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Draft Signings: 7/22/21

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The latest on some notable Day Two draft signings.  For more on the 2021 draft, check out the prospect rankings and scouting reports compiled by Baseball America, Fangraphs, MLB Pipeline, The Athletic’s Keith Law, and ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel.  As well, here is MLB Pipeline’s breakdown of the slot values assigned to each pick in the first 10 rounds, as well as the bonus pool money available to all 30 teams.

  • The Twins agreed to deals with Competitive Balance Round A pick Noah Miller and second-rounder Steve Hajjar, the team announced.  As the 36th overall pick, Miller had an assigned slot price of $2,045,400, and Betsy Helfand of the St. Paul Pioneer Press (via Twitter) reports that the high school shortstop’s bonus was under slot at $1.7MM.  Hajjar’s bonus hasn’t yet been reported, but the 61st overall pick has an assigned price of $1,129,700.
  • The Rockies announced the signing of second-round pick Jaden Hill, with MLB Pipeline’s Jim Callis reporting the LSU righty signed for the $1,689,500 slot price attached to the 44th overall pick.  Also from Callis, the Rockies agreed to another at-slot deal with Ohio University southpaw Joe Rock, whose deal is worth the assigned $953,100 price for the 68th overall pick.
  • The Mets signed 46th overall pick Calvin Ziegler for a $910K bonus, MLB Network’s Jon Heyman reports.  The Canadian right-hander’s deal falls significantly below the $1,617,400 slot value, so the Mets gained some significant pool savings that were necessary for the above-slot deal in the works with tenth overall pick Kumar Rocker.
  • The Brewers signed second-rounder Russell Smith for a $1MM bonus, Callis tweets.  A left-hander out of TCU, Smith was the 51st overall pick, which has a slot value of $1,436,900.
  • The Cubs agreed to a $2.1MM bonus with second-round pick James Triantos, according to Callis.  It’s an overslot deal for Triantos, a high school third baseman from Virginia, as the 56th overall selection had an assigned price of only $1,276,400.
  • The Rays reached a deal with second-rounder Kyle Manzardo, with Callis reporting that the Washington State first baseman signed for $750K.  The 63rd overall pick (and the final pick of the second round proper) has a slot price of $1,076,300.
  • The Astros went well over slot to sign third-rounder Tyler Whitaker, as Callis reported that the high school outfielder landed a $1.5MM bonus.  That is more than double the $689,300 slot price for the 87th overall pick.  Of note, Whitaker was Houston’s first pick of the 2021 draft, due to their punishment from the sign-stealing scandal.
  • The Yankees also more than doubled the slot price on a third-round selection, as Callis writes that prep left-hander Brock Selvidge received $1.5MM.  The 92nd overall pick has a recommended value of only $637.6K.  The Yankees have now signed all their draft picks from the first 10 rounds, going underslot on eight of the 10 players.

Brewers Sign Top Two Draft Picks

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The Brewers announced agreements with their top two picks from this year’s draft: Sal Frelick and Tyler Black. Frelick’s bonus landed at an even $4MM, reports Jim Callis of MLB.com, while Black’s deal came in at $2.2022MM (Twitter links).

The fifteenth overall pick, with which Frelick was selected, came with a $3.8858MM slot value. The former Boston College outfielder lands a bit overslot. Frelick was seen as one of the top college position players in the class. He draws praise for his hit tool from the left-handed batter’s box and athleticism. A high-end runner, Frelick moved to center field from the corner outfield for the Eagles this season and flashed potential plus defensive ability at the position.

Listed at 5’9″, Frelick isn’t expected to hit for a ton of power. But his combination of bat-to-ball skills, baserunning and defensive ability placed him among the top ten talents in the class, in the estimation of each of Baseball America, Keith Law of the Athletic, and Eric Longenhagen and Kevin Goldstein of FanGraphs. Over three seasons in one of college baseball’s best conferences (the ACC), Frelick hit .345/.435/.521.

While Frelick’s bonus came in a bit above slot, Black’s deal lands right at the value associated with the #33 overall pick. A second baseman from Wright State University, the lefty-hitting Black posted an absurd .353/.468/.612 line over three seasons with the Raiders. That production is no doubt inflated by the subpar pitching he often faced in the Horizon League, but most evaluators remain convicted in his hitting ability. He landed among the top 35 prospects in the pre-draft rankings at the Athletic and FanGraphs based on his advanced hit tool and exceptional feel for the strike zone.

