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Giants Put Sandoval On IL, Activate Dickerson

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2:20pm: The Giants announced that Sandoval has indeed been placed on the injured list due to elbow inflammation. Outfielder Alex Dickerson has been reinstated from the IL in a corresponding roster move, although Dickerson is not in today’s lineup.

1:07pm: Giants third baseman Pablo Sandoval says that he expects to be placed on the 10-day injured list, as John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle was among those to cover (Twitter links). Sandoval is dealing with bone chips in his right elbow.

It seems that Sandoval has already attempted a cortisone shot, without sufficient effect. The malady has limited him when throwing and hitting from the right side of the plate.

It’s not clear at this point how much time the Panda might miss. He indicated that he’s hopeful of making it back to the active roster, even if he’s limited to hitting from the left side of the plate, though it seems a timeline won’t become clear until he has had some time to rest.

Sandoval, who recently turned 33, narrowly made the Giants roster out of camp but has turned out to be a key cog. He has accumulated 295 plate appearances of .269/.314/.509 hitting with 14 home runs — a vintage performance for a player who was once a quality regular. Sandoval will return to the open market at season’s end.

Giants Designate Dan Winkler For Assignment

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The Giants announced that they’ve designated right-hander Dan Winkler for assignment Thursday. His spot on the 40-man roster will go to lefty Sam Selman, whose contract has been selected from Triple-A Sacramento. The Giants also placed outfielder Alex Dickerson on the 10-day injured list due to an oblique strain.

Winkler’s DFA comes less than 24 hours after the Giants acquired him in the trade that sent Mark Melancon to Atlanta. Jettisoning Winkler underscores that the move was largely one about finances for the Giants, who were stunningly able to unload the entirety of Melancon’s remaining $18.3MM on the Braves.

The 29-year-old Winkler has struggled in 2019, pitching to an ugly 4.98 ERA with a 22-to-11 K/BB ratio in 21 2/3 innings of relief this season. He’s had similar struggles in Triple-A (4.86 ERA, 20-to-18 K/BB in 16 2/3 innings) but is not far removed from a strong 2018 showing. Last season, Winkler pitched to a 3.43 earned run average (and a 2.76 FIP) with 10.3 K/9, 3.0 BB/9, 0.45 HR/9 and a 38.3 percent ground-ball rate. He has minor league options remaining beyond the 2019 season, making it somewhat surprising that the Giants apparently aren’t planning to take a look at him. Winkler can’t be traded to another organization under this season’s new trade structure but can be claimed on outright waivers.

Selman will be making his MLB debut as a 28-year-old rookie after posting some jaw-dropping numbers in the minors. After tossing seven shutout innings in Double-A, he moved up to the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League and turned in 40 frames of 1.35 ERA ball with 65 strikeouts (14.6 K/9) against 13 walks (2.9 BB/9). He’s benefited from a minuscule .203 BABIP and an 86 percent strand rate, but Selman’s ability to miss bats and limit walks is intriguing.

As for Dickerson, he’s not expected to miss more than 10 days with his current ailment (Twitter link via Kerry Crowley of the San Jose Mercury News). The 29-year-old has been a godsend for the Giants and helped to fuel San Francisco’s surge back into the Wild Card picture, hitting .346/.402/.664 with six homers, 10 doubles and three triples in 117 plate appearances.

That level of output isn’t likely to be maintained, as Dickerson’s .413 average on balls in play is the fourth-highest of any hitter in baseball (min. 100 PAs). He’s also battled significant injury issues throughout his career. That said, he does have an outstanding Triple-A track record (.333/.398/.541 in 892 PAs) and enjoyed some big league success with the Padres back in 2016. He’s controlled three more seasons beyond 2019, making him an intriguing find for the Giants even if (or when) his bat regresses to some extent.

Giants Place Steven Duggar On IL, Recall Alex Dickerson

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The Giants have placed outfielder Steven Duggar on the 10-day injured list with a lower back strain and recalled fellow outfielder Alex Dickerson from Triple-A Sacramento, Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports California was among those to report.

