- David Murphy is hoping for another stint in the majors both this season and beyond, though the veteran outfielder tells Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram that his longer-than-expected stint in free agency this winter has made him confront the idea of retiring. “I realistically thought that it could be over. I guess I’m to the point where I know that any day could be my last. I need to enjoy every day,” Murphy said. After settling for a minor league deal with the Red Sox during the offseason and then getting released, Murphy signed another minors deal with the Twins that contains a May 1 opt-out clause.
Twins Rumors
Minor MLB Transactions: 4/23/16
Here are the latest minor transactions from around baseball:
- The Twins have called up right-hander Tyler Duffey from Triple-A and optioned infielder Jorge Polanco, the team announced. Duffey will start the Twins’ game Sunday against the Nationals in place of Ervin Santana, who has back tightness. Duffey, 25, broke into the majors last season and was excellent for the Twins, throwing 58 innings of 3.10 ERA ball with an 8.22 K/9 and 3.10 BB/9. Duffey’s standout performance has continued this year in Triple-A Rochester, where he has pitched to a 1.72 ERA and 2.98 FIP in three starts. Polanco, who’s regarded as a top-100 prospect, got the call to Minnesota last week but didn’t last long. The 22-year-old logged only eight plate appearances, giving him 28 in the big leagues since 2014.
- The Rays wasted no time sending top pitching prospect Blake Snell back to Triple-A after his stellar debut at Yankee Stadium on Saturday, Roger Mooney of the Tampa Tribune tweets. With Snell returning to Durham, the Rays have selected the contract of right-hander Jhan Marinez. Snell threw five innings of one-run ball in his first major league start, holding the Yankees to two hits and a walk while striking out six. Snell got a no-decision in the Rays’ 3-2 loss. Marinez, 27, could now make his first trip to a major league mound since he picked up 2 2/3 frames for the White Sox in 2012.
- The Blue Jays have optioned southpaw Chad Girodo to Triple-A to make room for right-hander Drew Hutchison, who will start their game Sunday against the A’s, reports Shi Davidi of Sportsnet (Twitter link). Girodo has tossed two scoreless innings for the Jays this year. Hutchison racked up 62 appearances (60 starts) and 335 innings with the Jays from 2014-15, but he struggled to prevent runs (4.97 ERA) despite a quality K/9 (8.41) and decent BB/9 (2.79).
- The Marlins have placed third baseman Martin Prado on the paternity list and selected the contract of left-hander Cody Ege, per a club announcement. Ege, 24, will make his major league debut after recording stellar numbers in 161 2/3 minor league innings. Ege owns a 2.23 minors ERA to go with an 11.4 K/9 and 2.8 BB/9.
- The Diamondbacks have recalled right-hander Enrique Burgos from Triple-A and optioned righty Silvino Bracho, the team announced. Burgos accrued 27 innings out of the D-backs’ bullpen last season and put up a lofty ERA (4.67) that belied an impressive strikeout rate (13.0 per nine). Bracho threw just 1 2/3 innings for Arizona prior to the demotion, surrendering five hits and three earned runs.
- The Padres have placed utilityman Alexi Amarista on the 15-day DL (retroactive to April 20) with a right hamstring strain and recalled Cesar Vargas from Double-A, according to Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune (Twitter link). Amarista owns a career .229/.277/.325 batting line in 1,601 major league plate appearances, but he was off to a solid start this year (.333/.440/.333 in 26 PAs). Vargas will start the Padres’ game against the Cardinals tonight. The Mexico native could be a diamond in the rough, as Chris Mitchell of Fangraphs details.
Earlier Moves
- The Nationals signed righty Jaron Long to a minor league deal, the team announced. Jaron Long, the son of Mets hitting coach Kevin Long, spent 2013-15 working through the Yankees’ minor league system. Long, 24, has put up some solid totals in the minors (3.26 ERA, 6.8 K/9, 1.6 BB/9), but he hasn’t yet earned a call-up to the majors.
- The Tigers have claimed catcher John Hicks off waivers from the Twins, Anthony Fenecki of the Detroit Free Press was among those to report (on Twitter). Hicks owns a .279/.325/.408 line in 1,690 minor league PAs and has thrown out a whopping 48 percent of base stealers at various levels. The 26-year-old debuted in the majors last season with the Mariners, collecting only two hits and a walk in 34 trips to the plate.