Brewers Place Devin Williams On 10-Day Injured List

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The Brewers have placed right-hander Devin Williams on the 10-day injured due to discomfort in his right elbow.  The team also announced that southpaw Angel Perdomo has been called up from Triple-A to take Williams’ spot on the active roster.

Milwaukee president of baseball operations David Stearns provided some background on the injury to MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy and other reporters, saying that Williams felt some soreness while warming up yesterday.  (The righty, as you might expect, didn’t end up pitching in the Brewers’ 11-6 win over the Reds.)  An MRI didn’t reveal any structural damage, Stearns said, noting “We do not expect this to be a lengthy absence and are treating this with caution.”

The reigning NL Rookie Of The Year has taken a probably inevitable step back from his otherworldly 2020 numbers, but Williams has still been solid with a 2.97 ERA and a 36.1% strikeout rate that ranks in the 96th percentile of all pitchers.  While Williams has continued to miss bats, however, his 13.9% walk rate ranks as one of the lowest (sixth percentile) in baseball.

Those control problems aside, Williams has continued to be a big piece of the Brewers’ end-of-the-game puzzle, combining with Brad Boxberger and Brent Suter to set up All-Star closer Josh Hader.  While Williams’ injury could end up being as relatively innocuous as Stearns suggests, it’s probably safe to assume the Brewers (like any contender) are still interested in adding further relief depth to the bullpen for the pennant race.

Mariners Claim Ryan Weber Off Waivers From Brewers

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The Mariners have claimed Ryan Weber off waivers from the Brewers, the two clubs announced. Milwaukee designated Weber for assignment earlier this week after acquiring Kyle Lobstein from the Nationals. To create 40-man roster space, Seattle designated infielder Wyatt Mathisen for assignment.

Weber’s stay in Milwaukee proved quite brief. The Brew Crew added him off waivers from the Red Sox last month, and he ultimately made just a single appearance with the team. He also pitched in one major league game with Boston, but the majority of his experience this season has come at the minors’ highest level.

Between the Red Sox’s and Brewers’ top affiliates, Weber has made nine appearances (eight starts) in Triple-A this year, working to a 5.02 ERA with an average 23.5% strikeout percentage and a strong 6.0% walk rate. The right-hander has been quite good at that level over the course of his career. In parts of six Triple-A seasons, he’s pitched to a stingy 3.08 ERA, striking out hitters at a below-average rate (17.1%) but rarely doling out free passes (5.2% walk percentage) and inducing plenty of groundballs.

To date, he hasn’t carried that success over to the major league level. While Weber’s racked up grounders at a lofty 52.8% clip over his 61 MLB appearances, he’s only managed a 5.27 ERA/4.30 SIERA thanks to a lack of missed bats. Still, the 30-year-old is capable of working as a starter or multi-inning reliever, and he can be optioned for the remainder of the season. So long as he sticks on the 40-man roster, Weber will give the Mariners front office a flexible depth option for the pitching staff.

Seattle acquired Mathisen from the Rays for cash considerations last month. He’s spent his entire Mariners tenure at Triple-A Tacoma, where he’s slumped to a .122/.302/.184 line across 63 plate appearances. That belies a generally strong track record at that level. Mathisen has hit a much better .258/.362/.491 over parts of three Triple-A seasons, but he hasn’t performed well in a brief big league look comprising 84 plate appearances between 2020-21.

The Mariners will have a week to trade Mathisen or expose him to waivers. He’s already been in DFA limbo twice this season — first with the Diamondbacks and then with Tampa Bay — and been acquired by a rival club each time. It wouldn’t be surprising if another team picks him up via small trade or waiver claim, although his most recent struggles with the Rainiers could dissuade clubs from devoting him a 40-man roster spot.

Brewers Acquire Kyle Lobstein From Nationals

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The Brewers announced they’ve acquired left-hander Kyle Lobstein from the Nationals in exchange for cash considerations. He’s been optioned to Triple-A Nashville. To create space on the 40-man roster, righty Ryan Weber was designated for assignment. Additionally, Milwaukee announced that infielder Daniel Robertson has passed through outright waivers.

Washington selected Lobstein to the roster late last month, marking his first major league action in five years. The 31-year-old made three appearances totaling 1 1/3 innings before the Nats designated him for assignment last weekend. Prior to his promotion, Lobstein had spent the year with Triple-A Rochester, where he impressively tossed 21 1/3 innings of 1.69 ERA ball, striking out a lofty 29.8% of opposing hitters against an average 9.5% walk rate.

