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Rockies Designate Miguel Castro For Assignment

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The Rockies have designated right-hander Miguel Castro for assignment, thereby clearing a roster spot for left-hander Kyle Freeland.

Castro joined the Rockies in July 2015 as part of their Troy Tulowitzki trade with the Blue Jays, who also gave up righty Jeff Hoffman and shortstop Jose Reyes in the deal. At the time, Castro ranked as one of the Jays’ best prospects, but his stock has obviously dropped since switching organizations. Now 22, Castro debuted in Toronto prior to the trade and has since posted a 6.12 ERA, 8.35 K/9 and 4.16 BB/9 in 32 1/3 innings between there and Colorado. The hard thrower totaled just 30 1/3 innings last year, 15 2/3 of which came at the Triple-A level. He was even worse there, as he yielded 18 earned runs on 21 hits and seven walks.

Minor MLB Transactions: 4/2/17

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Sunday’s minor moves…

  • The White Sox have selected the contracts of three offseason minor league signings – infielder/outfielder Cody Asche, catcher Geovany Soto and right-handed reliever Anthony Swarzak. The 26-year-old Asche was once a well-regarded prospect with the Phillies, but he scuffled to a .240/.298/.385 line in 1,287 plate appearances with the club from 2013-16. Soto, who’s in his second stint with the White Sox, has typically served as a capable offensive catcher, and has thrown out would-be base stealers at a league-average rate, though his pitch-framing numbers have declined in recent seasons. Swarzak, meanwhile, has created intrigue this spring with an uptick in velocity. The 31-year-old threw harder than usual with the Yankees last season, and he logged terrific strikeout and walk rates of 9.0 and 2.03, respectively, per nine innings. However, a bloated home run-to-fly ball ratio (27.8 percent) led to a 5.52 ERA in 31 frames.
  • The Twins have selected catcher Chris Gimenez’s contract and placed reliever Glen Perkins on the 60-day disabled list, according to Mike Berardino of the Pioneer Press (Twitter link). The 34-year-old Gimenez has a history in Cleveland, including last season. His time there helped him land a minor league pact with the Twins, whose new front office head, Derek Falvey, used to work for the Tribe. Gimenez, a lifetime .218/.297/.335 hitter in 776 PAs, has garnered slightly negative reviews as a framer and will back up the defensively adept Jason Castro in Minnesota. As for Perkins, the Twins’ former (and future?) closer, the three-time All-Star is continuing to rehab from the shoulder surgery he underwent last June. Perkins threw just two innings in 2016.
  • The Indians have released left-hander Tim Cooney, who sat out of all last season because of shoulder problems and has dealt with a forearm strain this spring. Cleveland claimed Cooney off waivers from the Cardinals in November, a year after Cooney debuted in the majors and impressed across 31 1/3 innings and six starts. All told, Cooney registered a 3.16 ERA, 8.33 K/9 and 2.87 BB/9.
  • The Orioles have selected veteran outfielder Craig Gentry’s contract. The 33-year-old’s fate was reportedly tied to Rule 5 outfielder Aneury Tavarez, whom the Orioles returned to the Red Sox on Sunday. Gentry’s reemergence looked highly improbable a couple years ago, when he contemplated retirement after suffering a sixth concussion. He also only picked up limited major league experience over the past two seasons, and the Angels released him last year after he dealt with a spine injury. At his best, Gentry brought a solid blend of offense, defense and baserunning as a member of the Rangers from 2012-13. The right-handed hitter will now serve as a platoon option for a Baltimore team with lefty-swinging corner outfielders in Seth Smith and Hyun Soo Kim.
  • The Mets have selected the contract of infielder Ty Kelly, who’s back on their 40-man roster after the team designated him for assignment in February. Kelly could have ended up elsewhere at that point, but he ultimately cleared waivers. The 28-year-old made his big league debut with New York last season, hitting .241/.352/.345 in 71 trips to the plate.
  • The Reds have selected the contract of outfielder Patrick Kivlehan, who joined the organization as a waiver claim last September. Kivlehan debuted in the majors last year and picked up 24 plate appearances between San Diego and Cincinnati. The 27-year-old has mostly played at the Triple-A level, where he has slashed .255/.308/.477 in a combined 915 plate appearances with the Seattle, Texas and San Diego organizations.
  • The Marlins have selected the contract of first baseman/outfielder Tyler Moore, whom they signed to a minor league deal in December. Moore spent 2012-15 as a member of the NL East rival Nationals, with whom he hit .228/.281/.401 in 649 PAs. The 30-year-old was with another of the Marlins’ division rivals, the Braves, last season, but he didn’t make it to the majors. Instead, Moore was with Triple-A Gwinnett, where he batted just .229/.276/.375 over a small sample of PAs (106).

