Yankees Outright Jeisson Rosario To Double-A
TODAY: Rosario has cleared DFA waivers and been outrighted to Double-A, the Yankees announced.
APRIL 7: The Yankees announced Thursday that they’ve designated outfielder Jeisson Rosario for assignment and formally selected the contract of veteran utilityman Marwin Gonzalez.
Rosario, 22, was claimed off waivers from the archrival Red Sox last month. He’s yet to make his big league debut or even take a plate appearance at the Triple-A level. Rosario spent the 2021 season with Boston’s Double-A affiliate and slashed .232/.335/.307 with three homers, 15 doubles, a triple and a 12.3% walk rate against a concerning 27.9% strikeout rate.
Acquired from the Padres in the trade that sent Mitch Moreland to San Diego, Rosario draws praise from scouts for his speed, plate discipline and defense in center field. Most scouting reports raise concerns about his hit tool, and his performance thus far in his minor league career has indeed reflected those red flags. Rosario could yet develop into at least a quality bench piece whose game is centered around value with the glove and on the bases, but he’ll need a good bit more refinement in the upper minors before that happens. The Yankees will have a week to trade Rosario or attempt to pass him through outright waivers.
The Yankees also announced Thursday morning that catcher Ben Rortvedt has been placed on the 10-day injured list due to a strained right oblique. It’s not an unexpected move, as Rortvedt has been ailing for some time now. Acquired in the trade that brought Josh Donaldson to the Bronx and sent Gio Urshela and Gary Sanchez to Minnesota, Rortvedt is a glove-first backstop who’ll give the Yankees a backup option to Kyle Higashioka. New York more recently acquired another defensive-minded catcher, Jose Trevino, in a trade with the Rangers. Given Rortvedt’s injury, Higashioka and Trevino will be the two catchers on the Yankees’ Opening Day roster.
Yankees Select David McKay
APRIL 5: New York has formally selected McKay onto the 40-man roster. Fellow reliever Stephen Ridings was placed on the 60-day injured list in a corresponding move.
APRIL 4: The Yankees are acquiring reliever David McKay from the Rays, report Ken Rosenthal and Lindsey Adler of the Athletic (Twitter link). The right-hander will be added to New York’s 40-man roster. It’ll be cash considerations heading back to the Rays, tweets Mark Feinsand of MLB.com.
McKay, who joined the Rays in February via minor league deal, had already been reassigned to the minors. With the Yankees willing to give him a roster spot the Rays were not, Tampa Bay will flip him to a division rival with a clearer path to big league time. McKay does still have a minor league option year remaining, so the Yankees can shuttle him between the Bronx and Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre all season.
The 27-year-old has appeared in two big league campaigns. He suited up with the Mariners and Tigers between 2019-20, tossing 26 2/3 innings over 26 appearances. McKay pitched to a 6.08 ERA in that time, walking an elevated 15.3% of opponents. To his credit, he punched out a strong 28.8% of batters faced, albeit with just an 8.6% swinging strike percentage.
McKay owns a 4.82 ERA in 46 2/3 Triple-A frames, but he’s fanned an excellent 36.5% of opponents at the minors’ top level. The Yankees will add him to a righty relief group that thinned out a bit over the weekend when New York shipped Albert Abreu to the Rangers for catcher Jose Trevino.
Yankees To Select Marwin Gonzalez
The Yankees have informed Marwin González he’s made the Opening Day roster, the utilityman tells Marly Rivera of ESPN (Twitter link). New York will need to make a 40-man roster move to officially accommodate González selection.
It’ll be the 11th big league season for the switch-hitting González, who signed a minor league pact with New York over the offseason. A productive multi-positional player for a good portion of his tenure with the Astros, he has seen his production dip in recent years. Aside from a .303/.377/.530 showing in 2017, González has never been an elite hitter. He otherwise offered roughly average offensive numbers between 2014-19, but he’s struggled dating back to the start of the 2020 campaign.
