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Astros Designate Cooper Hummel For Assignment

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The Astros have selected the contract of right-hander Spencer Arrighetti, a move that was reported last night. Right-hander Wander Suero was optioned to Triple-A Sugar Land to open an active roster spot while utility player Cooper Hummel was designated for assignment to open a 40-man spot. Chandler Rome of The Athletic was among those to relay the list of transactions.

Hummel, 29, was just claimed off waivers last week but the Astros have been dealing with a notable roster churn of late. Each of Suero, Arrighetti and Blair Henley have been selected to the 40-man in the past few days, which has squeezed Hummel out of his spot.

It’s been quite a nomadic few months for Hummel, who was with the Mariners in 2023. Since December, he’s gone to the Mets, Giants and Astros via waiver claims or cash deals. It’s possible yet another jersey swap is over the horizon, as the Astros will now have a week to trade him or try to pass him through waivers.

His 227 major league plate appearances have resulted in an unimpressive batting line of .166/.264/.286 but he’s naturally been much better in the minors. From the start of 2021 through the present day, he has 992 Triple-A plate appearances. He has drawn a walk in a huge 17.3% of those while keeping his strikeout rate down to a respectable 21.2% rate. His combined batting line of .287/.419/.488 in that time translates to a wRC+ of 131.

Defensively, Hummel offers a unique level of versatility, having spent significant time behind the plate as well as the outfield corners, first base and even a small amount of time at third base. He also has one option year remaining, which means he can be kept in Triple-A for depth until needed. With less than a year of service time, he’s still not close to qualifying for arbitration or free agency.

That combination of his Triple-A offense, his defensive flexibility and his contract status clearly makes him appealing to clubs, judging by how many of them have tried to grab him since the end of last year. Taking all that into consideration, he may be on the move yet again in the days to come. If he were to finally pass through waivers unclaimed, he would stick with the Astros as non-roster depth, since he has neither the three years of service time nor the previous career outright that would give him the right to elect free agency.

Jeferson Quero To Undergo Season-Ending Shoulder Surgery

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Brewers general manager Matt Arnold informed reporters, including Adam McCalvy of MLB.com, that catching prospect Jeferson Quero will undergo surgery for a torn labrum. The recovery time is expected to be nine months, which obviously ends the season for the young backstop.

It was reported last week that Quero, 21, had been diagnosed with a subluxation in his right shoulder. The club didn’t make the next steps known at that time as they were planning to get a second opinion, but it now seems that a determination has been made with surgery required for Quero.

It’s an unfortunate development for the Brewers, both in the short term and in the long term. In the short term, it will put a notable dent in the club’s catching depth. Quero was added to the club”s 40-man roster in November to keep him out of the Rule 5 draft and he was sent to Triple-A to start this year.

The Brewers have William Contreras and Gary Sánchez handling the catching duties at the big league level but Quero could have been in line for his big league debut this year if an injury arose to either of those two. Instead, Quero is the one who is injured, subtracting that option from the club this year. Eric Haase and Francisco Mejia are in Triple-A as non-roster depth options and one of those two will likely be the first up if another catcher is needed at the big league level.

In the long term, it’s an unfortunate loss of a development year for a notable young player in the system. Quero was a consensus top 50 prospect in the league coming into the year and is currently listed #35 in the league by Baseball America, #41 at FanGraphs, #33 at MLB Pipeline, #32 at ESPN and was all the way up at #12 on the list of Keith Law of The Athletic.

Long considered a strong defensive catcher, Quero hit well in the lower levels of the minors but without much power. Over 2021 and 2022, he hit .290/.357/.448 but with just 12 home runs in 488 plate appearances as he climbed to High-A. Last year, he was sent to Double-A and hit 16 homers in just 381 plate appearances while walking in 10% of his plate appearances and striking out just 17.8% of the time. He slashed .262/.339/.440 for a wRC+ of 107 despite being just 20 years old.

