White Sox Claim D.J. Peterson
The White Sox have claimed infielder D.J. Peterson off waivers from the Mariners, according to an announcement from Seattle. The Mariners designated Peterson for assignment on July 30.
The 25-year-old Peterson had been with the Mariners since they used the 12th overall pick on him in the 2013 draft. Peterson was a fixture on top 100 prospects lists in the early going, but since holding his own at the Single-A and Double-A levels from 2013-14, his bat has cooled. Peterson hasn’t been able to conquer Triple-A pitching, as he batted .260/.316/.418 in 627 plate appearances with the Mariners’ affiliate in Tacoma. He hit just .264/.323/.414 there this year, good for 12 percent worse than the Pacific Coast League average, according to wRC+.
Peterson has three options remaining, per Roster Resource, and could get a shot in the majors at some point with the rebuilding White Sox. For now, he’ll head to Triple-A Charlotte.
Mariners Acquire Ryan Garton, Mike Marjama From Rays
Mariners general manager Jerry Dipoto is at it again. Shortly after the team’s Yonder Alonso trade with the Athletics, Dipoto announced that Seattle has acquired right-hander Ryan Garton and catcher Mike Marjama from the Rays for two minor leaguers – left-hander Anthony Misiewicz and infielder Luis Rengifo – and a player to be named later. Garton and Marjama will report to Triple-A Tacoma, tweets Bob Dutton of the Tacoma News Tribune. To make room for their new additions, the Mariners designated catcher Tuffy Gosewisch for assignment.
The only player in the trade with major league experience is the 27-year-old Garton, who debuted in the majors in 2016 and has also seen action this season. Garton did passable work in 39 1/3 innings and 37 appearances out of the Rays’ bullpen last season (4.35 ERA, 7.55 K/9, 2.52 BB/9 and a 45.2 percent ground-ball rate), but this year has been a different story. Across 10 1/3 frames prior to the trade, Garton allowed 10 earned runs on 13 hits and five walks, with nine strikeouts. He has dominated Triple-A hitters in 2017, however, with a 1.64 ERA, 12.55 K/9 against 4.36 BB/9 and a 51.5 percent grounder rate in 33 frames.
Marjama, 28, is joining his third organization since the White Sox used a 23rd-round pick on him in 2011. In his first taste of Triple-A ball this year, he has batted a solid .274/.342/.445 in 292 plate appearances.
Misiewicz, meanwhile, was an 18th-rounder in 2015. The 22-year-old ascended to the Double-A ranks this season and has notched a 4.35 ERA with 6.97 K/9 and 2.4 BB/9 in 41 1/3 innings (seven starts).
Unlike Misiewicz, the 20-year-old Rengifo ranked among the Mariners’ top 30 prospects before the trade, according to MLB.com, which placed him at No. 27. The outlet notes that the 2014 international signing from Venezuela, a switch-hitter, “has a short, compact swing from both sides of the plate,” “above-average speed” and the range and arm strength necessary to make him a quality defensive infielder. Rengino has shown off his speed this year with 29 steals at the Single-A level, to go with a .250/.318/.413 line and 11 home runs in 450 PAs.
As for the 33-year-old Gosewisch, whom the Mariners claimed off waivers from the Braves in January, he appeared in 11 big league games back in May and limped to an .071/.103/.071 batting line in 31 tries. Gosewisch has generally been unusable with the bat during his career, having slashed .190/.228/.271 in 447 PAs between Arizona and Seattle, though he has thrown out 35 percent of would-be base thieves on the defensive side.
Mariners Acquire Yonder Alonso
The Mariners have acquired first baseman Yonder Alonso from the Athletics in exchange for minor league outfielder Boog Powell, per an announcement from Seattle. The M’s claimed Alonso off waivers prior to working out a deal with the American League West rival A’s, reports Ken Rosenthal of MLB Network (on Twitter).
[RELATED: Updated Mariners & A’s Depth Charts]
The 30-year-old Alonso has enjoyed a breakout season, but as an impending free agent on a rebuilding team, the expectation was that Oakland would move the $4MM slugger this summer. The A’s were unable to find a trade to their liking for Alonso before this past Monday’s non-waiver deadline, however, thanks in part to a lack of leaguewide demand at first base.
The playoff-contending Mariners have gotten little production from the position this year, though, with their first base options having combined for a woeful batting line (.246/.305/.385) and the majors’ third-worst fWAR (minus-0.8). Despite that shoddy production, Seattle holds a 56-55 record and sits just 1.5 games out of a wild-card position.