González owns just a .204/.279/.310 line in 506 plate appearances over the past two seasons. He’s suited up with three different clubs in that stretch. He spent the 2020 campaign playing out the second season of a two-year deal with the Twins. González reunited with former Astros bench coach Alex Cora in Boston to begin last season, but the Red Sox designated him for assignment in mid-August. He returned to Houston for the stretch run, serving as a bench piece for skipper Dusty Baker during the Astros run to another American League pennant.
Adding the 33-year-old will give Yankees manager Aaron Boone a versatile piece off the bench. There won’t be room for González in the starting lineup on most days, but he’s capable of spelling New York’s regulars all around the infield and in either corner outfield spot.
Yankees, Greg Bird Agree To Minor League Deal
The Yankees have signed first baseman Greg Bird to a minor league contract, reports Sweeny Murti of WFAN (Twitter link). Bird, who was just released by the Blue Jays after failing to crack the Opening Day roster, will report to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. If he cracks the big league roster, he’d earn a $1MM base salary, reports Joel Sherman of the New York Post (on Twitter).
Bird returns to the only organization with which he’s suited up at the major league level. One of the better prospects in the New York system during his days in the minors, the lefty-hitting Bird debuted in the majors with a .261/.343/.529 showing in 178 plate appearances in 2015. That set him up as a possible first baseman of the future in the Bronx. Unfortunately, he missed the entirety of the 2016 season due to a shoulder injury that required surgery, and he’s yet to rediscover his debut-season form.
Over parts of three seasons between 2017-19, Bird hit just .194/.287/.388 in 522 plate appearances. New York designated him for assignment after the 2019 campaign, and he hasn’t played in the majors since then. Over the past two seasons, the former 5th-round pick has joined the Rangers, Phillies, Rockies and Blue Jays organizations on minor league pacts, but he hasn’t gotten another big league call. Reports this spring suggested he was seriously in the running for an Opening Day spot in Toronto, but the Jays opted for more defensive flexibility in promoting utility infielder Gosuke Katoh instead.
While Bird hasn’t had much big league success of late, he’s coming off a solid season with the Rockies top affiliate in Albuquerque. He hit .267/.362/.532 with 27 homers for the Isotopes — albeit in one of the most hitter-friendly environments in affiliated ball. The Yankees have fellow left-handed hitter Anthony Rizzo at first base, but Bird can step into the high minors as a depth option.
Todd Frazier Retires
Two-time All-Star Todd Frazier is set to announce his retirement today, he tells Greg Joyce of the New York Post. “(Baseball) has been my love my whole life,” the third baseman said. “It’s very hard to let go. Don’t get me wrong, it’s one of the toughest decisions I’ve ever made in my life. But where I’m at in my career and where I’m at in my life, I think it was the right decision. I think it’s time to be that family figure that I’ve always wanted to be.”
Frazier has appeared in the majors in each of the past 11 seasons. A supplemental first-round pick out of Rutgers by the Reds in 2007, Frazier emerged as one of the sport’s most promising prospects within his first couple pro seasons. He debuted in the big leagues in 2011 and cemented himself at the hot corner in Cincinnati not long thereafter.
In 128 games in 2012, Frazier hit a productive .273/.331/.498 en route to a third-place finish in NL Rookie of the Year balloting. After a roughly league average showing the following season, he broke through as one of the better position players in the game. Frazier combined for a .264/.322/.479 showing between 2014-15, averaging 32 home runs per season. He was selected to the Midsummer Classic in both years and won the 2015 Home Run Derby in front of a home crowd in Cincinnati.
The rebuilding Reds moved Frazier to the White Sox as part of a three-team deal with the Dodgers the following winter. He spent a season and a half in Chicago, not quite reaching his peak Cincinnati level but still offering solid production. The Sox moved him to the Yankees midseason in 2017, and he spent the following two years in Queens after signing with the Mets that offseason. Frazier continued to hit at a decent level throughout that run. His batting average and on-base percentage gradually ticked down, but he popped 39 homers during his first two seasons as a Met.
