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Minor MLB Transactions: 5/16/18

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

  • Right-hander Logan Bawcom is back with the Dodgers organization for a third stint after having his contract purchased from the Sugar Land Skeeters of the independent Atlantic League. The Dodgers’ Double-A affiliate in Tulsa announced the move, and Bawcom started for them today (two runs on six hits and no walks with four strikeouts in 5 2/3 innings). Now 29 years old, Bawcom was originally drafted by the Dodgers in the 17th round back in 2010, and he also spent the 2016 season in their system. Bawcom, still looking for his first call to the big leagues, has pitched rather well in the upper minors throughout his pro career. In 346 innings at the Triple-A level, he owns a 3.38 ERA with 7.5 K/9 against 3.7 BB/9 and ground-ball rates that typically sit in the 41 to 44 percent range.
  • The Athletics released outfielder/first baseman Slade Heathcott from their Triple-A affiliate in Nashville, per the Pacific Coast League’s transactions page. The former first-round pick was once considered one of the Yankees’ best prospects, but he’s appeared in just 17 big league games and collected 30 plate appearances (albeit with a strong .400/.429/.720 slash to show for it). Strong production in his brief cup of coffee notwithstanding, Heathcott has never been much of a force in the upper minors. After tearing through Class-A Advanced as a 21-year-old (.314/.382/.486), he’s slashed .258/.329/.415 in 205 Double-A games and .263/.338/.358 in 177 Triple-A contests. His numbers with Nashville this season — .266/.333/.376 in 120 PAs — are a near mirror image of his career stats at that level.

Josh Edgin Exercises Opt-Out Clause With Orioles

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Veteran left-handed reliever Josh Edgin has opted out of his minor league contract with the Orioles, tweets David Hall of the Virginian Pilot. Edgin, like outfielders Michael Saunders (link) and Alex Presley (link) before him, triggered a May 15 opt-out date is his contract.

If Edgin’s clause is the same as that of Presley, Baltimore will have 48 hours to add him to the roster or release him to pursue other opportunities. The organization already announced that Saunders has been released, whereas there’s yet to be a formal announcement regarding either Edgin or Presley.

The 31-year-old Edgin inked a minor league pact with Baltimore this offseason after previously spending the entirety of his pro career in the Mets organization. Edgin missed the 2015 season and much of the 2016 campaign due to Tommy John surgery but was otherwise a fairly regular fixture in the Mets’ bullpen dating back to his MLB debut in 2012. The lefty has a career 3.49 ERA with 8.1 K/9, 3.6 BB/9, 0.9 HR/9 and a 45.1 percent ground-ball rate in 129 innings at the big league level.

Last season, Edgin tossed a career-high 37 innings for the Mets and posted a 3.65 ERA that’s right in line with his career mark, though his strikeout and walk rates weren’t as sharp as they were prior to his surgery. In those 37 frames, he averaged just 6.6 K/9 against an elevated 4.4 BB/9 with an average fastball velocity of 91.3 mph, which checks in more than a full mile per hour south of his peak pre-surgery levels. Those were likely some of the factors the Mets took into consideration when ultimately deciding to non-tender Edgin in the offseason.

This year with the Orioles’ Triple-A affiliate in Norfolk, he’s pitched 18 2/3 innings with an outstanding 25-to-5 K/BB ratio (with two of those free passes being issued intentionally) and an excellent 59.6 percent ground-ball rate. Given that start and his track record, Edgin should generate interest elsewhere even if he doesn’t ultimately end up in the Baltimore bullpen.

Blue Jays Prospect Bo Bichette Hires CAA Baseball

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Blue Jays prospect Bo Bichette has changed representation, hiring CAA Baseball, per Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.ca (via Twitter). The 20-year-old was a second-round pick in the 2016 draft.

Bichette vaulted up prospect rankings boards after a big showing in two A-ball leagues in 2017. He opened the current season at Double-A, where he carries a .279/.353/.421 slash with one home run and nine steals.

Though he is not quite as celebrated as teammate Vladimir Guerrero Jr., who is also the son of a long-time big leaguer, Bichette entered the year as a consensus top-20 prospect leaguewide. There’s some question whether Bichette will stick at shortstop, he carries the promise of delivering some defensive value along with an intriguing bat.

As always, you can find up-to-date MLB representation information at MLBTR’s Agency Database.