That strong showing vaulted him up prospect lists and seemed to have him in place to be pushing for a major league debut, perhaps as soon as this year. But after just one plate appearance at the Triple-A level this year, he suffered this injury and will have to sit out the remainder of the campaign. Quero is still young and will have plenty of time to get back on track but it’s obviously less than ideal for a young player to miss an entire year of reps as he is trying to grow as a player.

Since Quero was in the minor leagues when he suffered his injury, he’ll be placed on the minor league injured list. The Brewers could recall him and place him on the major league injured list if they want to open a 40-man roster spot, but doing so would start Quero’s service time clock.

Yoán Moncada To Miss Three To Six Months Due To Adductor Strain

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The White Sox announced that third baseman Yoán Moncada has been placed on the 10-day injured list due to a left adductor strain, with outfielder Oscar Colás recalled in a corresponding move. The club estimates that Moncada will miss three to six months.

Moncada, 29 in May, has been playing through this injury of late. Manager Pedro Grifol said yesterday, per Henry Palattella of MLB.com, that the issue has been nagging Moncada for three or four days but “He’s doing a really good job maintaining it.” That line of thinking blew up last night when Moncada collapsed while running out a groundout and had to be assisted off the field. In hindsight, it looks to have been a poor decision for him to have stayed on the field.

He has occasionally been an excellent player for the White Sox on both sides of the ball, providing strong defense at the hot corner and a quality bat at the plate. He showed that form as recently as the 2021 season when he hit 14 home runs and drew a walk in 13.6% of his plate appearances. His .263/.375/.412 batting line led to a wRC+ of 120 and his glovework earned three Defensive Runs Saved and Outs Above Average considered him to be right at league par.

But injuries have largely gotten in the way since then. He has gone on the IL due to a right oblique strain, a right hamstring strain, a left hamstring strain and lingering lower back issues over 2022 and 2023 and now this left adductor strain has him on the injured list again. He’s played just 207 games since the end of 2021 and has hit .236/.292/.387  in that time for a wRC+ of 88.

He is in the final guaranteed year of the extension he signed with the club prior to 2020, a pact worth $70MM over five years, which would have made him a potential trade candidate on a rebuilding White Sox club this summer. His continued struggles would have tamped down his trade value, especially as he’s making $24MM this year, but this most recent injury may keep him on the IL past the deadline.

It’s now possible that Moncada has played his last game as a member of the White Sox. His contract has a $25MM option for 2025 but the Sox are almost certainly leaning towards the $5MM buyout at this point. If this injury pushes towards the longer end of that projected timeframe, he may not be able to make it back to the club by the end of the season.

In the short term, the outlook will become increasingly grim for the 2024 White Sox. They weren’t expected to compete this year after kicking off a rebuild last season, but it’s still not pretty to see them limp out to a 2-9 start. Some of their most established players have already hit the injured list, with Luis Robert Jr. facing a significant absence due to a Grade 2 hip flexor strain. Eloy Jiménez is on the IL due to an adductor strain and now Moncada joins him with the same ailment.

With Moncada out and the Sox not bringing up another infielder, it’s unclear how they plan to cover Moncada’s absence. They have been using three infielders to cover the two middle infield spots, with Braden Shewmake, Paul DeJong and Nicky Lopez in that rotation. Neither Shewmake nor DeJong have third base experience, but Lopez does. Lenyn Sosa is also on the roster and has experience at the three infield spots to the left of first base. Danny Mendick and Zach Remillard are in Triple-A, each in a non-roster capacity, though Moncada’s injury means he’s destined to be moved to the 60-day IL as part of a future transaction.

Mets Transfer Kodai Senga To 60-Day Injured List

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The Mets announced that right-hander Kodai Senga has been transferred to the 60-day injured list. That’s the corresponding move to open a roster spot for left-hander Tyler Jay, who was reported earlier to be joining the club.

Senga, 31, was diagnosed with a moderate posterior capsule strain in his throwing shoulder during Spring Training and started the season on the 15-day IL. He’ll now be ineligible to return until 60 days from that initial IL placement, which will be late May. Manger Carlos Mendoza said yesterday that Senga still has not thrown off a mound, per Will Sammon of The Athletic.

