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Nationals Sign Dante Bichette Jr.

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The Nationals have agreed to a minor-league deal with corner infielder Dante Bichette Jr., per an announcement from the High Point Rockers. Bichette had been playing with the indy ball outfit, which sold his contract to the D.C. organization.

The 26-year-old Bichette has a familiar name for baseball fans of a certain age. His namesake father was a well-known slugger with the Rockies. The family name is now more notable for another player: Bo Bichette, a top Blue Jays prospect who is Dante Jr.’s brother.

Back to the Bichette at issue here, he’ll earn a return to the affiliated ranks for the first time since the 2017 campaign. A former first-round draft pick and Yankees prospect, Bichette was cut loose after three-straight tepid showings at the Double-A level. He has performed better thus far in the Atlantic League in 2019, slashing .397/.424/.529 with three home runs in 145 plate appearances.

Orioles Likely To Place Dwight Smith Jr. On Injured List

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TODAY: Smith is indeed going on the seven-day concussion IL, the club announced. Outfielder Anthony Santander takes his spot on the active roster.

YESTERDAY: The Orioles expect to place outfielder Dwight Smith Jr. on the injured list, manager Brandon Hyde told reporters after Thursday’s loss to the Rangers (via Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com and Rich Dubroff of BaltimoreBaseball.com). Smith crashed into the left field wall in the fourth inning, eventually forcing him to exit the game.

“He’s going to be out for a while,” Hyde said. “He’s going through concussion protocol, they’re going to X-ray his shoulder up here that he banged in the wall and he’s holding his jaw. It was like a car wreck.

The 26-year-old Smith has been one of last-place Baltimore’s best offensive players this season, which admittedly isn’t saying much. Still, Smith has perhaps given the Orioles better offensive production than they could have hoped for when they acquired him from the division-rival Blue Jays in early March.

In his first extensive look in the majors, Smith has hit .249/.296/.462 (98 wRC+) with 11 home runs, a .213 ISO and four steals on five attempts across 243 plate appearances. Smith has not complemented his respectable offensive output with quality defense, however, as evidenced by his minus-5 Defensive Runs Saved, minus-3.3 Ultimate Zone Rating and minus-6 Outs Above Average.

The Orioles replaced Smith on Thursday with Stevie Wilkerson, who could take over as their main left fielder if the former does go on the IL. Should Smith miss time, Baltimore would likely summon an outfielder from the minor leagues to take his roster spot. The team’s 40-man outfielders in the minors include Joey Rickard, Anthony Santander, Cedric Mullins and one of its top prospects, Austin Hays.

The Offseason’s Best Minor League Signings (So Far)

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The final two top-tier free agents are finally off the board — it only took until June! — but most clubs have long since begun to reap the benefits of their offseason additions from the open market. That includes those who partook in the annual grab bag of minor league contracts.

Each year, there are dozens upon dozens of recognizable names who settle for non-guaranteed pacts — perhaps more in this past winter’s frigid free-agent climate — and while most fail to yield dividends, there’s always a handful of gems unearthed. The Rangers, Reds and Pirates did particularly well in terms of signing players on minor league contracts this offseason, but there have certainly been other deals of note. It’ll merit revisiting this bunch after the season is over to see who maintained their pace and who stepped up in the final two thirds of the 2019 campaign, but to this point in the year, here’s a look at the most productive minor league signees of the winter.

Rangers: Hunter Pence, Logan Forsythe, Danny Santana

Hunter Pence | Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

Much was made of Hunter Pence’s efforts to revamp his swing while playing winter ball in the offseason. Frankly, it’s not uncommon to hear of veteran players perhaps in the twilight of their career making alterations in an effort to stick around a bit longer. What is uncommon is for the results to be this eye-opening.

Pence hasn’t simply bounced back from a pair of awful seasons to close out his Giants tenure — he’s given the Rangers one of the best offensive performances of his 13-year Major League career. The 36-year-old has posted a resplendent .288/.341/.583 batting line with a dozen home runs, 10 doubles and a triple through 179 plate appearances. His 47.6 percent hard contact rate lands in the 91st percentile of big league hitters, per Statcast, and his average exit velocity of 92.6 mph is in the 96th percentile. Defensive metrics are down on Pence, which isn’t a huge surprise for a 36-year-old corner outfielder, but he’s hitting at a star level without benefiting from a gaudy BABIP (.299). If he can maintain this pace, he’ll have no trouble landing not just a 40-man roster spot this winter — but a solid salary to go along with it.

