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Austin Dean

Elieser Hernández, Austin Dean Re-Sign With KBO’s LG Twins

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The LG Twins of the Korea Baseball Organization are bringing back right-hander Elieser Hernández and first baseman Austin Dean for 2025. Per Jeeho Yoo of Yonhap News (X link), Hernández will make $1.3MM while Dean will get $1.7MM.

Hernández, 30 in May, was a midseason replacement for the Twins. Once a potential rotation building block with the Marlins, he missed significant time due to injuries, including the entire 2023 season. He returned in 2024 to get limited looks with the Dodgers and Brewers before heading overseas to join the Twins in late July.

He went on to log 47 innings for them over 11 appearances, including nine starts. He allowed 4.02 earned runs per nine with a 28.2% strikeout rate, 8.2% walk rate and 51.2% ground ball rate. Yoo adds that Hernandez also tossed 11 scoreless innings in the postseason. The club clearly liked what they saw and will bring Hernández back for another season.

For Dean, 31, this will be his third season as a Twin. He played in parts of five MLB seasons from 2018 to 2022 but never got more than a part-time role. He has found a regular gig in Korea and has made the most of it. He hit 23 home runs last year and slashed .313/.376/.515, then followed that up with 32 home runs and a .319/.384/.573 line in 2024.

The MLB minimum salary is going to be $760K next year, so both players have gotten themselves up into a higher level of earning power, and likely with some extra job security as well. For the Twins, they also signed right-hander Yonny Chirinos this week, so this fills their quota of foreign-born players. Each KBO team is allowed three such players, with a maximum of two pitchers.

Austin Dean Re-Signs With KBO’s LG Twins

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Outfielder Austin Dean re-signed with the LG Twins of the Korea Baseball Organization this week (h/t to Dan Kurtz of MyKBO). He’ll receive a $300K signing bonus, an $800K salary and up to $200K in incentives.

Dean will stick with the KBO’s defending champions for a second season. The right-handed hitter signed with the Seoul-based Twins last December. He had a strong year against KBO pitching, connecting on 23 home runs in 139 games. Dean ran a .314/.376/.517 slash line through 583 trips to the plate.

A fourth-round draftee of the Marlins in 2012, Dean has played parts of five seasons at the big league level. The bulk of that time came with Miami between 2018-19. He picked up sporadic reps with the Cardinals and Giants over the subsequent three seasons. Dean hit .228/.286/.390 over 365 plate appearances against big league arms.

Dean joined pitchers Casey Kelly and Adam Plutko as foreign players on the Twins’ roster in 2023. Kelly and Plutko are back in free agency. The New York Post’s Jon Heyman reported this week that Plutko was looking to make it back to MLB after two seasons with the Twins. MLB.com’s Jon Morosi tweeted on Tuesday that Kelly could be on major league teams’ radars as well.

KBO League’s LG Twins Sign Austin Dean

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The LG Twins of the Korea Baseball Organization announced that outfielder Austin Dean has been signed to a one-year contract. (Hat tip to Dan Kurtz of MyKBO.net.)  Dean receives a $100K signing bonus and a $400K salary for the season, and another $200K is available in bonuses.

Dean (who turned 29 in October) heads to South Korea after 11 seasons in North American pro ball, beginning when he was a fourth-round selection for the Marlins in the 2012 draft.  After making his MLB debut in 2018, Dean has seen some action in each of the last five Major League seasons, though his 98 appearances with Miami in 2018-19 represents most of his big league experience.  The Marlins dealt Dean to the Cardinals in January 2020, and the outfielder has since only played in 28 MLB games.  That includes three games with San Francisco in 2022, after the Giants claimed Dean off waivers from the Cards last offseason.

Over 365 career plate appearances in the Show, Dean has 11 home runs and a .228/.286/.390 slash line.  Unfortunately for Dean, the dreaded “Quad-A” label may apply — while he hasn’t had much success in the majors, he has hit .301/.375/.508 with 45 home runs over 1134 PA at the Triple-A level.  That production at least helped Dean get a few more looks in the big leagues, and it may bode well for him in the more hitter-friendly KBO League.

As noted by Jeeho Yoo of Yonhap News, the LG Twins have now filled their three roster spots designated for non-Korean players.  Dean joins right-handers Casey Kelly and Adam Plutko as the Twins’ international contingent, with Kelly returning for his fifth season with the Twins and Plutko his second.

Giants Claim Dom Nunez, Select Isan Diaz

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The Giants announced they’ve claimed catcher Dom Nuñez off waivers from the Rockies. San Francisco also selected infielder Isan Díaz onto their 40-man roster. The Giants announced that infielders Ford Proctor and Taylor Jones, outfielders Bryce Johnson and Austin Dean, and right-hander Zack Littell all went unclaimed on waivers.

