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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.

Orioles Select Grayson Rodriguez, Four Others

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The Orioles announced they have added five players to their roster in advance of tonight’s Rule 5 protection deadline. They are right-handers Grayson Rodriguez, Seth Johnson and Noah Denoyer, along with lefty Drew Rom and shortstop Joey Ortiz.

Rodriguez is arguably the top pitching prospect in the game, making him one of the easiest additions on Rule 5 protection day. The former first-round pick could’ve factored into the MLB mix at some point this year, but a lat strain threw him off track. He did make 14 starts with Triple-A Norfolk, working to a sparkling 2.20 ERA while punching out an excellent 35.8% of opposing hitters. While there was no intrigue with Baltimore’s decision regarding the Rule 5 draft, it’ll be fascinating to see whether Rodriguez can crack Baltimore’s big league roster out of Spring Training.

Johnson was a supplemental first-rounder of the Rays during the 2019 draft. He landed in Baltimore via the three-team Trey Mancini deal at the deadline. The Campbell product recently underwent Tommy John surgery and is expected to miss all of next year, but the O’s like him enough as a prospect to give him an offseason 40-man spot. He can be placed on the MLB 60-day injured list at the start of the season to reopen the roster vacancy.

Denoyer went undrafted in 2019 out of a California junior college, but he’s pitched his way onto a 40-man roster. He’s a reliever who split the 2022 campaign between High-A Aberdeen and Double-A Bowie. Denoyer spent most of the year in Bowie, working to a 2.61 ERA with an excellent 35.4% strikeout rate and a meager 5.6% walk percentage over 51 2/3 innings. He’ll be 25 by Opening Day and could factor into the big league bullpen next year.

Rom, 23 next month, split his season between Bowie and Norfolk. He combined for a 4.43 ERA through 120 innings with a 27.1% strikeout percentage and an 8.9% walk rate. A fourth-round selection out of a Kentucky high school in 2018, he was named the #18 prospect in the Baltimore system midseason by Baseball America. He’s a viable back-of-the-rotation candidate next year.

Ortiz went in the fourth round in 2019 coming out of New Mexico State. A gifted defensive shortstop, he split his season between the minors top two levels. The right-handed hitter put up a cumulative .284/.349/.477 mark across 600 plate appearances, pounding out 35 doubles and 19 home runs. He’s part of an excellent pipeline of upper minors infielders in the Baltimore system.

Yankees To Re-Sign Anthony Rizzo To Multi-Year Deal

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The Yankees and Anthony Rizzo are in agreement to reunite on a two-year deal with a $40MM guarantee. That comes in the form of a $17MM salary in 2023 and 2024, followed by a $17MM club option for 2025 with a $6MM buyout.

Rizzo, 33, spent many years with the Cubs, a key part of the club’s core that broke the 108-year curse by winning the 2016 World Series. From 2014 to 2019, he was remarkably consistent and productive, hitting between 27 and 32 home runs in each of those six years. His wRC+ was always between 126 and 155, indicating he was between 26% and 55% above league average at the plate. His wins above replacement tally, according to FanGraphs, was between 3.2 and 5.3 in each of those campaigns.

The next two seasons saw Rizzo slide from those great heights somewhat, though he was still a strong performer. In the shortened 2020 campaign, he hit .222/.342/.414 for a wRC+ of 103. The next year, which included a midseason deal to the Yankees, came in at .248/.344/.440 and a wRC+ of 113.

Despite the slight downturn, he was still above-average at the plate and is generally considered a solid defender at first base. He was ineligible for a qualifying offer because of the midseason trade. He and the Yankees agreed to a deal that would keep him in the Bronx, with Rizzo earning $32MM over two years, though he could opt out of the final year and its $16MM salary.

Despite dealing with various ailments throughout 2022, he ended up having a nice bounceback campaign. His 32 home runs matched a career high and his .224/.338/.480 batting line amounted to a wRC+ of 132. Based on that strong showing, he triggered his opt-out and returned to free agency in search of a larger deal. It’s also been speculated that the upcoming ban on aggressive defensive shifts will help him, given that his left-handed bat and low speed make him particularly vulnerable to those. The Yankees extended a $19.65MM qualifying offer to him, which he could have accepted and locked in a slight raise over his expected salary. But it seemed he had other suitors, with the Astros being one club known to have interest in him.

3pm Central time today was the deadline for players to accept or reject qualifying offers, with Rizzo among the 12 who declined, though reports emerged shortly thereafter that he and the Yankees agreed to a longer pact. Rizzo will return to his post at first base and earn $17MM per year, so very close to the QO, but he’ll actually have an AAV slightly ahead of it thanks to the buyout. His $40MM guarantee over two years comes out just barely ahead of the two years and $36MM projected by MLBTR.

By getting Rizzo to put pen to paper, the Yanks have prevented a key bat from departing in free agency. Of course, Rizzo is only the second most important player in this camp, as all eyes are squarely focused on Aaron Judge and whether the Yanks can convince him to stay. With Rizzo’s contract on the books, the club’s 2023 payroll is now around $207MM in the estimation of Roster Resource. Last year, they opened the season at $246MM, per Cot’s Baseball Contracts, leaving them about $40MM in space before they’re caught up to that difference. Of course, if they are willing to increase their spending beyond last year’s levels, they should have even more to work with.

Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic first reported that Rizzo and the Yanks were reuniting on a multi-year deal. Andy Martino of SNY first relayed the two-year plus a club option framework. Jack Curry of YES Network was first on the dollars.

Image courtesy USA Today Sports.