- The Blue Jays announced that right-hander Arnold Leon cleared waivers and has been outrighted to Triple-A (Twitter link via Gregor Chisholm of MLB.com). Leon gave up two runs in 2 1/3 innings with the Jays before they designated him for assignment April 13. He made his major league debut last year with Oakland and posted a 4.39 ERA in 26 1/3 innings. Leon induced an average amount of ground balls (45.9 percent) and averaged 6.4 K/9 against 3.0 BB/9 during that time.
- The Royals have released minor league left-hander Brandon Zajac, tweets Jeffrey Flanagan of MLB.com. Zajac was a 23rd-round pick of the Giants in 2013.
- The Braves have recalled lefty reliever Matt Marksberry from Double-A and optioned right-hander Casey Kelly to Triple-A, reports Mark Bowman of MLB.com. The Braves needed a fresh arm in place of Kelly, who threw three innings of one-run ball for them on Friday. Marksberry, who has put up a 3.63 ERA over 203 1/3 career minor league innings, tossed 23 1/3 frames for the Braves last season. He compiled a 5.01 ERA to accompany an 8.1 K/9 and 6.2 BB/9.
- The Mets sent right-hander Rafael Montero to Triple-A to make room for the return of starter Jacob deGrom, according to Adam Rubin of ESPN. New York called up Montero on April 12 and he went on to surrender three earned runs on five hits, one walk and three strikeouts in 2 1/3 innings. DeGrom hasn’t pitched since April 8 because of right lat tightness and medical complications with his recently born son, Jaxon, who was released from the hospital Monday.
- The Red Sox recalled left-handler Roenis Elias on Friday and sent righty William Cuevas to Triple-A, per the Boston Herald. Elias, whom Boston acquired from Seattle during the offseason in the Wade Miley/Carson Smith trade, will work out of the Red Sox’s bullpen. Elias has made a pair of starts for Pawtucket this year after totaling 49 as a Mariner the previous two seasons. During that time frame, Elias combined for 277 2/3 innings of 3.99 ERA ball to go with a 7.75 K/9 and 3.47 BB/9. Cuevas, who has been in the Boston organization since 2008, made his major league debut this season to poor results before the demotion. The 25-year-old allowed five base runners (three hits and two walks) and two earned runs in 2 1/3 frames.
Strobe Glasses Behind Joe Mauer's Renaissance?
- After two uncharacteristically weak offensive seasons, Twins first baseman Joe Mauer is turning back the clock to his MVP-contending days so far this year. Mauer is hitting a tremendous .333/.461/.467 in 76 plate appearances with 14 walks against only five strikeouts, and he’s swinging at a far lower rate of pitches outside the strike zone than he did last season (18.2 percent versus 27.6 percent in 2015). Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer Press details one potential reason for Mauer’s 180 in performance: strobe glasses. Nike sent the glasses to Mauer in the offseason, and he now uses them in the indoor batting cage before each game. “It makes it a lot tougher visually for you to see the ball because you only get pictures of it,” Mauer said. “The strobes can go faster or slower. We only do it off the tee or flips — short toss. When you take them off, it seems to slow it down actually so you can focus in on the ball.” Twins hitting coach Tom Brunansky tried the glasses and quickly bought into their usefulness, per Berardino. “It makes you keep your head still and keep your head back,” he stated.
Twins Notes: Polanco, Perkins, Murphy
The Twins are set to promote top infield prospect Jorge Polanco to the Majors, a source tells Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN (Twitter link). It appears that third baseman Trevor Plouffe, who left yesterday’s game with an intercostal strain, is likely heading to the disabled list, thus necessitating the move. Polanco is one of the more highly regarded infield prospects in baseball, ranking 66th on Keith Law’s preseason Top 100 list at ESPN, 95th on MLB.com’s Top 100 and 99th on Baseball America’s Top 100. Polanco has played shortstop in the minors but is said to be best suited for second or third base. The switch-hitting Polanco draws praise for above-average speed, very good contact skills and modest pop, with Law writing that he could hit 12-15 homers and be a defensive asset at second or third. The promotion is likely to be temporary, as Plouffe, Eduardo Escobar and Brian Dozier line up at third base, shortstop and second base respectively. The Twins have Eduardo Nunez and Danny Santana (who is currently on the DL himself and, notably, is out of minor league options) as utility options.