That performance evidently intrigued the Milwaukee front office, which also has Brent Suter, Aaron Ashby, Hoby Milner and Angel Perdomo as left-handed options behind relief ace Josh Hader. Lobstein is in his final option year, so he can be shuttled between Milwaukee and Nashville for the remainder of the season if he sticks on the 40-man roster.

Milwaukee claimed Weber off waivers from the Red Sox a little more than a month ago. He’s made just one appearance with the Brewers, tossing a scoreless inning of relief against the Rockies. Weber has spent more of the year at Triple-A, pitching to a 5.02 ERA with an average 23.5% strikeout rate and a stingy 6% walk percentage over 43 frames split between Boston’s and Milwaukee’s affiliates. He’s appeared in the big leagues for five teams over the past seven seasons, compiling a 5.27 ERA/4.30 SIERA at the highest level. Milwaukee will have a week to trade Weber or place him on waivers.

The Brewers signed Robertson to a one-year, $900K deal over the offseason. The right-handed hitting utiltityman didn’t produce much in a limited look, though, hitting just .164/.303/.274 across 90 plate appearances before being designated for assignment last week. As a player with between three and five years of MLB service time, Robertson has the right to reject the outright assignment in favor of free agency. Doing so would mean forfeiting the remainder of his guaranteed salary, though, so he seems likelier to report to Nashville and hope to play his way back onto the big league roster before the end of the year.

Brewers Select Jandel Gustave

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The Brewers selected right-hander Jandel Gustave to the 40-man roster before the second game of today’s doubleheader against the Mets. Milwaukee acquired the 28-year-old from the division-rival Pirates last month. Gustave is active for tonight’s game in New York as the designated “27th man” for the doubleheader. The Brewers already had a vacancy on the 40-man roster, so no additional move was necessary.

If he makes an appearance, Gustave will return to the big leagues for the first time since 2019. He’s appeared in parts of three major league seasons, tossing 44 2/3 innings of 3.43 ERA ball with the Astros and Giants. While Gustave’s run prevention numbers have been solid, he has struck out just 17.4% of opposing hitters in the big leagues while walking a slightly elevated 10.9% of batters faced.

Before tonight, Gustave had spent the entire 2021 season in Triple-A. Split between the Pirates and Brewers affiliates, he’s tossed 17 innings at the minors’ highest level over as many appearances, working to a 3.71 ERA with a strong 21:5 strikeout-to-walk ratio.

Brewers Designate Daniel Robertson For Assignment

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The Brewers announced that utilityman Daniel Robertson has been designated for assignment.  Teams have seven days to claim Robertson or work out a trade with Milwaukee for the 27-year-old’s services, which is what happened last August when the Giants acquired Robertson in a deal with the Rays during Robertson’s first trip to DFA limbo.

It wouldn’t be a surprise to see Robertson on the move again, given how his versatility can help a team’s bench.  Robertson has played all four infield positions for the Brew Crew this season, and also has a few games as an outfielder on his career resume.  While Robertson has shown flashes of productivity at the plate during his five MLB seasons, his multi-positional usage has become his calling card, as he has only a .227/.338/.345 slash line over 945 plate appearances in the Show.

Once a top-100 prospect during his time in Tampa’s farm system, Robertson’s quest to fulfill that potential was stalled by injuries, as he really hasn’t hit much since a thumb injury that prematurely ended his 2018 season.  The Brewers signed Robertson to a one-year Major League deal worth $900K in the offseason, and he ended up appearing in 50 games while filling the holes left open by several injuries within Milwaukee’s infield.

These injury problems are ongoing, and it makes the timing of Robertson’s DFA a tad curious considering that Kolten Wong, Daniel Vogelbach, and Travis Shaw are all still on the injured list.  However, the Brewers did recently call up another utility type in Pablo Reyes, while Kevin Kramer was acquired as minor league depth in a trade with the Pirates.  The Brewers seemingly feel that Jace Peterson (currently the fill-in second baseman) and Reyes can handle utility infield duty once Wong is back in action.

Brewers Acquire Rowdy Tellez

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The Brewers have been baseball’s most active team on the trade front so far, and they’ve now struck up another deal to bring in some infield depth. Milwaukee is trading reliever Trevor Richards and minor league righty Bowden Francis to the Blue Jays in exchange for first baseman Rowdy Tellez, the two teams announced Tuesday.