Frazier’s 499 plate appearances in 2019 proved his last extended MLB workload. He signed with the Rangers over the 2019-20 offseason, then ended up back in Flushing when the Mets acquired him at the trade deadline. Frazier struggled down the stretch, though, and New York bought him out that winter. He hooked on with the Pirates last offseason and played in 13 games before being released in March.
That marked an end to Frazier’s time in the big leagues, but it didn’t bring his playing career to a complete conclusion. He was among a handful of respected veterans to represent the U.S. as part of last summer’s Silver Medal-winning team at the Tokyo Olympics.
Frazier wraps up his career with a .241/.318/.445 slash line in a bit under 5,000 MLB plate appearances. That production was seven percentage points better than league average in aggregate, by measure of wRC+, and he had three seasons with a wRC+ north of 115. A well-regarded defender for the bulk of his career, Frazier got plus marks from both Defensive Runs Saved and Ultimate Zone Rating. He suited up for six different clubs, combining to hit 218 homers and drive in 640 runs. Each of Baseball Reference and FanGraphs valued his career at around 23-24 wins above replacement, a very fine showing that endeared him to Reds fans in particular. MLBTR congratulates Frazier on an excellent run and wishes him all the best in his post-playing days.
Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.
Roster Notes: Twins, Marlins, Pirates, Yankees, Cubs, Phillies
With the season just a few days away, roster decisions around the game continue to trickle in. We’ll round up some notable non 40-man roster decisions here.
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- Twins pitching prospect Jhoan Duran has made the Opening Day roster, per a club announcement. He’ll initially work out of the bullpen. Ranked the #9 prospect in the Minnesota organization by Baseball America, Duran draws praise for an upper-90s fastball and a power splitter that have helped him run plus strikeout rates throughout his minor league career.
- The Marlins have informed outfielder Roman Quinn he will not make the Opening Day roster, reports Craig Mish of SportsGrid (Twitter link). It comes as a bit of a surprise, as Quinn had seemed the favorite for a fourth outfield role after the Fish released Delino DeShields Jr. over the weekend. Presumably, that job will fall to utilityman Jon Berti early on.
- Infield prospect Diego Castillo has made the Pirates’ Opening Day roster, tweets Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Castillo, acquired in the trade that sent righty Clay Holmes to the Yankees, will make his big league debut the first time he gets into a game.
- The Yankees announced they’ve reassigned outfielder Ender Inciarte and left-hander Manny Bañuelos to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Inciarte has an opt-out clause in his minor league deal and tells ESPN’s Marly Rivera he hasn’t yet decided whether he’ll accept the assignment to Triple-A.
- The Cubs informed pitching prospect Ethan Roberts he’ll be on the Opening Day roster, he informed reporters (including Maddie Lee of the Chicago Sun-Times). A fourth-round pick in 2018 out of Tennessee Tech, the right-hander is the #33 prospect in the organization according to Baseball America. The reliever posted an even 3.00 ERA over 54 innings between Double-A Tennessee and Triple-A Iowa last season. The Cubs reassigned non-roster invitees Jonathan Holder, Robert Gsellman, Steven Brault, Stephen Gonsalves and Ildemaro Vargas to Iowa, tweets Jordan Bastian of MLB.com.
- The Phillies reassigned non-roster invitees Ronald Torreyes, Yairo Muñoz and Dillon Maples to Triple-A Lehigh Valley, tweets Todd Zolecki of MLB.com. Torreyes and Muñoz were competing for utility spots, while the hard-throwing Maples had been seeking a spot in the Philly bullpen.
Padres Notes: Clevinger, Abrams, Paddack, Weathers
Mike Clevinger is battling soreness in his right knee and is expected to begin the season on the 10-day injured list, Padres manager Bob Melvin told reporters (including Kevin Acee of The San Diego Union-Tribune). Clevinger has made only one appearance this spring, and lasted only 1 2/3 innings.
The IL placement “allows us to kind of smooth things out and slow it down some,” Melvin said. “We don’t feel like it’s a significant thing, but it actually might be a little bit of a blessing because it did feel like we were kind of rushing him a little bit.”