Pence alone would make for a terrific minor league add, but the Rangers are also getting the best form of Logan Forsythe we’ve ever seen (.299/.404/.472 through 172 PAs) and a strong showing from Danny Santana (.291/.333/.465 in 139 PAs). Those performances are a bit more dubious, as the pair improbably sports matching .388 averages on balls in play. But, Forsythe is walking at a 14 percent clip that he’s never previously approached outside of a 2017 season in Los Angeles where he logged ample time hitting eighth in front of the pitcher (with a 21 percent walk rate in such plate appearances). Santana can’t boast that same plate discipline — to the contrary, his longstanding inability to draw a walk is as pronounced as ever — but he’s making hard contact more than ever before while also stealing bases with great efficiency (7-for-8). Both Forsythe and Santana can move all over the diamond as well.

Reds: Derek Dietrich, Jose Iglesias

Derek Dietrich | David Kohl-USA TODAY Sports

Cincinnati has gotten even more production out of its minor league deals than Texas, although the two player the Reds landed on non-guaranteed contracts both came as a surprise. Even after Dietrich was effectively non-tendered by the Marlins, he was expected to get a big league deal. Iglesias enjoyed a solid season at the plate and has long been regarded as a stellar defender at shortstop. The Tigers jumped on a one-year deal with Jordy Mercer worth $5MM in early December, seemingly believing Iglesias would command more.

That neither player found his asking price met by the time mid-February rolled around has been nothing short of a godsend for the Reds, who scooped up both on minor league pacts. Cincinnati couldn’t have known that a spring injury to Scooter Gennett would create even more at-bats for this pair early in the season, but Dietrich and Iglesias have each been sensational in capitalizing on the opportunity for unexpected levels of playing time.

Dietrich has already pounded a career-high 17 home runs despite accruing only 157 plate appearances. Detractors will point to his new hitter-friendly home park, but Dietrich has a .377 on-base percentage, .541 slugging percentage and six home runs on the road this year. Besides, it’s not as if every member of the Reds has belted 17 home runs simply by virtue of playing games at Great American Ball Park. Dietrich has a career-best 9.4 percent walk rate and career-low 20.4 percent strikeout rate as well.

Iglesias, meanwhile, has batted .294/.335/.421 with four homers and a characteristically low strikeout rate (13.5 percent) in 2019 plate appearances. He’s already tallied seven Defensive Runs Saved with a +3.3 Ultimate Zone Rating in 477 innings at shortstop, making Detroit’s decision to move on from look all the more egregious, considering they went out and signed a different veteran to man the position anyhow. He’s not running like he did in 2018, but Iglesias has been a flat-out steal.

Pirates: Melky Cabrera, Francisco Liriano

Cabrera has been forced into minor league deals in each of the past two offseasons and will turn 35 later this summer, but the Melk Man just keeps on hitting. Injuries to Corey Dickerson, Gregory Polanco and Lonnie Chisenhall created an opening for Cabrera, and he’s responded with a .335/.376/.467 line through 179 plate appearances. It’s true that he’s benefited from a .366 average on balls in play, but Cabrera’s 11.7 percent strikeout rate is excellent and represents a continuation of the elite bat-to-ball skills he’s demonstrated throughout his career. The defense isn’t pretty — it never really has been — but Cabrera’s bat has been a huge plus for the Bucs.

The Astros tried Liriano in the bullpen down the stretch in 2017 and weren’t able to get the results they’d hoped. Liriano returned to a starting role with the Tigers in 2018 and found middling results, but he’s been reborn in the Pittsburgh bullpen in his second go-around at PNC Park. In 29 1/3 innings, Liriano has a 1.21 ERA with 32 punchouts, 12 walks and a 47.3 percent grounder rate. He won’t maintain a 96 percent strand rate or a .233 BABIP, but Liriano’s 14.7 percent swinging-strike rate is the best of his career. Even if he takes what seems like an inevitable step back, FIP pegs him at 3.08 while SIERA checks in at 3.82. While the game’s highest-paid free-agent relievers have largely flopped, Liriano looks every bit the part of a viable bullpen option.

