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Jose De Leon

Reds Select R.J. Alaniz, Designate Nick Williams

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The Reds have selected the contract of right-hander R.J. Alaniz, the team announced.  Outfielder Nick Williams was designated for assignment to create a 40-man roster spot for Alaniz, while an active roster spot was opened when righty Jose De Leon was placed on the 10-day injured list due to a right groin strain.

Alaniz was claimed off the Mariners’ roster in May 2019 and hasn’t yet appeared in the big leagues this season.  Alaniz made his MLB debut last year, posting a 9.19 ERA over 15 2/3 combined innings for Seattle and Cincinnati.  An undrafted free agent who signed with the Astros back in 2009, Alaniz has a 4.26 ERA, 2.19 K/BB rate, and 7.3 K/9 over 712 career innings in the minors, pitching in the farm systems of five different organizations.

De Leon’s IL placement will likely end his season after six innings with the Reds and an 18.00 ERA.  De Leon was frequently shuttled between the Reds’ active roster and the taxi squad this year, and while this could explain why the righty never found his rhythm, De Leon exhibited some ungainly control problems, with 11 walks over his six innings of work.  Formerly a top prospect during his time in the Dodgers’ and Rays’ organizations, De Leon is still clearly trying to get himself sorted after the Tommy John surgery that sidelined him for all of the 2018 season.

Williams is also a former top prospect, and his appearance on the DFA wire could quite possibly lead to a change of scenery.  Cincinnati claimed Williams from the Phillies exactly one month ago, though the outfielder hasn’t yet seen any Major League action in a Reds uniform.  Despite a solid .269/.330/.446 slash line over 791 PA with the Phillies in 2017-18, Williams didn’t see much playing time last year and eventually became an expendable part in Philadelphia.  It wouldn’t be surprising if a playoff contender tried to claim Williams in order to add outfield depth, or even a team looking ahead to 2021 could put in a claim to give Williams a look on their roster.

Reds Select Mark Payton’s Contract

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The Reds announced that outfielder Mark Payton’s contract has been selected to the Major League roster.  Payton’s move was one of a few transactions made official by the club, as the Reds also optioned infielder Josh VanMeter to their alternate training site and made a change to their taxi squad — righty Jose De Leon joins the taxi squad, while outfielder Robel Garcia is out.

Payton now seems set to make his MLB debut, which he probably thought was in the cards back in December when the Reds plucked him out of the Athletics’ system via the Rule 5 draft.  In July, however, the Reds returned Payton back to Oakland seemingly as part of a roster crunch, yet then re-acquired the outfielder two weeks ago.  Since Payton is now officially a member of Cincinnati’s roster, he is free of any Rule 5 restrictions, so the Reds can freely option him between the majors and their alternate training site if they so choose.

A seventh-round pick for the Yankees in the 2014 draft, Payton has hit .286/.363/.455 with 62 home runs over 2248 career minor league plate appearances.  Those career numbers are heavily fueled by Payton’s 30 homers and .334/.400/.653 slash line over 447 PA for the Athletics’ Triple-A affiliate in 2019, though that performance carries some caveats.  2019 was the most hitter-friendly year in the history of Triple-A baseball, the Pacific Coast League was a notoriously hitter-friendly league even prior to 2019, and Payton (then in his age-27 season) was older than most Triple-A pitchers.

Still, obviously the Reds saw enough in Payton’s breakout year to make him a priority in the Rule 5 draft.  Payton does have some center field experience, though he has mostly played as a corner outfielder in recent years.  He will join Travis Jankowski as a left-handed hitting backup outfielder on a roster that also includes Shogo Akiyama and Jesse Winker as more regular lefty-swinging outfielders.

Rays, Reds Finalize Trades For Jose De Leon, Brian O’Grady

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The Rays and Reds have worked out the final details of a pair of offseason trades between the two clubs, as per multiple reporters (including MLB.com’s Juan Toribio).  Back in November, the two clubs engaged in two trades, one that sent right-hander Jose De Leon to Cincinnati and (a week later) another that sent first baseman/outfielder Brian O’Grady to Tampa Bay.  Both trades saw the players exchanged for either cash considerations or a player to be named later, and today’s news confirms that the two teams have agreed to accept money to complete the transactions.

Cincinnati optioned De Leon to the minors two weeks ago, after the righty posted a 6.75 ERA over 2 2/3 Spring Training innings.  When and if the season gets underway, the 27-year-old De Leon will continue to work to get back to the form that made him a highly-touted top-40 prospect prior to the 2016 and 2017 seasons.  De Leon’s progress was halted, however, by Tommy John surgery in March 2018.  He returned to throw 56 minor league and four Major League innings in 2019.