A few more notes on the Twins…
- Injured closer Glen Perkins tells 1500 ESPN’s Phil Mackey that a second opinion confirmed that he won’t require surgery to repair his ailing shoulder, but he’s still “at least” a few weeks away from pitching (Twitter link). Considering the fact that Perkins would need a rehab assignment after a lengthy layoff, that would seem to suggest that he could be out until early May at the earliest, and a lengthier absence sounds possible based on that timeline as well. Right-hander Kevin Jepsen is filling in for Perkins in the ninth inning, as I mentioned earlier today when looking at some bullpen shakeups that could have an impact on some players’ salaries in arbitration and free agency.
- Outfielder David Murphy can opt out of his contract with the Twins on May 1st, Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer-Press reports on Twitter. The veteran came to the organization on a minor league deal with hopes of a quick call-up, and it seems that the contract’s out clause was designed to give him some leverage in that regard. Murphy has said he has little interest in a lengthy minor league stint, and he could seek another opportunity elsewhere if he’s not on the MLB roster in two weeks’ time.
Twins Hire Ron Gardenhire As Special Assistant To GM Terry Ryan
The Twins announced on Monday that they’ve hired Ron Gardenhire, who managed the club from 2002-14, as a special assistant to general manager Terry Ryan. According to the team’s press release, Gardenhire will serve as a roving instructor and evaluator throughout the club’s minor league affiliates.
Gardenhire, 58, spent 13 seasons as the Twins’ manager, accumulating a 1068-1039 record in that time and also won six division championships. From 2002-10, the Twins were a perennially competitive club in the AL Central, but Minnesota fell off the map beginning in 2011, and following the club’s fourth straight losing campaign, it announced that Gardenhire would be relieved of his duties. (Hall of Famer and Minnesota native Paul Molitor was eventually hired as his replacement.) Even at the time of his firing, though, it was clear that Gardenhire was still in good standing with the club. He sat alongside Ryan at the press conference to announce his dismissal, with Ryan telling the Twin Cities media that he likened Gardenhire to a brother.
Gardenhire has been a managerial candidate for other clubs since being fired in Minnesota, most notably being one of the reported finalists for the Padres job this offseason alongside Pirates coach Rick Sofield and D-backs third base coach Andy Green, who eventually won the job and is now in his first season with the Friars. Gardenhire is widely respected among baseball executives and his former players. While his in-game tactics were more traditional in nature, he drew strong praise for his communications skills and attention to fundamentals, and he was exceptionally popular in the Twins’ clubhouse over the duration of his dugout tenure.
Trevor Plouffe To Miss Time With Intercostal Strain; Twins Missing Hunter?
- Twins third baseman Trevor Plouffe will be out of action for at least a couple of days after suffering a right intercostal muscle strain during Sunday’s game. Plouffe hurt himself during a swing in the sixth inning but remained in the extra-inning contest until he appeared to aggravate the injury while running the bases at the end of the 10th. While Plouffe doesn’t think the injury is too serious, manager Paul Molitor told reporters (including Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer Press) that Plouffe will be held out of action and re-evaluated after a couple of games to see if he can avoid a DL stint. The third baseman entered Sunday’s game hitting .256/.275/.487 in 40 plate appearances.
- The Twins’ 3-9 record and the slow starts from some young stars could be attributed to Torii Hunter’s retirement, an AL scout tells TodaysKnuckleball.com’s John Perrotto. “You see some of their kids like Byron Buxton and Miguel Sano and they’re really talented but they’ve been trying to do way too much at the plate….That’s where they miss Torii,” the scout said. “He has that great personality where he keeps everything loose but he also had such a great track record that he could talk to those kids, calm them down, and they knew that he knew what he was talking about. Sometimes you need to hear things from a fellow teammate rather than a manager or coach. It just carries more clout.” While Hunter didn’t contribute much on the field in 2015 (0.5 fWAR), his clubhouse leadership was widely considered to be a factor in Minnesota’s surprising 83-79 record.
Danny Santana To Begin Rehab Assignment Soon
- Twins outfielder Danny Santana, who landed on the disabled list April 9 because of a hamstring injury, could begin a rehab assignment midway through the upcoming week, per Mike Berardino of the Pioneer Press (Twitter link). Santana played all three outfield positions for the Twins during his first four games prior to the injury, though he went just 2 for 12 with no extra-base hits or walks at the plate. Twins outfielders have been putrid in general this year, so Santana could work his way back into the lineup when he returns. However, he was ineffective over 91 games last season in putting up a .215/.241/.291 line and -1.4 fWAR. Those numbers served as a stark contrast to Santana’s red-hot, 101-game rookie campaign in 2014 (.319/.353/.472, 3.3 fWAR).