It has already been a lengthy absence from a big league mound for Clevinger, who underwent Tommy John surgery in November 2020 and subsequently missed all of last season. The Padres were already planning to ease him back into action on limited innings, pairing Clevinger with another pitcher in piggyback fashion. It seems likely that the team might still pursue this strategy when Clevinger does return, though the extra recovery time could allow Clevinger to start a bit deeper into games.
San Diego has enough of a pitching surplus to withstand Clevinger’s absence, particularly after Sean Manaea was acquired from the A’s earlier today. However, rumors continue to swirl about the possibility that the Friars could trade from their pitching depth to facilitate another deal, and the Padres reportedly came close on a four-player swap with the Mets yesterday that would’ve seen Eric Hosmer, Chris Paddack, and Emilio Pagan all sent to New York for Dominic Smith.
That trade would’ve been largely about getting luxury tax relief from Hosmer’s contract, though the Padres have also pursued other big-ticket moves to add talent. San Diego has long been rumored to have interest in the Pirates’ Bryan Reynolds, and USA Today’s Bob Nightengale reports that the Padres offered two arms in Paddack and Ryan Weathers in exchange for the All-Star outfielder. That wasn’t enough for the Pirates, as talks were scuttled when Pittsburgh additionally wanted top prospect C.J. Abrams added to the trade package.
While Padres president of baseball operations A.J. Preller has been willing to deal notable prospects in the past, he has mostly resisted trading any of the true upper-tier names from his farm system. As a consensus top-15 prospect in baseball, Abrams fits that billing, even coming off an injury-shortened 2021 season. The Pirates are known to be seeking a major return in exchange for Reynolds, so while Abrams is a justifiable ask for a player of Reynolds’ proven ability, it remains to be seen if the Padres (or any team) would be willing to trade away a blue-chip minor league talent.
In fact, the door remains open on Abrams contributing to the Padres’ own big league roster as early as Opening Day. Abrams has been hitting well this spring, and with Fernando Tatis Jr. set to miss as much as the first three months of the season, there is a vacancy at Abrams’ natural shortstop position. Abrams has also been playing at second base, and Melvin has suggested that he could get some reps in the outfield as well, acting as some center field depth behind Trent Grisham.
It would be an aggressive promotion considering that Abrams has only played 42 games of Double-A ball, and has never played at Triple-A. That said, the Padres didn’t shy away from putting Tatis on their Opening Day roster in 2019, and that was even before the new Collective Bargaining Agreement introduced the “Prospect Promotion Incentive,” which allows teams to potentially gain an extra draft pick if a top prospect spends an entire season on the active roster and has a high finish in awards balloting.
Returning to the pitching rumor mill, Paddack drew some attention from New York’s other team last month, when the Yankees and Padres were discussing Luke Voit in trade talks. SNY’s Andy Martino reports that the Yankees initially wanted Paddack in return for Voit, before finally settling on a less-experienced hurler in prospect Justin Lange.
Mets Trade Miguel Castro To Yankees For Joely Rodriguez
The Mets have traded Miguel Castro to the Yankees for Joely Rodriguez, per Joel Sherman of the New York Post. As noted by MLBTR’s Steve Adams, Rodriguez was signed as a free agent this offseason and thus ineligible to be traded prior to June 15th without his consent. He and his agent gave that consent in exchange for a $500K assignment bonus, which will be paid by the Mets as part of this deal. (Twitter links) Rodriguez is represented by Daniel Szew of LA Sports Management.
For the Mets, they have had an extremely busy offseason, upgrading their lineup with the likes of Starling Marte, Mark Canha and Eduardo Escobar. They also added Max Scherzer and Chris Bassitt to their rotation and Adam Ottavino to their bullpen. However, the one area of the roster they hadn’t really addressed was left-handed relief. With Aaron Loup joining the Angels, the only southpaws on the roster were candidates for the starting rotation. The club gave minor league deals to veterans like Chasen Shreve and Alex Claudio, but they clearly view Rodriguez as a meaningful upgrade, based on the fact that they were willing to give up Castro to get him.
