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John Andreoli

Mariners Claim John Andreoli, Select Joey Curletta

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The Mariners have claimed outfielder John Andreoli off waivers from the Orioles, per club announcements. Seattle also added first baseman/outfielder Joey Curletta to its 40-man roster.

Andreoli, 28, debuted in the bigs last year with the Seattle organization before landing with the O’s via waiver claim. That’s now reversed, though it remains to be seen whether he’ll keep his roster spot throughout the winter. Andreoli did not hit much in limited MLB opportunities, but posted a .287/.397/.401 slash in 388 Triple-A plate appearances last year.

As for Curletta, 24, the move will prevent him from achieving minor-league free agency. Primarily a right fielder during his prior minor-league campaigns, Curletta appeared mostly at first base last year at the Double-A level. He ended up posting a career-best output, with a .282/.383/.482 batting line and 23 long balls over 556 plate appearances.

AL Notes: Rays, Miller, Allen, Orioles

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The Rays’ reputation for creative thinking is somewhat making the team a victim of its own success in 2018, as Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times writes.  The Rays have already lost two members of their coaching staff to managerial jobs (Charlie Montoyo with the Blue Jays and Rocco Baldelli with the Twins), while senior VP Chaim Bloom was a finalist for the Mets’ GM job and has been mentioned as a possible candidate to run the Giants’ baseball operations department.  For now, Tampa has two coaching vacancies to fill, though the responsibilities of Baldelli’s old infield coordinator role could be altered, as that job was specifically tailored for Baldelli’s skillset.  Topkin wouldn’t be surprised to see at least one new coach from outside the organization hired, though the Rays do have a long track record of promoting from within the organization.

Some more from around the American League….

  • Neither Andrew Miller or Cody Allen had a season to remember in 2018, though could those disappointing years actually make it more likely that one of the two relievers returns to the Indians bullpen in 2019?  Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer explores the possibility as part of a reader mailbag, with the caveat that “this is a buyer beware situation even on a one-year deal.”  Miller was hampered by multiple injuries en route to a 4.24 ERA over 34 innings for the Tribe last season, while Allen simply lacked consistency, posting a career-high 4.70 ERA over 67 frames.  The prevailing wisdom had been that Cleveland wouldn’t be able to afford to re-sign either pitcher in free agency, though if either Miller or Allen was willing to take a one-year pillow contract (with an eye towards pitching better and then looking for a multi-year contract in the 2019-20 offseason), it’s possible the Tribe could be open to that type of short-term expenditure.  The price tag will be an issue, of course, as Cleveland already has over $135MM in projected payroll for next season and still must address other needs this winter.
  • The Orioles are parting ways with several members of the organization, as The Baltimore Sun’s Jon Meoli and Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com were among those to report the changes.  Triple-A manager Ron Johnson, director of Dominican baseball operations Nelson Norman, East Coast scouting supervisor Kirk Fredriksson, special assistant Matt Haas, and area scout Dana Duquette didn’t have their contracts renewed for 2019.  Senior advisor Joe McIlvaine and special assignment scout Wayne Britton also won’t be returning next season, Kubatko reports.
  • In another piece from Kubatko, he speculates that left-hander Sean Gilmartin and outfielder John Andreoli could be candidates to be outrighted as the Orioles clear roster space in advance of the Rule 5 Draft.  (Kubatko already reported that Jace Peterson has been told by the team that he’ll be placed on outright waivers.)  Gilmartin posted a 3.00 ERA over 27 relief innings for Baltimore after signing a minor league deal last summer, and Kubatko speculates that the O’s could try re-signing Gilmartin after the Rule 5 Draft since the southpaw has potential as a multi-inning reliever.  The 28-year-old Andreoli made his Major League debut last season, posting a .546 OPS over 67 PA with the Mariners and Orioles.