Seattle’s primary first baseman has been Danny Valencia, whose overall output hasn’t been great. However, the right-handed hitter has feasted on southpaw pitchers (.297/.368/.505), which could set up a formidable platoon consisting of him and the lefty-swinging Alonso. Buoyed by a newly adopted fly ball-first approach, Alonso has slashed an excellent .266/.369/.527 with 22 home runs in 371 plate appearances this year. Almost all of that damage has come off righties, against whom Alonso has batted .287/.393/.559 in 254 trips to the plate.
To land Alonso, the Mariners gave up the 24-year-old Powell, who got his first taste of big league action earlier this season and hit .194/.310/.194 over nine games and 43 PAs. He owns a far better .340/.416/.490 line in 239 Triple-A PAs this year, and has slashed a lifetime .288/.365/.402 at that level. Powell actually entered the professional ranks as the Athletics’ 20th-round pick back in 2012. They ended up sending him, John Jaso and Daniel Robertson to the Rays in a 2015 deal that netted the A’s Ben Zobrist and Yunel Escobar.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Royals Place Salvador Perez On DL
The Royals have placed catcher Salvador Perez on the disabled list, retroactive to Saturday, with an intercostal strain, tweets Rustin Dodd of the Kansas City Star. The team has recalled fellow backstop Cam Gallagher from Triple-A to take Perez’s place.
[RELATED: Updated Royals Depth Chart]
After Perez suffered the injury Friday, manager Ned Yost suggested that he could miss up to four weeks in a worst-case scenario, according to Wilson Alexander of MLB.com. That would cost Perez the rest of August and remove a linchpin from a Kansas City club that’s firmly in the American League playoff race. The Royals, trying to take advantage of what could be their championship-winning core’s last ride, own a 56-52 record that’s good enough for a one-game lead on the AL’s second wild-card spot. They also have a shot to claim the AL Central from the Indians, who hold a three-game advantage over the Royals.
The Royals’ success this year has come thanks in no small part to Perez, long one of their heart-and-soul players. Specifically, the 27-year-old’s bat has been a boon to the Royals’ cause in 2017. Perez has belted a career-high-tying 21 home runs and posted a personal-best .232 ISO across 391 plate appearances, contributing to a terrific .278/.308/.510 line. He hasn’t been nearly as excellent defensively, however, having continued a careerlong trend of notching minus pitch-framing marks (per Baseball Prospectus). Additionally, Perez has thrown out would-be base stealers at only a slightly above-average clip (29 percent, compared to a league mean of 27 percent), after nailing runners a league-high 48 percent of the time in 2016.
As they continue vying for a playoff berth, the Royals will trudge on with Drew Butera and Gallagher as their options behind the plate. No one would confuse the light-hitting Butera for Perez, though, while Gallagher had never cracked the majors until Sunday. A second-round pick in 2011, the 24-year-old Gallagher reached Triple-A for the first time this season and hit .294/.339/.408 in 259 PAs before his promotion.
If the Royals aren’t content with Butera and Gallagher, it’s possible they’ll look to the August waiver market for help behind the plate. As MLBTR’s Steve Adams noted this week, veteran catchers Kurt Suzuki (Braves), Nick Hundley (Giants) and A.J. Ellis (Marlins) could move before the month’s out.
MLBTR Originals
This week’s original content from the MLBTR staff:
- While the non-waiver trade deadline passed on July 31, there are still several notable veterans teams could deal during the waiver process this month. With that in mind, Steve Adams listed the top 25 August trade candidates. Considering both trade likelihood and trade value, Steve put Braves reliever Jim Johnson at No. 1.
- Prior to Monday’s frenzy, Jeff Todd and Steve ranked the top 25 pre-deadline trade candidates. Sonny Gray and Yu Darvish tied for first, and both ended up changing teams Monday. The first eight players on the list all found new homes, in fact.
- Jason Martinez highlighted rising farmhands from the Rays, Astros, White Sox, Rockies and Mets in this week’s version of his “Knocking Down the Door” series.
- In the first MLBTR mailbag in a while, Steve fielded questions on Braves infielder Johan Camargo, Yankees outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury‘s trade value (or lack thereof), Pirates center fielder Andrew McCutchen‘s future and international spending.
- Several established hitters have endured contract years ranging from nightmarish at worst to mediocre at best in 2017. I checked in on eight of those players.
AL Notes: Joyce, Rangers, Otani, Tribe, Twins
Major League Baseball announced Saturday that it has suspended Athletics outfielder Matt Joyce two games without pay for directing an anti-gay slur at a heckling fan during the team’s game in Anaheim on Friday. In response, the A’s stated they’re “very disappointed” by Joyce’s “unacceptable” comments, but they “appreciate that Matt is contrite about his conduct and know he will learn from this incident.”
Joyce was apologetic Saturday, saying: “I am beyond sorry for the inappropriate language that I used and understand and agree that those words should NEVER come out of someone’s mouth no matter the situation. Anyone who knows me will tell you that it is not reflective of me as a person, how I treat others, how I live my life and that those hurtful words are not my views. I fully support and hope to help the LGBTQ community with their efforts in being treated fairly. I intend to let my actions speak louder than anything more that can be said about this truly regrettable moment.”
