Minor MLB Transactions: 5/11/18
Here are Friday’s minor moves from around the game…
- The Brewers announced late Thursday that they’ve signed second baseman Darren Seferina to a minor league deal. The former Cardinals’ farmhand was a fifth-round pick back in 2014 and opened the 2018 season in Double-A, where he struggled considerably. But Seferina, 24, split the 2017 season between Class-A Advanced and Double-A, faring well at both levels and hitting a combined .278/.357/.409 with seven homers, 17 doubles, 10 triples and 19 stolen bases. He’s never been considered one of the Cardinals’ premium prospects, but he’s hit fairly well throughout his minor league tenure with the exception of the first few weeks of the 2018 season.
- Right-hander Jorge Rondon was released from the White Sox‘ Double-A affiliate in Birmingham, per the Southern League transactions log. The 30-year-old Rondon tossed 19 innings in the Majors between the Pirates, Cardinals, Rockies and Orioles from 2014-16, though he struggled at each stop and allowed 28 runs with a 13-to-11 K/BB ratio in just 19 innings at the game’s top level. Rondon has a career 2.81 ERA in 263 innings at the Triple-A level, but he’s never missed all that many bats (6.8 K/9 in AAA) and was off to a fairly pedestrian start to his 2018 campaign (14-to-8 K/BB ratio, 13 hits allowed, 4.85 ERA in 13 innings).
Nationals Notes: Wieters, Soto, Outfield
Matt Wieters sustained a leg injury when rounding first base after hitting a single and will undergo an MRI this morning, writes Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post. It’s not clear if the damage is specific to his hamstring or something in his knee. Wieters told reporters that he felt something “behind [his] knee, kind of go a little bit.” The veteran switch-hitter has been more productive so far in 2018 than he was in 2017, hitting .231/.342/.385 through his first 76 plate appearances. While he’s still not the hitter he was in his best years with the Orioles, the loss of Wieters for any period would put the Nationals in a bind. He’s one of just two catchers on the 40-man roster now that the Nationals released Miguel Montero last month and placed Jhonatan Solano on the 60-day DL (depth chart). Either journeyman Tuffy Gosewisch or longtime Nats farmhand Spencer Kieboom seem likely to have his contract selected from Triple-A this weekend, as Janes notes that Wieters has already been deemed unavailable for tonight’s game and will “almost certainly” land on the DL for a second time this season.
More on the Nats…
- Outfield prospect Juan Soto, perhaps the quickest rising star of any prospect early in the 2018 season, was bumped from Class-A Advanced to Double-A yesterday. The 19-year-old Soto opened the year in Class-A and was moved to Class-A Advanced after just 16 games. His stay in High-A only lasted another 15 games though, as Soto obliterated pitchers there before somewhat incredibly homering and hitting a double in last night’s Double-A debut as well. Soto has raked at an otherworldly .373/.477/.817 clip across three levels so far, belting 13 homers, nine doubles and four triples while walking more often than he’s struck out (26-to-21 BB/K ratio).
- Janes also writes that the Nationals don’t expect to make a splashy move to acquire an outfielder in the wake of yesterday’s ankle surgery for Adam Eaton. Skipper Dave Martinez said that Matt Adams and Howie Kendrick will platoon for the majority of left field at-bats, listing Andrew Stevenson and a mending Brian Goodwin as additional options for the organization. Soto won’t be rushed to the big leagues, Janes notes, and fellow top outfield prospect Victor Robles is still working his way back from a hyperextended elbow. But Eaton could be closer to returning by the time clubs are willing to start selling off legitimate outfield upgrades, and the Nats have some depth right now as it is. Janes suggests within her column that the Nats may even subtract outfielder Moises Sierra from the roster at some point to open a spot for Mark Reynolds to come up from Triple-A. (It’s worth noting that jettisoning the struggling Sierra would also represent a means of opening a spot for a catcher to be added to the 40-man roster tonight.)
Kyle Lohse Likely To Retire
May 11, 8:10am: Lohse tells Tony Boone of the Omaha World-Herald that this is “probably it” for his career, though he left the door open slightly in the event that a team approached him with an opportunity (Twitter link). It doesn’t sound as though agent Scott Boras will be actively pursuing new opportunities for his client, though.
