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Tigers Acquire Steele Walker

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The Tigers announced they have acquired outfielder Steele Walker from the Giants in exchange for cash considerations.

Walker, 26, was a second round pick by the White Sox in the 2018 draft. He posted solid numbers coming up through Chicago’s system before the Rangers acquired him in the Nomar Mazara deal ahead of the 2020 campaign. He made his major league debut this year, appearing in five games after a June call up. His one home run was the only hit he had in 16 plate appearances before returning to the minor leagues.

His numbers at Triple-A showed a bit of promise, as he hit .278/.354/.435 with seven home runs in 50 games at Round Rock. The Rangers DFA’d him in August though, and he was claimed off waivers by the Giants. He never made it to the big leagues in San Francisco and was DFA’d by them ten days after they claimed him. This time he cleared waivers and wound up appearing in 25 games at Triple-A Sacramento and posting a .247/.287/.393 line with two home runs. Walker appeared in both corner outfield positions in Triple-A this year.

He still has options remaining, so will give the Tigers some minor league outfield depth as they build out their roster for 2023.

Diamondbacks Acquire Carlos Vargas From Guardians

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The D-Backs have acquired reliever Carlos Vargas from the Guardians, tweets Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic. Minor league pitcher Ross Carver has been dealt to Cleveland in return. Cleveland has since formally announced the move.

Vargas, 23, missed the first three-plus months of the season finishing off his rehab from a Tommy John procedure he underwent in April 2021. He’s yet to make his big league debut, and the Guards optioned him to Double-A Akron upon reinstating him from the 60-day IL this summer. The hard-throwing righty struggled through 24 1/3 innings there, pitching to a 4.81 ERA with an unsightly 21-to-12 K/BB ratio.

Cleveland still bumped Vargas to Triple-A for the final few weeks of the season, and the results were night-and-day. Vargas carved up Triple-A opposition to the tune of a 0.90 ERA in 10 innings. After fanning just 19.3% of his opponents in Double-A, he punched out a ridiculous 39% (16 of 41) of the opponents he faced in Triple-A. Scouting reports on Vargas will praise an upper-90s heater that can reach triple digits and an inconsistent slider that has the potential to be a plus offering if all breaks right.

Carver, also 23, split his time between High-A and Double-A in 2022, faring quite well in the former (3.10 ERA, 81 1/3 innings) but getting absolutely tattooed with the latter (9.50 ERA, 38 innings). The former 20th-round pick gives Cleveland a recent draftee (2021, 20th round) with a starter’s repertoire they can hope to develop through through one of the game’s top pitching development factories.

Broadly speaking, however, the move was primarily about opening a 40-man roster spot the Guardians, while the D-backs — in more need of bullpen help than Cleveland — will roll the dice on a power arm with spotty command and some recent injury troubles.

Red Sox DFA Jake Reed, Caleb Hamilton, Add Five To Roster

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The Red Sox have selected the contracts of prospects Ceddanne Rafaela, Brandon Walter, Chris Murphy, David Hamilton and Wilyer Abreu ahead of the Rule 5 draft deadline, according to Christopher Smith of Masslive.com. They’ve also designated Jake Reed and Caleb Hamilton for assignment per Alex Speier of the Boston Globe.

Of the prospects called up, Rafaela is the most notable. He ranks as Boston’s third best prospect per MLB.com’s ratings. An infielder early on, Boston played him regularly in center field this season, where he hit .278/.324/500 with 12 home runs at Double-A. The promotion came after he torched High-A pitching earlier in the season to the tune of a .330/.368/.594 line. Rafaela doesn’t walk much, but there’s plenty of power there and if his development continues he could be knocking on the door in Boston late next season.

Walter also features on MLB.com’s top ten Boston prospects after a strong 2022. In nine starts at Double-A, he had a 2.88 ERA, walking just three batters in 50 innings while striking out 68. He had two unsuccessful starts at Triple-A, but should start there in 2023 with a view to staking a claim for a major league debut. Murphy is the other pitcher added by the Red Sox. He struggled in 15 starts at Triple-A in 2022 (5.50 ERA), but was strong in Double-A to begin the season (2.58 ERA in 13 starts).