Others of Note

There have been successful minor league signings outside of Arlington, Cincinnati and Pittsburgh, of course. Eric Sogard, he of the former #FaceOfMLB and #NerdPower hashtag fame, has been a superlative pickup for the Blue Jays, hitting at a .290/.365/.481 pace with a career-high five homers in just 151 plate appearances. With several injuries and poor performances around the Toronto infield, his presence has been a boon to an otherwise disappointing lineup.

Sogard’s former teammate and fellow Oakland cult hero, Stephen Vogt, thought his career could be over at this time a year ago. Instead, he’s back in the Majors and enjoying a solid showing at the plate with the Giants. In 66 plate appearances, Vogt has hit .250/.318/.417, and Buster Posey’s recent placement on the injured list will only create more opportunity for playing time. The Giants cycled through an all-you-can-sign buffet of veteran catchers earlier this spring, and Vogt is the last man standing.

As far as other catchers go, Matt Wieters landed the role of baseball’s most seldom-used backup: the Cardinals’ second option to iron man Yadier Molina. Wieters has just 50 plate appearances on the year through June 6, but he’s going to see an uptick in playing time with Molina on the injured list for a bit. In his 50 trips to the dish, Wieters has connected with three long balls and slashed a very solid .277/.300/.511. His 15 strikeouts against just one walk could very well be a portent for struggles to come, but some more frequent playing time could also help the veteran find his rhythm.

Speaking of players who’ve succeeded in minimal playing time, right-hander Mike Morin has given the Twins 10 1/3 innings of terrific relief since having his contract selected in early May. He’s punched out seven hitters, hasn’t allowed a walk, is sitting on a career-high 56.7 percent ground-ball rate and has limited opponents to just one run (a solo home run). He’ll need to miss more bats, as he’s not going to maintain a .172 BABIP and will eventually walk a batter, but Morin’s newfound knack for keeping the ball on the ground is encouraging. (For those wondering where Ryne Harper is, he was technically signed in the 2017-18 offseason and is in his second year with the organization.)

In a similarly small sample of work — four games, 20 1/3 innings — left-hander Tommy Milone has given the Mariners some competitive starts to help out in their beleaguered rotation. Milone is sitting on a 3.10 ERA and 3.84 FIP, and while he’s never been one to miss bats in the past, he’s punched out 20 hitters against only five walks. His velocity hasn’t changed, but Milone is throwing more sliders at the expense of his four-seamer and changeup.

Over in Atlanta, the Braves have enjoyed their own bullpen find, as Josh Tomlin has pitched a team-high 32 innings of relief. Tomlin’s 3.94 ERA doesn’t exactly stand out, and fielding-independent metrics all suggest a mid-4.00s mark is more realistic, but he’s been a relief workhorse for a team whose rotation and bullpen have struggled mightily for much of the year. The 32 innings Tomlin has already soaked up have been vital for the Braves.

Elsewhere in the NL East, former Pirates and Blue Jays prospect Harold Ramirez is doing his best to continue earning playing time with the Marlins. He’s hit .329/.368/.427 through 87 plate appearances, and while that line has been buoyed by a .394 average on balls in play, Ramirez is making solid contact and isn’t striking out much. He batted .320/.365/.471 in 120 games with Toronto’s Double-A affiliate last season and .355/.408/.591 in 31 Triple-A games with the Marlins in 2019, so he’s earned a look at the game’s top level.

Yankees Activate Didi Gregorius

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June 7: Gregorius has officially been reinstated from the injured list, per an announcement from the Yankees. Estrada has indeed been optioned to Triple-A, while Tulowitzki was transferred to the 60-day injured list to open a 40-man spot. Tulo has already been on the 10-day injured list for more than 60 days, so his transfer is nothing more than a formality.

June 6, 9:54pm: The Yankees have optioned Estrada to make room for Gregorius on their 25-man roster, Hoch was among those to tweet.