Rowdy Tellez | Nathan Ray Seebeck-USA TODAY Sports

Tellez, 26, brings another powerful left-handed bat to a Brewers club that recently lost first baseman Daniel Vogelbach to a hamstring injury. He’s shuffled between Triple-A and the big leagues with the Jays in recent seasons, at times looking like a possible long-term answer at first base/designated hitter for the Jays.

However, Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s shift across the diamond from third base to first base cut into Tellez’s opportunities, and the team’s signing of George Springer created a four-man carousel between the outfield and DH when everyone is at full strength; Springer, Lourdes Gurriel Jr., Teoscar Hernandez and Randal Grichuk are all in line for regular at-bats when the lineup is healthy. That, coupled with the fact that Tellez hit just .209/.272/.338 in 151 plate appearances earlier in the year when Springer was on the injured list, likely prompted to the Jays’ willingness to move on from Tellez.

Those struggles notwithstanding, Tellez is an intriguing bat on which to buy low for Milwaukee. He mashed at a .283/.346/.540 clip with eight homers and five doubles in 127 plate appearances with the Jays in 2020 and belted 21 home runs for them in 2019. Entering the season, Tellez carried .250/.309/.488 batting line with 33 homers, 33 doubles, a 6.9 percent walk rate and a 25.7 percent strikeout rate in 609 trips to the plate.

Tellez struggled in his first exposure to Triple-A ball as a 22-year-old back in 2017, but his production at that level has steadily increased; he’s hitting .298/.400/.638 in 55 plate appearances there so far in 2021 and batted .366/.450/.688 in 26 games (109 plate appearances) there back in 2019 as well.

The hope for the Brewers is surely that Tellez can provide an immediate boost at a position that has been a point of frustration so far in 2021. Keston Hiura struggled with the move to first base and has twice been optioned to Triple-A Nashville, although to his credit, Hiura has been hitting quite well since his latest recall. Vogelbach was helping to solidify the position with a strong showing for the first few weeks of June, but the aforementioned hamstring injury came with a recovery timetable of at least six weeks.

It’s not clear just how the Brewers will divide the playing time up — particularly once Vogelbach is healthy — but Hiura and Tellez ostensibly form an intriguing platoon. Tellez can also be freely optioned for the remainder of the current season, so he could be an up-and-down piece in Milwaukee for now, just as he was with the Jays. Looking longer term, he’s under club control for three more years beyond the current campaign and will be eligible for arbitration for the first time this winter.

For the Blue Jays, this marks the second under-the-radar reliever they’ve picked up in the past week or so. They’re not even a week removed from acquiring Adam Cimber and injured outfielder Corey Dickerson (whose left-handed bat could potentially replace Tellez on the depth chart if he makes it back this season) in a trade that sent Joe Panik and minor league righty Andrew McInvale to the Marlins.

Trevor Richards

Richards, like Cimber, wasn’t an obvious trade candidate. He’d only just joined the Brewers in mid-May, coming over from the Rays as part of the Willy Adames trade, and is controllable through the 2024 campaign. So far in 2021, the 28-year-old has tallied 31 2/3 innings of 3.69 ERA ball while striking out 31.7 percent of his opponents against a 9.8 percent walk rate. He gives the Jays a pitcher with ample experience as both in the bullpen and in the rotation, having started 48 games between the Marlins and the Rays from 2018-19.

The 2020 season was a miserable one for Richards, who limped to a 5.91 ERA for Tampa Bay while posting career-worst strikeout and home-run rates. That came in a sample of just 32 innings, however, and he’s bounced back nicely through the season’s first three months. Overall, Richards owns a 4.34 ERA, 23.1 percent strikeout rate and 9.5 percent walk rate in 325 1/3 innings at the MLB level.

Francis, 25, was Milwaukee’s seventh-round pick in 2017 and has posted a solid season between Double-A and Triple-A thus far. He’s worked exclusively as a starter, tallying 59 2/3 innings with a 3.62 ERA, a 27.3 percent strikeout rate and a 7.1 percent walk rate. Francis is an extreme fly-ball pitcher who ranked 25th among Milwaukee farmhands on last week’s rankings from Eric Longenhagen of FanGraphs. Longenhagen notes that a newly added slider quickly became the best of Francis’ four pitches in 2021 and calls him a potential back-of-the-rotation arm with a excellent feel for pitching but mostly fringe stuff on the mound.

Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic first reported that Tellez was headed to the Brewers in exchange for Richards (Twitter link). Sportsnet’s Shi Davidi tweeted that Francis was also going to the Jays in the deal.

