Cruz last night. Dan Hayes of The Athletic reports that the Twins have interest in adding Alex Colome to their bullpen and are still looking at options to fill out their rotation. Twins fans hoping to see the club roll the dice on a Mike Foltynewicz rebound after watching his recent showcase may not get their wish, though, as SKOR North’s Darren Wolfson tweets that a signing is “more unlikely than likely.” Wolfson does suggest that the Twins have a current offer out to a reliever.

This isn’t the first time the Twins have been tied to Colome. However, in the month since that initial link, they’ve spent a combined $31.5MM on Cruz, Andrelton Simmons and J.A. Happ, so maintained interest in one of the better relievers remaining on the market wasn’t necessarily a given. The Twins currently project to open the season with a payroll in the $123MM range, but they’d have been north of $130MM last year prior to prorated salaries.

Owner Jim Pohlad recently voiced a vastly different mindset than many of his counterparts throughout the league, telling reporters he’s not looking at ways to “make up” for lost revenue from the 2020 season by slashing payroll (link via La Velle E. Neal III of the Minneapolis Star Tribune).

“We don’t really think of it like that,” Pohlad said in a Zoom call. “I’m not sure if we can ever make up for it. None of our objective includes trying to make up for what happened in 2020. It was significant. It was devastating. And you have to accept that as a loss going forward and not make it a goal to recover those losses either from fans or by affecting our payroll. That’s not the mind-set we have been in at all.”

The Twins’ recent activity reflects that outlook, and a deal with Colome would only further illustrate that stance. The 32-year-old spent the past two seasons as the closer for the division-rival White Sox. In 83 1/3 innings with the South Siders, he’s pitched to a 2.27 ERA and racked up 42 saves, although the rest of his numbers don’t look as dominant. Colome’s 20.9 percent strikeout rate is below-average in today’s game, and he’s registered a rather pedestrian 3.78 FIP and 4.42 SIERA.

With the White Sox, Colome leaned aggressively on a two-pitch arsenal, throwing four-seamers and cutters exclusively — the latter nearly thrice as often as the former. In 2019, he got away with that mix despite giving up far too much hard contact, but he seemed to improve his utilization of that two-pitch mix in 2020.

Colome’s hard-hit rate fell sharply, from 41.2 percent to 32.8 percent, and only two of the balls put into play against him registered as “barreled balls,” per Statcast’s definition. Opponents’ average exit velocity against Colome plummeted from 91.3 percent in 2019 — one of the highest marks in baseball — to a lower-than-average 87.2 mph in 2020. And, despite registering one of the lowest strikeout percentages of his career last season, Colome actually posted career-high marks in swinging-strike rate and in opponents’ chase rate, which surely creates some optimism about his ability to rebound in the strikeout department.

For all the focus on the Twins’ rotation this winter, it’s the bullpen that’s a more dire area of need at the moment. The quartet of Kenta Maeda, Jose Berrios, Michael Pineda and Happ gives the Twins four solid options atop the starting staff, but the bullpen has quietly been depleted. Minnesota lost Trevor May to the Mets and Matt Wisler (who was non-tendered) to the Giants. Veterans Sergio Romo and Tyler Clippard, meanwhile, are both free agents and remain unsigned. Taylor Rogers is still the favorite for saves in Minnesota for now, although Colome would give manager Rocco Baldelli another ninth-inning option with some experience. The fact that Baldelli and Colome know each other well from their time together with the Rays can’t hurt the Twins’ chances at a deal.

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