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Alex Claudio

Brewers, Alex Claudio Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Brewers have agreed to a minor league contract with left-handed reliever Alex Claudio, tweets Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. The MDR Sports Management client will be invited to Major League Spring Training.

It’s a reunion between the Brewers and Claudio, who spent the 2019-20 seasons pitching out of manager Craig Counsell’s bullpen. The now-30-year-old southpaw (31 later this month) pitched to a 4.11 ERA with a 17% strikeout rate, 8.6% walk rate and 54.9% ground-ball rate in 81 innings during that time but stumbled to a 5.51 ERA in 32 2/3 frames with the Angels in 2021. Claudio spent the 2022 season with the Mets, tossing 3 1/3 shutout innings at the MLB level but otherwise pitching the remainder of the season in Triple-A Syracuse. The veteran lefty was effective in that hitter-friendly setting, logging a 3.91 ERA in 48 1/3 innings.

Overall, Claudio has spent parts of nine seasons in the big leagues and tallied more than six years of MLB service time. He sports a lifetime 3.60 ERA in 347 2/3 innings, and while his 17% strikeout rate is well south of the league average, his 6.5% walk rate and, in particular, his 59.8% ground-ball rate are both demonstrably better than that of the average MLB hurler.

The three-batter minimum has hurt pitchers of Claudio’s ilk, as he carries pronounced platoon splits that make him an unpalatable option against right-handed opponents. Lefties have flailed away at just a .210/.255/.335 pace against Claudio over the years, but right-handed opponents have tattooed him to the tune of a .302/.357/.440 batting line.

As things stand, Hoby Milner is the only left-handed bullpen option on the Brewers’ 40-man roster — assuming prospect Ethan Small continues to work as a starting pitcher in the upper minors. Eric Lauer and Aaron Ashby, the only other two lefties on the roster, are both ticketed for rotation work next year. As such, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see the Brewers bring in some more veterans in this mold on non-roster deals between now and Spring Training. It’s also possible that Milwaukee could make a late play to add a more established southpaw to pair with Milner. Andrew Chafin, Matt Moore, Zack Britton and Brad Hand all remain unsigned in free agency, and the trade market of course presents further options.

15 Players Elect Free Agency

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As the postseason rolls along, players hit minor league free agency daily. It’s customary each offseason for dozens of players to hit the open market, separate from the players who reach MLB free agency at the end of the World Series based on the expiration of their contracts while having six-plus years of MLB service time.

Any player who is not on his team’s 40-man roster at season’s end but has three-plus years of MLB service, multiple career outright assignments and/or seven-plus seasons in the minor leagues has the right to elect free agency. Everyone in today’s group falls under that umbrella. The majority will take minor league deals over the winter, although one or two could find a big league deal as a bench piece or middle-inning reliever.

MLBTR covered 34 players who qualified for minor league free agency last week. We’ll periodically provide updates as plenty more hit the open market, as reflected on the MiLB.com transactions log.

Pitchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Mets Select Francisco Alvarez, Designate Alex Claudio For Assignment

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The Mets have made it official: they’ve selected the contract of top catching prospect Francisco Alvarez from Triple-A Syracuse, confirming his previously reported promotion to the big leagues. In a pair of corresponding roster moves, Darin Ruf was placed on the 10-day injured list due to a neck strain, and lefty Alex Claudio was designated for assignment. Alvarez will serve as the Mets’ designated hitter today, batting seventh in his Major League debut.

Considered by most outlets to be among baseball’s ten best prospects — and considered the top prospect in the sport at MLB.com — Alvarez will cap off a monstrous season with his first call to the Majors. Splitting his time between Double-A and Triple-A this year, the 20-year-old slugger posted a combined .260/.374/.511 batting line with 27 home runs, 22 doubles, a 14.1% walk rate and a 24.8% strikeout rate in 495 plate appearances. He’s been on an absolute tear since returning from a stint on the minor league injured list earlier this month, mashing at a .362/.483/.596 clip over his past 58 plate appearances.