7:39pm: The Yankees are expected to reinstate shortstop Didi Gregorius from the injured list tomorrow, writes MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch. He’s sat out the entire season to this point as he recovers from last October’s Tommy John surgery. His activation will require a 40-man and 25-man roster move, as he’s currently on the 60-day injured list.

Gregorius has been well ahead of schedule on his rehab assignment. Original projections by the team specified merely that the Yankees hoped for a “summer” return, but he’s obviously on the very early end of even that broad range. Gregorius has already logged eight games of duty on a minor league rehab assignment, and while he’s batted only .156/.206/.250 through 34 plate appearances across a pair of minor league levels, the Yankees have clearly seen enough to feel confident in his ability to return.

The return of Gregorius will add a high-profile player to what has been somewhat of a patched-together infield. The Yankees’ offseason addition of DJ LeMahieu has proved to be a godsend, as he’s helped to cover the absences of not only Gregorius but Miguel Andujar and Troy Tulowitzki. With Gregorius back in the fold, he’ll see semi-regular action at shortstop, with Gleyber Torres splitting time at the two middle-infield spots and LeMahieu perhaps sliding over to third base. It’ll likely mean a decrease in playing time for the red-hot Gio Urshela, who has unexpectedly erupted with a .325/.371/.455 slash through 170 plate appearances (entering play today).

If there’s a member of the infield mix who appears particularly in jeopardy, it would appear to be Kendrys Morales, who hasn’t hit much since being acquired by the Yankees. Like the more productive Luke Voit, Morales is limited to first base when playing defense, thus limiting manager Aaron Boone’s infield flexibility. If Morales is pushed out by the return of Gregorius, that’d open up some additional at-bats for the mix of Voit, Gregorius, LeMahieu, Torres and Urshela as well. Alternatively, the Yankees could option Thairo Estrada back to Triple-A, keep Morales for the time being and move either Tulowitzki or Giancarlo Stanton from the 10-day injured list to the 60-day injured list. Both have already been on the IL for more than 60 days anyhow.

The Padres Have Yet To Resolve Their Outfield Crunch

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It’s been rumored for months that the Padres would eventually have to make some form of outfield move. The team has more outfield options than playing time available, and that’s only become truer as the season has worn on. Currently, the Padres are “discussing what it would look like” to keep rookie slugger Josh Naylor on the roster even after Franchy Cordero returns from the injured list, per Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union Tribune. Doing so could potentially mean optioning the struggling Manuel Margot to Triple-A El Paso, where he could receive everyday at-bats and work on his approach at the plate.

Long considered to be among the game’s top prospects, Margot is hitting just .241/.283/.321 on the season, although Naylor hasn’t demonstrated much in the way of on-base skills in his brief audition so far. The former first-round pick has two homers and two doubles in 37 plate appearances but has yet to draw a walk. He’s also punched out a dozen times (32.4 percent) en route to a .243/.243/.459 overall batting line.

Still, it seems the club is at least pondering whether an alignment consisting of Cordero, Naylor, Wil Myers, Franmil Reyes and Hunter Renfroe is worth trying out. Defensively, there’s no true center field option, but any of the bunch could reasonably be expected to be more productive at the plate than Margot. Selling low on Margot surely isn’t something they’d prefer to do, but if the club is comfortable with Cordero or Myers in center, at least on a short-term basis, perhaps they’d more seriously explore the possibility.

As The Athletic’s Dennis Lin recently suggested (subscription required), San Diego would also be wise to explore the market for Renfroe given that his skill set is somewhat similar to that of Reyes, but he’s four years older. Renfroe was a frequently mentioned trade candidate in the winter and is out to a .250/.304/.619 start with 18 homers in 191 plate appearances. Margot is controlled through 2022 — Renfroe through 2023. Neither seems like a viable centerpiece for a premium trade acquisition, but both would hold some appeal to teams in search of controllable outfield depth.

Lin suggests that the Padres will be active both in looking to add long-term pieces — perhaps by condensing some of that outfield surplus and the team’s considerable prospect capital — while also being open-minded to moving current contributors. General manager A.J. Preller acknowledged that with the draft now in the past, trade talk becomes “a lot of the conversation for us,” which is generally true throughout the league.