The news of Senga’s injury came in late February and the club initially planned for a shutdown period of at least three weeks, though they later planned on adding another seven to ten days to be cautious. It was reported almost three weeks ago that Senga was to begin a throwing program but the fact that he has not made it to a mound yet suggests that he either had some sort of setback or is being ramped up very slowly. Whatever the reason, the Mets apparently don’t expect Senga to be able to rejoin the club in the next six weeks.

It’s obviously a frustrating development for Senga and the team. The righty came over from Japan last year and was an immediate success, pitching 166 1/3 innings with a 2.98 earned run average. His 11.1% walk rate was a tad high but he struck out 29.1% of batters faced while keeping 44.7% of balls in play on the ground. He finished seventh in National Cy Young voting and second in Rookie of the Year voting.

Rotation health has been an issue for the Mets so far this year. David Peterson required hip surgery in the offseason and began the year on the IL, while Senga and Max Kranick followed him due to spring injuries, the latter suffering a hamstring strain. Tylor Megill took a rotation spot to start the year but landed on the IL himself after just one outing due to a shoulder strain.

The current rotation consists of Sean Manaea, Jose Quintana, Luis Severino and Adrian Houser, with José Buttó likely to be recalled soon to join that group. Until the injured hurlers get back, Joey Lucchesi is likely the top depth option, as he’s on the 40-man roster and currently on optional assignment.

Chris Murphy Undergoes Tommy John Surgery

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The Red Sox announced today that left-hander Chris Murphy underwent a successful reconstruction of the left ulnar collateral ligament, also known as Tommy John surgery. It was reported a few weeks ago that the lefty had damaged the ligament and he is already on the 60-day injured list.

Murphy, 26 in June, made his major league debut with the Sox last year. He tossed 47 2/3 innings over 20 appearances with an earned run average of 4.91, though better underlying numbers. His 23.1% strikeout rate, 8% walk rate and 44.7% ground ball rate were all pretty close to league average but his .321 batting average on balls in play and 67.2% strand rate were on the unlucky side. His 3.70 FIP and 3.88 SIERA were each more than a run better than his ERA.

That big league work was all out of the bullpen but he had been working as a starter in the minor leagues. With two remaining option years, he could have either continued working out of the big league bullpen or perhaps been sent to Triple-A for some rotation depth. The Sox didn’t need to make that decision once the ligament damage was discovered. Now that Murphy has gone under the knife, he will unfortunately have to miss the entire season and likely a decent chunk of 2025 as well.

If there’s one silver lining for Murphy, it’s that he will remain on the injured list all year, collecting big league pay and service time. He’ll look to get healthy and get his career back on track next year, likely around his 27th birthday.

For the Sox, this adds to a growing pile of injuries to their rotation options. Lucas Giolito will also miss the 2024 campaign after undergoing elbow surgery while Nick Pivetta recently landed on the IL due to a flexor strain. For now, the club has Brayan Bello, Kutter Crawford, Tanner Houck and Garrett Whitlock in four rotation spots, though that group is fairly lacking in experience. None of those four hurlers have more than 265 career innings at the big league level nor have they ever hit 160 in an individual campaign.

The Sox are hoping Pivetta’s issue is mild but they will need to cover his rotation spot for a few turns regardless. Both Josh Winckowski and Chase Anderson made long relief appearances recently and could perhaps be stretch out fairly easily while Cooper Criswell and Naoyuki Uwasawa are the 40-man roster but currently on optional assignment.

Guardians Acquire Wes Parsons From Blue Jays

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The Blue Jays have traded right-hander Wes Parsons to the Guardians for $250K of international bonus pool space, per announcements from both clubs. Parsons was designated for assignment by the Jays last week and has now been optioned to Triple-A Columbus. Righty Shane Bieber was transferred to the 60-day injured list to open a 40-man spot for Parsons. It was reported over the weekend that Bieber will undergo Tommy John surgery, thus missing the remainder of the 2024 season.