May 10, 11:25pm: Shortly after being released by the Royals this afternoon, veteran right-hander Kyle Lohse took to Instagram to suggest that he is retiring from baseball after spending parts of 16 seasons in the Majors.
“It’s been a hell of a ride,” Lohse wrote with a view from the stands at a minor league game. “Baseball, you’ve taken me a lot of places I’ve never thought or even dreamed of. The highs. The lows. The people I’ve met. The teammates I’ve had the pleasure of battling alongside. The guys on the other teams I’ve had the pleasure of battling against. Time to take it to the house knowing I gave it all I had each and every time.”
Lohse made a comeback bid with the Royals this year after not pitching professionally in 2017, signing a minor league contract on March 31 but ultimately being knocked around in a pair of Triple-A starts. That, apparently, was enough to set the 39-year-old’s mind at east as he rides off into the sunset following a long and successful playing career.
Originally a 29th-round pick of the Cubs in 1996, Lohse was never considered to be an elite prospect. He went from the Cubs organization to the Twins by way of 1999’s Rick Aguilera trade and found himself in the big leagues for an up-and-coming Twins team a couple years later in 2001. Lohse’s rookie campaign was hardly noteworthy (5.68 ERA in 90 1/3 innings), but he settled in as a durable workhorse for the Twins the following season.
From 2002-05, Lohse averaged 32 starts and 189 innings per season, pitching to a 4.61 ERA with 5.4 K/9 against 2.8 BB/9. That, of course, was a markedly different era of baseball, as evidenced by the fact that Lohse’s collective 4.61 ERA in those 754 1/3 innings translated to an ERA+ of 99 — meaning he was roughly a league-average starter for the Twins in a heightened offensive period for baseball.
Lohse was eventually flipped to the Reds in 2006 and would spent parts of the next two seasons in Cincinnati and Philadelphia before setting into the Cardinals’ rotation for half a decade. Lohse enjoyed some of his best seasons in St. Louis, including a 2011 season that saw him post a 3.39 ERA in 30 starts for the World Champion Cardinals and a 2012 season in which he posted a career-best 2.86 ERA in 211 innings. Lohse started the NL Wild Card game for the Cards in 2012 and took home the win in that game, setting up St. Louis for another run to the NLCS. In all, he posted a 3.90 ERA in 809 innings for the chief rival of the club which originally drafted and traded him.
Following his strong run with the Cards, Lohse inked a three-year, $33MM deal with the Brewers, remaining in the NL Central and again serving as a thorn in the side to two former organizations — at least for the first two years of his deal. Lohse signed late in Spring Training in 2013 but proved to be well worth the investment when he tossed 397 innings of 3.45 ERA ball for the Brewers in the first two seasons of his deal. He stumbled in the final season of that contract, however, losing his rotation spot and finishing the year in a bullpen as he limped to the finish line with a 5.85 ERA. Lohse threw just 9 1/3 innings in the Majors after that point — all coming with the 2016 Rangers.
Lohse never made an All-Star team and only received Cy Young votes once in his career — a seventh-place finish in 2012 — but will still go down as one of the best 29th-round picks in history (even if Ken Griffey Sr. can probably lay claim to the top spot). Few players selected that late in the draft approach the type of career that Lohse had. At a point in the draft when most players selected are organizational filler, he forged a 16-year playing career that saw him post a 147-143 record with a 4.40 ERA, 1615 strikeouts, 12 complete games and even nine shutouts over the life of 2531 2/3 Major League innings. Lohse earned more than $89MM in a career that was valued by Baseball-Reference at 19.6 wins above replacement and at 26.3 wins above replacement by Fangraphs. Best of luck to Lohse in his post-playing days.
Matt Shoemaker Shut Down Indefinitely
Angels right-hander Matt Shoemaker has been shut down indefinitely after suffering a setback in his rehab from a forearm strain, he told reporters Thursday (Twitter link via Mike DiGiovanna of the L.A. Times). Shoemaker is headed to see a nerve specialist in Missouri next week in an effort to better determine the cause of his discomfort.
“It’s extremely frustrating,” the right-hander said. “I’m pissed off. Everything felt great until I ramped up with bullpen on Sunday. Then the symptoms came back.”