That’s a stark contrast to the veteran Ruf, acquired from the Giants prior to the trade deadline. The 36-year-old has been one of the game’s most potent bats against lefties in recent years but has stumbled to a dismal .152/.216/.197 batting line in 74 plate appearances as a Met — handily being outproduced by the same right-handed slugger for which he was traded; J.D. Davis is batting .280/.375/.525 in 136 trips to the plate as a Giant. (The Mets also sent lefty Thomas Szapucki and a pair of prospects to San Francisco in that swap.)

Alvarez’s first start will come against Braves southpaw Max Fried — a tough opponent but a favorable platoon matchup at least. In 132 plate appearances against southpaws in the minors this season, he’s raked at a .315/.424/.595 clip and slugged 15 extra-base hits (eight homers, seven doubles). Fried is (obviously) more than a cut above the quality of pitchers Alvarez has been facing in Double-A and Triple-A, but he’ll still add some right-handed thump in a pivotal series that could very well decide the winner of the National League East.

Claudio, 30, tossed 3 1/3 shutout innings with the Mets earlier this month, marking his ninth consecutive season with time spent on a Major League roster. A fixture in the bullpens of the Rangers and then the Brewers from 2014-20, Claudio struggled through a poor 2021 season with the Angels and subsequently spent the bulk of the current campaign in Triple-A. He posted a combined 3.44 ERA in 311 2/3 frames in that ’14-’20 stretch between Texas and Milwaukee before serving up a grisly 5.51 ERA in 32 2/3 innings as an Angel. He’s posted a 3.91 ERA in Syracuse this year, in addition to his 3 1/3 shutout innings for the Mets’ big league roster.

The Mets will place Claudio on outright waivers or release waivers within the next couple days. He has more than six years of Major League service time, so he’d be a free agent at season’s end regardless. It’s possible he’ll accept an outright in hopes of potentially being selected back to the roster in the event of an injury, but he’ll be a free agent this offseason regardless.

Mets Designate Adonis Medina For Assignment

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The Mets designated right-hander Adonis Medina for assignment, and also made Max Scherzer’s 15-day IL placement official.  In corresponding moves, New York selected the contract of left-hander Alex Claudio and called up right-hander Yoan Lopez from Triple-A.  Lopez will be the 29th man for today’s doubleheader against the Pirates.

Medina has been up and down from Triple-A multiple times this season, and all of the shuttling may have had an adverse effect on his performance.  The righty has a 6.08 ERA over 23 2/3 innings with the Mets and a more palatable 3.71 ERA in 26 2/3 frames for Triple-A Syracuse, though Medina’s minor league walk rate is a troubling 12.1%.

This is the third time that Medina has been designated for assignment within the last year, with the first of those DFA stints keeping Medina in transactional limbo throughout the entirety of the offseason lockout.  The Pirates claimed Medina off waivers from the Phillies once the lockout was over, and a subsequent DFA from Pittsburgh resulted in Medina being traded to the Mets just prior to Opening Day.

Medina received some top-100 prospect attention as recently as 2019, but he has yet to make a big impact in the majors, pitching only 11 2/3 innings with the Phillies prior to this season.  Generally a below-average strikeout pitcher, Medina has posted grounder rates around the 50% mark during his career, usually relying more on soft contact and keeping the ball in play rather than missed bats.  Medina has worked as a starter for much of his career but he primarily been a reliever this season in Syracuse, and his 14 Mets appearances were all out of the bullpen.

Claudio inked a minor league deal with the Mets during the offseason, and the southpaw is now on the verge of making it a ninth consecutive season with some MLB action.  Speaking of low-strikeout grounder specialists, Claudio has a 17% strikeout rate and 59.8% groundball rate over his 344 1/3 career innings in the majors.  Claudio was a generally reliable bullpen arm throughout his time with the Rangers and Brewers from 2014-20, posting a 3.44 ERA and eating plenty of innings — his 83 appearances led the big leagues in 2019.

