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AL East Notes: Alford, Orioles, Chacin

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Longtime Blue Jays prospect Anthony Alford will be out of options next spring, increasing his urgency to make an impression with the club, Laura Armstrong of the Toronto Star writes. That said, opportunities in a crowded Toronto outfield aren’t necessarily easy to come by. Manager Charlie Montoyo said this week that he plans to “try to play him just like anybody else,” Armstrong notes, but the sheer volume of outfielders will inherently limit Alford’s time on the field.

The Jays also have Teoscar Hernandez, Derek Fisher, Billy McKinney and Jonathan Davis vying for playing time in addition to Randal Grichuk, who signed a five-year contract earlier this year. Furthermore, Lourdes Gurriel Jr. could soon return the injured list. Alford has seen time in parts of three seasons but still has just 24 games in the Majors to his credit — during which he has not been productive. The former two-sport star also slashed a rather lackluster .259/.343/.411 in Triple-A this season. Injuries and his time in football have played a role in limiting Alford’s development, who indeed needs to make a favorable impression at the MLB level sooner rather than later.

More from the AL East…

  • The Orioles, too, are trying to evaluate their long-term outfield mix by getting as looks at Austin Hays, DJ Stewart and Mason Williams this month, as explored by MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubatko. The club views Hays as a potential opening day center field candidate next season, Kubatko notes. Hays made his MLB debut as a 21-year-old in 2017 but played only about a half season’s worth of games in 2018 and 2019, thanks in part to a fractured ankle that required surgery. Prior to his debut, Hays was one of the fastest-rising prospects in all of baseball, and it seems the organization hasn’t soured on him even after a regime change in the front office. Kubatko adds that the Orioles would like to keep Williams, a former top prospect with the Yankees, in the organization this offseason, so it seems he’ll have a chance to stick on the 40-man roster. Stewart, meanwhile, posted big numbers in Triple-A but was also limited by ankle and concussion issues. Beyond that, GM Mike Elias spoke to Kubatko about the difficulty of evaluating players based on Triple-A results at a time when changes to the baseball have clearly skewed the offensive environment.
  • Jhoulys Chacin has thrown well with the Red Sox since signing a minor league deal there, writes Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe, who wonders if the righty could be making a case for a job next season. The Red Sox’ lack of pitching depth proved to be a significant flaw in 2019, and Chacin would represent a low-cost option who has fit in well with his new teammates. Abraham recounts the story of how Chacin came to be with the Sox, outlining a pressure-filled bullpen session that served as an audition for the veteran righty. “They wanted to see me pitch and said maybe they would give me an opportunity,” Chacin recalls. “I had 30 pitches to show them what I could do.” Since passing that test and landing a roster spot, Chacin has tossed 5 2/3 shutout innings with two hits, three walks and seven strikeouts.

Orioles Select Mason Williams, Designate Jace Peterson

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The Orioles announced today that they have selected the contract of outfielder Mason Williams. To create roster space, infielder Jace Peterson was designated for assignment.

Williams was expected to come onto the active roster for the month of September, but needed to be added to the 40-man. A host of other players that already held 40-man spots are also heading for the big-league dugout: lefty Ty Blach, catcher Austin Wynns, and righties David Hess, Evan Phillips, and Chandler Shepherd.

Once a well-regarded Yankees prospect, the 28-year-old Williams got his first extended chance at the majors last year with the Reds. He produced at close to the league-average rate offensively but was outrighted at season’s end. Williams has spent the entire season to this point with the Orioles’ top affiliate, slashing .308/.371/.477 with 18 home runs in 494 plate appearances.

As for Peterson, he has struggled since the O’s summoned him to help fill out the position-player mix. The six-year MLB veteran carries a .220/.269/.330 batting line in 108 trips to the plate on the season.

Orioles Unlikely To Call Up Top Prospect Ryan Mountcastle

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The Orioles are likely to select the contract of outfielder Mason Williams to join the club as a September call-up, per Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com reports (link). However, it doesn’t seem as though top prospect Ryan Mountcastle will get the opportunity to make his MLB debut this month (Twitter link).