Beyond Renfroe and Margot, the Padres would surely be open to shedding some of Wil Myers’ remaining contract, but the enormous financial commitment to him makes any trade difficult to piece together. Myers’ six-year, $83MM contract is extremely backloaded, such that he’ll earn $20MM in each of the 2020-22 seasons (plus a $1MM buyout on a 2023 club option). He’s hitting .232/.330/.442 with 11 homers, seven doubles and seven stolen bases through 218 plate appearances, but he’s also striking out in a career-worst 36.2 percent of his trips to the plate. He’s a capable enough corner outfielder but is overmatched in center, and his strikeout trouble will always hinder his on-base skills. It’s tough to imagine a trade involving Myers without the Padres taking back a similarly onerous contract or eating a substantial portion of salary.

It’s possible, then, that if the Friars do make a move, they’ll be sending away someone with significant team control remaining. Beyond the aforementioned Margot and Renfroe, Cordero is controlled through 2023, Reyes through 2024 and Naylor through 2025. The Padres are known to be on the lookout for starting pitchers they can control beyond the 2019 season, and parting with a pre-arbitration outfielder who has upwards of a half-decade of club control remaining would help them in that regard.

If the Friars are to explore possible trades for names like Marcus Stroman, Trevor Bauer or Matthew Boyd (to name a few), including a controllable outfielder as a piece of the puzzle would allow them to free up immediate playing time while also addressing the pitching staff both now and in the future. It’s worth nothing that each of the Blue Jays, Indians and the Tigers in particular have faced questions about their outfield production this season. Elsewhere in the league, the Phillies lost Andrew McCutchen for the remainder of the season due to an ACL tear just days after Odubel Herrera’s future became cloudy, at best, due to assault allegations. There are ample trade opportunities to explore, and more figure to emerge as the deadline draws nearer, but Naylor’s arrival and Cordero’s looming return make San Diego’s outfield feel more crowded than ever.

Minor MLB Transactions: 6/7/19

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Here are Friday’s minor moves from around the game…

  • First baseman/outfielder Jim Adduci cleared waivers after being designated for assignment by the Cubs and has been assigned outright to Triple-A Iowa, per the league’s transactions page. He’d have had the right to reject an outright assignment in favor of free agency, but Tommy Birch of the Des Moines Register reports (via Twitter) that Adduci was indeed added to the Iowa roster, with Matt Carasiti landing on the temporarily inactive list in a corresponding move. The 34-year-old Adduci was hitless in five plate appearances during his extremely brief time with the Cubs before being designated for assignment to accommodate the addition of Carlos Gonzalez. He hit .261/.306/.478 through 41 games in Iowa earlier this season and .267/.290/.386 in 185 plate appearances for the Tigers in 2018.

Rays Release Erik Kratz

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The Rays have released veteran catcher Erik Kratz following last week’s DFA, per the league transaction log over at MLB.com.

Kratz, 38, has appeared in a combined 21 games between the Giants and Rays in 2019 but managed just a .102/.170/.204 batting line through 53 trips to the plate. He logged a more respectable .236/.280/.355 output through 219 plate appearances in Milwaukee a year ago.

Kratz will have the opportunity to sign with any club he chooses now. He’s never been a strong hitter in the Majors but does have some pop in his bat. He’s also a strong option behind the dish in terms of controlling the running game (career 32 percent caught-stealing rate) and pitch framing, in addition to carrying a reputation as an outstanding clubhouse presence. The Rays themselves could be on the hunt for catching depth, as fellow backstop Nick Ciuffo was lost for upwards of 10 weeks (thumb surgery) just days after Kratz was designated for assignment. Others throughout the league figure to check in on the well-respected Kratz, too, as he searches for his next opportunity.

Charlie Blackmon Likely To Return Friday

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The Rockies will activate outfielder Charlie Blackmon from the 10-day injured list Friday, Kyle Newman of the Denver Post suggests. Meanwhile, the Rockies lost left-handed reliever Mike Dunn to the 10-day IL on Thursday (retroactive to June 3) because of left AC joint inflammation and transferred fellow southpaw Harrison Musgrave to the 60-day IL, per a team announcement. Musgrave’s 40-man spot went to righty Peter Lambert, who shut down the Cubs in a 3-1 win in his major league debut.

