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Pitchers Recently Electing Free Agency

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Since the conclusion of the regular season, a number of players have elected free agency. That right accrues to certain players who are outrighted off of a 40-man roster during or after the season — namely, those that have at least three years of MLB service and/or have previously been outrighted. Such players that accepted outright assignments during the season have the right to elect free agency instead at season’s end, provided they aren’t added back to the 40-man in the meantime.

We already rounded up the position players. Now, here are the pitchers that have recently taken to the open market, along with their now-former teams (via the International League and PCL transactions pages):

Giants Designate Yangervis Solarte, Pat Venditte; Venditte Clears Waivers

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May 12: Venditte has cleared waivers, tweets Andrew Baggarly of The Athletic. Venditte will remain in the Giants organization and will report to Triple-A Sacramento.

May 7: The Giants announced that infielder/outfielder Yangervis Solarte and ambidextrous pitcher Pat Venditte have each been designated for assignment. Their spots on the roster will go to outfielder Mac Williamson and infielder/outfielder Donovan Solano — each of whom was reported to be joining the MLB club earlier today. San Francisco also optioned outfielder Mike Gerber to Triple-A Sacramento and recalled lefty Williams Jerez.

Solarte, 31, made the club out of Spring Training after coming to camp as a non-roster invitee, but he hasn’t rebounded to form as the club hoped. From 2014-17 with the Yankees and Padres, the switch-hitter was a .267/.327/.419 hitter capable of playing multiple spots on the infield, but Solarte struggled through an awful 2018 season with the Blue Jays (.226/.277/.378) and was worse in 78 plate appearances with the Giants (.205/.247/.315).

Venditte inked a split big league contract this offseason but has been tagged for six runs on four hits, a pair of walks and three hit batters with two strikeouts in just 3 1/3 innings out of Bruce Bochy’s bullpen so far. Venditte has a 5.03 ERA in 68 big league innings and has never been able to stick at the MLB level despite considerable intrigue surrounding his ability to pitch both right- and left-handed. His best work has come as a left-on-left specialist, as he’s held opponents to a pitiful .179/.226/.349 slash through 115 plate appearances in such matchups.

Giants Sign Pat Venditte

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12:27pm: Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area tweets that Venditte’s guarantee is a modest $585K that checks in just $30K north of the league minimum.

12:06pm: The Giants announced Friday that they’ve signed switch-pitcher Pat Venditte to a one-year, Major League contract. The addition of Venditte brings San Francisco’s 40-man roster to a total of 38 players.

Venditte, 33, is the game’s lone ambidextrous pitcher and is a familiar talent to new San Francisco president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi, who was the Dodgers’ general manager last season when Venditte pitched for Los Angeles. Venditte threw quite well in his limited time with the Dodgers, logging a 2.57 ERA with nine strikeouts against three walks in 14 innings of relief. In his career as a whole, Venditte owns a 4.45 ERA with 7.1 K/9 against 3.6 BB/9 through 64 2/3 innings.

Venditte has generally fared better as a lefty facing left-handed opponents (.190/.291/.307) than as a right-hander facing righty bats (.259/.372/.472). Venditte’s fastball sat at just 85.6 mph in 2018, but his unorthodox delivery has helped him to find some success at the big league level. He’s also induced swinging-strikes at an 11 percent clip — a perhaps loftier rate than one might’ve otherwise expected from a soft-tosser of this mold.

With less than two years of Major League service time under his belt, Venditte won’t even be eligible for arbitration for another two seasons. As such, if he can prove himself a capable bullpen piece in what could be his best opportunity to seizing a regular role, he’d still be a pre-arbitration player next winter. Technically, he can be controlled all the way through 2023 if he cements himself as a definitively big league caliber arm.

Dodgers Acquire Adam McCreery, Designate Pat Venditte

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The Dodgers announced Wednesday that they’ve acquired left-hander Adam McCreery from the Braves in exchange for cash. To open a spot on the 40-man roster, switch-pitcher Pat Venditte was designated for assignment.

McCreery, who’ll turn 26 on New Year’s Eve, made his big league debut in 2018, though he appeared in just one game and tossed just one inning. He spent the bulk of the season with the Braves’ Double-A affiliate but also pitched in eight games for their Triple-A club. In all, his minor league work resulted in a 3.62 ERA with 11.7 K/9 but a troubling 6.1 BB/9 mark. McCreery has regularly topped 60 percent with his ground-ball rate and has long racked up strikeouts at an impressive level, but the control issues he battled in 2018 were nothing new for him; McCreery has averaged 5.7 walks per nine innings pitched in his career. Atlanta designated him for assignment earlier this week to open a roster spot for Brian McCann.

Venditte, 33, pitched well in 14 innings with the Dodgers in 2018, compiling a 2.57 ERA with nine strikeouts against three walks in that small sample of work. As the game’s lone ambidextrous pitcher, Venditte is somewhat of an anomaly, but he’s also been extraordinarily effective in his career against fellow lefties; same-handed opponents have posted an abysmal .186/.230/.354 slash against Venditte in a total of 122 MLB plate appearances.