Mountcastle, a 2015 supplemental rounder (36th overall) ranks among the organization’s top five prospects and has had a productive season in Triple-A, hitting .310/.343/.527 with 25 homers, 35 doubles and one triple through 548 plate appearances. He also comes with significant concerns about his defense and is regarded by some as a prospect without a true position on the field. Scouting reports from Fangraphs, MLB.com and Baseball America all agree that Mountcastle’s bat alone should make him a big league regular, but each notes that his throwing issues continue to push him down the defensive spectrum. Eric Longenhagen and Kiley McDaniel of Fangraphs liken his profile as a bat-first regular with huge defensive questions to that of Nicholas Castellanos.

It’s not clear whether a desire for further defensive refinement or a preference not to begin Mountcastle’s service clock is the driving factor behind the decision not to bring him to Camden Yards; most likely, both are factors. Regardless of his ultimate defensive home, Mountcastle seems likely to emerge in the big leagues next season, but his omission from the team’s expanded September roster is no doubt a bitter pill for fans who were hoping for a glimpse of the future in 2019. It’s been a trying season for Orioles fans, who’ve seen their club win the second-fewest games in Major League Baseball.

In Williams, 28, the Orioles will take a look at a top-prospect-turned-journeyman who has enjoyed a nice season in Triple-A Norfolk, where he’s batted .309/.372/.481 with 18 home runs, 15 doubles, three triples, and four stolen bases. The grandson of former big leaguer Walt Williams, the lefty-swinging outfielder was originally a fourth-round pick of the Yankees organization back in the 2010 Rule IV draft. Once ranked as the game’s 74th-best prospect by MLB.com prior to the 2012 season, Williams has shown some glimpses in limited big league action, with a .289/.325/.396 (93 wRC+) output across 200 at-bats split between the Yankees and Reds rosters since his MLB debut in 2016. Williams signed a minor league deal with Baltimore this past March.

Orioles Sign Mason Williams To Minor League Deal

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The Orioles announced that they’ve signed outfielder Mason Williams to a minor league contract and assigned him to Triple-A Norfolk.

Williams, once regarded as one of the game’s top outfield prospects, spent the 2018 campaign with the Reds organization and tallied a career-high 132 plate appearances at the Major League level. Now 27 years old, Williams hit .293/.331/.398 with Cincinnati last season and has experience playing all three outfield positions. He’s yet to tap into the potential that made him such a vaunted farmhand in his days with the Yankees but does have a .278/.327/.371 slash in just over 1000 Triple-A plate appearances. He’ll give the O’s some depth in the upper minors.

The Orioles also announced that they’ve acquired minor league infielder Yeltsin Gudino from the Blue Jays in exchange for cash. The 22-year-old Gudino hit .276/.347/.306 in 344 plate appearances across two Class-A levels last season and has experience playing all four infield positions (but primarily the two up-the-middle slots). Gudino has never shown any semblance of power, but he’s punched out in just 14 percent of his career plate appearances in the minors while drawing walks at an 8.9 percent clip.

At one point, Gudino was actually a rather high-profile signing for the Blue Jays, as evidenced by the $1.2MM signing bonus they gave him back in 2013. Baseball America ranked him eighth among international prospects at the time, though certainly Toronto’s expenditure has failed to pay dividends as Gudino has never developed at the plate. The Orioles have assigned him to Class-A Advanced Frederick for the time being.

Reds Re-Sign Mason Williams To Minor League Deal

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The Reds announced a slew of minor league signings today (Twitter link), including the re-signing of outfielder Mason Williams to a minor league contract with an invite to Spring Training. Cincinnati also confirmed its previously reported minor league deals/invites to MLB camp for infielder Christian Colon and righty Anthony Bass. Furthermore, Bobby Nightengale Jr. of the Cincinnati Enquirer tweets that the Reds agreed to a minor league pact and an invite to Spring Training with former Twins right-hander Felix Jorge, though the organization has yet to announce that addition.

Williams, 27, is a former Yankees top prospect who didn’t pan out in the Bronx but fared reasonably well with Cincinnati last season. The Reds gave Williams his largest slate of MLB work to date, as the 2010 fourth-rounder appeared in 51 games and hit .293/.331/.398 with a pair of homers, five doubles and a triple in 132 plate appearances during that time.

Williams’ return to the organization is all the more notable given Cincinnati’s decision to non-tender Billy Hamilton. While Williams assuredly won’t be viewed as a concrete solution in center, he’ll join the competition for an outfield job with the Reds this spring and could stand a decent chance at eventually cracking the roster if the team doesn’t bring in a more established option via free agency or trade. Williams does, after all, have more than 5000 professional innings in center field under his belt between the Majors and the minors.