The Brewers opted to non-tender Claudio following the 2020 season, in part due to his lack of strikeouts or high velocity, as well as the idea that Claudio (who has pretty big career splits) would be hampered by the three-batter rule.  Signing with the Angels in the 2020-21 offseason, the southpaw had only a 5.51 ERA over 32 2/3 innings with Anaheim in 2021, and also pitched in the Red Sox farm system after the Angels cut him loose midway through the campaign.

The Mets’ lack of left-handed relief depth has been an ongoing story of their season, with Joely Rodriguez being the only southpaw regular within the bullpen mix.  Such left-handed pitchers as Chasen Shreve, Nate Fisher, Rob Zastryzny, Sam Clay, and Thomas Szapucki have all gotten some looks, and Claudio will become the latest southpaw to get a shot at catching on as extra depth.

Mets Sign Alex Claudio, Stephen Nogosek To Minor League Contracts

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The Mets recently signed left-hander Alex Claudio and right-hander Stephen Nogosek to minor league deals, Chris Hilburn-Trenkle of Baseball America reports.  The signings are allowed during the lockout since both players are minor league free agents.

Claudio was released by the Red Sox in late September after inking a minors deal with Boston in August.  That deal with the Sox came on the heels of a 5.51 ERA over 32 2/3 innings with the Angels, as Claudio had some uncharacteristic struggles against left-handed batters and with his control (10.1% walk rate).

Known for his durability and his knack for inducing grounders, Claudio enjoyed some solid success with the Rangers and Brewers from 2014-20, even if his lack of a traditional high velo/high strikeout bullpen resume twice led Milwaukee to non-tender him.  Claudio’s early-career numbers (a 2.66 ERA over 162 1/3 innings from 2014-17) were better than his more recent work (4.28 ERA in 149 1/3 IP in 2018-20), and he has also had trouble keeping the ball in the park in two of his last three seasons.  In 2021, Claudio posted a 26.1% homer rate, allowing six home runs over his 32 2/3 frames with the Halos.

Only just entering his age-30 season, Claudio could be an interesting candidate for something of a rebound year, particularly since the defensively-challenged Angels weren’t a great fit for a groundball pitcher.  The Mets can take a closer look at Claudio in spring camp, and he would seemingly have a good shot at winning a job in a New York bullpen thin on southpaws.  David Peterson represents the only healthy left-handed pitcher on the Mets’ entire 40-man roster.

For Nogosek, it marks a quick return to the organization after the Mets cut him loose at the November 30 non-tender deadline.  Nogosek (who just turned 27 earlier this week) first came to the Mets from the Red Sox in July 2017 as part of the trade package for Addison Reed, and the righty has eight career MLB games on his resume.  Between 6 2/3 innings over seven appearances in 2019 and a single three-inning appearance this past season, Nogosek has a 9.31 ERA in his brief big league career.

As a minor leaguer, Nogosek has a 3.55 ERA over 238 innings, working as a reliever for all but three of his 170 games.  Nogosek can miss some bats (27.01% strikeout rate) but control has been an issue, with an above-average 11.91% walk rate in his time on the farm.  He struggled to a 5.14 ERA over 35 innings with Triple-A Syracuse in 2021, and also spent about six weeks on the injured list due to shoulder inflammation.

Red Sox Sign Alex Claudio

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The Red Sox have signed left-hander Alex Claudio to a minor league deal and assigned him to Triple-A Worcester, relays Bill Koch of the Providence Journal (Twitter link). The veteran southpaw was released by the Angels last month.

Claudio signed with Los Angeles on a one-year contract over the offseason on the heels of a pair of decent but unspectacular years with the Brewers. The 29-year-old was a frequently-utilized option for Angels manager Joe Maddon, who turned to him 41 times over the club’s first 98 games. Claudio pitched to a career-worst 5.51 ERA over 32 2/3 frames, partially due to the highest walk rate (10.1%) of his career.