After a couple of seasons with the Phillies in 2016 and 2017, Rodriguez headed overseas for a stint with the Chunichi Dragons of Nippon Professional Baseball. After two solid seasons in Japan, Rodriguez was able to come back to North American via a two-year deal from the Rangers. In the shortened 2020 season, he put up an ERA of 2.13 over 12 2/3 innings. Things seemed to be going in the wrong direction last year, as his ERA shot up to 5.93 in July. However, the Yankees seemed to believe that was a small sample blip, as they acquired him as part of the Joey Gallo trade. He fared much better after the swap, with a 2.84 ERA in 19 innings in pinstripes. At the end of the season, the club declined their $3MM option in favor of a $500K buyout, but then quickly re-signed him to a $2MM salary, saving themselves $500K. With this trade and the assignment bonus, Rodriguez has made back that difference.
The Yanks evidently felt they had enough lefties to part with Rodriguez, given the presence Wandy Peralta and Lucas Luetge, along with closer Aroldis Chapman. For their part, they are receiving Miguel Castro, a right-handed reliever. Despite being just 27 years old, he has appeared in part of seven MLB seasons thus far in his career, spending time with the Blue Jays, Rockies, Orioles and Mets. Those first couple of seasons were a bit shaky, which is not surprising given that Castro was just 20 and 21 years old during that time. However, over the past five seasons, he’s established himself as a quality big league reliever. Since the start of the 2017 season, he’s thrown 321 innings with an ERA of 3.93. His strikeout rate was just 14.6% over 2017-2018, but has jumped up to 25.2% over the past three campaigns. Walks have been a concern, with his annual rate coming in between 10 and 15% in each of the past five seasons. He and the Mets agreed to a $2.62MM salary for this season, his final arbitration year before hitting free agency at the end of this year. He will slot into a bullpen that will be headlined by Chapman, Jonathan Loaisiga, Chad Green and Clay Holmes.
Yankees Acquire Jose Trevino From Rangers
The Rangers and Yankees have announced a trade, as catcher Jose Trevino is headed to New York in exchange for right-hander Albert Abreu and left-hander Robby Ahlstrom.
The deal represents the latest shuffle in the Yankees’ catching situation, after Gary Sanchez was dealt to the Twins as part of the blockbuster deal that brought Josh Donaldson, Ben Rortvedt, and (Trevino’s former Texas teammate) Isiah Kiner-Falefa to the Bronx. The initial plan seemed to be a defense-first platoon of Rortvedt and Kyle Higashioka, though Rortvedt has yet to play in any Spring Training games due to an oblique strain. With Rortvedt not expected to begin the season on the active roster, the Yankees instead now turn to a more experienced big leaguer in Trevino, who has 156 MLB games played to Rortvedt’s 39.
Trevino and Higashioka are both right-handed hitters, making for more of an imperfect platoon fit than the Higashioka/Rortvedt combo, yet the first priority still seems to be defense considering Trevino’s lack of offensive pop. Over his 516 career plate appearances with the Rangers, Trevino has batted only .245/.270/.364. Framing-wise, Statcast considered Trevino to be among the best in baseball last season.
Today’s trade marks the third notable swap between the Yankees and Rangers in less than a year, following last season’s deals that saw Texas sent Joey Gallo and Rougned Odor to New York. It’s probably safe to assume that the two teams discussed Trevino, Abreu, or Ahlstrom at some point during those many negotiations before things finally lined up due to changing roster needs.
For the Rangers, the acquisition of Mitch Garver made Trevino expendable, as Jonah Heim now takes over as the backup catcher. Meibrys Viloria and Yohel Pozo are also in camp on minor league deals, and top prospect Sam Huff is still in the mix at catcher, even though he played only at first base after returning from knee surgery early last season.
