Jace Peterson Opts Out Of Orioles Contract
Infielder/outfielder Jace Peterson has been granted his release from the Orioles’ Triple-A affiliate, per an announcement from the team. David Hall of the Virginian Pilot tweets that Peterson had an opt-out provision in his contract that he triggered yesterday.
Peterson, 29, spent the vast majority of the 2018 season in Baltimore but turned in a disappointing .195/.308/.325 through 235 plate appearances while seeing time at second base, shortstop, third base and both corner outfield spots. He re-upped with the O’s on a minor league contract this winter and has enjoyed a productive year thus far in Norfolk, where he’s batted .309/.394/.505 with nine home runs, 24 doubles, five triples and a dozen stolen bases in 86 games.
The versatile Peterson has appeared at all four infield positions and all three outfield positions in the big leagues. Through parts of five big league seasons, he’s tallied 1524 plate appearances through 479 games while hitting .228/.318/.330.
Twins Activate Rosario, Cron; Buxton Placed On IL; Morin Designated For Assignment
4:35pm: The Twins announced that Byron Buxton has been placed on the 7-day concussion list and Morin has been designated for assignment. Rosario and Cron have also formally been reinstated from the IL.
4:12pm: Morin’s DFA will likely be one of the moves made to accommodate the returns of both Eddie Rosario and C.J. Cron from the injured list, Hayes tweets.
3:55pm: The Twins will designate right-hander Mike Morin for assignment today, reports Dan Hayes of The Athletic (Twitter links). There’s no word on what the corresponding roster move will be, although Hayes adds that a trade doesn’t appear to be pending. The Twins already had a pair of vacancies on the 40-man roster.
Morin, 28, has given the Twins 22 2/3 innings of 3.18 ERA ball, though there’s ample reason to be skeptical of that earned run average. The former Angels/Mariners/Royals righty has only whiffed 11 hitters in that time (4.8 K/9) and has benefited from a deflated .230 average on balls put into play against him. He’s done a nice job keeping the ball on the ground (47.4 percent) and avoiding walks (just two allowed), but Morin’s results have also begun to fade as of late.
In his past 11 outings, Morin has been tagged for 10 runs (seven earned) on 13 hits and two walks in 11 1/3 innings. He’s also hit a batter in that time, and two of the 13 hits he yielded have been home runs. ERA alternatives like FIP (4.49), xFIP (4.86) and SIERA (4.62) all peg Morin as a candidate for further regression, and Statcast also feels that he’s been fortunate to generate the results he’s gotten so far (.319 xwOBA vs. his actual .277 wOBA).
Minnesota will have a week to trade Morin, release him or attempt to pass him through outright waivers. He’s out of minor league options, meaning any team that picks him up either via trade or waiver claim would need to carry Morin on the MLB roster.
Rangers Activate Hunter Pence, Option Willie Calhoun, Select Taylor Guerrieri
The Rangers announced this afternoon that they’ve activated Hunter Pence from the injured list and optioned outfielder Willie Calhoun to Triple-A Nashville to open a spot on the roster. Texas has also selected the contract of right-hander Taylor Guerrieri and placed left-hander Jesse Biddle on the injured list due to shoulder fatigue.
As Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News relays (via Twitter), Calhoun was rather blindsided by the move. “I’m speechless,” Calhoun said after learning of his demotion. “I’ve helped the team win. If me playing every day at Nashville helps team win, then I guess I have to play every day in Nashville.”
Calhoun has indeed been a generally productive bat with Texas, hitting .277/.313/.489 with five big flies in 99 plate appearances. At the same time, he’s struggled mightily to get on base in his latest stint with the team. Since being summoned from Nashville on June 17, Calhoun has homered three times and smacked four doubles in 75 PAs, but he’s also batted just .225/.267/.408 on the whole. He’s walked more than he’s punched out so far in Nashville in 2019, so perhaps a quick trip back down to the minors can help him to bring some of that approach to the MLB level.
That said, Calhoun also seems like a casualty of a roster that simply has too many outfielders at the moment. Delino DeShields Jr. is hitting .326/.377/.442 since his own recall from Triple-A. Joey Gallo (.266/.406/.626) has been sensational all season long. Pence (.294/.363/.608) and fellow veteran Shin-Soo Choo (.291/.389/.508) are both highly productive veterans. Nomar Mazara may not have lived up to his considerable prospect billing yet, but he’s outhit Calhoun over the past couple of months nonetheless (.276/.327/.454 in his past 40 games).