As for Jorge, he’s a slight-of-frame righty listed at 6’2″ and 170 pounds but long rated as one of the more polished arms in the Twins’ system. He never drew Top 100 prospect billing throughout the league but did make a pair of starts for the Twins in 2017 and has a solid track record up through the Double-A level. Now 25 years old, Jorge missed much of the 2018 season due to injury and has only a handful of innings in Triple-A, but he owns a career 3.75 ERA with 5.6 K/9 against 2.1 BB/9 in 209 innings at the Double-A level. He’s never been one to miss many bats, but Jorge has typically demonstrated pinpoint control throughout his minor league tenure and has kept the ball on the ground at better than a 50 percent clip in recent seasons.

Cincinnati also indicated that it’ll bring right-hander Alex Powers back to the organization as a non-roster invite to MLB camp after a trio of solid seasons. The former White Sox farmhand has been with the Reds since 2016 and delivered his most encouraging season yet in 2018, pitching to a 2.34 ERA with 11.7 K/9, 2.3 BB/9, 0.64 HR/0 and a 42.5 percent grounder rate in 42 1/3 innings of relief. Powers will turn 27 next month, meaning those fairly gaudy numbers came against much younger and less-experienced competition, but the bottom-line results were enough for the Reds to want to take a look this spring.

Reds Claim Matthew Bowman From Cardinals; Dilson Herrera, Mason Williams Outrighted

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The Reds announced Friday that they’ve claimed right-handed reliever Matthew Bowman off waivers from the division-rival Cardinals. Additionally, infielder Dilson Herrera and outfielder Mason Williams have cleared waivers and been sent outright to Triple-A Louisville.

Bowman, 27, was a quality middle-relief option for the Cards from 2016-17, working to a 3.70 ERA with 7.0 K/9, 2.7 BB/9 and 0.6 HR/9 in 126 1/3 innings. He stumbled in 2018 however, requiring multiple DL stints for ongoing blister issues and generally performing poorly when on the field. In 23 innings this past season, he posted a 6.26 ERA with a career-best 10.2 K/9 mark but also a career-worst 4.1 BB/9 mark. Bowman does have a minor league option remaining, so he could be a flexible ’pen option for the Reds in 2019.

The 24-year-old Herrera went unclaimed after hitting .184/.268/.414 in 97 plate appearances for the Reds late in the 2018 season. It’s been a couple of years since he was the centerpiece of the trade that sent Jay Bruce from Cincinnati to the Mets, but Herrera’s late cup of coffee was actual his team debut. The former top prospect’s career has been utterly derailed by shoulder troubles, and while he finally surfaced in the Majors with the Reds, he didn’t do enough to secure a roster spot for the 2019 season. Because he’s previously been outrighted by the Reds, he can now elect fre agency, leaving the Cincinnati organization with nothing to show for that Bruce swap; lefty Max Wotell, the only other player in the trade, was cut loose earlier this season.

The 27-year-old Williams is a former top prospect in his own right, though it’s been quite some time since he was perceived in that light. He inked a minor league pact with Cincinnati and made his way to the big league roster, hitting .293/.331/.398 in 132 PAs. Solid as that showing was, he couldn’t stick on the 40-man nor did another team claim him, so he, too, can head to the open market as a minor league free agent by virtue of that fact that he’s also been outrighted previously (by the Yankees in 2017).

Minor MLB Transactions: 11/17/17

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Here are Friday’s minor moves throughout the league…

  • Joining the Reds on minors deals are outfielders Mason Williams and Rosell Herrera, C. Trent Rosecrans of the Cincinnati Enquirer was among those to report on Twitter. Once seen as one of the game’s better overall prospects, the 26-year-old Williams has seen scant action in the majors over the past three seasons — all with the Yankees, his only professional team to this point. At the highest level of the minors last year, Williams posted a .263/.309/.318 batting line and swiped 19 bags over 437 plate appearances.Herrera, 25, has himself received top prospect billing in the past and is also something of a change-of-scenery candidate (in his case, from the Rockies). He just wrapped up his first season at Triple-A, slashing .278/.351/.394 with twenty steals over 363 plate appearances.
  • The Mets have struck a minors pact with southpaw Matt Purke, the team announced. Purke, 27, was considered a significant amateur prospect but has never fully found his niche at the game’s highest levels while dealing with numerous injury issues. He cracked the majors in 2016 with the White Sox, but did not return last year even as the Chicago organization cycled through a number of arms. Purke arguably turned in his best work in the upper minors, though, working 65 2/3 frames of 3.84 ERA ball over 48 innings while compiling 11.0 K/9 against 3.8 BB/9.
  • Right-hander Angel Nesbitt has been hit with a 50-game PED suspension, Emily Waldon of The Athletic tweets. Nesbitt received a 24-game run in the majors in 2015 with the Tigers, but hadn’t made his way back and struggled in limited action in 2017. He is a minor-league free agent, meaning he’ll serve his penance upon signing with a new organization.