Angels Select Kolton Ingram, Jose Soriano, DFA Three Players

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Ahead of the upcoming Rule 5 protection deadline, the Angels have announced that they’ve selected the contracts of Kolton Ingram and Jose Soriano to their 40-man roster. They’ve also announced that Touki Toussaint, Rob Zastryzny and Nash Walters have all been designated for assignment.

Ingram, 26, was originally drafted by the Tigers in the 37th round of the 2019 draft. He didn’t last long in the Tigers system, pitching just a season in rookie ball before being released in July of 2020. The Angels picked him up before the 2021 season, and he’s blossomed into an excellent relief pitcher in their minor league system. In more than a season’s worth of action at Double-A, Ingram has a 2.40 ERA across 75 innings pitched, giving up just six home runs in that time and posting strong strikeout (10.8 SO/9) and walk (2.8 BB/9) rates.

Soriano, 24, is a hard throwing right hander coming off back-to-back Tommy John surgeries. In 2021, the Pirates picked him up in the Rule 5 draft as he worked his way back from the first surgery, but midway through the 2021 campaign while on a minor league rehab assignment, Soriano re-injured himself and wound up needing a second surgery. The Pirates DFA’d him at the end of the season and he was returned to the Angels, although he does now have a full year of MLB service time to his name. Soriano’s spent much of 2022 rehabbing, but he did feature in seven minor league games, pitching to a 2.08 ERA with 17 strikeouts across 13 innings between rookie and A ball.

Toussaint was once one of baseball’s most prized prospects in the Braves’ system, regularly featuring on top-100 lists in the last decade. It hasn’t worked out for him in the big leagues though. He threw 145 innings of 5.46 ERA ball across four seasons with the Braves before the Angels purchased him in July this year. He didn’t have much success with the Angels either, pitching to a 4.62 ERA in 25 1/3 innings, walking 19 batters and striking out 26. He didn’t go much better in his time at Triple-A either, winding up with a 5.69 ERA across 55 1/3 innings between the Angels’ and Braves’ affiliates.

Zastryzny was claimed off waivers from the Mets late in the season, and only pitched three innings for the Angels in 2022. He’d only pitched a single inning for the Mets as well, but was a solid performer at the Triple-A level, where he spent most of the season. There, Zastryzny had 3.42 ERA across 55 1/3 innings, striking out 11.1 batters per nine innings while walking 3.3. Originally drafted by the Cubs back in 2013, Zastryzny impressed in a small sample in his rookie season, pitching to a 1.13 ERA in 16 innings. He hasn’t been able to follow that up since though, and on the whole owns a 4.66 ERA across 38 2/3 big league innings.

The Angels purchased Walters from the Brewers in September, and the 25-year-old faced just three batters in the big leagues, giving up a hit and walk and recording one out. That’s not quite a big enough sample size to cast meaningful judgement, so Walters threw 47 innings out of the bullpen at Double-A in the Brewers’ system for a 4.60 ERA. He struck out batters at a good clip (33%) and walked them at a 7.5% rate. The Angels used him at Triple-A after acquiring him, where he threw just 5 1/3 innings.

Cardinals Select Connor Thomas

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The Cardinals announced that they have selected left-hander Connor Thomas to their 40-man roster. That protects him from being selected in the upcoming Rule 5 draft.

A fifth-round selection out of Georgia Tech in 2019, Thomas spent the entire season with Triple-A Memphis. He started 25 of his 28 outings, tossing 135 innings of 5.47 ERA ball. He only punched out 17.9% of opponents, but he induced grounders on over half the batted balls he allowed and has excellent control. The Cardinals have valued that kind of strike-throwing and grounder ability on their pitching staff, thanks in large part to the strong infield defense behind them.

The 24-year-old can serve as rotation or long relief depth for the Cards. He’s the only prospect St. Louis protected from the Rule 5 draft, bringing their 40-man roster count to 39.

Braves Acquire Dennis Santana From Rangers

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The Rangers announced they’ve traded reliever Dennis Santana to the Braves in exchange for cash considerations. Atlanta designated Jackson Stephens for assignment in a corresponding 40-man roster move.

Santana soaked up plenty 0f middle relief innings in Arlington, pitching 58 2/3 frames across 63 outings. He generally struggled over that stretch, posting a 5.22 ERA with a below-average 21.2% strikeout percentage and an elevated 11% walk rate. The right-hander has posted subpar strikeout and walk marks throughout his parts of five seasons in the majors with the Dodgers and Rangers, contributing to a career 5.12 ERA over 139 innings.

The 26-year-old has flashed some interesting traits that suggest he could yet be a productive MLB bullpen arm. He’s gotten swinging strikes between 11% and 12% of his total offerings the past couple seasons, a solid enough rate. Santana has also induced ground-balls on almost half the batted balls against him the last couple years, and his sinker sat just under 97 MPH this past season. He had some success against left and right-handed hitters alike, but he was victimized by an extremely low strand rate that’s likely to bounce back moving forward.

Santana is out of minor league option years, so he’ll have to break camp on the Atlanta roster or be made available to other teams. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projects him to receive a $1.1MM salary if tendered an arbitration contract, and the Braves’ acquisition suggests they could be prepared to do so this week. That’d figure to give him an inside shot at securing a middle relief role out of Spring Training.

Stephens inked a minor league deal with Atlanta over the offseason. He cracked the big league roster a few days into the year and wound up tallying 53 2/3 innings across 39 outings. The 28-year-old had a solid 3.69 ERA with a decent 46.3% grounder percentage but a 20% strikeout rate. Stephens’ swing-and-miss rate also sat at a subpar 9.3%, and the Braves have elected to roll the dice on Santana’s upside in swapping out potential middle innings arms.

Atlanta will have a week to deal Stephens or run him through waivers. If he goes unclaimed, he’d have the right to become a minor league free agent.

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