Calhoun seems likely to return in the event of an injury or trade elsewhere in the outfield, and it’s at least possible that the organization takes this demotion as an opportunity to continue getting him some work in the infield. Texas has reportedly been working Calhoun out at second base and even third base of late, and if that experiment continues into game settings in the minors, it’d only enhance his versatility at the MLB level. Calhoun does have extensive experience as a second baseman in the minors, but he was moved to the outfield due to defensive concerns.
As for Guerrieri, the former first-round pick (Rays, 2011) and top prospect will get his first shot with the Rangers after notching a 3.47 ERA, 9.7 K/9 and 3.7 BB/9 in 36 1/3 innings with the team’s Nashville affiliate. He did throw 9 2/3 frames with the Blue Jays in his first big league action last year, allowing five runs on nine hits and four walks with eight strikeouts.
Blue Jays Designate Edwin Jackson For Assignment
The Blue Jays have recalled righty Jacob Waguespack from Triple-A Buffalo and designated veteran righty Edwin Jackson to clear a spot on the roster, per a team announcement.
Jackson, 35, is baseball’s consummate journeyman, having appeared with an MLB-record 14 teams since debuting as a 19-year-old with the Dodgers back in 2003. His stop in Toronto broke Octavio Dotel’s record of 13 clubs, but his time pitching in a Jays uniform produced the worst results of his career. Through 28 1/3 frames, Jackson has been tattooed for an 11.12 ERA; he’s been charged with 35 earned runs on a staggering 49 hits (12 home runs) and 13 walks with 19 strikeouts in that time.
The Jays will have a week to act on Jackson, and while he can be traded to another club, it seems likelier that he’ll either be passed through waivers or released. If he does return to the open market, Jackson will all but certainly need to take a minor league deal and earn his way back onto a big league roster — perhaps with the 15th team of his MLB career.
Mariners Designate Mac Williamson For Assignment
The Mariners announced Tuesday that outfielder Mac Williamson has been designated for assignment. His roster spot will go to utilityman Kristopher Negron, whose contract has been selected from Triple-A Tacoma. Seattle also recalled right-hander Erik Swanson from Tacoma to fill a vacant spot on its active roster.
Williamson, 28, was once viewed as a potential long-term option with the Giants but has yet to replicate his solid Triple-A production at the MLB level. Seattle gave him a slightly longer look than San Francisco did in 2019, but his results with both clubs were poor. In a combined 144 trips to the plate this year, Williamson has slashed an underwhelming .156/.250/.258 while striking out at a 30.6 percent pace. He does have some pop in his bat, evidenced by a lifetime .266/.344/.488 line in parts of five Triple-A seasons.
Williamson is out of minor league options, so any club that acquires him would have to carry him on its MLB roster. The Mariners will have a week to trade him, release him or attempt to pass him through outright waivers. If they go the latter route and he clears, Williamson could still elect free agency due to the fact that he’s already been outrighted off a 40-man roster once in his career.
MLBTR Chat Transcript
Click here to read a transcript of this week’s chat with MLBTR’s Steve Adams.
Red Sox Option Ryan Brasier
The Red Sox announced Tuesday that they’ve optioned struggling right-handed reliever Ryan Brasier to Triple-A Pawtucket. Southpaw Darwinzon Hernandez is up from Pawtucket in his place.
Brasier’s demotion is the latest in a series of suboptimal outcomes for a Boston relief corps that the front office neglected to address in the offseason. Brasier and fellow righty Matt Barnes opened the season expected to share closing duties, but neither has performed up to expectations. Brasier’s last couple of weeks have been particularly rough, as he’s allowed runs in four of his past seven outings — including four runs in two-thirds of an inning last night. In all, he’s sitting on a 4.24 ERA with 8.0 K/9, 2.7 BB/9, 1.56 HR/9 and a 28.8 percent ground-ball rate. ERA alternatives like FIP (4.72) and xFIP (5.40) paint an even uglier picture than Brasier’s lackluster ERA.
The bullpen will receive a boost when Nathan Eovaldi returns from the injured list later this month and assumes closing duties. Boston re-signed its postseason hero on a hefty four-year, $68MM contract with the idea that he’d serve as a key rotation piece, but he’s been out since late April due to elbow surgery and will now return in a bullpen role. The Red Sox already acquired Andrew Cashner to step into Eovaldi’s rotation spot alongside Chris Sale, David Price, Rick Porcello and Eduardo Rodriguez, but additional bullpen help will surely be on president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski’s radar in the 15 days leading up to the July 31 trade deadline.