O’Grady was also optioned to Triple-A just earlier today, which was expected given that the Rays already have a number of left-handed hitting first base options.  O’Grady’s ability to handle all three outfield positions could end up being his clearer path to playing time in Tampa Bay, as the Rays are forever looking for players with defensive versatility.  An eighth-round pick for the Reds in the 2014 draft, O’Grady made his MLB debut in 2019, making 48 plate appearances (and hitting .190/.292/.429) over 28 games.  The 27-year-old O’Grady has a .252/.354/.453 slash line over 2276 career PA in the minor leagues.

Reds Acquire Jose De Leon

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The Reds have acquired right-hander Jose De Leon from the Rays for cash and a player to be named later, Cincinnati announced. The move leaves the Reds with a full 40-man roster.

Now 27, De Leon was once one of the top pitching prospects in baseball. He joined the Rays in January 2017 in a straight-up swap with the Dodgers for second baseman Logan Forsythe, though De Leon’s stock has dropped since then. He underwent Tommy John surgery in March 2018, causing him to miss that entire year, and only threw four innings at the major league level this past season. However, De Leon did toss 51 1/3 frames (17 starts, 13 appearances) of 3.51 ERA/3.72 FIP ball with 12.8 K/9 and 4.73 BB/9 with Triple-A Durham.

Rays Select Contract Of Ricardo Pinto

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The Rays have selected the contract of righty Ricardo Pinto, as MLB.com’s Juan Toribio was among those to tweet. Righty Jose De Leon was optioned. To create 40-man space, infielder Yandy Diaz was placed on the 60-day injured list.

Pinto, 25, will get his second crack at the big leagues after previously appearing with the Phillies back in 2017. His 25-appearance debut didn’t go well, as he was tagged for 26 earned runs in 29 2/3 innings.

Since joining the Rays organization over the offseason, Pinto has worked as a bulk guy. He has spent most of the year at Triple-A, where he carries a 4.13 ERA with 8.3 K/9 and 4.0 BB/9 over 104 2/3 innings. It remains to be seen how extensively the Rays will utilize Pinto. He could hold a job for the month of September or be designated in a few days if the club has other ideas for his roster spot.

Rays Place Avisail Garcia On 10-Day IL, Recall Jose De Leon

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The Rays announced today that they have placed outfielder Avisail Garcia on the 10-day injured list with an oblique strain. To take his place on the active roster, the club has promoted righty Jose De Leon.

There had been hope that the oblique injury would not prove serious enough to require an IL stint at all. But it seems the club found reason to believe today that Garcia would need a substantial rest.

The opening of active roster space will facilitate the return of De Leon to the majors after a long time away. Once a top prospect, the 27-year-old made just one appearance in Tampa Bay following his acquisition in the 2016-17 offseason.

De Leon ultimately missed all of the 2018 season owing to Tommy John surgery. He has worked back to health this year. In 14 appearances at Triple-A, he carries a 3.65 ERA with 13.0 K/9 and 4.9 BB/9 — quite a nice showing in the high run-scoring environment of the International League.

Rays Activate, Option Jose De Leon

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Rays righty Jose De Leon has at long last returned to active duty, the club announced. But he’ll return to Triple-A on optional assignment as he looks to get his injury-addled career back on track.

De Leon, once a top prospect who is now almost 27 years of age, underwent Tommy John surgery last March. His rehab assignment was twice extended, as is permissible for hurlers working back from TJ procedures, extending it to a total of ninety days. With that time up, the club swung a deal earlier today to clear a 40-man spot for De Leon’s activation from the 60-day injured list.

During his lengthy rehab stint, De Leon threw 34 innings over 11 outings. He worked to a 3.97 ERA with 11.4 K/9 and 5.0 BB/9. That’s not a perfect showing, by any stretch, but it seems promising that he was able to generate swings and misses from top-level minor-leaguers.

It’s certainly possible that De Leon will be seen as a MLB option in the near future. Odds are he’d be utilized as less than a full-fledged starter, much like most of the rest of the Tampa Bay staff. In De Leon’s case, he has only once topped one hundred innings in a given professional season (2015).

Latest On Rays’ Pitching Staff

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Traditionalists may never fully embrace the approach, but it’s hard to argue with the results: through a quarter of the season, the Rays’ pitching staff has been lights out. By design, it’s a fluid and ever-evolving mix of hurlers. Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times provides an update on some particularly important arms for the AL East-leading team.

Most notably, prospect Brent Honeywell has encountered another hurdle in his effort to return from Tommy John surgery. He’s only slated for a week-long shutdown for nerve irritation in his right elbow, but this isn’t the first setback. The fact that Honeywell’s road back hasn’t been perfectly smooth doesn’t mean he won’t make it, but it does add to the uncertainty and bump back his timeline.

