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Minor MLB Transactions: 5/14/18

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Here are Monday’s minor moves from around the league…

  • The Padres announced over the weekend that righty Michael Mariot was released from their Triple-A club. The former Royals and Phillies reliever has 49 2/3 innings of work under his belt in the Majors, all coming from 2014-16, though he’s struggled to an ERA just south of 6.00 in that time. The 29-year-old has never had much trouble missing bats in the minors since moving from a starting role to the ’pen, but he’s off to a dismal start in 2018 with a 12.15 ERA in 13 1/3 innings of work. Mariot did punch out 14 hitters with Triple-A El Paso, but he also walked seven, hit a batter and surrendered a whopping five homers in his 13 1/3 innings. Overall, he owns a 3.80 ERA with 9.5 K/9 against 3.3 BB/9 in 253 1/3 Triple-A innings.
  • Right-handed reliever Ben Rowen was released from the Reds’ Triple-A affiliate, per Baseball America’s Matt Eddy.The 29-year-old Rowen has just 11 2/3 MLB innings under his belt (none since 2016), but the sidearmer has a lengthy track record of success in Triple-A. He allowed 11 runs in 10 2/3 innings to open the 2018 season, however, and his ground-ball rate, which has previously been well north of 60 percent, was just 41.9 percent so far this season. Rowen entered 2018 with a career 2.81 ERA with 6.9 K/9 against 1.8 BB/9 in parts of five Triple-A campaigns, so perhaps he’ll garner interest elsewhere.
  • The Athletics signed left-handed reliever Dean Kiekhefer, per Eddy. He’d recently been released by Cincinnati. The 28-year-old tossed 22 innings at the big league level with the Cardinals in 2016, working to a 5.32 ERA with 14 strikeouts against seven walks (four intentional) and two hit batters in that brief time. Kiekhefer landed with the Mariners via waivers in the 2016-17 offseason but was outrighted off their 40-man roster shortly thereafter. Last year, he logged a 4.47 ERA with 8.5 K/9, 3.9 BB/9, 0.61 HR/9 and a 46 percent grounder rate in Triple-A. He opened the season with eight innings of one-run ball in the Cincinnati organization, albeit at the Double-A level.
  • Southpaw James Russell was released by the Tigers, Eddy reports. The 32-year-old Russell, a fixture in the Cubs’ bullpen for six seasons, hasn’t appeared in the Majors since an unsuccessful 2016 stint with the Phillies. He spent the 2017 season pitching in the Mexican League, where he performed quite well, but tossed just three innings and allowed five runs with the Tigers’ top affiliate in 2018 before his release.

Yankees Activate Brandon Drury From DL, Option Him To Triple-A

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The Yankees announced on Monday that they’ve reinstated infielder Brandon Drury from the 10-day disabled list and optioned him to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. The move means that for the time being, New York will continue to rely upon Miguel Andujar, Gleyber Torres, Tyler Austin, Neil Walker and Ronald Torreyes around the infield, with Drury somewhat surprisingly waiting in the wings at Triple-A on the heels of a very productive minor league rehab assignment.

Drury hit the disabled list last month due to ongoing migraine issues and blurred vision. He’s reportedly tried out wearing some yellow-tinted glasses during rehab games in an effort to aid his vision, and while it may have been mere coincidence, the results from his recent stretch of 11 games with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre were impressive; in 42 plate appearances, he hit .343/.452/.514 with a homer and three doubles.

[Related: Updated New York Yankees depth chart]

However, Drury’s placement on the DL opened the door for some younger prospects to make their debuts, and during his absence, Walker’s bat began to show signs of life. The veteran Walker is hitting .346/.514/.462 in 35 plate appearances this month and has provided the Yankees with some key hits, while Andujar and Torres have shown varying degrees of promise. In the case of Torres, he’s hitting .319/.360/.493 with three homers through his first 76 big league plate appearances and hasn’t done much of anything to give the Yankees cause to send him back down to the minors.

It’s more arguable that Andujar has shown some cracks at the big league level and could yet be in need of refinement. While he’s hitting .282 with a .458 slugging percentage, Andujar has drawn just three walks in 135 plate appearances, resulting in a paltry .296 on-base percentage. While he’s not striking out much, his .337 average on balls in play is considerably higher than the league norm of .295. If that BABIP regresses at all, then he could very well see his OBP fall into the .280 range. For the time being, he’s hit in six straight games (8-for-25), though all of his hits in that time have been singles.