Health Notes: McCann, Castillo, Polanco, Severino
Veteran Braves backstop Brian McCann hasn’t yet decided on his future but feels great in the present, he tells David O’Brien of The Athletic (subscription link) as part of a lengthy and entertaining chat. The 35-year-old backstop would say only that “we’ll see what happens” when pressed on his intentions for playing beyond the current campaign. It certainly seems like a tempting proposition for McCann, who says he “feel[s] amazing” after undergoing knee surgery last year. While he has had some ups and downs at the plate this season, McCann carries a solid .257/.328/.427 batting line over 198 plate appearances and has been an excellent value for the Braves at $2MM. His ongoing knee health seems to bode well for the organization down the stretch.
More on a few health situations from around the game …
- The White Sox announced today that they have activated catcher Welington Castillo. He ended up missing about a month with an oblique strain. It remains to be seen how the Chicago org will allocate playing time, but odds are James McCann will continue to receive the lion’s share of the duties behind the dish. Castillo could conceivably be moved later this month, if only because teams will be looking to stash depth in advance of the single trade deadline, but he won’t hold much appeal given his ugly .196/.289/.364 slash. The veteran backstop is also earning a hefty $7.25MM this year and is owed a $500K buyout on a $8MM club option for 2020. The White Sox may also just hang tight and see if their club can make a surprise run at a Wild Card slot.
- Pirates outfielder Gregory Polanco won’t bounce back to the majors quite as quickly as had been hoped. As Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette writes, Polanco was pulled from a rehab contest with left shoulder tightness. For now, the club only intends to give him a brief rest without interrupting the rehab assignment. As Mackey notes, the timing is of some consequence to the Bucs. The club is in a tough spot as the trade deadline approaches, having slipped into the NL Central cellar. It’s arguably positioned to sell a left-handed-hitting outfielder regardless of what else it does — highly paid pending free agent Corey Dickerson seems a particular candidate — but it’ll be tough to pull the trigger on a deal if there’s uncertainly regarding Polanco’s availability.
- As expected, Yankees righties Luis Severino and Dellin Betances resumed throwing yesterday, as MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch reports. Indications are that all went well for both hurlers in limited sessions, designed only to begin reintroducing their strained lats to the rigors of the MLB mound. Severino told reporters that he’d be willing to work back in a relief capacity if that’s the organization’s preference. While that’d bring him aboard quicker, it probably isn’t the optimal outcome for a club that has a need for quality rotation pieces and can probably afford to be patient.
MLBTR Poll: What Should The Braves Do With Ender Inciarte?
The Braves are clicking on just about every cylinder at the moment, allowing the team to maintain a healthy advantage in the division even as the Nats have mounted a charge. While the Atlanta organization is no doubt preparing to make some pitching additions in the coming weeks, the position player mix seems mostly to be in fine working order.
Typically, a veteran returning from an injury makes for welcome news in advance of the trade deadline. But much of the Atlanta fan base seems to view the impending return of outfielder Ender Inciarte — who’ll be back as soon as Thursday — with something less like excitement and more like dread.
We’ve been through this topic before, but that was a month-and-a-half back. Some things have changed. Austin Riley looked at the time like a breakout star. But let’s check in on the youngster’s wRC+ by month: 186 (May), 96 (June), 32 (July). Needless to say, that’s not an optimal arc for a contending team. Switch-hitting utilityman Johan Camargo has perked up in the meantime, though he’s also the only position player other than Riley that is a conceivable candidate to be optioned down. Charlie Culberson and Matt Joyce occupy fairly limited roles, but has each been superb. Of course, Inciarate has also been in action of late on his rehab assignment. Let’s just say that his struggles from the early portion of the season have carried over. He has produced just seven singles and three walks in forty trips to the plate.
It’s possible to imagine quite a few possible roster permutations. There are arguments on every side of the discussion. Optioning Riley may or may not be good for his development, but it would mean taking one of the club’s highest-upside bats out of the MLB picture for at least a stretch. Sending Camargo down makes some sense on paper, but he’s an immensely useful player if he’s back to being an above-average hitter. It’s somewhat easier to imagine the club parting with Joyce than Culberson, but the 34-year-old Joyce carries a .296/.400/.494 slash with 14 walks against just 18 strikeouts. Inciarte could be jettisoned, or traded for whatever the team can get, but that’d mean selling quite low on a player who has been such a solid presence and still makes long-term roster sense. (Inciarte has more than five years of service time and therefore may not be optioned without his consent.)