The setback is the latest in an ongoing string of health issues for Shoemaker, who has pitched in just 83 1/3 innings dating back to Opening Day 2017. Shoemaker has had three separate trips to the disabled list in the past year due to forearm injuries and underwent surgery on his right forearm last August. A season prior, he was struck by a line-drive and suffered a skull fracture that ultimately required surgery to alleviate internal bleeding. As Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register explains, though, while both last year’s forearm injury and the current injury are nerve related, the current injury seems to be different than the one that plagued him in 2017.
It’s yet another tough loss for an Angels pitching staff that is currently without Nick Tropeano due to a shoulder injury and has seen J.C. Ramirez‘s season cut short by Tommy John surgery. The Halos also lost righty Alex Meyer and lefty Nate Smith for the 2018 season long before it even began due to shoulder surgery (Sept. 2017 for Meyer, Jan. 2018 for Smith).
[Related: Los Angeles Angels depth chart]
Shohei Ohtani, Garrett Richards, Tyler Skaggs, Andrew Heaney and Jaime Barria are currently in the Angels’ rotation, with Parker Bridwell on the 40-man roster as a sixth option when necessary (though he’s currently in Triple-A). Former Reds lefty John Lamb is off to a nice start with their Triple-A club as he looks to put his injuries behind him, though he’s not on the 40-man roster.
The Angels already have one open spot on their 40-man roster, and at this point, Shoemaker has been on the disabled list for 40 days and clearly won’t be activated before hitting the 60-day mark. As such, the Angels should be able to make two depth adds whenever they see fit — be they internal or from outside the organization — by using their vacant spot and by transferring Shoemaker to the 60-day disabled list.
Rays To Promote Anthony Banda
The Rays are set to call up pitching prospect Anthony Banda, reports Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. Topkin notes that it’s not yet clear whether the left-hander will merely be the 26th man for Saturday’s doubleheader or if he’ll be earning a longer look at the MLB level.
The centerpiece in the surprising trade in which Tampa Bay traded Steven Souza Jr. to the Diamondbacks, Banda has gotten off to a strong start in Triple-A Durham this season. Through 36 innings, the 24-year-old has posted a 44-to-16 K/BB ratio (11.0 K/9, 4.0 BB/9) with a 42.1 percent ground-ball rate and just one homer allowed. The resulting 3.50 ERA is bloated to an extent by a .375 average on balls in play behind Banda, with metrics like FIP (2.72) and xFIP (3.25) providing a more bullish outlook on his performance.
It won’t be the first MLB look for Banda, who pitched in eight games for the Diamondbacks in 2018 but struggled to a near-6.00 ERA in that small sample of work. The former top 100 prospect — Baseball America ranked him 88th heading into 2017 — had a rough season in both Triple-A and the Majors last year, but he’s looked much more like the 2016 version of himself so far with his new club.
Whether this proves to be a spot start or a longer-term audition for Banda, it’s hard to argue that he won’t have a crack at stepping into the team’s rotation at some point this season. The Rays entered the year planning to utilize a four-man rotation (Chris Archer, Jake Faria, Blake Snell and Nathan Eovaldi) with the would-be fifth slot in the pitching order being a “bullpen day” each week. However, Eovaldi was hurt early on in the season and has yet to pitch at the big league level.
Meanwhile prospects Brent Honeywell and Jose De Leon were lost for the season due to Tommy John surgery, while right-hander Yonny Chirinos, who’d stepped up as the fourth starter in place of Eovaldi, is now out for a month himself. Whether in a traditional starting role or in a hybrid capacity on the team’s bullpen days, Banda should earn a chance to prove that he can be a fixture on the Tampa Bay pitching staff for years to come in the near future.
Reds To Option Brandon Finnegan; Matt Harvey To Start Tomorrow
The Reds will option left-hander Brandon Finnegan to Triple-A Louisville tomorrow, and his spot in the rotation will go to the newly acquired Matt Harvey, the team tells reporters (Twitter link via John Fay of the Cincinnati Enquirer).
[Related: Reds Acquire Matt Harvey]
It’s been a rough start to the season for Finnegan, as the former first-rounder has issued more walks (15) than strikeouts (14) and yielded 20 runs (17 earned) in 20 2/3 innings out of the Cincinnati rotation. Of the 27 hits Finnegan has allowed, five have left the yard. He’ll head to Triple-A and look to hone his command as he looks to work his way back onto the big league roster and trim an unsightly 7.40 ERA.