The Yankees could’ve created a temporary solution by sending Austin to Triple-A, but the 26-year-old has slugged five homers in 89 plate appearances despite hitting just .222 with a .292 on-base percentage. Austin seems likely to be a roster casualty when Greg Bird is ready to be activated from the disabled list anyhow.

Whether due to an injury somewhere around the big league infield or a slump from Andujar, it still seems reasonable to expect that Drury will be back with the Yankees at some point in the relatively near future.

Mariners Select Contract Of Gordon Beckham, Place Robinson Cano On DL

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The Mariners announced that they’ve placed second baseman Robinson Cano on the 10-day disabled list due to a fractured fifth metacarpal in his right hand and selected the contract of infielder Gordon Beckham from Triple-A Tacoma.

There’s still no word on precisely how long the Mariners expect Cano to miss, as he’s slated to meet with a hand specialist in Philadelphia tomorrow. Once that evaluation takes place, the Mariners will likely have another update, though it seems reasonable to expect that Cano will miss at least several weeks as his throwing hand mends after he was hit by a pitch in yesterday’s game against the Tigers.

[Related: Updated Seattle Mariners depth chart]

The loss of Cano, obviously, is a significant blow for a Mariners club that is right in the thick of both the AL West race (2.5 games behind the Astros) and the American League Wild Card picture (1.5 games back of a Wild Card spot). While Cano’s performance in Seattle hasn’t drawn the national fanfare that it did during his New York days, he’s been every bit as productive a player as he was with the Yankees. In nine seasons with the Yanks, Cano hit .309/.355/.504 (126 OPS+), and he’s roughly matched that with a .294/.353/.471 slash (128 OPS+) in a considerably more pitcher-friendly setting at Safeco Field.

Certainly, the veteran Beckham won’t be expected to replicate that level of production or anything close to it. But he’s off to a .300/.412/.500 start to the season through 114 plate appearances with Triple-A Tacoma and will be asked to assume some of the playing time for Cano along with utilitymen Andrew Romine and Taylor Motter. Manager Scott Servais told reporters yesterday that it wasn’t likely that Dee Gordon would be moved out of center field back to second base (Twitter link via Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times).

West Notes: Ohtani, Mariners, Desmond, Reynolds, Dodgers

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Though the Angels elected not to use Shohei Ohtani as a pinch-hitter late in Saturday night’s game due to the fact that he was slated to start on Sunday, manager Mike Scioscia suggested yesterday that the team could eventually work to get Ohtani’s bat into the game more often (via Jeff Miller of the L.A. Times). Scioscia called the team’s template for using Ohtani “conservative” but added that the Angels could eventually loosen some constraints on the two-way star’s usage. Scioscia also acknowledged that the team has even considered forgoing the designated hitter on days when Ohtani pitches in American League stadiums, though as Miller notes, that could present problems for a team with a thin bench. “It would take an extreme, you know, something you might consider in September, if it was something that was really critical and you needed his bat in the lineup,” said the manager.

More from the game’s Western divisions…

  • While the loss of Robinson Cano due to a broken hand is a significant blow, the bullpen may be the Mariners’ primary focus when searching for upgrades, writes Bob Dutton for KLAY 1180 AM. Cano figures to be back this summer, and while the rotation has hardly been effective, it’s more difficult to add high-end starting pitching upgrades around the deadline than it is to add relief arms, Dutton notes. Seattle would be hard-pressed to outbid other teams for a top-of-the-rotation arm, and club officials have acknowledged to Dutton that targeting relief help is a likelier course of action. Juan Nicasio has completely melted down over his past couple appearances after a dominant start to the season, while Nick Vincent hasn’t been as effective as he has in recent seasons, either.
  • Ian Desmond’s struggles have become a glaring problem for the Rockies, writes Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post. However, manager Bud Black and the Colorado front office still believe the veteran will turn things around despite his .170/.213/.355 slash this season and his unsightly .244/.294/.369 line since coming to the Rockies in the 2016-17 offseason. Desmond’s problems are all the more concerning given the struggles of Ryan McMahon earlier this season, leaving the Rox with little in the way of in-house options. Saunders notes that talks between the Rockies and Mark Reynolds never really took off, though he suggests that if Reynolds loses his roster spot in Washington once Ryan Zimmerman returns, the two sides could again explore a fit. However, Saunders also hears from those within the organization that the team wouldn’t relegate Desmond to the bench in favor of Reynolds, which could make a return to Denver a tough sell.
  • Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic spoke to Dave Roberts, Kenley Jansen, Chris Taylor and others about the Dodgers’ early struggles (subscription link). While the losses of Corey Seager, Justin Turner, Clayton Kershaw and Hyun-Jun Ryu have hurt the club immensely, Rosenthal also contends that the Dodgers’ approach this offseason didn’t do the team any favors. The Dodgers were known to be avoiding the luxury tax threshold — an important factor as they prepare for next offseason’s impressive free-agent class — and thus sought bargain options to replace quality contributors such as Brandon Morrow and Tony Watson (namely, signing Tom Koehler and acquiring Scott Alexander). Of course, it’s worth pointing out that Morrow and Watson were low-cost acquisitions themselves, and Rosenthal notes that the current front office has had success in building bullpens on the fly in the past. With Turner nearing a return and Kershaw expected to be out for weeks, rather than months (per Rosenthal), there’s help on the horizon, however, at a time when the division-leading D-backs are struggling with some of their own injury losses.