Glen Perkins Likely Out For More Than Two Weeks
- The Twins may be looking at a reasonably protracted absence from closer Glen Perkins, as LaVelle E. Neal III of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune reports. According to Perkins, his shoulder troubles arose only recently, but he doesn’t expect to be ready after his 15-day minimum DL stint has passed.
Twins Sign David Murphy To Minors Deal
11:17am: Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN tweets that Murphy’s contract comes with a $1.15MM base salary in the Majors.
11:08am: Twins director of communications and player relations Dustin Morse has announced the signing, adding that Murphy will be assigned to Triple-A Rochester.
11:01am: The Twins have agreed to a minor league contract with veteran outfielder David Murphy, reports La Velle E. Neal III of the Minneapolis Star Tribune (links to Twitter). The 34-year-old Murphy was in camp with the Red Sox on a minor league contract and didn’t make the club. He’s reportedly been waiting for a big league offer and weighing retirement over reporting to the minors, but Neal adds that it sounds like Murphy won’t be in the minors long with the struggling Twins. That means one of Eddie Rosario, Byron Buxton or Miguel Sano is on the hot seat in terms of his starting job, per Neal.
Minnesota entered the season with a promising trio of outfielders, but each of Rosario, Buxton and Sano has struggled tremendously this season. Buxton has struck out in half of his plate appearances, whereas Sano is at 43 percent and Rosario has punched out in 36 percent of his trips to the plate. Buxton would seem the most logical choice to get some time in the minors, as he’s the only one of the three that hasn’t experience big league success yet. Were that to play out, Rosario or young Max Kepler could see some time in center field, though Kepler himself is a highly touted but untested prospect.
Clearly, this outcome wasn’t one that the Twins had envisioned entering the season. Minnesota surprised most pundits with an 83-win season that saw the club still alive in the hunt for the AL’s second Wild Card spot right up until the final series of the regular season. However, the Twins have stunningly yet to win a game in 2016 despite a rotation that ranks 10th in the Majors with a 3.38 ERA. Minnesota has allowed four or fewer runs in all but one game this season, but they’ve also yet to score more than three runs in a single contest. The offense has unquestionably been the team’s downfall, and Murphy will be relied upon to give better at-bats than some of the club’s young talent that has struggled so badly to make contact.
Murphy split the 2015 season between the Indians and Angels, batting a combined .283/.318/.421 in 391 plate appearances. Those numbers are more or less commensurate with Murphy’s career .274/.333/.432 batting line, though it should be noted that he’s best paired with a platoon partner, as Murphy’s lifetime OPS against lefties (.655) is dwarfed by his mark against right-handed pitching (.795).
Twins Place Glen Perkins On DL With Shoulder Strain
The Twins have announced that they’ve placed closer Glen Perkins on the disabled list with a left shoulder strain, and promoted lefty Taylor Rogers to take his place on the active roster. MLB.com’s Rhett Bollinger was first to tweet the news.
It’s unclear how serious Perkins’ injury is at this time. He last pitched on Sunday in a game in which he allowed two runs and blew a save against the Royals. His velocity has been significantly down so far this season, from an average fastball velocity of 93.7 MPH in 2015 to 91.3 MPH this year, via FanGraphs. It might be too early in the season to assess the significance of those numbers, however.
Perkins has spent the last three and a half seasons as the Twins’ closer, and has pitched to a 2.98 ERA, 9.9 K/9 and 1.9 BB/9 with 118 saves in 253 1/3 innings since the start of 2012. He has made the All-Star team in each of the last three seasons. However, he’s also missed time due to neck and back injuries in each of the past two seasons. Last year in Perkins’ absence, July acquisition Kevin Jepsen stepped into Minnesota’s ninth-inning role, making him a likely candidate to step up now with Perkins on the shelf. Hard-throwing Trevor May represents another option for second-year manager Paul Molitor.
Rogers, who turned 25 in December, rates as Minnesota’ No. 13 prospect per MLB.com and No. 14 per Baseball America. Both scouting reports note that Rogers has the durability to pitch at the back of a big league rotation (he threw a combined 199 innings between the minors and the Arizona Fall League last year), though he’ll presumably be used in a relief role in his first taste of big league action. Rogers is particularly tough on left-handed hitters, who batted a paltry .177/.209/.193 against him last season at Triple-A.
