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Central Notes: Brewers, Indians, Salazar, Pirates

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A look around the Central divisions…

  • The Brewers are loaded in the outfield in the wake of this week’s Lorenzo Cain and Christian Yelich acquisitions, and the club could mitigate the logjam by dealing one of its top trade chips, Domingo Santana. Doing so would presumably allow the Brewers to address their shaky rotation. With that in mind, the Brewers and starter-rich Indians seem like logical trade partners, Paul Hoynes of cleveland.com observes. A deal centering on Santana and Indians righty Danny Salazar would make sense for both clubs, Hoynes opines, and Anthony Castrovince of MLB.com tweets that Milwaukee has shown interest in Salazar this offseason. The hard-throwing Salazar brings the more impressive big league track record of the two players, though age (25 to 28), team control (four years to three) and 2017 performance are all on Santana’s side.
  • Milwaukee could also take from its outfield surplus by occasionally playing Ryan Braun at first base. Braun, for his part, is open to giving first a try in spring training, general manager David Stearns told Adam McCalvy of MLB.com and other reporters Friday. The 34-year-old hasn’t lined up in the infield since his rookie year, 2007, when he played 112 games at third base. Nevertheless, with injuries having limited Braun to 104 games last year, spending some time at first could be beneficial to his health, McCalvy notes. The Brewers already have a pair of viable first basemen in Eric Thames and Jesus Aguilar, but it seems a healthy Braun would at least be an offensive upgrade over Aguilar – a fellow righty-swinger whose 2017 production plummeted after the All-Star break.
  • Pirates left-hander Nik Turley received an 80-game suspension Saturday after testing positive for Ipamorelin, a performance-enhancing drug. The 28-year-old will go on the restricted list, thus opening up a spot on the Pirates’ 40-man roster (which was at capacity before his ban). Turley is in his first offseason with the Pirates, who claimed him off waivers from the Twins in November. The former Yankees prospect made his big league debut with Minnesota last season and struggled across 10 appearances (11.21 ERA, 6.62 K/9 and 4.08 BB/9 in 17 2/3 innings).

Pirates Claim Nik Turley From Twins

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The Pirates announced on Monday that they’ve claimed left-hander Nik Turley off waivers from the Twins.

The 28-year-old Turley made his big league debut with the Twins this past season on the heels of excellent work in Triple-A, though he didn’t fare well in Minneapolis. Turley was rocked for 22 runs on 30 hits and eight walks with 13 strikeouts in 17 2/3 frames as a big leaguer, resulting in an 11.21 ERA. However, he tore through Double-A and Triple-A, pitching to a 2.02 ERA with 12.1 K/9 against 2.8 BB/9 in 92 innings (most of which was spent at the Triple-A level).

Turley becomes the third player the Twins have lost to waivers in the past week. Fellow left-hander Randy Rosario was claimed by the Cubs on Friday, while outfield prospect Daniel Palka was claimed by the White Sox a couple of days later.

Twins Designate Drew Rucinski

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The Twins have announced that they’ve designated righty Drew Rucinski for release or assignment. The move clears space on the club’s 40-man roster for lefty Nik Turley, who will start today against the Giants, as expected. The Twins also optioned lefty Randy Rosario to Double-A Chattanooga.

[Related: Updated Minnesota Twins Depth Chart]

The Twins signed the 28-year-old Rucinski to a minor-league deal last offseason, and he’s bounced back and forth between Triple-A Rochester and the Majors since the club selected his contract last month. Overall, he’s allowed five runs in 4 1/3 big-league innings with the Twins, but he’s pitched very well for Rochester, with a 2.31 ERA, 9.6 K/9 and 1.2 BB/9 in 23 1/3 frames, most of them spent in relief. He had previously pitched in the Indians, Angels and Cubs organizations.

The 27-year-old Turley has spent parts of ten years in the minors since the Yankees selected him in the fifth round of the 2008 draft. He had limited success in the farm systems of the Yankees, Giants and Red Sox but has thrived since a brief stint in independent ball last season — he posted a ridiculous 0.37 ERA, 16.6 K/9 and 2.6 BB/9 in 24 1/3 innings thus far this year in Chattanooga and has also pitched well in Rochester. The journeyman will be making his big-league debut today.

Minor MLB Transactions: 6/10/17

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Saturday’s minor moves:

  • Utilityman T.J. Rivera has lost his spot on the Mets’ roster, as the team optioned him (and right-hander Tyler Pill) to Triple-A on Saturday, Mike Puma of the New York Post was among those to report (Twitter link). The Mets sent Rivera and Pill down to make room for outfielder Yoenis Cespedes and righty Seth Lugo, both of whom are back from the disabled list. Rivera ranks among the Mets’ top nine in plate appearances this year, having taken 114 and batted a passable .255/.310/.402. He swatted his second home run of the season Saturday, but it wasn’t enough to stave off a demotion.
  • The Padres have outrighted righty Tyrell Jenkins to make room for reliever Carter Capps, whom they reinstated from the 60-day disabled list and optioned to Triple-A El Paso, tweets AJ Cassavell of MLB.com. A former big-time prospect with the Cardinals, Jenkins joined the Padres off waivers from the Reds over the winter and has struggled with San Diego’s Triple-A affiliate, notching a 6.71 ERA, 6.42 K/9 and a 5.98 BB/9 over 61 2/3 innings in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League. Capps, meanwhile, continues to work his way back from the Tommy John surgery he underwent as a Marlin in 2016.
  • The Twins have selected the contract of left-hander Nik Turley from Triple-A and optioned fellow southpaw Randy Rosario, per Phil Miller of the Star Tribune (on Twitter). Minnesota will need to dump someone from its 40-man roster to make room for the addition of Turley, who has excelled at both the Double-A and Triple-A levels this season. The 27-year-old will make his major league debut Sunday with a start in San Francisco, with which he was a farmhand in 2015.

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