In Topkin’s assessment, the Tampa Bay front office won’t be able to consider Honeywell as a MLB option until July or August. He’s obviously going to be handled with plenty of caution given his high-ceiling billing and hiccups to this point. Honeywell is going to need a full arm build-up and even then will need to show he’s fully ready for the majors, having never yet pitched in the bigs. No doubt the Rays will keep a close eye on his workload even when he is ready for game action. Honeywell hasn’t yet topped 140 innings in a professional season and already missed all of 2018.

Clearly, then, Honeywell won’t be stepping into the opening in the rotation created when Tyler Glasnow hit the injured list recently. Nobody will, in fact. Skipper Kevin Cash tells Topkin that the club won’t tap a third starter, even on an interim basis. Rather, the club will continue to piece things together on a day-to-day basis behind rotation pieces Blake Snell and Charlie Morton.

Topkin warns not to expect any major acquisitions to plug the openings. Fortunately, Glasnow is said to be looking at an absence of only four to six weeks. That’s about as good an outlook as might have been hoped for when he left with forearm tightness. The injury might knock the 25-year-old out of surprise Cy Young contention, but hopefully won’t spoil his breakout season.

Plus, there are some other hurlers working back. Reliever Hunter Wood is close to being an option again for the MLB roster after hitting the IL with a shoulder issue, though he may take at least one more rehab outing. Wood showed an intriguing 18.0% swinging-strike rate in 6 1/3 innings to open the year. Former top prospect Jose De Leon is ready to move his rehab work to the highest level of the minors after a pair of High-A outings. Given his long and arduous rehab process, the odds are he’ll be given some time to work at Triple-A even when his assignment is up (which must occur on or before June 2nd). There’s no word yet on when Anthony Banda will be ready to begin his own rehab assignment after undergoing Tommy John surgery last June, but he was reportedly throwing from a mound late last month.

Rays Notes: Kimbrel, Honeywell/De Leon, Kiermaier

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The Rays will need to squeeze every last ounce of value out of their existing roster and payroll if they are to make a real bid for the postseason in an incredibly stratified American League. Here’s the latest, with all links to the reporting of Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times:

  • With some payroll space evidently still available, the Rays have “maintained regular contact” with legendary reliever Craig Kimbrel, Topkin tweets. A successful pursuit remains “unlikely,” per the report. Surely the Rays would only consider Kimbrel on a short-term deal, as the organization has always been careful not to tie up too much future payroll. Whether Kimbrel will ultimately settle for a one or two-year pact — and, if so, what will drive his decisionmaking — isn’t yet evident.
  • Two important young Tampa Bay hurlers are making progress in their efforts to return from Tommy John procedures, Topkin further reports (Twitter links). Brent Honeywell and Jose De Leon each threw against live hitters for the first time. It was only 15 pitches apiece, but that’s still a good sign that both of these well-regarded young hurlers are coming along. The Rays will likely continue to take things slow, but surely also entertain visions of either or both making an impact as a mid-season call-up.
  • Topkin also looks in at Rays center fielder Kevin Kiermaier, whom the team badly needs to turn in a healthy and productive campaign. Soon to turn 29, the rangy outfielder is coming off of a disappointing season at the plate in which he slashed just .217/.282/.370. Kiermaier has averaged barely more than 400 plate appearances annually over the past three years due to a variety of injuries. The maladies have tended to come about in the course of Kiermaier’s hard-charging play, though it doesn’t seem as if the team thinks there’s much to be gained from trying to rein him in. “It’s probably best for us to stay out of the way and keep our fingers crossed that none of the freak things happen,” says skipper Kevin Cash.

Rays Acquire Jeremy Hazelbaker From Diamondbacks

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The Rays have acquired outfielder Jeremy Hazelbaker from the Diamondbacks in exchange for cash, the teams announced. To clear a spot on the 40-man roster, Tampa Bay has transferred right-hander Jose De Leon to the 60-day disabled list.

Hazelbaker, whom the D-backs designated for assignment late last week, will head to Triple-A Durham. De Leon underwent Tommy John surgery during Spring Training, so he’ll be out for the entirety of the 2018 season.

The 30-year-old Hazelbaker will give the Rays some depth across the board in the outfield, as he’s plenty experienced in center and in both outfield corners. The left-handed-hitting Hazelbaker was the talk of MLB two years ago when he broke camp with the Cardinals and posted an absurd .317/.357/.683 slash in the month of April. However, he cooled off considerably over the remainder of the season and was ultimately waived by St. Louis and claimed by Arizona.

Last year with the D-backs, Hazelbaker logged 61 plate appearances and again posted some eye-popping numbers, hitting .346/.443/.577 with two doubles, two homers and two triples. In all, Hazelbaker is a .258/.327/.500 hitter in in 285 MLB plate appearances, and he owns a .277/.336/.452 slash in parts of seven Triple-A seasons.

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