Abreu came across in the Christian Vazquez trade from Houston. The outfielder hit .247/.399/.435 across both team’s Double-A affiliates with 19 home runs. Hamilton also spent the entire year at Double-A, slashing .251/.338/.402 with 12 home runs in 119 games while splitting time between second base and shortstop. Neither player has made it to the Triple-A level yet.

Reed was plucked off waivers by the Red Sox in October, so never actually pitched for them. He appeared in ten games for the Mets, Dodgers and Orioles in 2022, throwing 11 innings of 7.36 ERA ball. Hamilton was taken off waivers just a couple of days prior, so also never suited up for the Red Sox. He appeared in 22 games for the Twins, picking up just one hit in 23 plate appearances. He went better at Triple-A, where had a .233/.367/.442 line with 11 home runs in 62 games.

Cubs Add Four Players To 40-Man Roster

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The Cubs have added four players to their roster in advance of the Rule 5 protection deadline: outfielders Brennen Davis and Kevin Alcantara, as well as right-handers Ben Brown and Ryan Jensen.

Davis, 23, rated as the Cubs’ top prospect heading into the season and projected to make his MLB debut this year as the team’s regular center fielder.  Prior to the season, Baseball America ranked him as the 16th best prospect in baseball.  Instead, Davis hit the IL in May with what The Athletic’s Patrick Mooney later called “mysterious sciatic pain,” which required back surgery in June and knocked him out for more than three months.  The Cubs had Davis participating in the Arizona Fall League, but had to pull him due to back tightness.  Cubs vice president of player development Jared Banner recently told reporters including Mooney that Davis is expected to be ready for spring training.  Regardless, the Cubs figure to be in the market for short-term help in center after primarily using Christopher Morel and Rafael Ortega at the position in 2022.

Alcantara, 20, was the main prize in the deal sending Anthony Rizzo to the Yankees last summer.  Perhaps his successful season in Low-A can help soften the blow for Cubs fans on a day that Rizzo re-upped with the Yankees for at least two more years.  MLB.com currently rates Alcantara as the Cubs’ third-best prospect, with 55 grades for most of his tools.  Baseball America says he has “as much upside as anyone in the Cubs system.”  Look for him to start 2023 in High-A.

Brown, 23, was drafted by the Phillies in the 33rd round out of high school back in 2017.  The Cubs flipped veteran reliever David Robertson to the Phillies at the trade deadline this year to add Brown to their system.  Brown had a 35.4 K% in High-A for the Phillies, and held strong at 32.1% in Double-A for the Cubs.  At the time, Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski said, “Brown is probably the one that hurt the most. We like him a lot, but you can’t protect everybody.”  The Cubs reportedly aim to have him add a new pitch this winter.  If Brown succeeds at the upper levels of the minors next year, he could see big league time.

Jensen, 24, was the Cubs’ first round pick in 2019 under the Theo Epstein regime.  He struggled mightily with his control in 17 Double-A starts this year.  After walking over 18% of batters faced over his first five starts, the Cubs “recommended to him the best course of action was to make some changes to his arm action down in Arizona,” according to Banner.  After that time away from the Smokies on the “development list,” Jensen came back and still walked over 13% of hitters.  As Mooney and Sahadev Sharma put it, “the command improved enough for the Cubs to protect Jensen and his electric arsenal.”

Giants Acquire Brett Wisely From Rays

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The Giants are acquiring infielder Brett Wisely from the Rays, reports Jon Morosi of MLB.com (on Twitter). Minor league outfielder Tristan Peters is headed back to Tampa Bay, reports Jeff Passan of ESPN (Twitter link).

Wisely, 23, was selected by Tampa Bay out of a Florida junior college in the 15th round of the 2019 draft. A left-handed hitter, he’s played mostly second base but has some experience at each of third base, shortstop and in left field. Regarded more as a bat-first player, he’s indeed hit well against minor league pitching. Wisely put up a .274/.371/.460 line with 15 home runs over 500 plate appearances with Double-A Montgomery this year. He walked at a strong 12.4% clip, struck out in a manageable 20.8% of his trips, and stole 31 bases (albeit in 42 attempts).

The Rays would’ve had to add Wisely to the 40-man roster this evening to keep him from being taken in the Rule 5 draft. Facing a strong roster squeeze, they’ve made three trades to deal players already on the 40-man or Rule 5 eligible for further away talent. San Francisco has already selected Wisely’s contract, so he won’t be eligible for the Rule 5.