Injury Notes: Jansen, Nimmo, Trumbo, Twins, Giants

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It seems the Dodgers will activate closer Kenley Jansen for tonight’s game, the relief ace tells reporters including MLB.com’s Ken Gurnick (Twitter links). That’s certainly good news for a club that has struggled to wrap up games in the late innings without him. More importantly, it seems as if there’s ongoing cause for optimism that Jansen will not be limited by the irregular heartbeat that forced him to the hospital earlier this month.

More injury news from around the league…

  • The Mets announced this afternoon that they’ve placed outfielder Brandon Nimmo on the 10-day disabled list due to a bruised left index finger. With Nimmo out for at least the next week-plus, the Mets will keep Dominic Smith on the 25-man roster for the time being. Smith had been with the club on Sunday as the 26th man in New York’s doubleheader, and while he’d been slated to return to Triple-A Las Vegas, he’ll now remain in the bigs. It seems likely that he’ll stay up long enough for rosters to expand on Sept. 1.
  • Likewise, the Orioles say that they’ve placed Mark Trumbo on the disabled list due to inflammation in his right knee. In a pair of corresponding moves, Baltimore reinstated Adam Jones from the bereavement list and also recalled outfielder John Andreoli from Triple-A Norfolk after claiming him off outright waivers from the Mariners organization over the weekend. The rebuilding O’s owe Trumbo another $13.5MM next year and they’d no doubt like to find a way to trim back that commitment. This injury could take him out of any consideration for a late-August swap — not that a deal ever seemed particularly likely in the first place. While the 32-year-old is posting a solid .261/.313/.452 slash with 17 homers in 358 plate appearances, his defensive limitations will severely limit interest from contenders (whether now or in the offseason to come).
  • While Logan Morrison was originally diagnosed with a hip impingement that necessitated season-ending surgery, Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer Press tweets that the Twins first baseman/designated hitter actually had a torn labrum repaired and a bone spur removed from the ailing hip. Meanwhile, right-hander Ervin Santana is seeing a hand specialist to examine the surgically repaired middle finger on his right hand (also via Berardino, on Twitter). Initially projected to require a 12-month recovery that would’ve had Santana back in early May, the issue has proven to be considerably more problematic. Santana didn’t pitch until late July and has made just five starts with an 8.03 ERA in 2018.
  • Giants righty Jeff Samardzija is still hoping to make it back from shoulder issues this season. As Kerry Crowley of the Bay Area News Group tweets, Samardzija is set for his first of two rehab starts this Wednesday. That would put the veteran hurler on track to start on the first day of September, when active rosters expand. Whether or not he’ll do so remains to be seen. For the Giants, any contribution will likely be too little, too late. But there is still time for the 33-year-old to put a more positive spin on his 2018 season. When he has been available to pitch this year, Samardzija has produced an ugly 6.25 ERA with an even more concerning 30:26 K/BB ratio in 44 2/3 innings over ten starts.
  • Meanwhile, the Giants will welcome back emerging hurler Dereck Rodriguez, as John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle tweets, to take the ball on Friday. Clearly, Rodriguez’s hamstring issues weren’t serious at all, as he only just hit the DL. That’s certainly good news for an organization that has been in need of future bright spots. Rodriguez came out of nowhere to throw 80 innings of 2.25 ERA pitching.

Orioles Claim John Andreoli

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The Orioles claimed outfielder John Andreoli off waivers from the Mariners, the club has announced. Andreoli had been designated for assignment yesterday. Baltimore has sent him to Triple-A Norfolk.

Andreoli is quite an interesting player. The 28-year-old enjoyed a solid season with the Mariners’ Triple-A affiliate, hitting .287 with a .397 on-base percentage across 388 plate appearances. The disclaimer is that an unsustainable .381 BABIP is largely to thank for that, so it wouldn’t be shocking to see those figures drop by 50 points apiece if he regresses to the mean. In addition, the former 17th-rounder has exhibited very little power; he sports an ISO of just .114. He made his major league debut this season, notching a hit and a walk in six plate appearances prior to being designated for assignment yesterday.