Earlier Updates

  • The Blue Jays announced last night that they’ve brought back former first-round pick Deck McGuire on a minor league contract and invited him to Major League Spring Training. Toronto selected McGuire, now 28 years of age, with the 10th overall pick back in 2010. The former Georgia Tech star tore through Class-A Advanced with the Jays but began to struggle upon reaching Double-A and was ultimately traded to the A’s for cash considerations in 2014. McGuire has since pitched in the upper levels of the Dodgers and Cardinals systems, and in 2017 he made his big league debut with the Reds after turning in a terrific season in Double-A. McGuire tossed 168 innings with a 2.79 ERA, 9.1 K/9 and 3.1 BB/9 for Cincinnati’s Pensacola affiliate, and he impressed in a brief sample of MLB innings as well. Through 13 2/3 frames with the Reds, McGuire allowed four earned runs (2.63 ERA) on 10 hits and two walks with 11 strikeouts.
  • Andy McCullough of the L.A. Times tweets that the Dodgers are closing in on a minor league deal with left-hander Manny Banuelos. The 26-year-old Banuelos was once one of the most prized prospects in the Yankees’ farm system before elbow problems slowed his career. Banuelos had Tommy John surgery back in 2013 and has since undergone a second elbow operation to remove bone chips. His lone season with MLB experience came in 2015 when he tossed 26 1/3 innings with the Braves. Banuelos spent the 2017 season with the Angels’ Triple-A affiliate and struggled to a 4.93 ERA with 8.1 K/9 against 4.6 BB/9 in 95 innings. It’s perhaps worth noting that he spent the bulk of 2017 as a reliever (nine starts, 30 relief outings) — his first career season working primarily out of the bullpen.

Minor MLB Transactions: 7/6/17

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Here are Thursday’s minor moves from around the game…

  • The Yankees announced that outfielder Mason Williams has cleared waivers and been outrighted to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Williams, 25, has seen brief MLB action in each of the past three seasons. But he was struggling badly on the year at Triple-A, posting a .252/.298/.296 batting line over 251 plate appearances.
  • Outfielder Michael Reed has been outrighted off the Brewers’ 40-man roster to Double-A, per a club announcement. Milwaukee did not announce a corresponding roster move. The 24-year-old Reed has played in 15 major league ballgames since the start of the 2015 season, but now loses his 40-man spot. While the NL Central-leading Brewers haven’t yet filled it, they’ll be hunting for additions at the deadline and are already loaded with other young outfielders. Reed will remain at Biloxi, where he owns a .209/.347/.356 slash in 199 trips to the plate.

Yankees Promote Fowler, Select Carter, Designate Williams, Option Andujar

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In a dizzying series of roster moves prior to tonight’s game, the Yankees announced that they’ve selected the contracts of top outfield prospect Dustin Fowler and recently outrighted slugger Chris Carter. To clear spots on the 40-man roster, New York designated Mason Williams for assignment and transferred Greg Bird to the 60-day disabled list. The Yankees also announced that a right hamstring strain has landed Tyler Austin on the 10-day disabled list, while third baseman Miguel Andujar has been optioned back to Triple-A after just one game.

The 22-year-old Fowler ranks just inside the game’s Top 100 prospects, per Jim Callis and Jonathan Mayo of MLB.com, who have the former 18th-round pick as baseball’s No. 98 overall prospect. Fowler opened the 2017 season in Triple-A and, in his first exposure to that level of pitching, responded with a very strong .293/.329/.542 batting line through his first 70 games. In 313 plate appearances, Fowler has racked up 13 homers, 19 doubles and eight triples to go along with 13 stolen bases.

