Yankees Claim Trayce Thompson
The Yankees announced that they’ve claimed outfielder Trayce Thompson off waivers from the Dodgers. To clear a spot on the 40-man roster, New York transferred righty Ben Heller from the 10-day disabled list to the 60-day DL. The Dodgers had designated Thompson for assignment last week.
Thompson, 27, gives the Yankees some outfield depth with each of Aaron Hicks, Jacoby Ellsbury, Clint Frazier and Billy McKinney currently on the disabled list. The brother of NBA star Klay Thompson, Trayce has spent the past two seasons with the Dodgers organization after being acquired from the White Sox in the three-team trade that sent Todd Frazier from Cincinnati to Chicago.
[Related: Updated New York Yankees depth chart]
While Thompson logged a respectable .249/.322/.469 slash through his first 397 plate appearances between the Sox and Dodgers, he struggled to a .122/.218/.265 line in a tiny sample of 55 PAs last year in the Majors. His struggles weren’t confined to the big leagues, either; in 369 plate appearances in the hitter-friendly Triple-A Pacific Coast League, he hit just .212/.269/.363.
Thompson will give the Yankees a player who can handle all three outfield spots and has had some success both in the Majors and at Triple-A, even in light of his 2017 struggles. It remains to be seen if he can stick with the Yankees in the long term, however. He’s out of minor league options, so when some combination of Hicks, Ellsbury, Frazier and McKinney comes off the DL, it’s possible that Thompson could again find himself exposed to waivers.
Injury Notes: Musgrove, Mercer, Wieters, Cruz, Realmuto, Yankees
The Pirates announced today that right-hander Joe Musgrove has been placed on the 10-day disabled list due to a muscle strain in his right shoulder. Righty Clay Holmes, who’d previously been returned to Triple-A after serving as the 26th man for yesterday’s doubleheader, has been recalled. (Holmes’ optional assignment needn’t be for the typical 10-day minimum, as he’s replacing an injured player.) As MLB.com’s Adam Berry notes, the move seemed somewhat curious at first, as Musgrove had said he felt good physically not long before the announcement. But testing ended up revealing a strain, leading to the roster move.
Musgrove’s DL placement is retroactive three days, so he can be activated on April 9. In his place, the Pirates could turn to one of Steven Brault or Tyler Glasnow to start in Musgrove’s place on Thursday. At present, it doesn’t seem that the injury is serious. Musgrove was slowed by some shoulder troubles in Spring Training, so it seems the Bucs are just being cautious early in the season. Pittsburgh will also need to evaluate shortstop Jordy Mercer, who exited after jamming his finger into the bag when diving back to first on a pickoff attempt. The Pirates, so far, have only said that Mercer left the game with right hand/finger “discomfort.”
Some more injury news from around the league…
- The Nationals recalled catcher Pedro Severino from Triple-A and placed Matt Wieters on the disabled list with a “mild left oblique strain.” Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post first reported today that Wieters was dealing with some type of injury and that Severino was headed to Atlanta in the event that Wieters needed a DL stint (Twitter links). Janes noted that Wieters didn’t take batting practice yesterday on his off day and “looked uncomfortable” throwing the ball back to the mound when catching warm-up pitches between innings for Nats starters. Both Wieters and Severino are coming off down seasons in 2017, as is Washington’s current backup, Miguel Montero.
- The Mariners are leaning toward placing Nelson Cruz on the 10-day disabled list so they can have a full bench for their upcoming interleague series, manager Scott Servais said today in an appearance on Brock & Salk on 710 ESPN in Seattle (Twitter link via 710’s Brent Stecker). Cruz suffered an ankle injury when slipping on the dugout steps after a two-run homer over the weekend and had an MRI, though the results of that test haven’t been announced yet.
- Marlins catcher J.T. Realmuto has progressed to the point where he’s been cleared to resume catching drills, tweets MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro. However, Frisaro cautions that Realmuto will probably still require “a few more weeks” before he’s able to return from the lower back injury that landed him on the disabled list to open the 2018 campaign. Chad Wallach, Tomas Telis and Bryan Holaday have been doing the catching in Realmuto’s absence.
- The Yankees announced today that they’ve voided right-hander Ben Heller‘s optional assignment to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and instead placed him on the Major League 10-day disabled list with a bone spur in his right elbow. There’s no immediate timetable provided for Heller’s return, though he’ll benefit from being on the MLB disabled list instead of the minor league DL, as he’ll now gain big league service time (and be paid the pro-rated portion of the league minimum) while sidelined.