There’s always the option of demoting or designating a reliever, but that’d likely only be a temporary measure, since the Braves are already carrying a four-man bench. Likewise, a temporary move involving one of the reserve players (optioning Camargo or finding a phantom injury list stint) would presumably only delay the inevitable decision. There’ll ultimately be a choice, even if it’s kicked down the road by a few weeks.
How do you think the Braves should handle the return of Inciarte? (Poll link for app users.)
What Should Braves Do With Ender Inciarte?
-
Designate and/or trade Ender Inciarte 51% (7,047)
-
Option Austin Riley 18% (2,530)
-
Designate and/or trade Matt Joyce 16% (2,159)
-
Option Johan Camargo 11% (1,483)
-
Designate and/or trade Charlie Culberson 3% (473)
Total votes: 13,692
Cardinals Reportedly Open To Trading Young Outfielders, Carlos Martinez
The Cardinals are giving rival organizations the sense that they’ll consider trading a young outfielder or even talented righty Carlos Martinez this summer, according to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. In particular, Rosenthal’s source cites Tyler O’Neill and Lane Thomas as potential outfield trade pieces for the Cards. The note comes in the course of a broader column (subscription link) on some key questions for the upcoming trade deadline.
It’s a bit difficult to parse this news. O’Neill and Thomas have each seen MLB action this year, though only the former has spent enough time in the majors to tell us much. O’Neill faces long-term questions about his on-base ability, but has been plenty productive (.269/.313/.505) in 224 total plate appearances at the game’s highest level. Thomas hasn’t quite followed up on his strong ’18 output in the upper minors, but he’s seen as a legitimate prospect with at least fourth-outfielder potential.
There are arguments to be made that both of these players ought to be seen as important future pieces for the Cards. Marcell Ozuna is headed for free agency (and presently sidelined with injury), Jose Martinez hasn’t hit enough to make up for his awful outfield glovework, and Harrison Bader has taken a big step back this season. Dexter Fowler has bounced back but still isn’t quite worth his contract. Of course, the St. Louis organization has cycled through quite a few outfield pieces in recent years, having dealt away prime, cost-controlled seasons of players such as Tommy Pham, Stephen Piscotty, and Randal Grichuk.
It’s even harder to gauge the team’s thinking with regard to Martinez. The saga has continued for the hurler even as he has produced excellent results when healthy, no matter in what capacity. He’s through 20 2/3 innings of 2.18 ERA ball as a reliever this year, with 9.6 K/9 against 3.0 BB/9 and a hefty 63.3% groundball rate. While he’s not a particularly cheap player, especially if viewed as a reliever, Martinez’s contract is hardly worrisome for a 27-year-old with his ability level and track record. He’s due $11.5MM this year along with the ensuing two seasons before a pair of club options become available. That’d be a bargain if Martinez can get back to being a quality rotation piece, and not a bad rate if he carves out a new role as a quality back-end reliever.
Generally, it seems each of these three players fits the needs of the St. Louis organization. Unless the club prefers to pick up a better but lesser-controlled outfielder, or shave Martinez’s contract obligations while he’s in a stable place in terms of health and performance, it’s not immediately obvious why any would be dangled in particular.
Notably, we still haven’t heard a definitive statement or report on the Cardinals’ plans for attacking the trade deadline. The club has not strayed too far from the lead in the NL Central, but it also hasn’t moved out of the orbit of an approximately .500 record. As things stand entering play today, the Red Birds are two games over even and an equal number back of the division-leading Cubs. One might think that the St. Louis organization’s postseason drought makes it a win-now buyer, but it’s also arguable that the club shouldn’t overvalue its competitive position and should act in a restrained manner — or, perhaps, target only assets that will also deliver future value.
If the club’s general stance is unclear, it’s also debatable which areas of the roster are most susceptible of improvement. You could certainly make a case for one or more big bats. Frankly, there’s probably room in either the infield or the outfield. It’s equally arguable that a high-end starter should be a priority. The relief unit has some nice pieces, but what bullpen couldn’t stand to be upgraded — especially with a high-leverage arm?