That said, Claudio did strike out batters at a 20.3% clip, the highest rate of his career (excluding his 12 1/3 inning debut season in 2014). That’s well below league average for a reliever, but the soft-tossing Claudio has long been known as a groundball specialist. He’s no longer inducing grounders on over 60% of balls in play — as he did at his 2016-18 peak with the Rangers — but the southpaw’s 52% grounder rate this season remains above-average.

In other Red Sox news, Koch notes that Worcester released reliever Marcus Walden over the weekend. The 32-year-old pitched 106 innings of 4.50 ERA ball for the Red Sox between 2018-20 but was outrighted off the 40-man roster in Spring Training. Walden worked 42 2/3 innings with Worcester this year, posting a 4.01 ERA with a 20.8% strikeout rate.

Angels Recall Jaime Barria, Designate Alex Claudio For Assignment

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The Angels have designated lefty specialist Alex Claudio for assignment in order to create room for Jaime Barria, per the team. Barria will start today’s ballgame.

Barria broke out as a 21-year-old way back in 2018 by posting a 3.41 ERA across 129 1/3 innings. He hasn’t been able to replicate that output in the years since, however. He has just two appearances covering six innings this year while making 10 starts in Triple-A. He’s posted a 4.41 ERA in 49 innings with Salt Lake City.

Claudio, meanwhile, seemed like a solid, cheap addition this offseason. The sidewinding southpaw has been tagged for a 5.41 ERA/5.09 FIP in 41 appearances covering 32 2/3 innings. Signed to a $1.125MM contract, he’ll be a low-cost pickup for anyone looking to make a claim.

Lefties have uncharacteristically shelled Claudio this season with a .364 wOBA and .275/.333/.522 triple slash line. In his career, lefties have just a .258 wOBA against Claudio with a 21.2 percent strikeout rate and 4.4 percent walk rate. His strikeout rate is up against lefties, but he’s also walking more hitters than usual, regardless of their handedness.

Pitching Notes: Lamet, Claudio, Robertson, E. Cabrera, Oberg

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The Padres had to go without breakout star Dinelson Lamet in the playoffs last year because of arm issues, but the right-hander told AJ Cassavell of MLB.com and other reporters that he’s healthy heading into the upcoming season. “I’m coming off that rest period, I did everything I needed to do, I feel well-prepared,” said Lamet. “I feel like I’m 100 percent myself.” That’s another excellent development in an offseason full of them for the burgeoning Padres, as Lamet was a 2020 Cy Young contender who pitched to a 2.09 ERA/3.16 SIERA in 69 innings and struck out more than 12 batters per nine. If healthy, he’ll open the season near the top of a San Diego rotation that added Yu Darvish, Blake Snell and Joe Musgrove in the offseason, and also has Chris Paddack in the fold as a holdover.

  • Angels lefty reliever Alex Claudio is battling a hip infection that could delay his camp debut by at least one to two weeks, Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com tweets. That’s unwelcome news for Claudio and the Angels’ bullpen, as the team’s counting on him to fill a regular role after it signed him to a $1.125MM guarantee in free agency. The 29-year-old spent last season with the Brewers and registered a 4.26 ERA/4.43 SIERA in 19 innings.
  • Free-agent reliever David Robertson held his second showcase of the month on Friday, per Mark Feinsand of MLB.com. A dozen-plus teams were in attendance to watch Robertson, according to Feinsand, who writes that the right-hander “was said to look good.” Robertson’s fastball regularly checked in between 90-91 mph and hit 92 mph multiple times. The 35-year-old has averaged 92 mph on his fastball since his career started in 2008.
  • Marlins righty prospect Edward Cabrera has an inflamed nerve in his biceps, and there’s no timetable on when he’ll be able to throw, according to Christina De Nicola of MLB.com. The Marlins will obviously be careful with the 22-year-old Cabrera, whom MLB.com ranks as the 68th overall prospect in the game. Cabrera didn’t pitch last year because of the lack of a minor league season, but he put up 38 2/3 innings of 2.56 ERA ball at the Double-A level in 2019.
  • Rockies reliever Scott Oberg hasn’t suffered any setbacks since he underwent thoracic outlet syndrome surgery in September, Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post writes. The hope is that the procedure will help Oberg get over blood clots that have dogged him in the past. Oberg hasn’t taken a major league mound since Aug. 16, 2019, but the righty was highly effective out of the Rockies’ bullpen that season and in the prior campaign.

