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Minor MLB Transactions: 6/5/19

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The latest minor moves from around baseball…

  • The Pirates outrighted Jesus Liranzo to Triple-A after the right-hander cleared waivers, Rob Biertempfel of The Athletic reports (Twitter link).  Liranzo was designated for assignment last week to make 40-man roster room for the Bucs’ acquisition of Yefry Ramirez from the Orioles.  Over 22 2/3 innings at Triple-A Indianapolis this season, Liranzo has an ungainly 7.54 ERA and a 6.8 BB/9, continuing the control problems that have plagued the 24-year-old throughout his seven pro seasons.

Pirates Searching For Mid-Season Acquisitions

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The Pirates aren’t exactly playing inspired ball at 28-30, but they remain in the hunt in a densely packed NL Central. GM Neal Huntingon indicated that he’s on the look for acquisitions in an interview with 93.7 FM The Fan (as covered by Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette).

The club has had a number of tough injury breaks, though that’s true of plenty of other teams as well. But missing some notable roster pieces has only left Huntington feeling more determined. He says the “continued fight in this club is something to appreciate and love.”

While the Bucs are a notoriously light-spending outfit, Huntington isn’t just counting on getting a boost from already-paid-for, rehabbing players such as Corey Dickerson, Jung Ho Kang, Jameson Taillon, and Keone Kela. The long-time front office leader isn’t necessarily saying the pocketbook or farm system will be opened wide to make additions, but does say he’s “got to find a way to get some reinforcements here.”

Unsurprisingly, pitching is the focus. While the Pirates have a few position players nearing returns, the group of hurlers has longer to wait for its own injured assets to make it back to the roster. Collectively, the Bucs have an ugly 6.17 ERA over the past thirty days.

It’d obviously be nice to score a high-end starter, though that isn’t necessarily in the cards. The focus now is on smaller game. Huntington highlights the middle relief corps, saying he has not “done a good job in getting the right guys at the right times from the right spots.” Picking up reasonably interesting, potential bounceback relievers in the middle of the season is something the Pirates have pulled off in the past, so we can safely anticipate some efforts in that regard.

That’s not to say that more significant moves won’t ultimately be pursued. It’s just hard to foresee it happening in the near-term with the deadline still two months off and the Pirates’ position still unclear. Huntington did acknowledge there could be a “potential scenario” where the team moves a position player for pitching, though he did so in the vaguest possible terms.

Progress Report: Pittsburgh’s Return For Gerrit Cole

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In one of the most significant trades of the 2017-18 offseason, the Pirates sent right-hander Gerrit Cole to the Astros for a four-player package. The move put an end to nonstop trade rumors centering on Cole, who had been a Pirate since they selected him first overall in the 2011 draft. Cole largely lived up to the billing in Pittsburgh, but with the Pirates being a low-budget team and Scott Boras functioning as the hurler’s agent, the club had little choice but to deal him. Cole was down to his penultimate year of control, and the Pirates knew they weren’t going to be able to prevent him from reaching free agency after 2019.

Cole has excelled with the Astros since the deal went down, though even they haven’t locked him up to an extension. The soon-to-be 29-year-old is likely to reach the open market after the season, when he could be the top player available. In the meantime, Cole could help guide an elite Houston team to a World Series championship. On the other hand, the Pirates haven’t contended since they traded Cole (in fairness, nor did they in his final two seasons in the Steel City). At 27-28, it appears the Buccos are on their way to a fourth consecutive year without a playoff berth. The package they got for Cole hasn’t really helped matters.

Righty Joe Musgrove, arguably the headliner from Pittsburgh’s point of view, came over after a year in which he moved to the Astros’ bullpen and stood out. But the Pirates shifted Musgrove back to the rotation, and aside from a horrendous showing in May, he has resembled a decent big league starter. While Musgrove has given up 27 earned runs on 38 hits in 30 innings this month, his overall numbers as a Pirate are fine. The 26-year-old has given Pittsburgh 30 starts and 178 1/3 frames of 4.29 ERA/3.60 FIP ball with 7.57 K/9, 2.12 BB/9 and a 44.8 percent groundball rate dating back to his arrival.

