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Minor Moves: Andrew Albers, Casper Wells, Omar Duran

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Here are today’s minor transactions from around the league…

  • The Blue Jays announced that they have selected the contract of left-hander Andrew Albers and optioned struggling top prospect Daniel Norris to Triple-A. In order to clear a spot on the 40-man roster for Albers, Maicer Izturis has been transferred to the 60-day disabled list. Albers, a native of Saskatchewan, signed a Minor League deal with the Blue Jays this winter after spending the 2014 season with the Hanwha Eagles of the Korea Baseball Organization. The Twins signed Albers out of independent ball in 2011, and he eventually was named their Minor League Pitcher of the Year in 2013 — the season in which he made his MLB debut. Albers’ 60 innings that year is his lone sample of MLB work, the end result of which was a 4.05 ERA with 25 strikeouts against seven walks. Alexis Brudnicki of the Canadian Baseball Network first reported that Albers would be joining the Blue Jays (Twitter link).
  • The Tigers have released outfielder Casper Wells and left-hander Omar Duran, MLB.com’s Jason Beck tweeted earlier this morning. The 29-year-old Wells was in his second stint with Detroit after initially being a 15th-round pick of Detroit in the 2005 draft. Wells was sent to Seattle in 2011’s Doug Fister trade and has spent parts of four seasons in the Majors as a platoon/reserve outfielder. At his best, he handles lefties well and is capable of playing all three outfield spots. He hit just .209/.292/.326 in a small sample of 48 PAs at the Double-A level in 2015, however. As for Duran, the longtime A’s farmhand inked a Minor League pact with Detroit in the offseason but yielded nine runs (eight earned) in 8 1/3 innings at the Double-A level this year. The ability to miss bats at a high rate has allowed Duran to succeed in the lower levels of the Minors despite poor control, but the 25-year-old’s proclivity for walks figures to become more troublesome in the upper levels of the Minors. He’s worked just 22 1/3 innings at Double-A in his career.

Minor Moves: Mijares, Bowden, Runzler

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Here’s a roundup of some recent minor league transactions from around baseball, with the newest moves at the top of the post.  All moves are from Matt Eddy of Baseball America, unless credited otherwise.

  • The Reds have signed southpaw Jose Mijares and right-hander Michael Bowden to minor league deals.  Mijares posted strong numbers (3.23 ERA, 8.0 K/9, 2.22 K/BB rate) over 259 relief innings with the Twins, Royals and Giants from 2008-13 but didn’t pitch in 2014 after he opted out of his minor league deal with the Red Sox last March.  Bowden was drafted 47th overall by the Red Sox in the 2005 draft and was considered a top prospect during his stint in Boston’s minor league system.  He couldn’t manage that same success in the majors, posting a 4.51 ERA over 133 2/3 innings with the Red Sox and Cubs from 2008-13.  Bowden pitched in Japan in 2014.
  • The Diamondbacks signed left-hander Dan Runzler to a minor league contract.  Runzler posted a 3.86 ERA, 9.7 K/9 and 5.5 BB/9 over 72 1/3 IP with San Francisco from 2009-12 and was released by the Giants’ Triple-A team last July so he could pitch in Japan with the Orix Buffaloes.
  • The Marlins inked outfielder Vinny Rottino to a minor league deal.  Rottino, 34, is returning to North American baseball for the first time since 2012 after playing in Korea and Japan over the last two seasons.  This is Rottino’s second stint in Miami, as he played for the Marlins, Mets, Indians and Brewers while collecting 110 career Major League plate appearances.
  • The Rangers signed infielder Tommy Field to a minor league contract.  Field received 81 plate appearances with the Rockies and Angels from 2011-13 and he spent last season at the Triple-A level in the Angels and Pirates organizations.
  • The Royals outrighted outfielder Moises Sierra and right-hander Casey Coleman to Triple-A, the team announced via Twitter.  The two players were both designated for assignment last week to create roster spots for the recently-signed Kendrys Morales and Yohan Pino, respectively.
  • The Blue Jays announced the signing of left-hander Andrew Albers to a minor league deal that includes a Spring Training invite.  Albers posted a 5.89 ERA over 28 starts for Hanwha of the (very hitter-friendly) Korean Baseball Organization in 2014.  His Major League experience consists of a 4.05 ERA, 3.8 K/9 and 3.57 K/BB rate over 60 innings with the Twins in 2013.

Quick Hits: A’s, Rockies, Morales, Albers

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With the Winter Meetings just a week away, MLB.com’s Anthony Castrovince names the top ten Hot Stove storylines heading into December. How the top-tier starting pitcher market shakes out heads the list, according to Castrovince, who notes the trade market for the likes of Cole Hamels, Jordan Zimmermann, and Jeff Samardzija will heat up once free agents Jon Lester and Max Scherzer sign. Among Castrovince’s other top headlines this month are whether the Braves trade Justin Upton and how the Red Sox and Dodgers deal with their surplus of outfielders.

