Rockies Make Several Moves
The Rockies announced that they have designated right-handers Jesus Tinoco and Ashton Goudeau for assignment. They selected the contracts of infielder-outfilder Bret Boswell, left-hander Lucas Gilbreath and Helcris Olivarez, and infielder Colton Welker in corresponding moves.
The 25-year-old Tinoco was part of the return the Rockies received from the Blue Jays for shortstop Troy Tulowitzki in 2015. Tinoco debuted in the majors in 2019 and has since pitched to a respectable 4.03 ERA, though that has come with a woeful 7.19 FIP and 6.85 K/9 against 5.84 BB/9 over 44 2/3 innings.
Of the players the Rockies selected, Welker (No. 7) and Olivarez (No. 15) rank among their top prospects at MLB.com.
Blue Jays Add 5 Players To 40-Man Roster
The Blue Jays announced Friday that they’ve selected the contracts of catchers Riley Adams and Gabriel Moreno, right-hander Ty Tice, outfielder Josh Palacios and infielder Otto Lopez. All five are now protected from being selected in next month’s Rule 5 Draft. Toronto’s 40-man roster is now full.
Adams, 23, adds another catching option to a roster already well stocked at that position. He topped out with a solid Double-A showing in 2019 and ostensibly isn’t too far from MLB readiness. The 20-year-old Moreno, on the other hand, hasn’t played above A-ball, although he hit quite well there in ’19.
Tice, 25, logged a 2.34 ERA between Double-A and Triple-A in ’19 and racked up better than 11 K/9 but did so while walking nearly six per nine frames. Palacios plays all three outfield spots and is an OBP-over-power option who has seen some time in Double-A. Lopez, 22, hasn’t advanced beyond A-ball. He hit well there in 2019 and has experience at both middle infield spots and both corner outfield positions.
Rangers Select Three Players To 40-Man Roster
The Rangers are adding three players to their 40-man roster in advance of tonight’s deadline to protect players from the Rule 5 draft. Right-handers Yerry Rodriguez and A.J. Alexy and catcher David Garcia are being selected, per the team’s executive vice president of communications John Blake (Twitter link). Texas’ 40-man roster now sits at 38 players.
It’s not particularly surprising any of the trio wound up being protected. Rodriguez rates as the Rangers’ second-best farmhand (96th overall) in the estimation of FanGraphs’ Eric Longenhagen, who writes that the 23-year-old has three above-average to plus pitches and advanced command. Rodriguez has topped out at Low-A ball in 2019, where he tossed 73.2 innings of 2.08 ERA ball with a stellar combination of 10.38 K/9 and 2.57 BB/9.
Alexy was acquired from the Dodgers as part of the 2017 Yu Darvish trade. The 22-year-old has racked up massive strikeout numbers in the low minors, although he’s also been plagued by lofty walk rates. Garcia, meanwhile, was a well-regarded amateur signee out of Venezuela. The 20-year-old backstop put up a .277/.351/.435 line in short-season ball in 2019.
Padres Designate Luis Perdomo, Select 3 Players
The Padres announced that they have designated right-hander Luis Perdomo for assignment and selected three players – righties Reggie Lawson and Mason Thompson, and infielder Tucupita Marcano.
Perdomo is off the Padres’ roster as they prepare for this winter’s Rule 5 Draft, but he actually first joined the team as a Rule 5 selection from the Rockies before the 2015 campaign. Perdomo has since given the 444 1/3 innings of 5.19 ERA/4.44 FIP ball with 6.74 K/9, 3.26 BB/9 and an excellent 57.3 percent groundball rate. Now, if any team takes on the 27-year-old, it could get him for two seasons of arbitration control.
Lawson was the 71st pick in the 2016 draft who ranked as a top 100 prospect that year. He made his Double-A debut in 2019 and pitched to a 5.20 ERA/4.14 FIP with 11.71 K/9 and 4.23 BB/9 in 27 2/3 frames. MLB.com ranks him as the Padres’ 10th-best prospect and gives him a chance to at least turn into a stellar major league reliever.
Thompson is not among the Padres’ top 30 prospects at MLB.com, but the site is high on Marcano, whom it places at No. 8 in the team’s system. The 21-year-old middle infielder “could develop into a serious on-base threat as a bat-first middle infielder,” per MLB.com.