In the aggregate, Musgrove has been more the solution than the problem for the Pirates. He’s also on a pre-arbitration salary this season and still has three years of arb control thereafter. Realistically, there’s not a lot to complain about with Musgrove, though the same hasn’t been true of the other three players the Pirates got back.

The hope was that big, hard-throwing righty Michael Feliz would emerge as a lights-out member of the Pirates’ bullpen right away. They’re still waiting. Feliz managed a 4.13 FIP and 10.38 K/9 in 47 2/3 innings last season, but he walked more than four batters per nine and limped to a 5.66 ERA. To make matters worse, the 25-year-old has spent most of this season in Triple-A. Across the 12 innings Feliz has logged in the majors in 2019, he has surrendered 11 earned runs on 12 hits and nine walks (with an impressive 16 strikeouts, it should be noted).

Outfielder Jason Martin, who was the Astros’ 15th-ranked prospect at the time of the trade, totaled the first 38 plate appearances of his major league career earlier this season. He didn’t produce much, though, nor has the 23-year-old acquitted himself all that well at the minors’ highest level thus far. Martin got a promotion after crushing Double-A pitching last season, but he’s the owner of a meager .225/.284/.371 line in 338 Triple-A attempts.

That leaves 26-year-old third baseman Colin Moran, who has garnered the most playing time of anyone Pittsburgh got back for Cole. The former top 100 prospect has been just a guy with the Pirates – a league-average hitter whose WAR suggests he’s something between an average player and a replacement-level performer. Over 618 trips to the plate as a Pirate, Moran has hit a respectable but unexciting .274/.335/.414 (102 wRC+) with 17 home runs and 1.1 fWAR.

Including Moran’s contributions, the Pirates have gotten 4.7 fWAR out of the Cole trade so far. Last July, seven months after that deal, the Pirates traded two hyped young players (righty Tyler Glasnow and outfielder Austin Meadows) to Tampa Bay for a potential Cole replacement righty Chris Archer. That transaction has worked out far worse for the Pirates to this point, as Dan Szymborski of FanGraphs recently explained.

The Cole and Archer moves have left the Pirates with a bunch of controllable parts, but nobody from the group looks like much to write home about so far. At the same time, the swaps stripped the organization of a trio of players who have been high-end contributors elsewhere. Two of them, Glasnow and Meadows, are under control for the foreseeable future. These are mistakes a small-budget team can ill afford to make, and they help explain why the Pirates are stuck in neutral.

Pirates Halt Rehab Assignment Of Keone Kela

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The Pirates have halted the rehab assignment of righty Keone Kela, the club informed reporters including Rob Biertempfel of The Athletic (Twitter link). He has been sidelined since early May with a shoulder issue that hasn’t yet fully dissipated.

Kela made one appearance at Triple-A on May 25th, at which time it seemed he was not far from a return to the majors. But he obviously did not bounce back and progress as hoped. There’s still no reason to believe that Kela is dealing with a major injury. His handling to this point suggests that’s not really a concern.

The team says recurrent discomfort has led to the decision to pull Kela from the assignment. He’ll be shut down for about ten days before any further steps are decided upon. What will happen at that point — reexamination, resumption of throwing, etc. — isn’t really clear.

It seems safe to presume that the Bucs will go without Kela for a decent while longer, even if he does show fairly quick improvement and is ready to begin ramping back up after ten days. He’s a reliever, which limits the need to build up innings, but the club will want to avoid any further setbacks by moving too rapidly. Once he does resume his rehab assignment, Kela will have thirty days to complete it.

Kela’s absence stings with the Pirates trying to weather a rough stretch for the rotation. The 26-year-old was not off to the best start to the present season, with a 4.63 ERA in 11 2/3 innings. His swinging-strike rate is down quite a bit and he had already allowed three long balls. Still, that’s a short sample and Kela is coming off of a very strong 2018 campaign.