Indians Extend Roberto Perez

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The Indians have signed catcher Roberto Perez to a four-year extension worth a guaranteed $9MM, reports Jordan Bastian of MLB.com (Twitter links). The deal includes club options for the 2021 and ’22 seasons. A client of MDR Sports Management, Perez will make $550K in 2017, $1.5MM in 2018, $2.5MM in 2019 and $3.5MM in 2020. The options are for $5.5MM and $7MM, respectively, and come with $450K buyouts.

Roberto Perez

Cleveland has made a habit of extending players in recent years, having reached deals with Jose Ramirez, Corey Kluber, Carlos Carrasco, Jason Kipnis, Michael Brantley, Carlos Santana, Yan Gomes, Brandon Guyer and Josh Tomlin. Gomes, who shares the catcher position with Perez, is controllable through the 2021 campaign, and the club has a top behind-the-plate prospect on the way in Francisco Mejia, as Bastian notes (Twitter link).

The 26-year-old Perez, who would have been eligible for arbitration next winter, is now potentially in position to remain with the Indians through his age-31 season. The Puerto Rico native joined the Indians as a 33th-round pick in 2008 and made his major league debut in 2014. Since then, Perez has hit .220/.318/.355 in 505 plate appearances, though a .183/.285/.294 showing last season weighs down his overall line. Perez’s walk and strikeout rates (12.5 percent and 23.9 percent, respectively) were in line with career norms last season, but his hard contact dropped and his infield fly rate rose, helping lead to a .229 batting average on balls in play and a lack of production.

Despite his offensive struggles in 2016, Perez managed to provide value behind the plate, where he graded as one of Baseball Prospectus’ best pitch-framing catchers. That has typically been the case for Perez, who also threw out an incredible 50 percent of would-be base stealers and earned plus marks as a blocker last year. Thus far in his career, Perez has halted 43 percent of attempted base thieves. Given his defensive brilliance, it’s no surprise that the Tribe jumped at the chance to lock Perez up through his prime to a bargain deal.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Orioles Return Rule 5 Pick Aneury Tavarez To Red Sox

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SUNDAY: Tavarez is indeed going back to the Red Sox, per an announcement from the Orioles.

WEDNESDAY: The Orioles have placed outfielder Aneury Tavarez, one of their two picks in last year’s Rule 5 Draft, on outright waivers, reports Jon Meoli of the Baltimore Sun. If no team claims Tavarez, the 24-year-old will be offered back to the Red Sox organization, from which he was selected in December.

Any club that claims Tavarez would need to follow the same Rule 5 restrictions facing the Orioles; in other words, Tavarez must be carried on a team’s 25-man roster or else be placed on waivers and, upon clearing, offered back to Boston. Tavarez’s waiver period ends on Friday, according to Meoli. If he ends up back in Boston, the Red Sox are free to option Tavarez back to the minor leagues.

[Related: Baltimore Orioles Depth Chart]

Tavarez faced an uphill battle to crack a crowded Orioles outfield picture this spring, though he performed reasonably well in the chances he was given, hitting .292/.382/.396 with a homer and eight steals in 48 at-bats. However, the O’s have Hyun Soo Kim, Adam Jones, Seth Smith, Mark Trumbo and Joey Rickard as likely outfield options this coming season. Beyond that, non-roster invitee Craig Gentry has reportedly caught the eye of manager Buck Showalter. Elsewhere on the 40-man roster, Anthony Santander (another Rule 5 selection) is yet another option, though he’s currently dealing with some elbow soreness. Veteran utility infielder Ryan Flaherty, too, figures to see some time on the outfield grass this season as well.

Last year, Tavarez split the season between Boston’s Double-A and Triple-A affiliates, batting a collective .330/.374/.495 with seven homers and 20 stolen bases in 441 trips to the plate. He followed that up with a solid, but lesser performance in the Dominican Winter League, where he batted .283/.349/.362 in 175 plate appearances (prior to the aforementioned Spring Training performance).

Giants DFA Ray Black, Ian Gardeck

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The Giants have designated right-handers Ray Black and Ian Gardeck for assignment, according to the club.

The 26-year-old Black has thus far spent his entire professional career with the Giants, who selected him in the seventh round of the 2011 amateur draft. Black ascended to the Double-A level last year and, thanks to an outrageous walk rate (9.19 per nine innings), recorded a 4.88 ERA across 31 1/3 frames. At the same time, he did strike out 15.22 batters per nine, and Black posted both sky-high strikeout rates and better walk rates from 2014-15.