Andreoli is capable of playing all three outfield positions, meaning he stands a chance of working his way into Baltimore’s outfield mix next season should be perform well in September. The Orioles will lose long-time franchise icon Adam Jones to free agency this winter, and as such there’ll be a large opening in the outfield for which Andreoli could throw his hat into the ring.

Mariners Select Gordon Beckham, Designate John Andreoli

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The Mariners announced today that they have selected the contract of veteran infielder Gordon Beckham. He’ll help the club fill out its infield mix while shortstop Jean Segura is on paternity leave. To create a 40-man opening, the Seattle organization designated outfielder John Andreoli for assignment.

Beckham, who’ll soon turn 32, has played two-dozen MLB games over the past two seasons with the M’s. He has spent most of his time of late, though, at Triple-A Tacoma. This year, the ten-year major-league veteran has posted a strong .311/.411/.479 slash with 52 walks against 46 strikeouts in his 370 plate appearances at the highest level of the minors.

The 28-year-old Andreoli, meanwhile, reached the majors this year only long enough to record his first and only big-league base hit. He’s in his first year in the Mariners org after spending seven professional campaigns in the Cubs system. Andreoli has posted a .287/.397/.401 slash in 388 plate appearances with Tacoma in 2018.

Activated From DL: Felix, Avisail, Delmonico

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A few notable players were activated from the disabled list today…

  • The Mariners have activated right-hander Felix Hernandez; he’d been on the DL with lower back tightness, though it’s possible the DL stint had more to do with roster management than with the injury itself. The 2010 AL Cy Young Award-winner has continued to trend downwards this season, evidenced by a 5.13 ERA (and a 4.64 FIP that doesn’t paint a much more optimistic picture). He also sports a 7.43 K/9 that would be a full-season career low. In order to make room for the righty on the active roster, Seattle has optioned outfielder John Andreoli to Triple-A Tacoma.
  • White Sox outfielder Nicky Delmonico will finally return after missing two months with a broken hand. After an intriguing 2017 rookie season in which he hit .262/.373/.482, the 26-year-old has failed to replicate that type of production. His .217 batting average and .292 slugging percentage are both dreadful disappointments across his first 139 plate appearances of 2018, though his 11.5% walk rate is a nice silver lining.
  • Avisail Garcia will also make a return to the White Sox. The 27-year-old enjoyed a tremendous breakout campaign last season during which he batted at a .330 clip and slugged 18 homers across 561 plate appearances. However, the 2018 season has seen him walk at just a 1.4% clip, so while his .282 batting average is fairly impressive, his .297 on-base percentage looks almost like a liability. He’s managed to hit nine homers and six doubles across 148 plate appearances, though, which makes for a .542 slugging percentage.

DL Placements: Felix Hernandez, Sean Doolittle, Josh Tomlin

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With several players hitting the disabled list this afternoon, we’ll round them up in this post:

  • The Mariners announced that starter Felix Hernandez will hit the DL owing to lower back tightness. It seems the idea is to afford him a longer rest by lining up the placement with the coming All-Star break, as Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times tweets. Reliever Nick Rumbelow and infielder Gordon Beckham will head onto the active roster, with outfielder John Andreoli being optioned out. Hopefully for the M’s, a bit of a respite will allow Hernandez to bounce back in the second half. It has been a frustrating season to this point, as he has allowed 5.13 earned runs per nine over 105 1/3 innings.
  • Likewise, the Nationals announced that closer Sean Doolittle is hitting the shelf with left toe inflammation. His placement is retroactive to July 7th, meaning he’ll be eligible to return immediately after the break. The roster will get two fresh arms in Wander Suero and Austin Voth, while fellow right-hander Jefry Rodriguez was optioned after his start yesterday. As for Doolittle, it had been hoped that he would be able to return to action, but the team can ill afford an un-utilized roster spot with a tired relief corps. The club has other capable late-inning arms to turn to, though obviously the fervent hope will be that this placement will stave off any more concerning health matters.
  • Indians righty Josh Tomlin is going to the DL with a right hamstring strain, per another announcement. He’ll be replaced by Adam Plutko, who has seen seven games (including six starts) of action in the majors this year. Tomlin has struggled both before and after being bumped from the rotation. Though he hasn’t been hit quite as hard in a relief capacity, he’s still allowing a .256/.294/.538 slash to opposing hitters while working from the bullpen. The 33-year-old owns a 6.98 ERA with 5.5 K/9 and 1.8 BB/9 — and an unhealthy 3.9 homers per nine — over 49 total innings this year.