Dodgers Select Daniel Corcino, Transfer Dennis Santana To 60-day DL

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The Dodgers have selected the contract of right-hander Daniel Corcino, the team announced today. To make room for him on the 40-man, they’ve transferred fellow righty Dennis Santana to the 60-day DL. The switch-pitching Pat Venditte was optioned to Triple-A to make room on the active roster.

It’s been an impressive season thus far for the 27-year-old Corcino, who’s pitched to a 1.95 ERA thus far in 37 Triple-A innings this season. Things haven’t been perfectly rosy, as his 3.54 FIP and 4.62 xFIP might indicate, but he’s struck out almost a batter an inning and has a walk rate (3.5 BB/9) and ground ball rate (41.5%) that are at least passable. He’s made six starts in Triple-A and four relief appearances.

As for Santana, J.P. Hoornstra of the Southern California News Group reports that his rotator cuff injury could potentially sideline him until late August. That’s noteworthy considering he’d be eligible to be activated from the 60-day DL as early as August 8th. Concurringly, manager Dave Roberts has stated that while Santana isn’t a surgery candidate, he won’t even so much as pick up a baseball for at least a few weeks (h/t Bill Shaikin of the LA Times). The righty allowed five earned runs across 3 2/3 innings in his only MLB appearance this season, but carries a solid track record of run prevention and high strikeouts in the upper minors.

Dennis Santana Diagnosed With Rotator Cuff Strain

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7:53pm: The team is now calling Santana’s injury a right rotator cuff strain, Gurnick tweets.

6:43pm: Dodgers righty Dennis Santana has been diagnosed with a torn lat, manager Dave Roberts told reports including Ken Gurnick of MLB.com (Twitter links). In related moves, relievers Pat Venditte and Adam Liberatore are joining the active roster, while Brock Stewart was optioned.

Roberts also provided updates on a few other hurlers (via Gurnick; all links to Twitter). Righty Kenta Maeda is on track for a potential return next week, while southpaw reliever Tony Cingrani has been diagnosed with a rotator cuff strain that isn’t believed to be serious. As for ace Clayton Kershaw, Roberts says his ailing back is currently symptom-free, which seems a promising note at an early stage of his recocvery.

The most important news here involves Santana, the 22-year-old who was just brought up for his first MLB action. Entering the season, there was no real indication that he’d be called upon this soon to play a role in the majors. But even as he worked to a 2.54 ERA with 11.8 K/9 and 2.9 BB/9 in ten outings in the upper minors, the big league staff was beset by injuries.

It’s not known how long Santana will likely be sidelined. Roberts indicated that there’s further medical assessment to be done before that will be clear. But it seems reasonable to anticipate a fairly lengthy absence. Santana will accrue MLB service time while he’s on the disabled list. He’ll also occupy a 40-man spot unless and until he’s moved to the 60-day DL.

Dodgers Activate Clayton Kershaw

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The Dodgers announced that they’ve reinstated left-hander Clayton Kershaw from the disabled list and created a roster spot by optioning switch-pitcher Pat Venditte to Triple-A Oklahoma City. Kershaw, who’s been out since May 1 due to biceps tendinitis in his left arm, will start tonight’s game against the visiting Phillies.

The three-time NL Cy Young winner and five-time NL ERA leader will return to the Dodgers’ rotation just one day after right-hander Kenta Maeda landed on the disabled list with a right hip strain. It’s been an ongoing struggle for the Dodgers to keep their starting staff healthy so far this season, as Maeda is joined on the disabled list by lefties Rich Hill and Hyun-Jin Ryu. Fortunately for the Dodgers, Kershaw’s absence proved to be shorter than his DL trips for back injuries in each of the past two seasons.

Kershaw will step back into the starting mix alongside Alex Wood, rookie sensation Walker Buehler and the breakout righty Ross Stripling. While that may not be a rotation mix the Dodgers anticipated having to lean upon in 2018, the quality of that group serves as a testament to the depth that the Dodgers seem to have a knack for cultivating on a yearly basis.

While the Dodgers’ early struggles garnered plenty of national media attention, they’ve quieted the narrative that their season was on the brink of being lost by rattling off 10 wins in their past 13 contests. Los Angeles is still three games south of the .500 mark, but the collapse of the former NL West-leading Diamondbacks has opened a door for the Dodgers, who now sit 3.5 games back from the Rockies, who suddenly find themselves in first place.

A healthy Kershaw will go a long way toward continuing their recent success, though there are clearly some longer-term implications here for both Kershaw and the team. Kershaw has the ability to opt out of the remaining two years of his contract at season’s end, and he’s all but certain to do so. While the Dodgers clearly possess the financial firepower to match or top virtually any offer another team can make to Kershaw, the price of a new contract with the Dodgers or another club will be impacted in no small part by his ability to put this injury behind him and return to his status as one of the game’s elite arms.