Yankees Place Billy McKinney On DL, Recall Miguel Andujar
Another day, another injury for the Yankees’ outfield. Billy McKinney is headed to the disabled list after crashing into the left field wall at Toronto’s Rogers Centre on an attempted catch Saturday, Joel Sherman of the New York Post was among those to report. The Yankees will recall third baseman Miguel Andujar to take McKinney’s spot on their 25-man roster.
The rookie McKinney suffered an AC sprain in his left shoulder, per Bryan Hoch of MLB.com, which forced him to leave the Yankees’ 5-3 loss to the Blue Jays in the first inning. The Yankees then subbed in Brett Gardner, who had been scheduled for an off day, to take McKinney’s place in left. Gardner joined Aaron Judge in center (his first big league game at the position) and Giancarlo Stanton in right to comprise New York’s outfield.
With Jacoby Ellsbury, Aaron Hicks and Clint Frazier also on the DL, the Yankees’ vaunted outfield has taken a beating early this season. They still have the enviable Judge-Stanton-Gardner trio intact, of course, but the depth behind them is now lacking. Potential backups on the big league roster include third baseman Brandon Drury, who played 94 games in the Diamondbacks’ outfield in 2016, utilityman Tyler Wade and first baseman Tyler Austin – both of whom bring some outfield experience to the table. The Yankees also have veteran Shane Robinson in the organization, but he’s not on their 40-man roster.
Andujar, 23, may slot in at both third and first in his second major league call-up. He vied for the Yankees’ third base job during the spring, but the late-February acquisition of Drury made it unlikely he’d open the season in the majors. Andujar appeared in five of the team’s games last year, which he mostly spent at the Triple-A level. He slashed an outstanding .317/.364/.502 in 250 PAs at the minors’ highest level in 2017, leading to his soaring stock as a prospect. Andujar’s a highly regarded youngster who ranks as FanGraphs’ 14th-best prospect.
Yankees Sign Oliver Perez To Minor-League Deal
The Yankees have added left-hander Oliver Perez on a minors pact, tweets Marc Carig of The Athletic. He’ll make just over $1MM if he cracks the MLB roster.
The 36-year-old Perez signed a minor league deal with the Reds earlier this offseason, but allowed ten earned runs in just 6 2/3 innings and as such was not named to the club’s opening day roster; the club released him on March 22nd. But perhaps the Yankees found some small reason for optimism in his 2:1 ground ball to fly ball ratio and nine strikeouts across those innings.
Perez has long been effective against opposing left-handed hitters. He’s faced them a total of 1,541 times, and they’ve managed just a .228/.318/.365 batting line against him. Even as he’s aged, he’s maintained that skill, as evidenced by his .227/.301/.364 batting line versus lefty opponents in 2017. On the whole last season, Perez posted an impressive 10.64 K/9, but with a 4.64 ERA.
Yankees Place Aaron Hicks On Disabled List
The Yankees announced on Friday that they’ve placed outfielder Aaron Hicks on the 10-day disabled list with a strained right intercostal muscle. He’ll join fellow outfielders Jacoby Ellsbury (right oblique strain) and Clint Frazier (concussion) on the disabled list. Outfield prospect Billy McKinney has been recalled from Triple-A in place of Hicks.
Hicks, 28, went 2-for-4 in his season debut yesterday and didn’t appear to suffer an injury over the course of the game, making today’s announcement somewhat of a surprise. The Yankees clearly have plenty of depth from which to draw, though the injuries to Frazier and Ellsbury, combined with the late-spring trade of Jake Cave, have thinned out their outfield ranks to an extent. With Hicks on the shelf, the Yankees can use Brett Gardner in center and play Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton in the corners.
[Related: Updated New York Yankees depth chart]
New York is counting on Hicks for a strong performance in 2018 after breaking out in an injury-shortened 2017 season. Last year, the switch-hitting former first-rounder slashed a hefty .266/.372/.475 with 15 homers and 10 steals in 361 plate appearances over the life of 88 games. Oblique strains on both his right and left sides hampered him, but he nonetheless demonstrated enough for the Yankees to consider him their primary center fielder heading into 2018.