Cubs Select 3 Players To 40-Man Roster
The Cubs have added a pair of right-handers, Cory Abbott and Keegan Thompson, as well as infielder Christopher Morel to their 40-man roster, Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune was among those to report. Their roster now includes 37 players.
Abbott, 25, was a second-round pick of the Cubs in 2017 who rose to the Double-A level in 2019 during the most recent minor league season. He impressed there with a 3.01 ERA/3.51 FIP and 10.19 K/9 against 3.19 BB/9 over 146 2/3 innings. Abbott now ranks as the Cubs’ 12th-best prospect at MLB.com, which writes that he could develop into a useful back-end starter in the majors.
Thompson, the Cubs’ 26th overall prospect at MLB.com, first joined the organization as a third-round pick in the same class as Abbott. The 25-year-old only threw 10 innings in the minors in 2019, but Eric Longenhagen of FanGraphs wrote over the summer that Thompson’s “a very stable fifth starter/swingman piece” who’s almost ready for the majors.
Morel, whom the Cubs signed out of the Dominican Republic in 2015, grades as their 11th overall prospect at MLB.com. The 21-year-old made his Single-A debut in 2019 with a .284/.320/.467 line, eight home runs and nine stolen bases in 278 plate appearances. Although Morel has been a third baseman/shortstop in the pros so far, he could wind up as an outfielder if he makes it to the majors.
Yonder Alonso Announces Retirement
First baseman Yonder Alonso announced his retirement in an Instagram post this afternoon (h/t to reporter Ben Ross). That will bring to an end a career that saw him log big league action in parts of ten seasons.
The seventh overall pick by the Reds in the 2008 draft, Alonso immediately became a top prospect, a status he’d hold each season climbing up the minor-league ladder. While he made his big league debut with the Reds, Alonso became an integral part of the Padres’ return in the Mat Latos blockbuster during the 2011-12 offseason.
Over parts of four seasons as the Friars’ regular first baseman, Alonso posted a .271/.339/.386 slash. San Diego traded him to the Athletics after the 2015 season. After a disappointing 2016 effort, Alonso went to work on revamping his swing as one of the league’s earlier adopters of an air-oriented approach. The swing change came together as hoped, with Alonso posting a .266/.365/.501 line and popping a career-best 28 home runs in 521 plate appearances that season. He was honored with an All-Star selection for his performance, which he parlayed into a two-year deal with the Indians as a free agent that offseason.
Unfortunately, Alonso’s massive gains at the plate proved to be short-lived. After an average offensive effort in 2018, Cleveland shipped Alonso to the White Sox. He struggled mightily with Chicago and the Rockies, forcing him to settle for a minor-league deal this winter. Alonso didn’t make it back to the majors this past season.
Altogether, Alonso played in 1,072 major league games and took 3,773 plate appearances at the highest level. He posted a cumulative .259/.332/.404 slash line and hit exactly 100 home runs. Alonso suited up for seven different clubs and represented Oakland during the aforementioned All-Star appearance in 2017. MLBTR wishes Alonso the best in retirement.
Mariners Add 4 Players To 40-Man Roster
The Mariners announced that they have selected outfielder Taylor Trammell and three right-handers – Juan Then, Sam Delaplane and Wyatt Mills – to their 40-man roster.
Trammell, the most notable name in the bunch, is a former first-round pick (No. 35 to the Reds in 2016) and a top 100-caliber prospect who has been involved in two significant trades over the past couple years. He was first part of the mega-deal involving the Trevor Bauer, the Padres, Reds and Indians in 2019. San Diego then dealt Trammell to the Mariners in a seven-player swap before last August’s trade deadline. The 23-year-old now ranks as the Mariners’ No. 5 prospect at MLB.com.
Then, whom the Mariners acquired from the Yankees in a summer 2019 trade centering on Edwin Encarnacion, is MLB.com’s No. 14 Mariners prospect. Delaplane (No. 20) and Mills (No. 23) are also in their top 30. The Mariners added Delaplane with a 23rd-round pick in 2017 and picked up Mills, a Washington native, in Round 3 during the same year.
Angels Select Brandon Marsh, Chris Rodriguez
The Angels announced Friday that they’ve selected two of their top prospects to the 40-man roster: outfielder Brandon Marsh and righty Chris Rodriguez. Both would’ve otherwise been eligible for selection in next month’s Rule 5 Draft. The Angels’ roster is now up to 38 players.