The rookie Duggar has been a regular this season in the Giants’ outfield, where he has split time between center and right. Duggar has combined for an impressive eight Defensive Runs Saved in those spots, though the 25-year-old’s offense has lagged behind. He has hit an ugly .234/.277/.343 (64 wRC+) with four home runs in 267 plate appearances, thus contributing to the generally terrible numbers the Giants’ outfield has put up in 2019.

Duggar’s injury means San Francisco will get its first look at Dickerson, whom it acquired from NL West rival San Diego on June 10. Dickerson enjoyed success as a rookie in 2016 with the Padres, hitting .257/.333/.445 (111 wRC+) with 10 HRs in 285 PA. However, back problems and Tommy John surgery completely kept him out of action from 2017-18.

Dickerson, 29, bounced back in a big way this season with the Padres’ Triple-A affiliate before the team dealt him, as he slashed .372/.469/.606 (168 wRC+) with five HRs in 113 trips to the plate. Although, since the Giants acquired him, Dickerson has collected just three hits (all singles) with their highest minors affiliate.

Giants Acquire Alex Dickerson

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The Giants and Padres have announced a swap that will send outfielder Alex Dickerson to San Francisco. Righty Franklin Van Gurp goes to San Diego in return.

Dickerson, 29, was designated for assignment recently by the Friars. He’ll find a match with a Giants organization that has been on the hunt for interesting opportunities in the outfield all season long.

Though the Friars long tried to give Dickerson an extended look, his body didn’t hold up long enough for extended action. He turned in a solid offensive showing in his first full MLB action back in 2016, only to miss all of 2017 and 2018 owing to back issues and Tommy John surgery.

Dickerson returned this year to a tough roster situation in San Diego. The club has several younger players who deserve looks of their own at the game’s highest level.

Though Dickerson didn’t run with what limited opportunity he did have in the majors — just three singles to go with seven strikeouts in 19 MLB plate appearances this year — he has once again showed an interesting bat at Triple-A. In 113 plate appearances, Dickerson is batting .372/.469/.606 with an 18:14 K/BB ratio and five home runs.

As for Van Gurp, he’s a 2017 25th-rounder who just received a promotion to the Double-A level. The 23-year-old has battled walk issues at times but has performed well in that area this year. Through 33 2/3 innings — five at Double-A and the bulk at Class A — Van Gurp owns a 4.54 ERA with 13.1 K/9 and 2.9 BB/9.

Padres Designate Alex Dickerson For Assignment

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The Padres announced that they’ve designated outfielder Alex Dickerson for assignment on Wednesday. His spot on the roster will go to righty Miguel Diaz, whose reinstatement from the 60-day injured list had already been announced by the team.

Dickerson, 29, has collected three singles in 19 trips to the plate this season in his first action since the 2016 season. Back injuries wiped out Dickerson’s 2017 campaign, and he underwent Tommy John surgery last spring, which cost him the 2018 season as well. Prior to those significant injury troubles, Dickerson looked like an intriguing late bloomer; through 285 plate appearances in 2016, he hit .257/.333/.455 with 10 homers, 16 doubles, a pair of triples and five stolen bases.

There’s a known outfield crunch in San Diego, however, with Wil Myers, Manuel Margot, Franchy Cordero, Franmil Reyes, Hunter Renfroe and the recently promoted Josh Naylor all vying for at-bats on the big league roster (although Cordero is injured at the moment). That glut of outfielders ultimately left Dickerson as the odd man out, though his prior success and strong .372/.469/.606 slash through 113 Triple-A plate appearances this season could very well lead to interest from another club. The Padres will have a week to either trade Dickerson or attempt to pass him through outright waivers.

Padres Promote Josh Naylor

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May 24: The Padres announced that Naylor’s contract has been selected from Triple-A El Paso. Outfielder Alex Dickerson has been placed on the 10-day injured list due to a sprained right wrist, thus opening a 25-man roster spot, while lefty Aaron Loup’s transfer from the 10-day IL to the 60-day IL opens a spot on the 40-man roster.

May 23: The Padres are planning to promote outfield prospect Josh Naylor, according to Dennis Lin of The Athletic (via Twitter). Corresponding roster moves aren’t yet known.