McKinney will join the team in Toronto and make his big league debut if and when he gets into a game. The former first-round pick came to the Yankees alongside Gleyber Torres in the trade that sent Aroldis Chapman to the Cubs at the 2016 non-waiver deadline. Now 23 years of age, McKinney restored some of the prospect status he lost in a poor 2016 season by hitting .277/.338/.483 in the upper minors last season. He has experience at all three outfield spots but has spent more time in the corners recently in addition to getting his feet wet at first base in 2017.
Orioles Return Rule 5 Pick Jose Mesa Jr. To Yankees
The Orioles announced today that Rule 5 pick Jose Mesa Jr. has been returned to the Yankees organization. He’ll report to Triple-A.
Mesa, a 24-year-old righty, had recently been designated for assignment. Having cleared waivers, he’ll head back to the organization that selected him in the 24th round of the 2012 draft.
Baltimore had considered Mesa for a bullpen spot along with two other Rule 5 pitchers, but elected against keeping him. Now, he’ll wait for an opportunity in a loaded New York pen.
Mesa did not turn in a compelling showing this spring, but has shown his share of promise in the minors. Last year, he pitched to a 1.93 ERA with 10.8 K/9 and 3.4 BB/9 in 84 innings over 29 appearances — including eight starts — at the High-A and Double-A levels.
Greg Bird To Undergo Ankle Surgery, Miss 6-8 Weeks
The Yankees announced that first baseman Greg Bird will undergo surgery on Tuesday “to remove a small broken spur on the outside aspect of his right ankle.” He’ll miss approximately six to eight weeks as a result.
This is the latest in a growing line of injury problems for the 25-year-old Bird, who sat out the entire 2016 campaign after undergoing shoulder surgery and then missed the majority of last season with a right foot injury. He and the Yankees are left to hope surgery repairs that foot, and it’ll leave the club with Tyler Austin and Neil Walker among its big league first base options in the meantime. If the Yankees look for outside help, it’s worth noting that they had Adam Lind in camp earlier this month. New York elected to release Lind, who remains a free agent.
Regardless of where the Yankees go from here at first, it’s obvious this is a notable blow to both them and Bird. At his best, the left-handed hitter has looked like a perfect fit for Yankee Stadium and its short right field porch. There was optimism that a healthy Bird would break out from the get-go this year and give the Yankees a fourth fearsome slugger to join Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton and Gary Sanchez. But it’ll be yet another abbreviated campaign for Bird, who has played just 94 games since earning his first major league promotion in 2015.
Although Bird wowed during his rookie campaign with a .261/.343/.529 line (137 wRC+) in 178 plate appearances, last year’s injury limited him to a .190/.288/.422 showing (86 wRC+) in 170 PAs. To his credit, Bird returned in time for the playoffs to serve as one the Yankees’ top October performers before they fell in a seven-game ALCS against the Astros. That’ll go down as Bird’s last meaningful action until at least mid-May.
AL Notes: Rays, Rangers, Rupp, Bird, Orioles, Brantley
Neither left-hander Dan Jennings nor righty Daniel Hudson will make the Rays’ roster, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports. The futures of both relievers are now in question, but the Rays expect a resolution in each case within 24 to 48 hours, according to Topkin. Jennings is due $2.375MM this year, though the majority of that’s not guaranteed because it’s an arbitration salary. As such, the Rays could release Jennings and only pay one-fourth of that sum. Hudson, on the other hand, has a guaranteed $5.5MM coming his way. However, his previous employer – Pittsburgh – is covering $1MM of that. The Pirates traded Hudson to the Rays in a deal for outfielder Corey Dickerson last month.
More from the AL…
- The Rangers have interest in catcher Cameron Rupp, Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News tweets. Rupp’s currently in limbo after the Phillies designated him for assignment Sunday morning. For the moment, the out-of-options Juan Centeno is the Rangers’ projected backup catcher behind starter Robinson Chirinos (Rupp has two options left). The Rangers also have minor league backstop Jose Trevino on their 40-man roster.
- Yankees first baseman Greg Bird missed most of last season with a right foot injury and is once again dealing with an issue in that area. While Bird will see a foot specialist Monday, the Yankees are hopeful he’ll avoid a long-term absence. “(We are) at least a little bit optimistic, based on the pictures, but tomorrow should tell us a lot as far as what it is time-wise, all those kinds of things. Hopefully we’ll get some good answers tomorrow,” manager Aaron Boone said Sunday (via Bryan Hoch of MLB.com). In the event Bird does miss time, Tyler Austin could serve as the Yankees’ primary first baseman, Boone suggested (per Billy Witz of the New York Times).