Parsons, 31, pitched in the majors in 2018 and 2019 but then didn’t make it to the show in 2020 and headed to Korea for a couple of years. Over 2021 and 2022, he threw 176 innings for the NC Dinos of the KBO League with a combined earned run average of 3.68.

He returned to North America by signing a minor league deal with the Jays in 2023, then went on to make 17 starts for Triple-A Buffalo with an ERA of 4.52. He struck out 27.5% of batters faced in that time with a 44.2% ground ball rate but also issued walks at a 12.6% clip. He was added to the big league roster on the last day of the regular season after the Jays clinched a playoff spot the day before, allowing nine earned runs in four innings that day.

He lasted on the club’s 40-man through the winter and cracked the Opening Day roster after the Jays’ pitching staff suffering spring injuries to Alek Manoah, Jordan Romano and Erik Swanson. Parsons tossed five innings over two appearances in the early going but allowed six earned runs and got bumped off the roster in favor of Paolo Espino.

The results have not been pretty over the last three MLB outings for Parsons, but that’s obviously a tiny sample of work. He was in decent form in Triple-A last year and had good results in the KBO over the two years prior to that. The Guardians had a roster spot to burn with the recent news of Bieber’s surgery and will use that, along with that international money, to add some optionable pitching depth to their system.

For the Jays, Parsons got squeezed off their roster but it seems there was enough interest around the league that they were able to get something in return before his DFA window was up. They will now presumably use that extra pool space to sign a young player, or perhaps multiple young players, to add to their farm system.

Red Sox Extend Ceddanne Rafaela

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April 10: The Red Sox have announced Rafaela’s extension. It’s an eight-year deal covering the 2024-31 seasons and also contains a previously unreported club option for a ninth season in 2032.

Alex Speier of the Boston Globe reports the annual breakdown. Rafaela receives a $2MM signing bonus before earning salaries of $1MM in 2024, $1MM in 2025, $2MM in 2026, $3.5MM in 2027, $5.5MM in 2028, $7.5MM in 2029, $10.5MM in 2030 and $13MM in 2031. The club option is valued at $16MM and comes with a $4MM buyout.

April 8: The Red Sox have agreed to an extension with outfielder/second baseman Ceddanne Rafaela, reports Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com. It’s an eight-year, $50MM pact for the MVP Sports Group client, per Mark Feinsand of MLB.com (as relayed by Ian Browne of MLB.com). Rafaela is the second young, core player the team has locked up in the past few weeks; Boston also signed righty Brayan Bello to a six-year, $55MM deal in late March.

Rafaela, 23, has ranked among the game’s top 100 prospects entering each of the past two seasons. He made his big league debut in 2023 won the center field job in Boston with a strong spring showing in 2024. Through his first 124 big league plate appearances, Rafaela is a .239/.282/.389 hitter, though his minor league track record features far more promising numbers. Rafaela split the majority of the 2023 campaign between Double-A and Triple-A, where he logged a combined .302/.349/.520 slash with 20 homers, 31 doubles, three triples and 36 stolen bases (in 49 tries).

Listed at just 5’9″ and 152 pounds, Rafaela is small in stature but certainly not short on talent. Scouting reports laud him as a potential plus center fielder; Baseball America and MLB.com both call him a Gold Glove-caliber defender there, and The Athletic’s Keith Law wrote that Rafaela “has a chance to be the most valuable outfield defender in baseball” when ranking him 32nd among all MLB prospects this spring. Rafaela couples that defensive upside with plus speed and enough power to project for double-digit home runs in the big leagues, even if he’s more of a gap hitter than a true slugger.

While Rafaela struck out as a generally manageable 21% clip in the upper minors last season, he doesn’t have a particularly patient approach at the plate. He walked in just 5.4% of his plate appearances last season — his second straight minor league campaign with a walk rate around 5%. He’s drawn a free pass in just 4.8% of his big league plate appearances to date. Barring an evolution in his approach at the dish, Rafaela could post middling on-base percentages in the majors, but his defensive prowess, speed and power contributions should offset any potential OBP deficiency.