This decision adds to the interest in tomorrow’s matchup in Toronto, which will already feature just-promoted Blue Jays prospect Cavan Biggio. As Lin notes, Naylor is a Toronto-area native, hailing from neighboring Mississauga. Still another Ontarian, Cal Quantrill, will start Saturday’s game for the Friars.

Naylor was taken with the 12th overall pick of the 2015 draft by the Marlins. He ended up being shipped to San Diego in the partially undone 2016 trade — a transaction that came close on the heels of another swap in which the Friars picked the pocket of the Miami organization.

Primarily a first baseman to begin his professional career, Naylor has been shifted to a corner outfield role more recently in a bid to find a home for his bat. He’s still learning his way around the outfield grass, but has continued to ramp up his productivity at the plate while moving into the upper ranks of the Friars farm.

Naylor received at least one top-100 leaguewide prospect grade entering the present season, with Baseball America slotting him in at #99, and he has certainly boosted his stock since. So far this year, Naylor carries a .299/.378/.538 batting line through 209 plate appearances at Triple-A. He has swatted ten home runs and walked as many times as he has struck out (24 apiece), making for a nicely balanced offensive profile.

Bringing Naylor up is going to require both 40-man and active roster space. It’s fair to wonder whether the time is up for Alex Dickerson, who returned this year from a lengthy run of poor injury luck. He devastated Triple-A pitching but has managed just three singles while going down seven times on strikes in his 19 MLB plate appearances.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Padres Select Alex Dickerson

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The Padres announced today that they have selected the contract of Alex Dickerson. He’ll take the active roster spot of righty Luis Perdomo, who was optioned. A 40-man opening was created by moving right-hander Brett Kennedy to the 60-day IL.

Dickerson returns to the majors just before his 29th birthday. He was dropped from the San Diego 40-man roster after the 2018 season but re-signed on a minors pact.

A former third-round pick, Dickerson has more or less always produced when healthy. He consistently drubbed minor-league pitching and turned in a strong .257/.333/.455 slash in his first full look at the majors in 2016.

Unfortunately, that’s the last we had seen of Dickerson in regular-season action. Back and elbow injuries robbed him of two consecutive campaigns.

Dickerson has picked up right where he left off at Triple-A, making this an interesting promotion to watch. Through 104 plate appearances in 2019, he’s slashing .360/.462/.593 with five home runs and a confidence-inspiring 17:13 K/BB ratio.

Minor MLB Transactions: 12/21/18

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Here are the day’s minor moves:

  • The Phillies have a host of new additions to the team’s list of MLB Spring Training participants. In addition to a few we’ve already featured here at MLBTR, the Philadelphia club has announced the signings of southpaw Jeremy Bleich, backstop Rob Brantly, righty Josh Martin, utilityman Matt McBride, and infielder Gregorio Petit. Every one of these players has seen MLB time except for Martin, who’ll be looking for his first crack at the bigs after compiling a seven-season minor-league stat line with the Indians organization that features a 3.33 ERA and 9.2 K/9 against 2.6 BB/9.
  • Likewise, the Padres have announced a haul of camp competitors. Allen Craig will come back for another go, as will Alex Dickerson. Otherwise, southpaws Ryan Bollinger and Dietrich Enns have inked with the San Diego org, along with righty Tyler Higgins. On the position-player side, infielders Seth Mejias-Brean and Aderlin Rodriguez are joined by outfielder Jacob Scavuzzo. It’s the opposite situation from the one just discussed above, as all of the new additions excepting Enns — who’s compiled two MLB appearances — have yet to crack the majors.
  • A handful of new free agents are heading to the Rangers, too, per a club announcement. Lefty Jack Leathersich has seen action in a pair of MLB campaigns, but won’t get a camp invite. Fellow southpaw Miguel Del Pozo, righties, Ariel Hernandez and Phillips Valdez, and infielder Nolan Fontana will open their tenure in Texas on the MLB side of Spring Training. Hernandez and Fontana each have minimal experience in the bigs. Valdez worked to a 2.73 ERA in 135 upper-minors innings with the Nationals organization last year, with 6.9 K/9 against 3.1 BB/9; Del Pozo has averaged ten strikeouts per nine in his minor-league career.
  • The Red Sox have added another hurler on a minor-league pact, this time picking up righty Ryan Weber, per Michael Mayer of Metsmerizedonline.com (via Twitter). Now 28 years of age, Weber has thrown 73 2/3 innings of 5.01 ERA ball over the past four years, though the vast majority of those came in 2015 and 2016. He was rather effective last year at Triple-A in a swingman capacity, spinning 115 1/3 innings of 2.73 ERA ball with 6.5 K/9 and 1.8 BB/9.