It wasn’t long ago that Abreu was garnering attention on top-100 prospect lists, except injuries and control problems hampered his progress up the minor league ladder. Abreu has a 3.77 ERA, 24.2% strikeout rate, and an 11.26% walk rate over 455 2/3 innings in the minors, and he started 87 of his 115 games. In the majors, Abreu didn’t do much to retain a foothold in the Yankees’ bullpen, posting a 5.68 ERA and 12.6% walk rate in 38 innings as a big leaguer.
Abreu is out of minor league options, thus making him something of an expendable piece for the Yankees. The Rangers will replace Trevino with Abreu on their 40-man roster and see if the righty can get a fresh start working out of the Texas relief corps.
Ahlstrom was selected in the seventh round of the 2021 draft, and the former Oregon Duck has yet to officially begin his pro career. Baseball America’s pre-draft scouting report described the southpaw as “a fiery presence on the mound,” with the ability to consistently throw each of his three pitches (fastball, curve, changeup) for strikes. The latter two pitches are only graded as average, however, and Ahlstrom’s fastball generally clocked in the 88-89mph range, topping out at 92mph.
AL East Notes: Pearson, Borucki, Harvey, Judge, Meadows, Rays, Pollock
The Blue Jays are dealing with some injury concerns in their bullpen, as Nate Pearson is dealing with a non-COVID illness and Ryan Borucki left yesterday’s game with discomfort in his right hamstring. Jays manager Charlie Montoyo told Sportsnet’s Ben Nicholson-Smith (Twitter link) and other reporters that Borucki will undergo an MRI. More will be known about Borucki’s situation when the MRI results are in, but for Pearson, his illness has limited him to only two appearances thus far in Grapefruit League action.
In all likelihood, Pearson’s illness will keep him from making Toronto’s Opening Day roster. While this issue seems less serious than the other injuries that have sidelined the righty over the last two years, it represents yet another setback for the former top prospect. As for Borucki, the southpaw has been a pretty solid reliever when healthy, though he missed almost all of the 2019 season due to elbow problems and over two months of last season with a forearm strain. If another IL stint is required for Borucki, Tim Mayza will be the only left-hander in the Jays’ projected bullpen, which could open the door for Anthony Kay, Tayler Saucedo, or Andrew Vasquez to break camp.
More from around the division….
- The Orioles are considering re-signing Matt Harvey, MLB Network’s Jon Heyman reports (Twitter link). Harvey struggled to a 6.27 ERA over 127 2/3 innings with Baltimore last season, a performance that didn’t lead to any publicly-known interest in his market this winter. Harvey’s situation is further clouded by the possibility of a suspension of at least 60 games. A new deal would surely take the form of a minor league contract, and if Harvey is suspended, he’ll need some extra time anyway to get ramped up to pitch.
- There doesn’t appear to be much new on the extension front between Aaron Judge and the Yankees, as The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal reports that the two sides aren’t close to an agreement. Judge has stated that he doesn’t want negotiations to continue after Opening Day, so it seems as though quite a bit of progress will have to be made over just five days’ time.
- Also from Rosenthal, he reports that the White Sox proposed a trade to the Rays that would’ve seen Austin Meadows head to Chicago in exchange for Craig Kimbrel. Though Tampa Bay has reportedly been discussing Meadows in other trade talks, the Rays turned down the Kimbrel offer, which isn’t a surprise considering that the closer’s $16MM salary for 2022 would’ve taken up an outsized portion of Tampa’s limited payroll.
- The White Sox ended up dealing Kimbrel to the Dodgers yesterday for another outfielder in AJ Pollock. Beyond Chicago’s talks with the Rays, there is another AL East connection to that swap, ESPN’s Buster Olney tweets that the Red Sox were one of the teams interested in Pollock. The right-handed hitting Pollock would’ve been a nice balance for Boston’s current corner outfield tandem of Alex Verdugo and Jackie Bradley Jr., both of whom swing from the left side. Beyond just a platoon split, Pollock would’ve been mostly an everyday option, but the Red Sox seem committed to Bradley getting more of a regular share of outfield duty even though Bradley is coming off a dreadful season at the plate.