Gardeck, like Black, entered the pros as a Giants draft pick, going in the 16th round in 2012. He missed all of 2016 on account of Tommy John surgery, but the now-26-year-old produced the previous season at the High-A level, where he logged a 3.54 ERA, 10.84 K/9 and 2.5 BB/9 in 86 1/3 innings.

Blue Jays Release Melvin Upton Jr., Designate Mike Bolsinger

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The Blue Jays have released outfielder Melvin Upton Jr. and designated right-hander Mike Bolsinger for assignment, reports Shi Davidi of Sportsnet (Twitter link). The team has also placed closer Roberto Osuna on the 10-day disabled list. Meanwhile, infielder Ryan Goins, catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia and righties Ryan Tepera and Dominic Leone have earned roster spots.

The fact that Toronto has moved on from Upton is no surprise, as ESPN’s Buster Olney reported Saturday that he wouldn’t crack the club’s 25-man roster. The Blue Jays had been working to trade Upton, whom they acquired in a deal with the Padres last summer, but weren’t able to find a taker, leading to his release. This is certainly a fall from grace for the 32-year-old Upton, who looked like a good bet to serve as a platoon left fielder with Ezequiel Carrera at the outset of camp. But a rough spring training and, more importantly, a .196/.261/.318 showing in 165 PAs with the Blue Jays led the club to bail on him.

Upton will make $16.45MM this season, the final year of the $75.5MM deal he signed with the Braves in 2012, but the Padres are on the hook for most of that. San Diego ate all but $5MM of the remaining $22MM left on Upton’s contract when it traded him. Upton was a useful player as a member of the Padres, with whom he slashed .257/.313/.435 with 21 home runs and 29 steals in 602 PAs and earned positive marks in the field (nine Defensive Runs Saved, 2.9 Ultimate Zone Rating). Not far removed from that production, he could catch on elsewhere as a low-cost option for an outfielder-needy team.

The 29-year-old Bolsinger came to the Blue Jays from the Dodgers last summer in a one-for-one swap involving righty Jesse Chavez. Bolsinger didn’t reach the majors with Toronto, instead throwing 25 1/3 innings with Triple-A Buffalo. He amassed 189 1/3 innings with the Diamondbacks and Dodgers from 2014-16, almost exclusively from the rotation (37 appearances, 36 starts), and posted a 4.61 ERA, 8.13 K/9, 3.38 BB/9 and a 50 percent ground-ball rate.

Osuna, whose DL placement is retroactive to Saturday, is on the shelf thanks to a cervical spasm. The star reliever’s loss, even if it’s brief, should be a notable one for a Toronto club that’s lacking in high-end bullpen weapons. Osuna has been just that during his career, having pitched to a 2.63 ERA and registered 9.84 K/9 and 1.88 BB/9 in 143 2/3 frames over the previous two seasons. The 22-year-old has also combined for 56 saves, 36 of which came last season. Either Jason Grilli, who has plenty of ninth-inning experience, or Joe Biagini will take over the ninth inning in Osuna’s absence, tweets Jon Morosi of MLB Network.

Cardinals Extend Yadier Molina

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The Cardinals and catcher Yadier Molina have finalized a three-year extension that will guarantee the seven-time All-Star $60MM, making him the majors’ highest-paid catcher by average annual value. Molina will collect $20MM in each season of the deal, which doesn’t include any deferred money.

Yadier Molina | Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports

St. Louis and Molina were reportedly in serious talks over the duration of Spring Training, with an update last weekend suggesting that the two sides had “made progress” on a deal. Molina is represented by MDR Sports Management.

The new contract will keep the franchise icon in St. Louis through the 2020 campaign rather than allowing him to hit free agency at season’s end. Though he’s set to turn 35 years of age in July, Molina remained a productive backstop in 2016, hitting .307/.360/.427 with eight homers and 38 doubles in 581 plate appearances.

Molina also retained well above-average marks in terms of pitch-framing — a trend that has followed him throughout a career that has seen him earn eight Gold Glove nods, four Platinum Glove Awards and a Silver Slugger. He’s garnered MVP votes on five occasions, including a pair of Top 4 finishes in 2012 and 2013.

Of course, Molina is hardly without his red flags. He’s already 34 years of age and will turn 35 this July, meaning he’ll be 38 years of age for the final three months or so of this contract in 2020. Beyond that, Molina has seen his power numbers dip since his 2011-13 peak.