- The Orioles attempted to reunite with one of their ex-players – free-agent utilityman Ryan Flaherty – on a minor league contract, but he’ll head elsewhere on a big league deal, Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com reports. The identity of Flaherty’s next team isn’t known. The 31-year-old hasn’t been on the open market for long, having opted out of the minors pact he had with the Phillies on Thursday.
- Indians outfielder Michael Brantley will begin the year on the disabled list, paving the way for Tyler Naquin to make the team, Paul Hoynes of Cleveland.com tweets. Brantley has made progress in his recovery from the right ankle surgery he underwent last October, but he’s not quite ready for regular-season action.
East Notes: Yanks, Bird, Mets, Nationals, Orioles
Yankees first baseman Greg Bird missed most of last season with a right ankle injury. The 25-year-old is now battling soreness in the same foot and will go for an MRI and a CT scan, per Randy Miller of NJ.com. Bird’s status concerns general manager Brian Cashman, who said Saturday: “I’m worried about it to be honest. I’m not sure what we’re dealing with, but when Greg can’t tee it up, it’s a problem for us because obviously he’s a vital member of our organization.” Cashman went on to indicate that the Yankees won’t attempt to replace Bird via trade if he lands on the shelf. The recently signed Neil Walker and Tyler Austin are among the Yankees’ in-house first base options, but it’s worth noting that they recently had Adam Lind in camp. The club signed Lind to a minor league pact in early March before releasing him midway through the month. Lind remains on the market and would make for a logical pickup on paper, but there’s no word on whether New York is interested in re-signing him in the event of another serious injury to Bird.
[Update: The Yankees announced that Bird is dealing with inflammation and will see a specialist Monday.]
More from the East Coast…
- Right-hander Seth Lugo has won the fifth spot in the Mets’ rotation, meaning fellow righty Zack Wheeler will head to Triple-A Las Vegas, Anthony DiComo of MLB.com was among those to report. Lugo will fill in for injured southpaw Jason Vargas, who will open the season on the disabled list after suffering a fracture to his non-throwing hand last week, behind Noah Syndergaard, Jacob deGrom, Matt Harvey and Steven Matz. Vargas could return as early as April 9, DiComo notes, and Lugo is likely to head to the bullpen then.
- Righty A.J. Cole will begin the season as the Nationals’ fifth starter, manager Dave Martinez announced Sunday (via Mark Zuckerman of MASNsports.com). That’s not surprising, as fellow righty Jeremy Hellickson isn’t adequately stretched out yet after recently signing with the Nats on a minor league deal. Cole will join Max Scherzer, Stephen Strasburg, Gio Gonzalez and Tanner Roark in Washington’s season-opening rotation.
- Outfielder Craig Gentry is likely to make the Orioles, Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com suggested (on Twitter) after they optioned outfield prospect Austin Hays to Double-A on Saturday. Gentry, 34, is in his second year with the franchise; he re-signed on a minor league contract in the offseason after slashing .257/.333/.386 in 117 major league PAs in 2017.
Mariners Return Rule 5 Pick Mike Ford to Yankees
The Yankees have announced that the Mariners returned first baseman Mike Ford to them. Ford was the 11th pick in this offseason’s Rule 5 Draft.
Ford was part of a vulnerable Yankees system when the Rule 5 Draft came around. Indeed, Bombers’ farm system was raided for three of its young players they weren’t able to fit onto the 40-man roster by the November deadline.
Ford has an elite track record of getting on base in the minors. He owns an 18.4% walk rate at the Double-A level, and a 15.7% walk rate even at Triple-A. Last season, he slashed .266/.383/.543 for the Rail Riders, despite a .247 BABIP. During spring training with the Mariners, the 25-year-old mashed the baseball to the tune of a .885 OPS.
All this considered, it seems a bit surprising on the surface that he wasn’t able to crack the big league roster. But considering the scorching spring performance of Dan Vogelbach (who crushed six homers and posted an OPS of 1.385) and the return to health of Ryon Healy, there doesn’t seem to be an obvious spot for Ford on the roster.