As shown in MLBTR’s Contract Tracker, the pre-arbitration extensions for Rafalea and Bello mark a notable change in philosophy from a Red Sox club that has eschewed long-term deals for players who are relatively unproven in the big leagues. From 2012 through 2021, the Red Sox didn’t give out a single pre-arb extension. Their 2022 deal with righty Garrett Whitlock (four years, $18.75MM with two club options) was their first extension for a player prior to arbitration eligibility since Clay Buchholz way back in 2011.

The Sox haven’t shied away from extensions entirely, but long-term deals for Rafael Devers, Xander Bogaerts, Chris Sale and Rick Porcello were far more expensive deals that came after those players had solidified themselves as big leaguers worth annual values of $20MM or more. Even the original Bogaerts deal, which was considered wildly club-friendly, was valued at six years and $120MM.

Perhaps the eventual loss of Bogaerts, coupled with high-profile departures of Mookie Betts, Jon Lester and others over the years, pushed Sox ownership to become more aggressive on early-career extensions. Maybe they’ve become increasingly dissatisfied with pricey free-agent deals that haven’t gone to plan (e.g. Trevor Story, David Price, Lucas Giolito). Or perhaps they simply looked at the rising price for young talent around the league and opted to become more proactive. Whatever the reason, they’re beginning to lock up some promising and affordable contributors to join Devers in comprising the long-term core.

Rafaela is just one of several extension candidates on the Red Sox, and with two deals now hammered out, it seems increasingly plausible others could yet follow. Most notably, first baseman Triston Casas and righty Tanner Houck have both spoken about their openness to extensions. Other pre-arb players who could feasibly be considered for long-term deals include left fielder Jarren Duran and righty Kutter Crawford.

Mets To Select Tyler Jay

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The Mets are calling up left-hander Tyler Jay for what would be his major league debut. Newsday’s Tim Healey tweeted last night that right-hander Dedniel Nunez was optioned back to Triple-A following yesterday’s appearance, and @JohnFromWrigley reported that Jay would be taking his 26-man roster spot. Multiple reporters, including MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo, have since confirmed that Jay will indeed be joining the big league club. The Mets will need to formally select Jay’s contract to the 40-man roster and make a corresponding move in order to do so.

Jay, 30 next week, was the No. 6 overall pick by the Twins back in 2015. The former University of Illinois lefty was widely regarded as one of the top pitching talents in the draft. Though there was some surprise at his coach’s decision to put Jay in the bullpen, the southpaw was viewed as a potential big league starter or fast-track reliever.

Early scouting reports at Baseball America, MLB.com, ESPN and other outlets pegged him with a fastball that reached 98 mph and what BA termed “at least” a 70-grade slider. Keith Law wrote at the time that Jay had plus-plus command as well. He was ranked among the game’s top 100 prospects at BA, MLB.com, Baseball Prospectus and ESPN heading into the 2016 season.

As is so often the case with pitching prospects, injuries intervened. Shoulder and neck injuries plagued Jay for much of his early years in pro ball. He pitched just 11 2/3 innings in 2017 before requiring thoracic outlet surgery. Jay topped out at 83 2/3 innings in his other three seasons in the Twins’ system and was out of affiliated ball entirely by the time the 2021 season rolled around. Jay didn’t pitch at all that year and only returned to pitching in 2022 on the independent circuit, tossing 22 excellent innings for the Joliet Slammers of the Frontier League.

Jay returned to the Slammers in 2023 and parlayed his stint there into a minor league look with the Mets. He yielded four runs in six Triple-A frames last year, re-signed on a minor league deal, and has opened the 2024 campaign with 3 2/3 scoreless innings.