Joyce’s forfeited salary amounts to upward of $54K, according to Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle, and the A’s will donate it to PFLAG – an organization that provides support to the LGBTQ community.
More from the American League:
- The Rangers tipped their hand for the upcoming offseason when they traded minor league infielder Brallan Perez to the Orioles for $500K in international spending rights on Saturday, opines Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News. To Grant, the move signals that the Rangers are retooling – not rebuilding – and will attempt to use their international money to sign two-way Japanese superstar Shohei Otani over the winter. The Rangers have coveted Otani for a while, which is part of the reason they didn’t make an effort to extend fellow Japan native Yu Darvish before they traded him to the Dodgers this past Monday, writes Grant. Big-money deals for over-30 pitchers are risky, Grant points out, and Darvish will turn 31 on Aug. 16.
- With Andrew Miller on the disabled list and Boone Logan‘s season likely over, the Indians are “open” to adding another left-hander to their bullpen this month, says FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal (Twitter link). There’s not a lot of optimism it will happen, though, as an Indians official told Rosenthal that it’s “extremely difficult” to get a lefty reliever through the waiver process.
- The Twins’ first-year hierarchy of chief baseball officer Derek Falvey and general manager Thad Levine is in the midst of reshaping the organization, reports La Velle E. Neal III of the Star Tribune in a pair of pieces. The club fired director of baseball research Jack Goin, a holdover from the team’s previous regime, on Friday. The Twins then axed four area scouts – Marty Esposito, Alan Sandberg, Ted Williams and Mark Wilson – on Saturday. More changes are on the way, but Falvey informed Neal that assistant GM Rob Antony and head of player personnel Mike Radcliff will continue to have roles with the Twins. Any alterations to the Twins’ major or minor league coaching staffs or their player development won’t come until the offseason, per Falvey.
Brewers Release Tom Wilhelmsen
The Brewers announced that they’ve released right-handed reliever Tom Wilhelmsen, who signed a minor league contract with the team on June 20.
This was the second stint with the Brewers for the 33-year-old Wilhelmsen, whom they selected in the seventh round of the 2002 draft. Wilmhelmsen has never cracked the majors with the Brewers, though, and struggled mightily with their Triple-A affiliate in Colorado Springs this year. Across 13 innings, Wilhelmsen recorded a 13.15 ERA with 7.62 K/9 and 4.85 BB/9.
Formerly the Mariners’ closer, Wilhelmsen signed a minors deal with the Diamondbacks over the winter after dividing 2016 between Seattle and Texas. Wilhelmsen made Arizona’s season-opening roster, but he underwhelmed over the first few months of the campaign, leading the team to designate him for assignment in early June. While Wilhemsen showed off a 95 mph fastball and posted a 49.4 percent ground-ball rate in 26 1/3 innings with the D-backs, he combined a 4.44 ERA with unappealing strikeout and walk rates (5.81 K/9, 4.1 BB/9).
Minor MLB Transactions: 8/5/17
Saturday’s minor moves from around baseball:
- Former Mariners outfielder Stefen Romero has signed a contract extension to remain with the Orix Buffaloes of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball, MLBTR has learned. It’s a two-year, $5MM deal that comes with a third-year option for $4MM. Romero, a client of Beverly Hills Sports Council, signed with Orix last November and has slashed an outstanding .300/.349/.567 with 19 home runs in 258 plate appearances this season.
- Royals right-hander Andrew Edwards has cleared waivers and been sent outright to Double-A Northwest Arkansas, tweets Jeffrey Flanagan of MLB.com. The Royals designated Edwards for assignment last Sunday when they acquired outfielder Melky Cabrera from the White Sox. The 25-year-old Edwards has spent the majority of the season at Double-A and pitched to an 8.51 ERA, with 9.2 K/9 against 3.3 BB/9, over 24 1/3 innings at that level.
Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Yanks, D-backs, Bucs, Giants, Astros, A’s
This week in baseball blogs:
- Bronx Bomber Ball names five reasons the Yankees are the immediate winners in their Sonny Gray trade with the Athletics.
- Underthought opines that the Diamondbacks made the best trade of the deadline when they acquired outfielder J.D. Martinez from the Tigers.
- The Point of Pittsburgh believes the Pirates and general manager Neal Huntington should part ways after the season.
- The Giants Cove criticizes San Francisco for how it handled the deadline.
- The Runner Sports reacts to the Astros’ quiet deadline.
- A’s Farm (links: 1, 2, 3) talks with Athletics right-hander Jesse Hahn, first base prospect Matt Olson and Triple-A manager Ryan Christenson.