Minor MLB Transactions: 12/13/18

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Here are Thursday’s minor moves from around baseball:

  • The Yakult Swallows of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball have signed righty Albert Suarez to an undisclosed deal, the Japan Times reports. The 29-year-old Suarez saw big league action with the Giants from 2016-17, a 115 2/3-inning span in which he pitched to a 4.51 ERA with 6.85 K/9, 2.88 BB/9 and a 47.3 percent groundball rate across 40 appearances (12 starts). The Diamondbacks then took Suarez 14th in last year’s Rule 5 draft, only to outright him in late March. Because Suarez had been outrighted in the past, the Diamondbacks didn’t have to offer him back to the Giants. Suarez ended up spending the year with the D-backs’ Triple-A affiliate and struggling to a 4.97 ERA with 7.2 K/9 against 4.7 BB/9 over 63 1/3 innings.

Earlier updates:

  • The Padres have re-signed outfielder Alex Dickerson to a minor league contract, the team announced. The 28-year-old Dickerson accrued 293 plate appearances with the Padres from 2015-16 and hit a solid .257/.331/.448 with 10 home runs and five stolen bases, but injuries have derailed his career since then. He missed all of the 2017 season while dealing with back issues and then sat out last year after undergoing Tommy John surgery on his left (throwing) elbow in March. A third-round pick of the Pirates in 2011, the Padres originally acquired Dickerson for Miles Mikolas and Jaff Decker in November 2011.
  • The Tigers have signed right-handers Chris Smith and Eduardo Paredes to minor league deals, according to Robert Murray of The Athletic and Anthony Fenech of the Detroit Free Press. The 30-year-old Smith has only picked up five big league innings – with the Blue Jays in 2017. He spent last season with the Nationals’ Triple-A club and notched a 3.93 ERA/3.88 FIP with 10.64 K/9 and 3.44 BB/9 in 55 frames. The Angels outrighted the 23-year-old Paredes last month, ending a run with the organization that began in 2012. Paredes saw some major league action with the Halos from 2017-18 and posted a 5.53 ERA/5.08 FIP with 7.08 K/9 and 2.88 BB/9 over 40 2/3 innings. He was more successful the past two years at Triple-A, where he put up a 3.86 ERA with 8.3 K/9 against 4.1 BB/9 in 79 1/3 frames.
  • The Cubs have acquired left-hander Conor Lillis-White from the Angels to complete the teams’ Tommy La Stella trade, Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register tweets. Lillis-White, 26, was a a 32nd-round pick of the Angels in 2015 who divided last season between the Double-A and Triple-A levels, combining for a 3.50 ERA with 12.3 K/9 against 4.0 BB/9 in 72 innings.

Padres Outright Alex Dickerson, Designate Kazuhisa Makita

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The Padres announced today that they have dropped two players form their 40-man roster. Outfielder Alex Dickerson was outrighted after clearing waivers, while reliever Kazuhisa Makita was designated for assignment.

It’s no surprise to see Dickerson bumped from the 40-man after being activated from the 60-day DL. Unfortunately, the former third-round pick has been sidelined by injuries (to his back and elbow) in each of the past two seasons. He showed plenty of promise in 2016, but will now have to battle for his next shot at the majors.

As for Makita, who’ll soon turn 34, his two-year deal has thus far been a dud for the Friars, who owe him another $1.9MM for the coming season. The submariner managed only a 5.40 ERA in his 35 frames in 2018, allowing seven long balls but also showing a solid 37:12 K/BB ratio.

Makita was able to generate a strong 12.2% swinging-strike rate and lofty 23.7% infield fly percentage, so he has shown some interesting skill. Unfortunately, he also gave up a lot of line drives (a whopping 39.4%, per Fangraphs) long balls (18.4% HR/FB), so he’ll obviously need to make some corrections to succeed.

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