Marsh, 22, has been considered the Angels’ best prospect behind Jo Adell for some time now. The 2016 second-rounder spent the 2019 season in Double-A, where he posted a hearty .300/.383/.428 clip in an overwhelmingly pitcher-friendly setting — good for a 137 wRC+. He entered the 2020 season as a consensus Top 100 prospect and still holds that designation, ranking 30th at FanGraphs, 38th at Baseball America and 73rd at MLB.com. He draws praise for plus speed, a plus arm and plenty of range to play center field, although he obviously won’t be manning that position for the Halos. Marsh also draws good marks for raw power that he’s yet to tap into, as well as an above-average hit tool. There was never any doubt that he’d be protected from Rule 5 status.
Rodriguez’s selection to the roster is similarly unsurprising. Although the 2016 fourth-rounder has barely pitched since 2017 due to a back injury that eventually required surgery, FanGraphs’ Eric Longenhagen writes that when healthy, Rodriguez has better stuff than any pitcher in the Angels’ farm system. He’s pitched just 77 2/3 frames since being drafted and has a lackluster 4.75 ERA to show for it, but scouting reports on Rodriguez praise him for possessing a true four-pitch mix, including a plus heater and a pair of potentially plus breaking balls, as well as the command to locate that arsenal.
D-backs Claim Rogelio Armenteros, Outright Domingo Leyba
The Diamondbacks announced Friday that they’ve claimed righty Rogelio Armenteros off waivers from the Astros and outrighted infielder Domingo Leyba to Triple-A Reno. The D-backs’ roster is at 37 players. The Astros are down to 35.
Armenteros, 26, didn’t pitch in 2020 owing to surgery that removed a bone spur from his right elbow. He made his big league debut with the Astros in 2019, however, and pitched to a 4.00 ERA with an 18-to-5 K/BB ratio in 18 innings (four starts). The righty has a generally sharp track record in parts of three seasons in the hitter-friendly Triple-A Pacific Coast League, having compiled a 3.73 ERA with averages of 10 strikeouts, 3.4 walks and 1.2 homers per nine innings pitched. He also has a minor league option remaining, so he’ll represent a nice depth addition for the D-backs’ staff.
Leyba, 25, came to the D-backs alongside Robbie Ray back in 2014’s three-team swap that sent Didi Gregorius to the Bronx and Shane Greene to Detroit. He made his MLB debut in 2019 and batted .280/.367/.440 in a tiny sample of 30 plate appearances, but he’s been oft-injured throughout his minor league career and has shown a glaring lack of power outside of 2019’s juiced-ball season in Triple-A. He has strong bat-to-ball skills, striking out in just 14 percent of his career plate appearances in the minors, but the fact that he went unclaimed is indicative of concerns surrounding his overall game.
White Sox Claim Emilio Vargas, Add Three Others To 40-Man Roster
The White Sox announced Friday that they’ve claimed righty Emilio Vargas off waivers from the D-backs and selected the contracts of infielder Jake Burger, right-hander Tyler Johnson and infielder Gavin Sheets. The moves leave the ChiSox with a full 40-man roster.
Vargas, 24, wasn’t included in the D-backs’ player pool in 2020. His 2019 season was spent primarily at the Double-A level, where he worked to a 3.78 ERA and 4.20 FIP with 7.4 K/9, 2.4 BB/9, 1.05 HR/9 and a 42.6 percent grounder rate in 85 2/3 innings (17 starts). He wasn’t considered to be among the Diamondbacks’ 30 best prospects at MLB.com or FanGraphs, but he’ll give the club some rotation depth at the upper levels of the system — that is, of course, assuming he makes it through the offseason on their roster, which isn’t a given.
Burger, 24, was the 11th overall pick in 2017 and has had his career to date decimated by a series of left leg/foot injuries. Burger has twice torn the Achilles tendon in his left leg, and upon returning from that issue in 2019, a heel injury wiped out his entire season. He hasn’t suited up for a game since way back in 2017, the same year he was drafted, but the third baseman was a prolific college hitter who turned in a .263/.336/.412 slash with Class-A Kannapolis after being drafted.
Both Johnson and Sheets are considered to be among the White Sox top 20 or so prospects. Johnson posted a 2.59 ERA and punched out 43 hitters in 31 1/3 innings of minor league relief work in 2019. Sheets was a second-round first baseman out of Wake Forest in 2017 who posted a .267/.345/.414 slash in an extremely pitcher-friendly Double-A setting in 2019 (122 wRC+).