KBO’s Hanwha Eagles Sign Hernan Perez, Release Ryon Healy

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July 6: The Eagles have announced the signing. Perez will earn $400K total — $300K in salary plus a $100K signing bonus — for the remainder of the season, per Jee-ho Yoo of the Yonhap News Agency.

July 4, 11:49 am: Pérez is indeed being granted his release to sign with the Eagles, he confirms to Adam McCalvy of MLB.com (Twitter thread).

8:35 am: The Hanwha Eagles of the Korea Baseball Organization announced they’ve released first baseman Ryon Healy (h/t to Jeeho Yoo of Yonhap News). Utilityman Hernán Pérez is among the candidates to replay Healy on the roster, the Eagles confirmed.

The Eagles signed Healy to a one-year deal with an $800K guarantee last December. The hope was the 29-year-old would settle in as a middle-of-the-order force, but that didn’t prove to be the case. Through 268 plate appearances, Healy hit .257/.306/.394 with seven home runs.

Despite the underwhelming showing in the KBO, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Healy attract some interest from MLB teams on minor league deals if he’s now set to return to the United States. He appeared in the big leagues with the A’s, Mariners and Brewers between 2016-20, compiling an overall league average .261/.298/.450 line through 1606 trips to the plate. Healy broke in to the majors as a third baseman but saw increasing action at first base later in his big league tenure and was used exclusively at first with the Eagles.

Pérez signed a minor league deal with the Brewers in May and is with their Triple-A affiliate in Nashville. He’s gotten off to a fantastic .357/.396/.536 start across 91 plate appearances with the Sounds. Milwaukee has since acquired Willy Adames to play shortstop, though. That bumped Luis Urías to third base, which has coincided with an uptick in the latter’s offensive production. Second baseman Kolten Wong is currently on the 10-day injured list, but that’s expected to be a short-term stint, and utilityman Jace Peterson has been fantastic off the bench. It’s possible the Milwaukee front office doesn’t see an immediate role available for Pérez, regardless of his performance in Nashville.

If Pérez does wind up signing with the Eagles, he’ll assuredly land a better salary than he’s currently earning in the minors. The 30-year-old has appeared in the majors in each of the past ten seasons, including a ten-game stint with the Nationals earlier this year. Through 1846 plate appearances (the majority of which came in a previous stint with the Brewers), Pérez has hit .250/.280/.352 (72 wRC+) while appearing at every defensive position other than catcher.

Brewers Acquire Kevin Kramer From Pirates

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The Brewers and Pirates have swung an inter-division trade, with utilityman Kevin Kramer going to Milwaukee.  In return, Pittsburgh will receive left-hander Nathan Kirby.

Though it’s usually rare for division rivals to combine on trades, the Pirates and Brewers have been relatively frequent trade partners in recent years, and in fact just completed another deal of minor leaguers just a little over a week ago.  Today’s trade sees the two clubs swap a pair of fairly high picks from the 2015 amateur draft.

Kramer has 43 games’ worth of big league experience, all coming with the Pirates during the 2018-19 seasons, and he produced only a .387 OPS over 90 career plate appearances.  A second-round pick for the Bucs in the 2015 draft, Kramer posted considerably better numbers during his minor league career, though he also struggled at Triple-A Indianapolis this season, hitting .196/.318/.296 over 214 PA.  The 2020 season was a complete wash for Kramer due to hip surgery in May 2020.

The 27-year-old Kramer will provide the Brew Crew with some farm system depth, and he also fits Milwaukee’s preferred model of a multi-positional player.  Most of Kramer’s pro career has been spent as a second baseman, but he has also seen quite a bit of time at shortstop, third base, and both corner outfield slots.

While Kramer was chosen 62nd overall in 2015, Kirby went even higher, taken 40th overall as the Brewers’ pick in Competitive Balance Round A.  Since being drafted, however, Kirby’s pro career has still almost barely begun, with just 102 1/3 total innings pitched (71 coming in the 2018 season).  The southpaw has been ravaged by injuries, including both a Tommy John surgery and a thoracic outlet syndrome procedure.

Kirby finally got back on the mound this season for the first time since 2018, and he has a 1.93 ERA, 23.17% strikeout rate, and a troublingly high 15.85% walk rate in 18 2/3 bullpen innings for Double-A Biloxi.  Kirby is still only 27 years old, so the Pirates are taking a flier to see if Kirby has a second act to his career, and if he can perhaps eventually reach the majors as a reliever.

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