Angels Sign Alex Claudio

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The Angels have signed left-hander Alex Claudio to a one-year deal worth $1.125MM, the club announced.  Claudio hit the open market after he was non-tendered by the Brewers earlier this month.

Between this signing and the Angels’ acquisition of Raisel Iglesias, the bullpen has been an early focus for newly-hired general manager Perry Minasian.  Left-handed relief was a particular need for the team, and that need that now been addressed with Claudio, who has held left-handed batters to a minuscule .202/.246/.310 slash line over 487 plate appearances during his career.

Claudio, who turns 29 next month, is a groundball specialist who doesn’t miss a lot of bats, as evidenced by his career 60.6% grounder rate and 6.27 K/9.  Something of a lefty specialist over his career, Claudio adjusted reasonably well to the three-batter rule last season, as he limited righty batters to a .268/.348/.390 slash line.  The increased exposure to right-handed hitters could explain why Claudio’s grounder rate dropped to only 46.6% over 19 innings last season, though that could also just be an anomaly of the 2020 season’s small sample size.

Lacking the big velocity or strikeout totals of most relievers, Claudio was non-tendered by Milwaukee in each of the last two offseasons (he was projected to earn between $2MM-$2.3MM in arbitration this winter), despite some pretty solid numbers throughout his career.  Over 311 2/3 innings for the Rangers and Brewers since the start of the 2014 season, Claudio has a 3.44 ERA, and he has also been one of the sport’s most durable relievers in recent years.  Claudio amassed 213 innings over 219 appearances in 2017-19, including a league-high 83 games pitched in 2019.

Brewers Non-Tender Ben Gamel, Alex Claudio, Jace Peterson

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8:06pm: Reports of Knebel being non-tendered proved premature, as he’s been traded to the Dodgers, per announcements from both teams. (More on that transaction here.)

8:05pm: The Brewers have also non-tendered outfielder Ben Gamel, lefty Alex Claudio and utilityman Jace Peterson, MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand reports.

The 28-year-old Gamel hit .237/.315/.404 while playing outfield spots in 2020, but the Brewers opted not to give him a raise on last year’s $1.4MM salary. It was a rough day for corner outfielders across the board, with several notable names hitting the market.

Claudio, 29 in January, posted serviceable results in 19 innings but saw his elite ground-ball rate trend more toward league-average levels this past season. Peterson’s non-tender isn’t particularly surprising given his status as a journeyman utility piece who has been on four teams in the past four seasons.

7:16pm: The Brewers have non-tendered right-handed reliever Corey Knebel, Robert Murray of FanSided tweets. He had been projected to earn more than $5MM in arbitration.

Now 29 years old, Knebel was one of the majors’ most dominant relievers for a short time. At his best, Knebel threw 76 innings of 1.78 ERA/2.53 FIP ball with 14.92 K/9 and 4.74 BB/9 en route to his lone All-Star nod in 2017. Knebel was again highly effective the next season, but he underwent Tommy John surgery before 2019 and wasn’t able to return to form this past season.

During his comeback with the Brewers, Knebel could only muster a 6.08 ERA/6.64 FIP with 10.13 K/9 against 5.4 BB/9 across 13 1/3 frames. Knebel also saw his average fastball drop from around 97 mph in his peak to 94.4 in 2020. That said, he should still draw a fair amount of interest as a buy-low, bounce-back candidate in free agency.

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