Nuñez changes organizations for the first time in his career. The left-handed hitting backstop entered pro ball as a sixth-round draftee of Colorado back in 2013. Nuñez made his MLB debut in 2019 and has appeared in three of the last four seasons, mostly as a depth player. He has appeared in 111 big league games, tallying 347 plate appearances of .180/.280/.373 hitting. Nuñez has walked in an excellent 12.4% of his plate appearances but struck out at an untenable 34% rate in the majors.

The 27-year-old has one minor league option year remaining. If he holds his spot on the Giants 40-man roster all winter, they can freely bounce him between San Francisco and Triple-A Sacramento next season. An Elk Grove native, Nuñez has a .240/.336/.400 line in parts of eight minor league seasons. He joins Joey Bart and Austin Wynns as catchers on the 40-man roster.

Díaz is a former top prospect who went to the Marlins in the Christian Yelich trade. He hit only .185/.275/.287 over 500 trips to the plate from 2019-21. Miami outrighted the switch-hitting second baseman off the 40-man roster in March, and he cleared waivers at the time. The Giants acquired him for cash not long after and assigned him to Sacramento for the 2022 campaign.

The 26-year-old connected on 23 longballs in 83 Triple-A games this year. He posted an excellent .275/.377/.574 line with a 13% walk rate to put himself back on the radar. San Francisco didn’t call up Díaz at any point during the season, but they’ll devote him a 40-man roster spot for now to keep him from hitting minor league free agency. He still has a minor league option remaining, so he can bounce between San Francisco and Sacramento if he holds the 40-man spot over the winter.

San Francisco acquired Proctor from the Rays in August. He made his big league debut late in the season, appearing in seven games. Jones came over from the Astros on waivers in September, while Dean was claimed last offseason. Johnson is a former sixth-rounder who made his MLB debut in September, getting into 11 games.

Littell has the most experience of the group of outrighted players. The right-hander has pitched in parts of five big league seasons with the Twins and Giants. Littell was a high-leverage arm in 2021, pitching to a 2.92 ERA across 61 2/3 frames. He only managed a 5.08 ERA through 44 1/3 innings this year. Rather than tender him an arbitration contract in the $900K range, San Francisco ran him through waivers.

Proctor and Johnson will remain in the organization and try to play their way onto the 40-man roster. Littell, Dean and Jones will have the ability to qualify for minor league free agency.

Giants Make Five Roster Moves

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The Giants have made a series of roster moves prior to tonight’s game against the Braves.  The contracts of outfielder Willie Calhoun and right-hander Cole Waites were selected from Triple-A, and roster space was created by the placement of Tommy La Stella on the 10-day injured list, outfielder Austin Dean being optioned to Triple-A, and catcher Patrick Mazeika being designated for assignment.

La Stella is dealing with neck spasms, and given the calendar, it is possible La Stella might be shut down for the remainder of the 2022 season if he isn’t making progress by the time his 10-day minimum is up.  The IL has become an unfortunately familiar landing spot for La Stella over his two years in San Francisco, as he played in only 76 games in 2021 and 60 games this season due to a long list of health issues.  The infielder didn’t make his 2022 debut until mid-May due to recovery from offseason Achilles surgery.

All of these injuries have limited La Stella’s production, as he has hit only .239/.282/.350 over 195 plate appearances this year.  He has also mostly been limited to DH duty, which is a hit for a player valued for his ability to play third, second, and first base.  If this is indeed it for La Stella in 2022, the Giants can only hope that a full winter of rest can get him back to his usual defensive role(s) in what will be the final year of his contract.  La Stella signed a three-year, $18.75MM free agent deal in February 2021 that to date hasn’t panned out for the Giants.

Calhoun was acquired in a trade with the Rangers in June, and the slugger will now make his first Major League appearance outside of a Texas uniform.  A 21-homer season in 2019 seemingly served as a breakout for Calhoun, but several injuries and a lack of big league playing time stalled his career.  Calhoun was vocal about his desire for a trade after the Rangers optioned him to Triple-A earlier this season, as he’ll now get a fresh start with a late-season audition with the Giants.

Thus far, the change of organization seems to have helped, as Calhoun has hit .299/.386/.465 with five homers in 166 PA with Triple-A Sacramento.  Carrying that production from the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League to the majors will be a challenge, though if Calhoun can show some of his old form down the stretch, he could put himself into San Francisco’s plans for 2023.  Calhoun still has two years of arbitration control remaining, and he doesn’t turn 28 until November.

Waites was an 18th-round selection for the Giants in the 2019 draft, and the righty is getting his first call to the majors.  Due to both knee surgery and the canceled 2020 minor league season, Waites doesn’t have a lot of pro experience, with only 71 1/3 total innings in the minors (40 2/3 of them this year).  However, he has a stunning 45.12% strikeout rate and 2.78 ERA over those 71 1/3 frames, though his 13.8% walk rate indicates shaky command.