Peters was a 7th-round pick of the Brewers in 2021. Dealt from Milwaukee to San Francisco for Trevor Rosenthal at this past trade deadline, he had a tail of two halves season. After hitting .308/.386/.485 in 90 High-A games before the swap, he managed only a .212/.302/.303 line in Double-A after the deal. A left-handed batter, he played primarily left field.

Reds Select Elly De La Cruz, Noelvi Marte And Four Others, DFA Six Players

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The Reds have selected the contracts of top prospects Elly De La Cruz and Noelvi Marte, as well as Brandon Williamson, Levi Stoudt, Lyon Richardson and Ricky Karcher. As a result, they’ve DFA’d Aristides Aquino, Jeff Hoffman, Art Warren, Derek Law, Jared Solomon and Kyle Dowdy.

De La Cruz and Marte are certainly the most notable of the prospects added. De La Cruz is Cincinnati’s top overall prospect, and ranked 14th overall by MLB.com. Still just 20, De La Cruz made it as high as Double-A in 2022. As he has for most of his young career, De La Cruz mashed there, hitting .305/.358/.553 with eight home runs in 47 games while mostly appearing at shortstop. The Reds have been aggressive in moving their top prospect through the minors, and if he continues to rake into Triple-A next year, it won’t be long before he’s donning a Reds uniform.

Marte, 21, came across in the Luis Castillo deadline blockbuster. He hit .293/.397/.443 with four home runs in 30 games at High-A, and would seem likely to start next year at Double-A. He played shortstop during the minor league season, but has been exclusively at third base in the Arizona Fall League. While Marte is a bit behind De La Cruz, Reds fans can certainly start to dream of the pair of them playing infield in the not-too-distant future.

Of the other prospects added, Brandon Williamson is the only top ten prospect in their system, per MLB.com. He’s a left hander who made 13 starts at Triple-A, pitching to a 4.39 ERA. There’s a good chance he features at some point in 2023 in the big leagues. Elsewhere, Stoudt and Karcher are both pitchers who featured at Triple-A in 2022, while neither had dominant results, there’s a chance both would have been called upon anyway as pitching depth. Richardson is a hard-throwing right hander who’s struggled with injuries of late, but even though he’s not pitched above High-A, the Reds clearly feel his arm has enough talent to avoid risking losing him in the draft.

Aquino is the most high profile of the players cut loose by the Reds. He hit a staggering 14 home runs during August in 2019 for a .320/.391/.767 line in that period, but hasn’t hit much since. In 2022, he posted a line of just .197/.246/.363 while striking out more than a third of his plate appearances. Hoffman pitched to a 3.83 ERA across 44 2/3 innings out of the bullpen. Both players were arbitration eligible and non-tender candidates, so it’s not surprising to see them cut loose to open up valuable 40-man spots.

Solomon, Law, Dowdy and Warren all pitched a handful of innings each out of the Reds’ bullpen, but none had much success, and all seemed like near-certain DFA candidates as the Reds look to make room for their young prospects.

Tigers Announce Several Roster Moves

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The Tigers announced several roster moves in advance of tonight’s Rule 5 protection deadline. Five players have been added to the 40-man roster: right-handers Reese Olson and Brendan White, infielders Andre Lipcius and Wenceel Perez, as well as outfielder Parker Meadows. In corresponding moves, they designated righties Miguel Diaz and Kyle Funkhouser, catcher Michael Papierski and outfielder Brendon Davis for assignment. Lefty Sean Guenther cleared waivers and has been outrighted to Triple-A Toledo.

Funkhouser, 29 in March, showed some promise in 2021 with a 3.42 ERA over 68 1/3 innings for the Tigers. Unfortunately, a shoulder strain kept him from pitching at any point in 2022. The right-hander was the No. 35 pick by the Dodgers back in 2015 but, as a player who slid after initially being a projected as top-ten or even top-five talent, returned to Louisville for his senior season. A poor year caused him to slide to the Tigers in the fourth round, and he’s now seen his pro career slowed by multiple shoulder injuries. In 85 2/3 career innings, he has a 4.20 ERA and a 12.9% walk rate.

Diaz, 28 later this month, had some success with the Padres in 2021 and pitched 3 2/3 innings of one-run ball with the Tigers in 2022. The bulk of his ’22 campaign, however, was spent in Triple-A Toledo, where he logged a 4.29 ERA with a 24.2% strikeout rate and 10.5% walk rate. Diaz throws fairly hard, averaging just shy of 96 mph on his heater, but his ability to miss bats has been inconsistent in the Majors, whereas his sub-par command has been a steady component of his game.