As for Harvey, he’ll be getting a fresh start after a dramatic and highly publicized end to his tenure in Queens. The righty has been rocked for 21 runs on 33 hits and nine walks with 20 strikeouts in 27 innings so far in 2018 as he still searches for his pre-thoracic-outlet-syndrome form. Moving to the hitter-friendly Great American Ballpark isn’t likely to do him any favors in curbing his home run problems — he’s yielded six in 27 innings — though the change of scenery and a lower-profile setting could perhaps provide a mental reprieve.
Cincinnati flipped catcher Devin Mesoraco, whose own career has been derailed by injuries in recent seasons, to the Mets to acquire the rights to roll the dice on Harvey earlier this month. The Reds are reportedly still paying the entirety of Mesoraco’s $13.8MM salary, while the Mets are on the hook for what’s left of Harvey’s $5.6MM salary.
Adam Eaton Undergoes Ankle Surgery
Nationals center fielder Adam Eaton underwent arthroscopic surgery on his injured left ankle today, reports Jack Magruder of FanRag Sports (Twitter link). Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post had reported yesterday that Eaton was visiting a specialist in Wisconsin, and that evaluation revealed a “cartilage problem” that necessitated the operation, per Magruder. Eaton remains in a walking boot, and there is not presently a timetable for his return, per Magruder.
More specifically, Janes adds (via Twitter) that three different doctors were unable to see the source of pain in Eaton’s ankle on either MRIs or bone scans, but the scope revealed a tear in his chondral flap, explaining the pain he’d been experiencing. MASNsports.com’s Dan Kolko tweets that Eaton’s ankle will be immobilized for a week, but a return this season is still “in play.”
The ankle procedure is yet another roadblock in Eaton’s short career with the Nationals since being traded over from the White Sox during the 2016 Winter Meetings. The fleet-footed outfielder missed the majority of the 2017 campaign when he tore the ACL in his left knee early last year, and he played in just eight games with the Nats in 2018 before injuring his ankle on a foot-first slide.
When healthy, Eaton has been nothing short of brilliant for the Nats, hitting .308/.400/.508 in 140 trips to the plate, but he’s unfortunately been able to suit up only 31 times for the organization. Of course, the very reason that the Nationals were willing to part with three highly touted pitching prospects — Reynaldo Lopez, Lucas Giolito and Dane Dunning — in order to acquire Eaton was that he was controlled so affordably and for such a long time. They’ll still have plenty of time to reap value from their investment in the 29-year-old, as he’s locked up through the 2021 season at a total of $34.4MM (with the final $20MM of that sum coming in the form of two club options for 2020-21).
[Related: Washington Nationals depth chart]
With Eaton now sidelined for the foreseeable future, the Nats will continue to utilize Michael A. Taylor in center field, with Bryce Harper in his customary right field. Left field has been manned by a platoon of hot-hitting Matt Adams and Howie Kendrick of late, though the Nats also have Andrew Stevenson and Moises Sierra on the big league roster as outfield options at present, with Rafael Bautista in Triple-A as another 40-man option. Top prospect Victor Robles is also on the 40-man roster, but he’s nursing an elbow injury at the moment, and the Nats don’t want to recall him unless he’s able to receive everyday at-bats.
Royals Release Kyle Lohse
The Royals have released veteran right-hander Kyle Lohse, tweets Rustin Dodd of The Athletic. He’d been pitching with Kansas City’s Triple-A affiliate in Omaha after signing a minor league deal back in March.
Lohse, 39, didn’t pitch in the Majors or minors in 2017 and only notched 9 1/3 big league innings in the 2016 season (all coming with the Rangers). He’d had a rough time adjusting to pro ball again to this point in the 2018 season, yielding a dozen runs on 17 hits and five walks with five strikeouts in 8 2/3 innings with the Storm Chasers (12.46 ERA).