Callis and Mayo laud the defensive improvements that Fowler has made since signing, noting that he’s gone from a corner-only option to a solid center field defender. They feel his approach at the dish needs some refinement — which is seemingly reflected in his poor 63-to-15 K/BB ratio in those 313 PAs — but note that he makes tons of hard contact and has 20-homer, 20-steal upside in the Majors.

Carter was outrighted off the 40-man just yesterday, but he’ll return to replace the injured Austin as a first base option for the Yankees. Austin has been told that he’s suffered a “high-grade strain” of his hamstring, tweets MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch. Certainly, that’s an ominous development for the 25-year-old Austin, who looked to have an opportunity to establish himself at first base following Carter’s DFA and Bird’s injury struggles. Austin is headed to Tampa to be examined by a specialist.

Carter signed a one-year deal with the Yankees this winter after what some considered to be a surprising non-tender from the Brewers. Carter led the National League in homers last year, but his huge strikeout totals, lack of OBP and limited defensive value suppressed his price tag to a $3.5MM guarantee on said one-year deal. In 189 plate appearances with New York this season, Carter hit just .204/.286/.383. While he did slug eight homers in that fairly short timeframe, he also struck out in 37 percent of his plate appearances in his first stint with the Yankees.

Williams, 25, has received just 17 plate appearances with the Yanks this season and a total of 68 across the past three seasons, but the once-elite prospect hasn’t delivered at the game’s highest level — or in Triple-A, for that matter. Through those 68 big league PAs, Williams has batted .281/.313/.391, and his cumulative line across parts of three Triple-A campaigns rests at a less-impressive .278/.318/.345 in a much larger sample of 480 PAs.

New York’s 40-man roster is stuffed with outfielders, including Fowler, Brett Gardner, Jacoby Ellsbury, Aaron Judge and Aaron Hicks, while top prospect Clint Frazier is also waiting in the wings. As such, there’s no real path to playing time for Williams, whom the Yankees will have seven days to trade or attempt to pass through waivers.

Yankees fans will undoubtedly be frustrated to see Andujar optioned just one day after going 3-for-4 and plating four runs in his Major League debut, but manager Joe Girardi tells reporters that the decision comes down to a simple desire to get Andujar everyday at-bats at third base (Twitter link via Hoch). While some will undoubtedly clamor for Andujar to play over Chase Headley, the veteran Headley has somewhat quietly rebounded from a poor start to hit .303/.415/.395 across his past 95 trips to the plate.

It certainly remains possible that Andujar resurfaces with the Yankees later this summer, and he certainly figures to be back with the club as a September call-up, at the very least, now that he’s on the 40-man roster.

Baseball America’s Josh Norris first reported Fowler’s promotion (Twitter link). Joel Sherman of the New York Post reported Williams’ DFA (on Twitter).

Aaron Judge Placed On Disabled List; Yankees Promote Mason Williams

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8:00pm: Judge has been diagnosed with a Grade 2 oblique strain and has been placed on the 15-day disabled list, the team told reporters (Twitter link via MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch).

9:17am: Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge is unlikely to return from an oblique injury suffered last night, Sweeny Murti of WFAN reports on Twitter. Fellow young outfielder Mason Williams will be called up to take his place.

[Related: Updated Yankees Roster]

Judge, 24, made his highly-anticipated major league debut this year after a strong run at Triple-A. Over 410 plate appearances at the highest level of the minors, the massive slugger posted a .270/.366/.489 batting line with 19 long balls.

The first taste of the majors hasn’t been quite as smooth for Judge, who has whiffed 42 times in 95 plate appearances. His .179/.263/.345 slash leaves quite a bit to desire, though he has launched four big league homers.

Really, the early struggles aren’t of particular concern; it’s worth noting, too, that Judge needed time to adapt at Triple-A. And the injury isn’t likely to be a major problem. But it will prevent him from getting some more plate appearances under his belt, and could conceivably interrupt offseason training or winter ball plans.

It’s not clear that the injury will really impact the offseason plans of the Yankees, who likely already viewed Judge as a work in progress heading into 2017. GM Brian Cashman has already suggested that the club won’t look to add outfielders over the winter.

That approach is based in some part on the availability of other potentially useful players such as Williams, a former top prospect who only just turned 25. His prospect star has faded in recent years, with injuries playing a limiting role, so the move won’t come with much fanfare. This will be Williams’s second run at the majors — he had a nice, but very brief, call-up last year — and it comes on the heels of a 31-game stint at Triple-A in which he slashed .296/.313/.376.

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