Outrights: Mets, Marlins, Pirates

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A few outrights from Wednesday…

  • Mets outfielder Rajai Davis has accepted an outright assignment to Triple-A Syracuse, Anthony DiComo of MLB.com tweets. The 38-year-old Davis, whom the Mets designated for assignment Sunday, had the option of declaring free agency instead of remaining with the organization. But Davis will head back to Syracuse, his home for nearly the entire season thus far.
  • The Marlins have outrighted outfielder Isaac Galloway to Triple-A New Orleans, per the MLB.com transactions page. The club designated Galloway last Friday. The 29-year-old has been outrighted in the past, meaning he has the right to elect free agency this time. It appears Galloway will remain in the organization, though. Galloway logged 54 plate appearances with this year’s Marlins before they cut him, limping to a .167/.167/.185 line with no home runs, no walks and 17 strikeouts. Galloway also hasn’t produced much this season in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League, where he has hit .227/.261/.515 (78 wRC+) in 70 trips to the plate.
  • The Pirates have sent infielder Jake Elmore outright to Triple-A Indianapolis (also via MLB.com). He, like Galloway, has been outrighted in the past. Elmore has been terrific this year in Indianapolis, having slashed .380/.444/.546 in 124 attempts, but wasn’t able to carry that success to Pittsburgh. The 31-year-old managed one hit and no walks in 20 PA before the Pirates designated him Sunday.

Tigers’ Harrison Has Partial Hamstring Tear; Mercer’s Rehab Assignment Halted

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The Tigers’ offseason pickups of Josh Harrison and Jordy Mercer (in addition to reuniting the longtime Pirates’ middle-infield tandem) were supposed to help stabilize the middle infield and perhaps give the team a pair of affordable summer trade chips. To this point, though, that hasn’t been the case. Neither infielder has been productive, and now both are faced with notable absences.

Harrison hit the injured list with a hamstring strain yesterday, and Chris McCosky of the Detroit News now reports that the 31-year-old has a partial tear and is could be out anywhere from four to six weeks (Twitter link). Surgery hasn’t been ruled out, but it’s not considered likely at this time. Harrison, who signed a one-year deal worth $2MM this offseason, has batted just .176/.219/.265 with a homer and four steals through 146 plate appearances.

Mercer, meanwhile, has already been out since early May, but his prognosis took a turn for the worst today. Per Anthony Fenech of the Detroit Free Press (Twitter links), Mercer’s minor league rehab assignment has been halted due to what manager Ron Gardenhire termed an acute-on-chronic strain in his right quadriceps. He’s receiving a second opinion, after which point his timeline for a return will become more clear. Mercer has been limited to 19 games this year and managed a tepid .206/.275/.317 slash in 69 plate appearances.

With the injuries, players like Ronny Rodriguez, Niko Goodrum, Gordon Beckham and Dawel Lugo have seen increased opportunities in the infield (Lugo solely at third base, but he’s played second in the past). Unfortunately for the organization, the most productive of that bunch has been the journeyman Beckham, who isn’t a long-term piece in Detroit.

Rodriguez roared out of the gates to a blistering start upon his initial promotion, but his lack of contact has proved glaring, and he’s now hitting .231/.262/.504 in 130 plate appearances. The power has been impressive, but a .262 OBP is tough to overlook. Goodrum was a nice surprise in a super utility role last season and still makes plenty of hard contact (46.8 percent, per Statcast), but he’s hitting .207/.300/.345 in 200 trips to the plate. Lugo has batted .226/.265/.323 in a much smaller sample of 34 plate appearances.

The Tigers can continue to hope for production out of the current options on the roster — Lugo, in particular, has had only a minimal look after a solid showing in Triple-A — but the longer the unit’s struggles continue, the more there’ll be questions about looking to other prospects. Willi Castro, ranked seventh among Detroit farmhands at MLB.com and at Fangraphs (plus ninth at Baseball America), is tearing through Triple-A pitching at a .349/.426/.527 pace. He’s played only 48 games at that level and has benefited from a BABIP north of .400, so there’s some reason to be skeptical, but it’s easy to envision him getting a look at some point this summer. Further down the line, Isaac Paredes is widely regarded as the organization’s best position prospect, and he’s hitting .276/.356/.350 as a 20-year-old in Double-A. He won’t be as near-term an option as Castro, however.