Mariners Designate Erik Goeddel, Select Christian Bergman

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The Mariners have designated righty Erik Goeddel, per a club announcement. That’ll create roster space for the M’s to select the contract of fellow right-hander Christian Bergman.

It’s a tough result for Goeddel, 29, who had allowed just one earned run on four hits in his 5 1/3 MLB innings this year while recording seven strikeouts and a pair of walks. He threw nine scoreless frames at Triple-A to open the year after joining the M’s late in camp.

As for the 30-year-old Bergman, he’ll look to carry over his successes thus far at Triple-A into the majors. He has generally struggled in prior attempts at the bigs, but is carrying a healthy 3.40 ERA with a 41:12 K/BB ratio through 45 frames on at Tacoma.

Cardinals Place Luke Gregerson On DL; Carlos Martinez Headed For MRI

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The Cardinals have placed righty Luke Gregerson on the 10-day DL with a right shoulder impingement, the team announced. He’ll be replaced on the active roster by John Brebbia.

Meanwhile, starter Carlos Martinez — who has been on the shelf since May 10th — is headed for an MRI to further assess the injury, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch tweets. Martinez won’t return when he’s eligible to be activated, then, but we likely won’t learn more about his anticipated timeline until his imaging is read.

It’s not clear just how concerning the shoulder condition is. That broad description has resulted in brief DL stints or much more significant problems, so it’s hard to make much of it without more information. Notably, though, MLB.com’s Joe Trezza adds on Twitter that Gregerson has also dealt with some elbow soreness, adding to the universe of concerns.

The 34-year-old Gregerson has had some stumbles to start his tenure in St. Louis. Since returning from a hamstring injury, he has thrown only 8 1/3 innings in a dozen appearances, allowing eight earned runs on eight hits (two for home runs) and three walks. He has recorded a typically useful tally of eight strikeouts and 14 groundballs, however, and despite a bit of velocity loss is still maintaining a strong 16.7% swinging-strike rate.

All told, then, it still seems there’s reason for optimism regarding Gregerson’s ability to contribute this year — so long as he’s able to get back to full health. The Cards owe him $11MM over a two-year term, including a buyout on an option for 2020. While there’s still quite a lot of pitching talent at and near the MLB level for the St. Louis organization, the team is stretched a bit with Gregerson joining Martinez and Adam Wainwright on ice. Fortunately, high-octane youngster Alex Reyes is not only nearing a return from Tommy John surgery, but has opened eyes with his early rehab showing.

Astros Option Jake Marisnick

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10:52am: Outfielder Tony Kemp will get the call to replace Marisnick, per Jake Kaplan of The Athletic (via Twitter).

7:30am: The Astros announced after last night’s game that center fielder Jake Marisnick has been optioned back to Triple-A. It’s not yet clear who’ll take his spot on the active roster.

It seems the hope in Houston is that Marisnick can get back on track with some time spent at Fresno. As MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart reports, skipper A.J. Hinch said after the game that the speedy outfielder will receive “a run of at-bats he’s not going to get [in the majors] over the next ten days or however long he’s down there.”

The current campaign has certainly been frustrating to this point for the 27-year-old Marisnick, who had posted a breakout 2017 effort. Of course, his excellent output last year — including a .243/.319/.496 slash with 16 home runs and nine steals — came with a worrisome 34.7% strikeout rate.

Thus far in 2018, the swings and misses have ruled the day. Marisnick is striking out at an alarming 47.1% clip and has drawn just a single walk in 87 plate appearances. His power output is way down as well, though it’s the .151 OBP that is most concerning.

While the ’Stros certainly value Marisnick’s quality baserunning and fielding, they understandably feel he needs some time to figure things out at the plate. He is earning $1.9MM this year and remains eligible for two more seasons of arbitration.

Jason Castro To Miss Remainder Of Season

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Twins catcher Jason Castro received unwelcome news upon completion of his previously scheduled knee surgery. He ended up requiring a full repair of his meniscus, which is expected to keep him out for the remainder of the season, as MLB.com’s Rhett Bollinger was among those to report on Twitter.

The Minnesota organization was already preparing to weather an absence from Castro, but the belief was that he’d only miss about four to six weeks. Instead, the Twins may be on the hunt for a full-time replacement. For the time being, Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer-Press tweets, the team expects to continue to rely upon Mitch Garver and Bobby Wilson.

Castro, 30, is playing on $8MM salaries both this year and next. He was not producing much at the plate to open the season, with a .143/.257/.238 slash over 74 plate appearances, but the organization surely intended to exercise patience with a player who had produced at a solid rate in the first season of his three-year free-agent pact.