Lohse was a workhorse for the Twins, Cardinals and Brewers at various points in his career, though he hasn’t experienced much in the way of success at the big league level since posting a strong 3.54 ERA in 198 1/3 innings with the Brew Crew back in 2014. Lohse struggled in 2015, the final season of a three-year $33MM deal with Milwaukee, losing his rotation spot and being shifted to the bullpen late in a season that saw him post a 5.85 earned run average (albeit with a slightly more encouraging 4.40 xFIP).
It’s possible, of course, that he’ll look to latch on elsewhere in a continued pursuit of returning to the Majors as his 40th birthday approaches, though he’ll have a ways to go before convincing a team that he’s capable of pitching in the Majors again.
Orioles Notes: Machado, Brach, O’Day, Vielma
In his latest Inside Baseball notes column, Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports writes that while many expect the Orioles to focus on pitching help in the seemingly inevitable event that they shop Manny Machado to contending clubs, some familiar with the team’s thinking also believe they’ll be keen on pursuing additional infield talent. With Machado hitting the market at season’s end and Jonathan Schoop only controlled through 2019, the O’s are set to lose two of the league’s better infielders in a short period of time. Prospect Ryan Mountcastle could conceivably emerge as an option in the infield, though he began the season on the DL with a fractured hand, and there’s been quite a bit of debate as to where he’ll fit on the field. Heyman also notes that he spoke to a scout who said that setup man/closer Brad Brach‘s stuff is “a little down” thus far in 2018, though the same scout offered no hesitation in stating that he’d “still take” Brach in his team’s bullpen.
Here’s more out of Baltimore…
- Eduardo A. Encina provides some insight into the injury that sent righty Darren O’Day to the 10-day disabled list with a hyperextended right elbow. O’Day explains that a “freak accident” occurred during the middle innings of Tuesday’s game as he began stretching and getting loose. A teammate inadvertently ran into his arm while he was stretching it, hyperextending the right elbow and initially causing O’Day to fear that he’d suffered a serious injury. An MRI revealed no structural damage in O’Day’s right arm, and manager Buck Showalter actually said that the MRI was “remarkably good” for a pitcher in his mid-30s.
- Showalter also addressed the media about an injury sustained by infielder Engelb Vielma while playing with Triple-A Norfolk (link via Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com). Vielma suffered a broken patella when chasing down a foul pop and tripping over a bullpen mound in foul territory, ultimately smashing his knee into a portion of exposed concrete at the Durham Bulls’ field (the Rays’ top affiliate). Showalter was not shy about expressing his anger over the matter calling the injury both “brutal” and suggesting it could have easily been avoided. “It’s hard for me to imagine in today’s game that we can’t make that mandatory, Triple-A and Double-A and the big leagues,” said the skipper. “We have mounds on the playing field. Really? It just infuriates me.” There’s no timeline on Vielma’s return, though Showalter said it’ll be “an extended period.” The 23-year-old defensive whiz made his big league debut with the O’s earlier this season, though he made just eight plate appearances in six games. Both pieces from Encina and Kubatko have additional quotes from a lengthy Showalter rant that expresses his frustration with the circumstances that led to the injury.
Reds Promote Nick Krall To General Manager
The Reds announced this afternoon that assistant general manager Nick Krall has been named the club’s new general manager. President of baseball operations Dick Williams will continue to oversee the club’s entire baseball operations department, per the announcement. The Reds, then, will be employing the president/general manager tandem that has become increasingly popular throughout the game, with organizations such as the Cubs, Dodgers, Athletics and numerous others have adopted in recent seasons.
It’s been a steady climb through the Reds’ ranks for Krall, who broke in with the organization in 2003 when he was hired to run the club’s advance scouting department. Since that time, Krall has been the team’s assistant director of baseball operations, the senior director of baseball operations and, most recently, a vice president and assistant GM. The LSU grad has been working in professional baseball since getting a foot in the door with the A’s back in 2001-02.
“Moving forward, Nick will be more heavily involved in the decisions we need to make to improve our product on the field both at the Major League and minor league levels,” Williams said in a statement announcing the promotion.
In addition to his advance scouting work earlier in his career, Krall’s previous duties as a VP and AGM saw him involved in a wide range of baseball ops responsibilities, including arbitration, contract negotiations, player acquisition and rules/waiver compliance. He’ll bring a wide range of experience to his newfound title, though it appears that final say on baseball operations decisions will still lie with Williams.