Overall, Jay has a 3.77 ERA in parts of seven minor league seasons. He’s fanned 22.5% of his opponents against an 8.3% walk rate. Whether he gets an actual chance to stick in the bullpen or is merely up for a quick cup of coffee, it’s a feel-good story for Jay, who’ll be occupying a spot on a big league roster for the first time after a nearly decade-long grind through the minors and the independent circuit.

A’s Outright Zach Jackson

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Athletics right-hander Zach Jackson went unclaimed on waivers after being designated for assignment and has been assigned outright to Triple-A, per the team’s transaction log at MLB.com. Jackson has fewer than three years of service time and does not have a prior outright in his career, so he can’t reject the assignment in favor of free agency. He’ll head back to Las Vegas, where he’d opened the season, and hope to pitch his way back onto the big league roster.

The 29-year-old Jackson has pitched 66 innings with Oakland over the past two seasons and turned in a sterling 2.86 ERA in that time. A look under the hood reveals more concerning issues, however, most notably including a grim 15.2% walk rate (to say nothing of a sky-high 14 wild pitches). Jackson has fanned a whopping 31.9% of his opponents in that time as well, but his lack of command is a clear red flag. He’s also benefited from seeing a minuscule 2.6% of his fly-balls become home runs — about one-fifth of the roughly 12% league average. Metrics like xFIP and SIERA, which normalize HR/FB ratio, peg Jackson at 4.23 and 3.79, respectively.

A flexor strain limited Jackson to 18 innings last year, and he’s had a tough return. In 8 1/3 spring innings, he yielded seven runs (six earned) on six hits and three walks. He’s continued to struggle through his first three appearances in Vegas, serving up four runs in two innings of work. More alarming than the runs allowed, however, are the eight walks he’s issued despite facing just 16 hitters on the season thus far.

It’s likely there’s some rust for Jackson following that 2023 injury, but he’s presumably in good health. The A’s didn’t place him on the minor league injured list, and injured players can’t be placed on outright waivers. If he can get back on track in Vegas, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him back in the majors. The Oakland bullpen is lacking in established relievers, currently including five pitchers with under a year of MLB service time and a pair of veteran journeymen looking to rebound (Austin Adams, T.J. McFarland).

Orioles Designate Tony Kemp For Assignment

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The Orioles announced this morning that veteran infielder/outfielder Tony Kemp has been designated for assignment. His spot on the roster will go to the game’s No. 1 overall prospect, Jackson Holliday, whose previously reported promotion to the majors has now been officially announced by the team.

The veteran Kemp only signed with the O’s two weeks ago. He spent spring training with the Reds but was granted his release after he didn’t make the roster. He signed a big league deal with Baltimore on March 26 but went 0-for-10 with a walk and a strikeout in his limited time on Baltimore’s roster.

From 2020-22, the now-32-year-old Kemp was a solid contributor with the A’s. He split time between second base and left field, turning in a .252/.341/.361 slash (105 wRC+). Kemp lacks power but has superlative contact skills and keen plate discipline, evidenced by 12.5% strikeout rate and 10.5% walk rate during that three-year stretch (and by his career 10.1% walk rate and 13.3% strikeout rate).

The 2023 season was one of Kemp’s worst since debuting with the Astros back in 2016, however. He played 124 games with the A’s and picked up 419 plate appearances but mustered only a .209/.303/.304 slash (77 wRC+). Kemp struck out in a career-low 9.5% of his plate appearances and swiped a career-high 15 bases (in 19 attempts), but those silver linings don’t outweigh his broader-reaching struggles at the dish.

In 2247 career plate appearances at the MLB level, Kemp is a .237/.324/.351 hitter. He’s drawn roughly average defensive grades in left field and has typically been an average or better defender at second base, though metrics like Defensive Runs Saved (-9) and Outs Above Average (0) were down on his glovework in last year’s sample of 410 innings at the position.

The Orioles will have a week to trade Kemp, place him on outright waivers or release him. For veterans of this status, a release is most common, though it’s possible a team in need of some infield depth could look at the affordable nature of Kemp’s $1MM contract with the O’s and work out a small trade (likely for cash).

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