U.S. Supreme Court Reverses Federal Ban On Sports Betting

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The United States Supreme Court on Monday voted 7-2 in favor of reversing the federal ban on sports betting (link via Robert Barnes of the Washington Post). States legislatures will now be free to set their own laws as pertaining to betting on professional and college sporting events. Full details of the ruling are available at the Supreme Court’s web site. From the ruling, as set forth by Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr.:

The legalization of sports gambling is a controversial subject. Supporters argue that legalization will produce revenue for the States and critically weaken illegal sports betting operations, which are often run by organized crime. Opponents contend that legalizing sports gambling will hook the young on gambling, encourage people of modest means to squander their savings and earnings, and corrupt professional and college sports.

The legalization of sports gambling requires an important policy choice, but the choice is not ours to make. Congress can regulate sports gambling directly, but if it elects not to do so, each State is free to act on its own. Our job is to interpret the law Congress has enacted and decide whether it is consistent with the Constitution. [The Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act] is not. PASPA “regulate[s] state governments’ regulation” of their citizens, New York, 505 U. S., at 166. The Constitution gives Congress no such power.

Major League Baseball has issued the following statement on the matter:

“Today’s decision by the United States Supreme Court will have profound effects on Major League Baseball. As each state considers whether to allow sports betting, we will continue to seek the proper protections for our sport, in partnership with other professional sports. Our most important priority is protecting the integrity of our games. We will continue to support legislation that creates airtight coordination and partnerships between the state, the casino operators and the governing bodies in sports toward that goal.”

MLBPA executive director Tony Clark has also weighed in on the subject:

“The court’s decision is monumental, with far-reaching implications for baseball players and the game we love. From complex intellectual property questions to the most basic issues of player safety, the realities of widespread sports betting must be addressed urgently and thoughtfully to avoid putting our sport’s integrity at risk as states proceed with legalization.”

[Related: Hoops Rumors on impact of Supreme Court ruling on NBA]

Of course, sports betting already exists in prominent fashion throughout the United States. Barnes’ piece above cites an estimated $150 billion annual valuation of the underground sports betting market in the U.S., which doesn’t include already legalized betting at sportsbooks in Nevada casinos. Certainly, though, widespread legalization of the matter creates many potential causes for concern and also for revenue; NBA commissioner Adam Silver, for instance, has openly expressed a desire to be compensated for the compensated for his league’s “additional costs involving integrity,” (via Michael Scotto of The Athletic). ESPN’s Brian Windhorst reported earlier this year that the NBA could seek one percent of every bet legally placed on its outcomes.

The state of New Jersey had the support of 18 other states, per Barnes, in seeking to legalize betting in their state. Justine McDaniel of the Philadelphia Inquirer tweets that the state of Pennsylvania, for instance, legalized sports betting last year in anticipation of federal legalization.

Braves Release Christian Colon

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The Braves released infielder Christian Colon from their Triple-A affiliate in Gwinnett recently, per Baseball America’s Matt Eddy. The former Royals and Marlins infielder will return to the open market in search of a new opportunity with another organization.

Colon, 29, was the fourth overall pick in the 2010 draft and has spent parts of the past four seasons in the Majors — most recently logging 57 plate appearances with the Marlins in 2017. Despite being selected out of college (Cal State Fullerton, to be specific), Colon took awhile to reach the Majors but turned in solid numbers in his first couple of seasons upon arriving. In 168 plate appearances from 2014-15, he slashed .303/.361/.382.

However, Colon’s lack of power became more glaring a year later when his fortune on balls in play took a turn for the worst and his strikeout rate escalated from just 12.5 percent to 19.3 percent. From 2016-17, he posted an ugly .213/.279/.264 batting line in 218 PAs between the Royals and Marlins.