Although Blackmon’s one of their most valuable players, the Rockies (32-29) ripped off 10 wins in 15 games as he sat out with a right calf strain. Colorado’s just half a game behind a wild-card spot thanks to that impressive run, and Blackmon’s return should help the team’s cause as it pushes for a third straight playoff berth. The 32-year-old Blackmon slashed .300/.356/.565 (126 wRC+) with 10 home runs in 219 plate appearances before landing on the shelf.

The IL placement for Dunn, 34, is the latest negative development in a long line of them since he joined the Rockies on an ill-fated contract going into the 2017 campaign. The injury’s all the more troubling given that Dunn missed most of last season with an AC joint issue that required surgery in September.

Now in the last season of his three-year, $19MM deal, Dunn has pitched to a 5.19 ERA/4.83 FIP in 17 1/3 innings. Overall as a Rockie, Dunn has thrown 84 2/3 frames and logged a 5.53 ERA/4.88 FIP with 8.82 K/9, 5.53 BB/9 and a 35 percent groundball rate.

Twins Reportedly “Pushed Hard” For Craig Kimbrel

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The Twins “pushed hard” this week for closer Craig Kimbrel before he agreed to a three-year, $43MM contract with the Cubs on Wednesday, according to Dan Hayes of The Athletic (subscription link). Minnesota’s offer was “competitive,” but the team was only willing to give Kimbrel two years, Hayes reports.

The Twins had been after Kimbrel dating back to the offseason, per Hayes. At that point, as the Twins sought to upgrade last year’s underwhelming bullpen, they came away with a few inexpensive relief acquisitions in Blake Parker, Ryne Harper and Mike Morin. While the unheralded Harper and Morin have been shockingly effective across a combined 35 innings, Parker has begun to fade after an encouraging start. The ex-Angel boasted a 1.04 ERA entering play May 28, but it’s all the way up to 3.74 through 21 2/3 frames after he allowed at least two earned runs in three of his past four appearances. Parker also yielded four home runs in that four-inning stretch, during which his already below-average velocity fell. With a 5.84 FIP, 7.06 K/9 against 3.32 BB/9, and a 21.7 percent home run-to-fly ball rate, Parker doesn’t look like a strong candidate to break out of his slump in a significant way.

Not only has Parker been unreliable of late, but most of the Twins’ other top relievers are sporting less favorable fielding-independent pitching numbers than their ERAs indicate. With those factors in mind and Kimbrel off the market, the bullpen figures to remain one of the Twins’ highest priorities leading up to the July 31 trade deadline. Speculatively, Shane Greene (Tigers), Ken Giles (Blue Jays), Alex Colome (White Sox), Mychal Givens (Orioles), Will Smith and Tony Watson (Giants) are some of the league’s relief trade candidates who could land on the Twins’ radar over the next several weeks.

As shown by their interest in Kimbrel and starter Dallas Keuchel, who signed with the Braves on Thursday, Twins executives Derek Falvey and Thad Levine seem prepared to act aggressively this summer. Considering Minnesota’s an American League-best 41-20 and 10 1/2 games up in the AL Central, it’s no surprise management wants to boost the club’s World Series chances.

Reds Agree To Over-Slot Deal With 3rd-Rounder Tyler Callihan

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The Reds have agreed to an over-slot deal with third-rounder Tyler Callihan, the 85th selection in this year’s draft, per Jon Heyman of MLB Network. The high school infielder from Jacksonville will receive $1.5MM. That’s worth more than double the recommended value of Callihan’s pick ($710,700).

Callihan had committed to the University of South Carolina, but the soon-to-be 19-year-old’s agreement with the Reds takes him out of the Gamecocks’ plans. Meanwhile, the Reds may have gotten a steal in Callihan, whom MLB.com (No. 35) and Baseball America (No. 37) regard as one of the 40 best players in this year’s draft class. Both outlets agree the lefty-swinging Callihan possesses significant offensive upside, though his future defensive home is in question. While Callihan has garnered experience at catcher, his big league position could be in the infield.

At $9,528,600, the Reds entered the draft with the majors’ 13th-largest bonus pool. The Callihan agreement will leave them with just over $8MM to spend on their other picks – including TCU left-hander Nick Lodolo, whom they chose seventh overall.

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