The 26-year-old Papierski has bounced around the league in 2022, spending time with the Astros, Giants, Reds and Tigers so far this calendar year. He hit .143/.228/.187 in 103 plate appearances this season, his Major League debut, and carries a .241/.361/.371 batting line in 160 games at the Triple-A level.

Davis, whom the Tigers claimed off waivers from the Angels back in May, made his big league debut in 2022 and went 2-for-10 with a walk in 11 plate appearances. The 25-year-old is a career .253/.352/.465 hitter in 721 plate appearances at the Triple-A level and has experience at shortstop, second base, third base and in both outfield corners.

Marlins To Acquire JT Chargois, Xavier Edwards From Rays

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The Rays are dealing reliever JT Chargois and infielder Xavier Edwards to the Marlins for prospects Marcus Johnson and Santiago Suarez, reports Joel Sherman of the New York Post (Twitter link).

Chargois will step directly into the Miami bullpen. The hard-throwing righty owns a 2.49 ERA through 76 innings split between the Mariners and Rays over the past two seasons. He’s fanned a solid 23.2% of opponents against a manageable 8.3% walk rate, missing bats at a roughly league average clip. Chargois missed a couple months this past season due to tightness in his left oblique, but he managed a 2.42 ERA with a huge 59.7% ground-ball percentage when healthy.

It’s unlikely Chargois will continue to strand upwards of 80% of baserunners, as he has the last two years. ERA estimators have pegged his performance more in the mid-3.00s range, but he should still be an affordable power arm in the middle innings for first-year manager Skip Schumaker. Chargois held right-handed batters to a woeful .200/.235/.385 line this year. He’s in the first of three seasons of arbitration eligibility and projected by MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz for a $1MM salary.

Edwards, a former Padres draftee, was a key piece of the deal that sent Blake Snell to San Diego. A switch-hitting infielder, he draws praise for his top-of-the-line speed and has played almost exclusively in the middle infield as a professional. Edwards appeared among Baseball America’s Top 100 prospects during the 2019-20 offseason and ranked among the top ten in the strong Tampa Bay system as recently as this year.

The 23-year-old seemed to stall out at Triple-A Durham this season, however. Over 400 trips to the dish, he hit just .246/.328/.350 with five home runs. A 10.8% walk rate and 18.8% strikeout percentage are each solid, but the Florida native didn’t find much extra-base impact. He also swiped a career-low seven bases in 11 attempts.

Edwards would have been eligible for the Rule 5 draft if not added to the 40-man roster this evening. Tampa Bay apparently wasn’t planning to do that, so they’ll deal him to a club that ostensibly is willing to put him on the roster. Moving Chargois clears a roster spot, and while it subtracts a productive big league reliever, it’s the kind of churn at the back of the 40-man roster to which the Rays have been accustomed.

In return, they’ll add a pair of further-away players to the farm system. Johnson was Miami’s fourth-round pick this year out of Duke. A 6’6″ right-handed pitcher, he signed for just north of $507K. Baseball America’s draft report noted the high spin rate on his slider and added that the 21-year-old sits in the 92-95 MPH range with his fastball. Suarez, 17, just signed with Miami as an amateur prospect from Venezuela. He made 11 starts in the Dominican Summer League this year.

Rangers Select Six Players

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The Rangers have selected the contracts of six players who’d otherwise have been eligible for the Rule 5 draft. Infielders Luisangel Acuña and Jonathan Ornelas, outfielder Dustin Harris and pitchers Cole Winn, Owen White and Zak Kent have all gotten added to the 40-man roster, which is now at capacity.

Acuña, the younger brother of Braves star Ronald Acuña Jr., is a solid prospect in his own right. A right-handed hitter, Luisangel Acuña plays the middle infield. Baseball America credits him with plus defense at shortstop and considers him the #6 prospect in the Texas organization. Despite not turning 21 years old until March, he’s already played his way to Double-A. Acuña split the season between High-A Hickory and Double-A Frisco, combining for a .277/.369/.426 line through 409 plate appearances. He struggled in Double-A after an excellent showing in High-A and looks likely to start next year in Frisco.