Colon got off to a disappointing .204/.278/.204 start with Gwinnett, though that came in a tiny sample of just 55 plate appearances. His overall body of work in parts of seven seasons at the Triple-A level is considerably more encouraging, as he’s batted .287/.350/.384 in 1520 plate appearances. That track record, in addition to his experience at second base, shortstop and third base, should allow him to land with another club in need of some infield depth in the upper minors.

NL East Notes: Asdrubal, Amaro, Marlins

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Asdrubal Cabrera’s strong start for the Mets is building an interesting test case in free agency, writes Ken Davidoff of the New York Post. The 32-year-old is the type of player who was immensely devalued last offseason — a longtime solid but not star-caliber regular on the wrong side of 30 — but is also in the midst of perhaps his best start to any season. Cabrera is batting .329/.376/.552, and I’d add that dating back to last September, he’s actually slashing .345/.398/.573 in 260 PAs. Cabrera has upped his line-drive rate quite a bit in 2018, but his fly-ball, ground-ball, strikeout and walk rates are all in line with his career marks. The uptick in liners and hard contact does prompt xwOBA to view his early work favorably, but it’s not clear he can maintain that pace. A .383 average on balls in play is a huge factor in Cabrera’s surge, and that doesn’t appear especially sustainable.

That said, Cabrera looks to have plenty left in the tank after a solid two-plus years with the Mets. Davidoff, though, points to peers like Neil Walker and Eduardo Nunez in suggesting that the market hasn’t been favorable to Cabrera’s skill set and wonders if he’ll be able to top the two-year, $18.25MM deal he initially landed from the Mets.

More from the division…

  • Former Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro (now the Mets’ first base coach) chatted with current Phillies GM Matt Klentak when the Mets played the Phils at Citizens Bank Park over the weekend, Amaro tells Jim Salisbury of NBC Sports Philadelphia. Amaro notes that he already knew Klentak somewhat from Klentak’s days with the Orioles and Angels as well as in the Commissioner’s Office, and the former GM expresses some appreciation for Klentak’s acknowledgment of the trades he made before being dismissed. As Salisbury notes, a significant portion of the Phils’ roster was drafted or acquired under Amaro’s watch near the end of his run. Amaro also caught up with rookie manager Gabe Kapler and discussed Kapler’s rough first week on the job. “I told him, ‘Hey, just like any other place, and maybe more so than others, if you guys keep playing well the fans will really appreciate it and things will turn around,'” says Amaro. The former GM speaks fondly of the city and of Citizens Bank Park, noting that Philadelphia will always feel like a home to him.
  • The Marlins had some injury scares on Sunday when both Brian Anderson and Miguel Rojas exited the game early, but Joe Frisaro of MLB.com writes that X-rays on each player came back negative. Anderson felt some discomfort in his right middle finger when hitting a fly-out in the sixth inning, he revealed, while the source of Rojas’ injury was far more obvious: he was plunked on the left wrist by a 93.9 mph fastball from lefty Sam Freeman. Skipper Don Mattingly acknowledged that there’s no guarantee either will immediately rejoin the lineup Tuesday following today’s off-day, but it doesn’t sound at present as if either will require a trip to the disabled list.

MLB Weekend Roster Roundup: Anderson, deGrom, Wainwright, Zimmerman

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ROSTER MOVES BY TEAM
(May 12th-May 13th)

NATIONAL LEAGUE

  • ST. LOUIS CARDINALS | Depth Chart
    • Activated from 10-Day DL: SP Adam Wainwright
      • Wainwright exited Sunday’s start after walking six batters. He is likely returning to the disabled list with renewed elbow discomfort.
    • Optioned: RP John Brebbia

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AMERICAN LEAGUE

—

FUTURE EXPECTED MOVES

Cardinals Notes: Wainwright, Reyes, Wong

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Here’s the latest out of St. Louis…