It remains to be seen just how aggressively the Twins will ultimately pursue an upgrade behind the dish. There are several plausible rental players that could be made available, but at this stage it’s unlikely that they’ll be moved. Odds are, the Minnesota brass will use the next two months to evaluate the internal and external possibilities, and to assess the team’s overall situation, before deciding upon a trade deadline strategy.

Mets Place Yoenis Cespedes On 10-Day DL

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The Mets have placed outfielder Yoenis Cespedes on the 10-day DL, per a club announcement. He’ll be replaced on the active roster by Phillip Evans.

It’s not surprising to hear that Cespedes is going to be shut down for a bit, as he has been dealing with a hip strain that has lingered for the past ten days or so. The team had resisted a DL placement but finally decided to bite the bullet and shut Cespedes down. The placement is backdated to May 14th.

The 32-year-old Cespedes remains a key cog in the New York lineup. He’s off to a .255/.316/.474 slash through 152 plate appearances, which isn’t quite up to the standard he has set over the past three years but remains substantially above-average output.

While it always hurts to lose such a productive member of the lineup, the Mets will obviously want to ensure that this doesn’t balloon into another worrying lower-body injury for Cespedes. Plus, both Brandon Nimmo and Juan Lagares have hit well in limited action; providing some extra action for them probably isn’t the worst outcome.

Indians Re-Sign Matt Belisle

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The Indians have announced that righty Matt Belisle is re-joining the organization on a minor-league deal. He’ll begin his tenure at Triple-A.

It seems that Belisle was not able to find a better opportunity with another club. He opened the year on Cleveland’s active roster after winning a job in camp, but was designated for assignment two weeks ago and thereafter elected free agency.

Bullpen depth has been an ongoing problem for the Indians, so it’s not surprising to see this move. The club also had an opening at Triple-A after promoting Neil Ramirez to the MLB roster.

Belisle, who’s closing in on his 38th birthday, had a solid 2017 campaign — in particular, he finished on an excellent run — but was not overly impressive out of the gates this year. In his 10 1/3 innings, he allowed six earned runs on nine hits and a walk. Belisle compiled just four strikeouts in that span, though he did maintain a swinging-strike rate of 9.8% that falls in line with his prior levels.

Blake Swihart’s Agent Asks Red Sox For Trade

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Blake Swihart’s agent, The Legacy Agency’s Brodie Scoffield, tells Evan Drellich of NBC Sports Boston that he has asked the Red Sox to trade the little-used player to another organization.

It has been an awkward arrangement from the start of the season, as the out-of-options Swihart has seen just 24 innings in the field (mostly in left) while picking up 32 plate appearances off of the bench. A catcher by trade, he’s obviously not a part of the team’s plans behind the dish, as he has caught only a single inning despite the marked offensive struggles of Sandy Leon and Christian Vazquez.

In all likelihood, the trade request won’t have any meaningful impact on Swihart’s future. But it’s also likely to be fulfilled on the team’s own volition. After all, the Sox are engaged in what promises to be a season-long battle for supremacy in the AL East. It feels as if something has to give at some point, given that Swihart is effectively being treated as something like a Rule 5 pick.

Frankly, it’s a curious situation all around. Surely, some other teams would be glad to give a shot to the 26-year-old Swihart, a former first-round pick and top-100 prospect. But it’s also tough to imagine he’ll be valued too highly in a trade. Swihart produced good, but hardly overwhelming, offensive numbers on the way up the ladder. Since his first MLB action in 2015, he hasn’t hit much at any level and still hasn’t settled in anywhere defensively while dealing with injuries and inconsistent opportunities. The fact that Swihart cannot be optioned will make it tough for a team that wishes to try him out behind the plate, since he’d have to be thrown right into the fire at the MLB level despite minimal time under the mask this season.

As Drellich explains, it seems that a decision point could soon be approaching, as Dustin Pedroia’s pending return from the disabled list will make it all but impossible to continue carrying Swihart. It could be that the Sox are simply waiting until the last possible moment to make a decision. After all, an injury could arise that would enhance Swihart’s utility to the Boston organization (or to a potential trade partner). Presumably, the Boston front office already knows which rivals have serious interest and what sort of return — a useful MLB reliever? some far-off young talent? — might be achievable, if any. In the meantime, there’s little for Swihart to do but sit back and wait.

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