Injury Notes: Astros, Lyles, Vincent, Reid-Foley

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Astros stars Jose Altuve and Carlos Correa are both being evaluated by the team’s medical staff for potential injuries, the team told reporters Tuesday (Twitter links via Jake Kaplan of The Athletic). Altuve was already on the injured list but reported feeling fatigue and soreness his right leg after playing minor league rehab games on consecutive days. That’s all the more notable given that Altuve underwent right knee surgery following the 2018 season. As for Correa, he was scratched from tonight’s lineup due to discomfort in his ribs and is being evaluated back in Houston. President of baseball operations Jeff Luhnow downplayed the potential for a serious issue, however, stating that he doesn’t expect either issue to be a long-term problem (Twitter link via the Houston Chronicle’s Chandler Rome). It’s possible that either could be out “a couple weeks,” per Luhnow, although obviously an exact timeline is impossible to gauge until the medical staff has completed its tests.

Some more injury notes from around the league…

  • The Pirates announced that right-hander Jordan Lyles exited tonight’s game due to hamstring discomfort. Lyles has been one of the best one-year signings of this past offseason, but he struggled through a second straight rough Tuesday, surrendering three runs on three hits and a pair of walks in four innings of work. Though his last two outings haven’t been sharp, Lyles still boasts a 3.09 ERA, 9.1 K/, 3.1 BB/9, 0.81 HR/9 and a 43.1 percent ground-ball rate in 55 1/3 innings. The Pirates have placed Jameson Taillon, Chris Stratton and Keone Kela on the injured list in May. If he requires a trip to the IL, the Bucs could turn back to top prospect Mitch Keller, who was recalled for a spot start yesterday but optioned back today.
  • Giants right-hander Nick Vincent exited tonight’s game with trainers, and The Athletic’s Andrew Baggarly notes (via Twitter) that Vincent was motioning toward his neck/collarbone area as he departed the game. He’s been used heavily by the Giants, frequently pitching two- or more innings at a time. Prior to the 2019 season, Vincent had never thrown more than 64 2/3 innings in a Major League season, but he’s already up to 30 2/3 frames on the year. Correlation certainly doesn’t equate to causation in this instance, but the uptick in workload is at least worth a mention. Vincent looked like a potential trade chip less than three weeks ago, as he had a 2.25 ERA and a 25-to-6 K/BB ratio in 24 innings back on May 10. Since then, he’s surrendered 13 runs in his past four appearances — a span of just 6 2/3 innings.
  • It appears there’s some concern regarding young Blue Jays right-hander Sean Reid-Foley, as Gregor Chisholm of MLB.com tweets that Reid-Foley exited Tuesday’s start for Triple-A Buffalo in what looked to be “a lot of discomfort.” The former second-round pick loaded the bases and walked in a run before exiting the game with a member of the Bisons’ training staff. Reid-Foley has had a tough season in Buffalo so far, entering play Tuesday with a 6.60 ERA through 45 inning of work. To his credit, he’s picked up 50 strikeouts in that time, but he’s also issued 34 walks, hit four batters and thrown four wild pitches. [Update: Chisholm tweets that the Jays are calling the injury a back strain but hopeful that he can avoid even missing a start in Buffalo.]

Sean Burnett Announces Retirement

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Veteran left-handed reliever Sean Burnett has announced his retirement from baseball in a lengthy, heartfelt statement via the New York Post’s Ken Davidoff (Twitter links). The 36-year-old southpaw had been pitching for the Mets’ Triple-A affiliate before deciding to call it career.

Burnett last saw big league action with the Nationals in 2016 — one of many comeback attempts from a clearly talented pitcher whose promising career was decimated by injuries. As Burnett notes in his statement, he underwent four different surgeries — two of them Tommy John procedures — over a professional career that spanned parts of 19 seasons.

Originally selected by the Pirates with the No. 19 overall pick in 2000, Burnett was regarded as one of the game’s pitching prospects prior to his MLB debut, twice landing on Baseball America’s Top 100 list (including a No. 25 placement in 2003). His rookie campaign in 2004 was rough around the edges, as evidenced by a 5.02 ERA in 71 2/3 innings, but Burnett also showcased his upside with a complete-game shutout in just his sixth career start. The fact that said shutout took place in Montreal against the Expos is a testament to the length of Burnett’s career and the tireless effort he put into striving to return from the injury woes he faced.