- TheIntrepidSTL questions the way the Cardinals construct their roster.
- District On Deck looks at five starters the Nationals could target via waivers.
- The Sports Tank focuses on the Red Sox’s acquisition of reliever Addison Reed from the Mets.
- Jays Journal observes that Toronto right fielder Jose Bautista‘s tenure with the franchise is on the verge of ending.
- Clubhouse Corner interviews shortstop prospect Kevin Merrell, whom the Athletics chose 33rd overall in this year’s draft.
- DiNardo’s Dugout (podcast) reflects on the deadline.
- Atlanta Baseball Talk (podcast) discusses Dansby Swanson‘s demotion and the Braves’ Jaime Garcia trade.
- BP Toronto analyzes Blue Jays right-hander Marcus Stroman.
- Mets Mind writes about outfielder Jay Bruce, whom the team was unable to trade at the deadline.
- Big Three Sports shares a midseason top 100 prospects list.
- Notes From The Sally ranks the best prospects the Single-A South Atlantic League has seen over the past two seasons.
- Minor League Ball scouts Braves outfield prospect Cristian Pache.
- The Runner Sports suggests that Yankees general manager Brian Cashman has built a World Series-winning roster for 2019.
- Pirates Breakdown notes that the Bucs are being aggressive with high-end pitching prospect Mitch Keller.
- Call to the Pen looks at where the Phillies stand in the wake of their July trades.
- Jays From the Couch examines Toronto righty Marco Estrada‘s case for a contract extension.
- Mets Daddy lists five players the team needs to evaluate for the rest of the season.
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Extra Innings speaks with former major league slugger Shawn Green about the World Baseball Classic and MLB International.
- Now On Deck constructs a dream team consisting of those who have been inducted to the Baseball Hall of Fame since 2000.
- Elite Sports NY checks in on some up-and-coming Yankees prospects.
- RSN Stats sees this as a big weekend for the Red Sox.
Submissions: ZachBBWI @gmail.com
AL East Notes: Orioles, Red Sox, Yankees
Orioles right-hander Chris Tillman has functioned as a starter in all 194 of his major league appearances, but he’ll come out of the bullpen next time he takes the ball. Tillman has been the weakest link in an awful Orioles staff this year, having logged an 8.10 ERA over 66 2/3 innings, leading them to shift the impending free agent to a relief role, Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com was among those to report. The once-quality starter may be in his last weeks with the Orioles, but Dan Connolly of BaltimoreBaseball.com argues that they should re-sign him now in a buy-low maneuver. Connolly’s reasoning: Baltimore will be desperate for starting pitching in the offseason, and the team’s unlikely to bid for big fish such as ex-Oriole Jake Arrieta or Yu Darvish, so re-upping Tillman on a one-year, $6MM-$8MM deal with a club option for 2019 would be a worthwhile gamble.
More from Baltimore and two other AL East cities:
- When the Red Sox placed left-hander David Price on the disabled list last week on account of elbow issues, they were confident he’d return this season. Now, “the clock is working against” Price, writes Evan Drellich of CSNNE.com, as he’s dealing with soreness that prevented him from throwing from flat ground Friday. Afterward, president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski was unable to provide a timetable for a potential Price return. While Dombrowski noted that Price’s elbow has been “fine” when he has thrown, the executive conceded “the longer that he’s out, the longer it takes to come back, because you have to then build yourself back up.”
- Designated hitter Matt Holliday wasn’t in the Yankees’ starting lineup Saturday after tweaking his lower back Friday, and a DL stint is possible, per Bryan Hoch of MLB.com. Judging by his output lately, a Holliday absence wouldn’t be the worst thing for the scuffling Yankees. The 37-year-old got off to a sizzling start this season before going on the DL in late June with a viral infection. He has been a drain on New York’s offense since returning in mid-July, with a .136/.165/.198 line and 24 strikeouts against three walks in 85 second-half plate appearances.
- In an act that has become commonplace for the Orioles, they traded international bonus slots for a minor leaguer on Saturday, when they acquired High-A infielder Brallan Perez from the Rangers. Owner Peter Angelos doesn’t allow Dan Duquette to make splashes internationally, notes Jon Meoli of the Baltimore Sun, and the general manager explained Saturday what he has tried to accomplish by dealing the money for players who are already stateside. “We’ve been utilizing the international slot money to help us acquire some pitching to help our team,” said Duquette, who added that he’s “utilizing a trade resource to impact your team now rather than three, four, five years down the road.” The trade Duquette made Saturday wasn’t for a pitcher, nor will Perez make a big league impact imminently. However, previous swaps have netted the club hurlers in Yefry Ramirez, Matt Wotherspoon, Jason Wheeler and Damien Magnifico – the last of whom is now in the Angels organization.