Mariners Select Contract Of John Andreoli

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The Mariners announced that they’ve selected the contract of outfielder John Andreoli from Triple-A Tacoma and optioned right-hander Dan Altavilla to Tacoma in his place. Seattle had an open spot on the 40-man roster, so a corresponding move in that regard wasn’t required.

Andreoli, 28 in early June, will be making his first appearance in the Majors after spending seven seasons in the Cubs’ minor league ranks. He inked a minor league pact with Seattle back in December and has gotten off to a strong .294/.353/.452 start in Triple-A, where he hit three homers, seven doubles and two triples while also going 9-for-9 in stolen base attempts.

While Andreoli never ranked as one of the Cubs’ very best prospects, he has a history of strong performances and solid on-base tendencies in the minors, as evidenced by a career .261/.364/.414 slash in parts of four Triple-A seasons. Fangraphs’ Eric Longenhagen gave him an honorable mention on last year’s ranking of the Cubs’ prospects, calling him a plus runner “with an awkward swing but a terrific feel for the strike zone.” Indeed, Andreoli has walked in 13.2 percent of his career plate appearances in Triple-A.

[Related: Updated Seattle Mariners depth chart]

The addition of Andreoli will give the Mariners some needed depth in the outfield as the team’s roster is left reeling in the wake of last week’s suspension for Robinson Cano and this week’s announcement that Dee Gordon will miss at least 10 days due to a fractured toe. With Gordon and Cano out of the lineup, the Mariners will lean on Ben Gamel, Guillermo Heredia and Mitch Haniger in the outfield, with Gordon Beckham and Andrew Romine getting action at second base. Andreoli can handle all three outfield spots, which should give manager Scott Servais a bit of flexibility when writing out the lineup card.

As for Altavilla, he’ll look to get back on track in Tacoma after an uneven start to the season. The hard-throwing 25-year-old is currently sporting a solid 3.24 ERA with 19 strikeouts in 16 2/3 innings of work, but he’s also issued a dozen walks and thrown four wild pitches.

Minor MLB Transactions: 12/13/17

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We’ll keep track of some recent minor moves in this post…

  • Greg Johns of MLB.com reports in a tweet that the Mariners have signed 32-year-old first baseman Matt Hague to a minor-league deal. As Johns points out, Hague hit .297/.373/.414 with the Rochester Redwings this past season (the Triple-A affiliate of the Twins). He’s also spent time with the Pirates and Blue Jays, both of whom gave him opportunities at the major league level. Notably, Hague has walked in the minor league at nearly the same rate he’s struck out, though that skill set hasn’t translated to the majors as of yet.
  • The Mariners have also inked former Cubs farmhand John Andreoli to a minor league pact, Johns tweets, adding that the 27-year-old outfielder hit 14 homers for Triple-A Iowa last season to go along with a .244/.348/.435 slash line. Andreoli was the Cubs’ 17th-round selection in the 2011 draft. He’s walked at least 12% of the time in each of his three seasons with the Iowa Cubs, though his strikeout rate has risen noticeably in each of those seasons. Andreoli has yet to reach the MLB level.

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