Arm troubles shelved Burnett for the entire 2005 season, and he wouldn’t make it back to a big league mound until 2008, at which point he’d transitioned to a relief role on a full-time basis. He was eventually traded from the Pirates to the Nationals, alongside Nyjer Morgan, in the deal that sent Joel Hanrahan and Lastings Milledge to Pittsburgh. Burnett was already throwing well at the time of the swap but stepped up his game over the next three and a half seasons in D.C., working to a combined 2.81 ERA and handling plenty of high-leverage spots ( 71 holds, 10 saves).

That strong run led Burnett to ink a two-year, $8MM contract with the Angels in free agency. Unfortunately for both Burnett and the Halos, he pitched just 10 1/3 innings over the life of that contract due to one of the aforementioned Tommy John procedures. From that point forth, Burnett battled myriad health issues as signed numerous minor league deals in an effort to return to the big leagues — a goal he achieved in that brief 2016 showing with the Nationals.

All in all, Burnett’s career will come to a close with a 3.52 ERA in 378 1/3 innings of work at the MLB level, though on can only wonder what type of success he might’ve had with better health. That said, the majority of fans and players alike would be thrilled to appear in 380 Major League games, toss a shutout, collect 91 holds and 10 saves, and earn a bit north of $13MM in salary along the way. In addition to his time with the Pirates, Nats and Angels, Burnett also pitched in the minor league ranks for the Mets, Twins, Marlins, Dodgers and Braves (plus the Phillies in Spring Training 2017). Best wishes to the lefty in his post-playing endeavors.

Pirates Acquire Yefry Ramirez, Designate Jesus Liranzo

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The Pirates have acquired right-hander Yefry Ramirez from the Orioles for a player to be named later or cash considerations, per announcements from both teams. To make room for Ramirez on its 40-man roster, Pittsburgh designated righty Jesus Liranzo for assignment.

Ramirez lasted just under two years with the Orioles, who acquired him from the Yankees for international bonus money in July 2017. His time with Baltimore essentially ended May 22 when it designated him for assignment.

The 25-year-old Ramirez saw extensive action with the Orioles in 2018, his major league debut, but pitched to an unappealing 5.92 ERA/5.29 FIP with 8.54 K/9, 4.96 BB/9 and a 34 percent groundball rate in 65 1/3 innings. Most of Ramirez’s 17 appearances (12) came as a starter last year, but he primarily worked from the Orioles’ bullpen this season before they parted with him. Ramirez opened the campaign with one start over four appearances and allowed eight earned runs on 11 hits and nine walks (with 11 strikeouts) in 10 1/3 frames.

Ramirez hasn’t established himself in the majors, but he does carry a 3.40 ERA with 9.6 K/9 and 3.1 BB/9 in 90 Triple-A innings. Meanwhile, Liranzo has endured a terrible season with the Pirates’ Triple-A affiliate in Indianapolis. The 24-year-old posted a 7.54 ERA and 7.9 K/9 against 6.8 BB/9 in 22 2/3 innings prior to his designation. Liranzo happens to be an ex-Orioles farmhand, but he joined the Pirates as a waiver claim from the Dodgers in April 2018.

Pirates Select Alex McRae, Transfer Corey Dickerson To 60-Day IL

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The Pirates announced that they’ve selected right-hander Alex McRae’s contract from Triple-A Indianapolis. To make 40-man room for McRae, Pittsburgh transferred outfielder Corey Dickerson from the 10-day injured list to the 60-day IL. The club also optioned reliever Dovydas Neverauskas.

McRae, a 10th-round pick of the Pirates in 2014, debuted in the majors last year with a 6 1/3-inning showing. He struggled during that small sample size, though, and the team outrighted him off its 40-man in December. The 26-year-old McRae also hasn’t been all that effective in Indianapolis, where he has logged a 4.89 ERA with 8.0 K/9 and 3.6 BB/9 in 165 2/3 innings since 2018.

Dickerson went to the 10-day IL on April 4 because of a right posterior shoulder strain. Considering he has already missed almost two months, Monday’s transaction shouldn’t affect Dickerson’s timetable. He just embarked on a rehab assignment May 24.

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