Dodgers Select Contract Of Pat Venditte

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The Dodgers have selected the contract of ambidextrous reliever Pat Venditte from Triple-A Oklahoma City, per a team announcement. They sent right-hander Brock Stewart to OKC in a corresponding move.

Venditte earned his promotion with a stellar start this year in the minors, where he has pitched to a 1.53 ERA with 9.68 K/9, 3.06 BB/9 and a 50 percent groundball rate over 17 2/3 innings. The 32-year-old is now set for his first major league action since 2016, when he combined for 22 frames of 5.73 ERA ball between Seattle and Toronto. Venditte, who previously debuted with Oakland in 2015, has logged 50 2/3 innings in the majors and recorded a 4.97 ERA with 7.46 K/9, 4.09 BB/9 and a 36.2 percent grounder mark.

While Venditte clearly hasn’t posted great stats in the majors, the fact that he’s able to pitch from both sides makes him a standout. It’s worth noting that Venditte has been far more successful as a southpaw than as a right-hander, having held lefty-swingers to a .179/.242/.366 line and given up a .277/.380/.523 slash to righties.

Minor MLB Transactions: 11/28/17

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We’ll track the day’s minor moves in this post:

  • Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports that the Athletics have agreed a trio of minor league deals. Outfielders Anthony Garcia and Nick Martini will be in camp with the A’s next spring, as will lefty reliever Jarret Martin. The 25-year-old Garcia and 27-year-old Martini are both longtime Cardinals farmhands. Garcia has struggled in 354 Triple-A plate appearances (.232/.299/.397) but posted a solid .284/.376/.465 slash in more than 800 Double-A PAs. Oakland is known to be looking for right-handed-hitting outfielders, and Garcia gives them a depth option that matches said description. Martini swings from the left side but has a better track record in the upper levels, having slashed .299/.387/.423 in 787 PAs in Triple-A. As for the 28-year-old Martin, he parlayed a strong two seasons on the indy circuit into a look with the Giants last year and turned in a 2.04 ERA with 9.1 K/9 against a more troublesome 6.8 K/9 in 39 2/3 frames with San Francisco’s Double-A affiliate.

Earlier Updates

  • Righty Kyle Lloyd cleared waivers and was outrighted to Triple-A by the Padres, MLB.com’s AJ Cassavell reports on Twitter. He’ll remain on hand as a depth option after cracking the majors briefly last year. In 147 1/3 frames in the upper minors in 2017, Lloyd carried a 5.01 ERA with 8.9 K/9 and 3.1 BB/9. Lloyd joined the San Diego organization after being selected in the 29th round of the 2013 draft.
  • The Dodgers have a minors pact with switch-pitcher Pat Venditte, as SB Nation’s Chris Cotillo tweets. Venditte, 32, is a unique and perhaps under-appreciated artist who is able to create his own preferred platoon match-ups by pitching with both arms. He owns only a 4.97 ERA in his 50 2/3 MLB frames. But Venditte ran up 69 2/3 inning of 3.36 ERA ball with 8.9 K/9 and 4.7 BB/9 at the Triple-A level last year with the Phillies organization.

Phillies, Mariners Swap Joey Curletta, Pat Venditte

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The Phillies have traded outfielder Joey Curletta to the Mariners for ambidextrous reliever Pat Venditte, per an announcement from Philadelphia.

This is the second trade since last August involving the 31-year-old Venditte, whom Seattle acquired from Toronto for minor league infielder Tim Lopes. A 20th-round pick of the Yankees in 2008, Venditte debuted in the majors with the Athletics in 2015 and has since logged a 4.97 ERA, 7.46 K/9, 4.09 BB/9 and 36.2 percent ground-ball rate in 50 2/3 innings. Twenty-two of those frames came last year for Venditte, who ran up a 5.73 ERA between the Blue Jays and Mariners.

While he possesses the ultra-rare capability of being able to pitch with either arm, Venditte has been far more successful as a southpaw, having held left-handed hitters to a .179/.242/.366 line. Righty-swingers have handled him, evidenced by a .277/.380/.523 line. Currently pitching for Italy in the World Baseball Classic, Venditte will join the Phillies as a non-roster player when the team is eliminated or the tournament ends, per Jayson Stark of ESPN (Twitter link).

Curletta, who turned 23 this past Monday, has also been involved in a pair of trades since last year. The Phillies acquired him from the Dodgers in September to complete the deal that featured catchers Carlos Ruiz and A.J. Ellis. The Dodgers chose Curletta in the sixth round of the 2012 draft, and he has since ascended to the Double-A level. Curletta struggled there last year, though, as he hit just .206/.280/.371 in 107 plate appearances.

Baseball America previously wrote that the 6-foot-4, 230-pound Curletta is a “physical monster” with “light-tower power” as a right-handed hitter. However, scouts have questioned whether he’ll hit in the big leagues, and BA noted that doesn’t provide any speed or defensive value. Curletta will now head to the Mariners’ minor league camp, tweets Greg Johns of MLB.com.

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