  • Adam Wainwright’s return from the disabled list was a brief one, as the righty felt elbow pain while warming up during his start today and lasted just 2 1/3 innings (allowing two runs on three hits and six walks).  Today’s outing was Wainwright’s first after missing over three weeks due to elbow inflammation, and he is likely headed back to the DL in the wake of this latest issue.  He will miss at least his next start, and return to St. Louis for examination.  “I need to pause and get it right. This team deserves more than that and the fans deserve more than that and the organization does, too.  If I’m going to be a force down the stretch, I need to get healthy first,” Wainwright told MLB.com’s Jay Paris and other media.  The veteran underwent arthroscopic surgery on that same right elbow last October after battling some elbow problems in 2017, and also missed all of the 2011 season due to Tommy John surgery.  With Carlos Martinez also on the DL, the Cards rotation is down to Miles Mikolas, Michael Wacha, and Luke Weaver, with Jack Flaherty tapped to start on Tuesday.
  • Alex Reyes could also eventually factor into the St. Louis rotation plans, as the star prospect will pitch on Monday in what will be the second of four scheduled minor league rehab starts as he makes his return from Tommy John surgery.  President of baseball operations John Mozeliak told Ben Frederickson of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that the team won’t be moving to a six-man rotation once Reyes is ready, though it remains to be seen exactly how Reyes will be deployed.  “Rather than lay it [the team’s plan] out there for public consumption, I would rather wait and do it based on where we are, where he is, and how to best optimize that,” Mozeliak said.  As Frederickson notes, the Cards are trying to manage Reyes’ workload on several fronts — they want to ease him back into action, while also keeping him fresh to pitch in a postseason race (and into October) and on track to move into a starting role in 2019.  Using him as a multi-inning reliever or piggybacking his outings with another starter would be complicated from an innings-management standpoint, and Mozeliak said that the team could even keep Reyes in the minors if that is what is best for him at this point in his development and recovery.
  • Earlier this week, The Athletic’s Mark Saxon (subscription required) opined that Kolten Wong’s second base glove has become such a plus for the Cardinals that the team should consider giving him more regular playing time, even against left-handed pitching.  Since Saxon’s piece was written, Wong has started each of the Cards’ last two games against southpaw opposing starters, with Jedd Gyorko playing third base and the struggling Matt Carpenter getting a three-game break.  Wong has been one of baseball’s best defenders at any position this season, and his bat has started to show some signs of life after an ice-cold start to the season.  With Jose Martinez more or less locked in as the starting first baseman at this point, it leaves the Cards juggling Wong, Gyorko, and Carpenter between second and third base, with backup infielder Greg Garcia also in need of some playing time.

AL West Notes: Cano, Middleton, A’s, Maxwell, Astros

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The Mariners “indicated” that they wouldn’t be looking for an external candidate to replace Robinson Cano at second base, the Tacoma News Tribune’s TJ Cotterill writes.  This would leave Seattle with internal options like Andrew Romine, Taylor Motter, and Gordon Beckham at the keystone, since center fielder Dee Gordon doesn’t appear to be under consideration for a move back to his former position.  In my view, the Mariners could re-assess their plans once they have a clearer idea of how much time Cano will miss, as we’re still just hours removed from the star second baseman suffering a fracture in his hand after being hit by a pitch in today’s game.

More rumblings from around the AL West…

  • Angels right-hander Keynan Middleton left today’s game after 12 pitches due to what the club termed as elbow discomfort.  Middleton will undergo an MRI tomorrow.  Today’s outing was Middleton’s third appearance since returning from a 10-day DL stint for inflammation in that same elbow.  The 24-year-old closer has posted good results when healthy (2.04 ERA and an 8.25 K/9 in 17 2/3 IP), and in his absence, Blake Parker and Jim Johnson figure to get the bulk of save opportunities for the Halos.  Be sure to follow @CloserNews (MLBTR’s affiliate Twitter site) for all the latest details on the ninth-inning situation for all 30 teams around baseball.
  • Because Bruce Maxwell hasn’t yet been sentenced following his plea agreement for a change of disorderly conduct, Canadian immigration laws will prevent Maxwell from joining the Athletics during their upcoming four-game series in Toronto, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports.  Maxwell will have to be demoted at some point before Thursday’s series opener if the A’s are to have a backup behind Jonathan Lucroy.  Slusser suggests that prospect Beau Taylor (off to a hot start at Triple-A) could be considered even though he isn’t on the 40-man roster, though Josh Phegley could also be called up if Oakland didn’t want to make another transaction to clear room for Taylor.
  • Astros GM Jeff Luhnow admitted that “Obviously, you have to think about potentially doing something” to address some struggling hitters on Houston’s roster, though Luhnow tells Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle that he still has faith in the “proven track records” of veterans like Evan Gattis or Jake Marisnick.  In regards to Marisnick, for instance, Luhnow mentioned that his excellent defense makes him an important figure for the team.  This gives Marisnick more value than another internal option like top prospect J.D. Davis, who is tearing up Triple-A pitching but is limited to just left field.

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