While some of that could potentially be attributed to a surgeries to repair torn ulnar collateral ligaments in each of his thumbs, and he did demonstrate an uptick in pop last year, there’s no guarantee that he’ll return to his previous levels of power output. And, if his power production trends in the other direction, as it did in 2015, Molina’s limited on-base skills (6.2 percent walk rate since 2013) create the possibility that he could be a decidedly below-average hitter. In fact, dating back to 1900, only nine qualified catchers have turned in even a league-average batting line between their age-35 and age-37 seasons (hat tip: Fangraphs leaderboards).

On the defensive side of the coin, though his framing marks remained excellent, Molina threw out a career-worst 21 percent of attempted base thieves during the 2016 campaign. His career 42 percent caught-stealing rate lends plenty of reason to expect a rebound, but the surprising dip in effectiveness is nonetheless worth monitoring.

Molina joins Buster Posey, Brian McCann and Russell Martin as catchers with average annual values of more than $16MM on their respective contracts. Molina suggested last week that there are “too many” catchers earning more than him. Posey’s $18.56MM annual rate had been tops among backstops, but he’ll slide to second in the wake of the Molina extension.

From a bigger-picture perspective, the move to extend Molina effectively blocks top catching prospect Carson Kelly for another three seasons, which will inevitably lead to some degree of trade speculation surrounding the talented 22-year-old. Kelly rates as a consensus Top 100 prospect, with MLB.com rating him 39th overall in the game. ESPN’s Keith Law ranked him 51st on his Top 100 this offseason, while Baseball America tabbed him at No. 65 overall and Baseball Prospectus placed him 81st in the game.

FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal first reported the two sides were nearing a deal. FanRag’s Jon Heyman first reported an agreement was in place, and he reported the exact value. USA Today’s Bob Nightengale reported the yearly salaries. Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Rays Designate Luke Maile For Assignment

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The Rays have designated catcher Luke Maile for assignment, tweets Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. Topkin reported Saturday that Maile was a candidate to lose his 40-man roster spot.

The 26-year-old Maile became superfluous to the Rays when they signed fellow backstop Derek Norris last month. Even without Maile, they still have three experienced catchers on hand in Norris, Jesus Sucre and Curt Casali, the last of whom will open the year in the minors.

Maile, whom the Rays chose in the eighth round of the 2012 amateur draft, debuted in the majors in 2015. He has since collected 161 plate appearances and batted a woeful .214/.234/.338. Most of Maile’s big league action came last year, when he drew positive pitch-framing marks in 42 games behind the plate and threw out seven of 18 would-be base stealers.

Marlins Sign Vance Worley To Minors Deal

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The Marlins have signed right-hander Vance Worley to a minor league contract, reports Joe Frisaro of MLB.com. Worley will open 2017 in their Triple-A rotation (Twitter link).

Worley, 29, hit the open market when the starter-rich Nationals released him Wednesday. The Marlins then “aggressively” pursued him, tweets Frisaro, and it seems he could crack their rotation sometime this year. Miami’s group of starters features plenty of question marks, while experienced depth options like Justin Nicolino, Odrisamer Despaigne and Kyle Lobstein don’t inspire much confidence.

Even though he’s neither a hard thrower nor a strikeout artist, Worley has generated decent results in the majors, having recorded a 3.75 ERA, 6.76 K/9, 2.87 BB/9 and a 45.7 percent ground-ball rate 595 1/3 innings. The majority of his 135 appearances (85) have come from the rotation. The former Phillie, Twin, Pirate and Oriole owns a 3.89 ERA in 490 1/3 frames as a starter.

Yankees Sign Pete Kozma To Major League Contract

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The Yankees have signed infielder Pete Kozma to a major league contract and added him to their 25-man roster, per a team announcement. Kozma is a client of Excel Sports Management.

Pete Kozma

Kozma joined the Yankees on a minor league deal in December 2015, but he didn’t see any major league action last season. This spring, it helped the shortstop’s cause when starter Didi Gregorius suffered a shoulder injury in late March. Gregorius is likely to miss all of April, which will leave short to Ronald Torreyes and Kozma to begin the season.

The 28-year-old Kozma saw big league action from 2011-15 with the Cardinals and appeared in 275 games, most of which (173) came at short. Kozma offered little offensively during that span, as he hit a paltry .222/.288/.293 in 689 plate appearances. However, he did rack up 13 Defensive Runs Saved and post a 10.7 Ultimate Zone Rating in 1,399 innings as a shortstop.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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