Elsewhere in baseball on the final day of November:

  • After A’s GM Billy Beane signed Billy Butler to a $30MM deal and traded third baseman Josh Donaldson to the Blue Jays, Steve Melewski of MASNsports.com isn’t sure what the plan is in Oakland.
  • The best way for the Rockies to become contenders is for Carlos Gonzalez and Troy Tulowitzki to be healthy and productive, but it would be daring for GM Jeff Bridich to trade the duo in search of salary relief to address areas of concern, opines MLB.com’s Tracy Ringolsby.
  • The market for Kendrys Morales has been quiet to date with only the Indians being linked to the free agent DH. CBSSports.com’s Jon Heyman tweets, besides Cleveland, the Rangers and Royals are also taking a look at Morales while the Mariners and Blue Jays are possibilities, as well.
  • Left-handed starter Andrew Albers recently became a free agent and has drawn interest from a number of big league clubs, an industry source told Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet. Albers became a free agent when South Korea’s Hanwha Eagles declined the 2015 option on his one-year deal. The Canadian pitched to a 5.84 ERA in 146 1/3 innings, though he did make 27 starts and led his team with 102 strikeouts. BN-S writes Albers appears to be seeking a split contract with incentives.

Hanwha Eagles Sign Andrew Albers

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JANUARY 30th: Albers has cleared unconditional release waivers, the Twins announced via press release. The procedural move allows Albers to sign as a free agent with Hanwha. Minnesota now has one empty spot on its 40-man roster.

JANUARY 29th, 8:49am: The Twins will receive roughly $500K in the exchange, a person with direct knowlegde of the situation tells Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer Press (Twitter link).

7:40am: The Eagles have officially announced the signing of Albers to a one-year, $700K deal in addition to a $100K signing bonus, according to a report from Korean news agency Yonhap (hat tip: MyKBO.net's Dan Kurtz).

As the Yonhap report notes, Albers is the first foreign player to sign in KBO following the league's removal of the $300K salary cap on foreign players earlier this month. KBO also increased its per-team limit on foreign players from two to three. Albers will be joined on the Eagles by former Red Sox supplemental-rounder Caleb Clay and Felix Pie.

JAN. 23: The Twins have agreed to transfer starter Andrew Albers to the Hanwha Eagles of the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO), reports MLBTR's Steve Adams (via Twitter). Albers has agreed to terms with his new club as well, making the deal complete.

MLBTR learned that a deal was in the works two days ago. The 28-year-old Albers, who is represented by Blake Corosky of True Gravity Sports Management, was a great story last year for the Twins. After being dug out of the independent Canadian-American Association after 2010, Albers became Minnesota's minor league pitcher of the year for 2013. He also saw his first big league action, posting a 4.05 ERA in 60 innings. Though he struck out only 3.8 K/9, Albers allowed only 1.1 BB/9 and generated a 43.5% ground-ball rate.

The move across the Pacific represents a nice opportunity for Albers, who faced an uphill battle at a big league rotation spot after the Twins' offseason addition of three free agent starters. With a salary reportedly set to land in the "high six figures," Albers stands to earn significantly more than he would have if he ended up in the minors. He also gets a chance to test the open market next year, as he will become a free agent after his season with Hanwha.

Twins, Hanwha Eagles Working On Andrew Albers Deal

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9:43pm: The deal may be coming up against some friction, reports Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer Press. The issue relates to Hanwha failing to follow MLB protocol by not notifying MLB of its intentions before negotiating with Albers.

As Berardino notes, the pitcher has reached a tentative agreement with his would-be new club on contract terms at this point. 

6:31pm: Albers' agent, Blake Corosky, indicates that Albers is increasingly likely to land in Korea this year, reports Kevin Mitchell of Canadian outlet The StarPhoenix. At this point, Albers is waiting for the two clubs to reach agreement on the terms of their arrangement.  

Albers would reportedly stand to earn a salary in the "high six figures," and would become a free agent following the season. If he stays in Minnesota, the 28-year-old would not be eligible for free agency until 2020, as he still has only 58 days of MLB service time. "The worst-case scenario," Corosky said semi-jokingly, "is he goes to spring training with the Twins — sort of what we expected five days ago."

12:50pm: The Twins and Eagles are negotiating a buyout of Albers, reports Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.ca. Should the two teams finalize that agreement, Albers would likely head to KBO on a one-year deal worth roughly $1MM deal with the Eagles.

12:09pm: The Hanwha Eagles of the Korea Baseball Organization have shown interest in Twins lefty Andrew Albers, but the two sides have yet to come to an agreement, MLBTR has learned. While a deal is possible, an agreement would be a ways off, if one comes to fruition at all.

The 28-year-old Albers made 10 starts for the Twins in 2013 — his first taste of Major League action. The soft-tosser posted a solid 4.05 ERA with 3.8 K/9, 1.1 BB/9 and a 43.5 percent ground-ball rate in an even 60 innings for Minnesota. The Twins plucked the Canadian southpaw out of the independent Canadian-American Association following the 2010 season, and he rose through the ranks to become the organization's Minor League Pitcher of the Year this past season. Albers posted a stellar 2.86 ERA with 7.9 K/9 and 2.2 BB/9 in 132 1/3 innings at the Triple-A level prior to his big league debut.

Should he remain with the Twins, Albers will be in the mix for the fifth spot in the rotation alongside Vance Worley, Sam Deduno, Scott Diamond and Kyle Gibson. Minnesota will have a front four of Ricky Nolasco, Phil Hughes, Kevin Correia and Mike Pelfrey, each of whom is guaranteed at least $5.5MM in 2014.

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