Texas drafted Ornelas in the third round out of an Arizona high school in 2018. A righty-swinging infielder who’s played each of shortstop, second base and third base, he spent the whole season in Frisco. Ornelas had a solid .299/.360/.425 mark through 580 plate appearances, collecting 14 home runs and stolen bases apiece. He’s not among Texas’ top 30 prospects at BA but has shown decent contact skills and an ability to play the infield.

Harris was an 11th-round pick of the A’s in the 2019 draft out of a Florida junior college. Oakland dealt him to Texas in the Mike Minor trade in 2020. A left-handed hitter, he’s played mostly first base and left field in the minors. Harris is a bat-first prospect who’s coming off a .257/.346/.471, 17-homer showing in 85 games with Frisco. BA slots him 10th in the organization, praising his contact and power combination.

Winn was the 15th overall pick in the 2018 draft out of a California high school. The right-hander was regarded as a possible big league rotation piece heading into this year after a strong Double-A performance. He scuffled during his first extended crack with Triple-A Round Rock, allowing a 6.51 ERA with a massive 15.2% walk rate over 28 starts. He’ll try to right the ship next season and get back into the MLB rotation picture, but there was never much doubt he’d secure a 40-man roster spot this winter.

White, a 2nd-round pick in the 2018 draft out of a North Carolina high school, has surpassed Winn on the prospect radar. The 23-year-old righty didn’t throw a professional pitch until 2021 because of Tommy John surgery and the cancelation of the 2020 minor league season, but he’s performed well to make up for lost time. He put up a 3.59 ERA in 80 1/3 frames between Hickory and Frisco, striking out 31.7% of opponents. He placed fifth in the system on BA’s midseason update and could factor into the MLB rotation at some point next year.

Kent was a ninth-rounder in 2019 out of VMI. He started all 24 of his appearances in the upper minors last season, working to a 3.94 ERA through 109 2/3 innings. He punched out a decent 23.8% of batters faced against a 9.3% walk rate. He’s 25th in the system at Baseball America and could be a back-of-the-rotation option in the near future.

Jeff Wilson was first to report the moves.

Brewers Select Jon Singleton, Cam Robinson

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The Brewers announced they have selected first baseman Jon Singleton and right-hander Cam Robinson to their roster ahead of tonight’s Rule 5 protection deadline. They also previously announced that infielder Brice Turang and right-hander Abner Uribe have been selected.

Singleton has had a remarkable journey to get back onto a 40-man roster. A member of Baseball America’s Top 100 prospects lists every year between 2011-14, the power-hitting first baseman signed a $10MM extension with the Astros in June 2014. That came in conjunction with his first big league promotion, a precursor to pre-MLB guarantees for players like Scott Kingery, Eloy Jiménez and Luis Robert. Houston’s hope was they’d found a middle-of-the-order presence for years to come, but the left-handed hitter didn’t meet the lofty expectations.

Over the next season and a half, Singleton sputtered to a .171/.290/.331 line in 114 MLB games. After playing the 2016-17 seasons in the high minors, he was released in May 2018. That came on the heels of a third career suspension following a failed test for a drug of abuse. As McCalvy chronicled in greater detail this past spring, Singleton has been open about his battle with marijuana addiction.

Singleton spent a few years out of the game but returned to professional baseball in Mexico last year. He spent the entire 2022 campaign with the Brew Crew’s top affiliate in Nashville, putting together a solid season. Through 581 plate appearances, he hit .219/.375/.434. His batting average isn’t eye-catching, but he connected on 24 home runs and drew walks in an incredible 20.1% of his trips to the dish. Even with an elevated 27.7% strikeout rate, he ranked 15th among 148 International League hitters (minimum 300 plate appearances) in on-base percentage and tied for seventh in long balls.

That wasn’t enough to earn him an MLB roster spot last season, but he re-signed with Milwaukee on a minor league deal last month. He’ll now get back onto the 40-man roster, giving him an inside track at returning to the big leagues for the first time in eight years.

Robinson was a 23rd round pick out of a Florida high school in 2017. The 23-year-old is a pure reliever who’s pitched his way up to Triple-A Nashville. He struggled there but excelled earlier in the year at High-A Wisconsin and Double-A Biloxi. Between the three affiliates, he posted a 2.49 ERA with a 31.6% strikeout percentage over 65 innings.

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