Baseball America (21st) and MLB Pipeline (29th) each rank Waites among the top 30 prospects in the Giants’ farm system, citing his plus fastball that can touch 100mph, as well as a slider that can be a dominant pitch when Waites can control it.  Waites has pitched exclusively as a reliever over the last two seasons, and projects as an intriguing bullpen arm if he can limit the free passes.

Mazeika was claimed off waivers from the Mets on August 21, and he’ll now return to DFA limbo after eight games with the Giants’ Triple-A affiliate and no appearances at the big league level.  A long-time member of the Mets farm system, Mazeika has played in 61 MLB games over the 2021-22 seasons and hit .190/.236/.279 over 159 PA.  With Joey Bart now back from the concussion-related IL, San Francisco has made some adjustments to its catching depth in recent days, including Mazeika’s DFA and Andrew Knapp’s outright assignment to Triple-A.

Giants Select Austin Dean, Place Dominic Leone On Injured List

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The Giants announced Friday that they’ve selected the contract of outfielder Austin Dean and placed right-hander Dominic Leone on the 15-day injured list due to elbow inflammation. Catcher/outfielder Yermin Mercedes was outrighted off the 40-man roster after clearing waivers, thus opening a spot for Dean, tweets Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area.

Dean, 28, has spent time in the Majors in each of the past four seasons, primarily as a member of the Marlins but also in brief stints with the Cardinals in 2020-21. He’s a .225/.282/.391 hitter in that time but carries a strong track record at the Triple-A level, where he’s posted a .300/.373/.509 batting line in 1090 career plate appearances.

Dean will give the Giants yet another right-handed option to platoon with an all-lefty outfield contingent of Joc Pederson, Mike Yastrzemski, Luis Gonzalez and LaMonte Wade Jr. (the latter of whom is primarily playing first base lately, with Brandon Belt out of action). Dean’s career numbers against lefties at the MLB level aren’t great, but he’s batted .299/.384/.486 when holding the platoon advantage in the minors this season.

Dean’s return to the Majors comes at the expense of Mercedes, who was never formally designated for assignment prior to today’s announcement that he’d cleared waivers. The 29-year-old was an early-season sensation for the White Sox in 2021, going on a tear and earning his popular “Yerminator” moniker by hitting .368/.417/.571 through the South Siders’ first 38 games. But Mercedes’ out-of-the-blue breakout proved short-lived. He hit .150/.220/.196 across his next 118 plate appearances, was optioned to Triple-A in July, and didn’t return to the Majors with the Sox. He’s batted .233/.325/.342 in 83 plate appearances with the Giants this year.

As for Leone, he’ll head to the injured list with an issue that, depending on the recovery period, could well end his time with the Giants, given that he’ll be a free agent at season’s end. The 30-year-old righty at first proved a spectacular pickup on a Dec. 2020 minor league contract, as he wound up giving the Giants 53 2/3 innings of 1.51 ERA ball as an oft-used member of the bullpen (and an occasional opener).

Leone got out to a nice start in 2022, as well, pitching to a 2.45 ERA with a 32-to-9 K/BB ratio through his first 32 1/3 innings on the season. Leone was rocked for four runs in just a third of an inning against the D-backs on July 5, however, and he’s never really regained his footing. Dating back to that rocky outing, he’s lugging a 6.30 ERA and a 15.5% walk rate that’s six percentage points higher than his career mark. It’s fair to wonder just how much this elbow issue might’ve impacted his performance, but the result is an ERA that has spiked up to 4.01 through 49 1/3 frames of bullpen work.

Leone pitched just last night, so the IL stint can’t be backdated. He’ll be eligible to return on Sept. 24, at which point there will be 12 days left in the season.

Giants Outright Austin Dean

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TODAY: Dean cleared waivers and has been outrighted to the Giants’ Triple-A affiliate.

MARCH 20: The Giants have designated outfielder Austin Dean for assignment, per Maria I. Guardado of MLB.com. His roster spot was needed for the signing of Matthew Boyd, whose deal is now official.

Dean, 28, was originally drafted by the Marlins in 2012 and eventually made his MLB debut with them in 2018. After 98 games with the Fish in 2018 and 2019, he was traded to the Cardinals, playing 25 games for them in the past couple seasons. He’s yet to impress in his limited MLB action thus far, having hit .225/.282/.391, for a wRC+ of 80. However, his Triple-A performance is much more impressive, as Dean has hit .322/.394/.535 in parts of three seasons.

The Giants just claimed Dean off waivers in November, meaning he could potentially depart the organization without ever suiting up for the team. Given his Triple-A track record, youth and remaining option year, he could potentially be claimed in the coming days by a team looking to add some cheap outfield depth.

Giants Claim Austin Dean, Joe Palumbo Off Waivers

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The Giants announced they’ve claimed corner outfielder Austin Dean and left-hander Joe Palumbo off waivers from the Cardinals and Rangers, respectively. San Francisco also confirmed the previously-reported claim of righty Hunter Harvey from the Orioles.

Dean has appeared in parts of four big league campaigns with the Marlins and Cardinals. Most of that action came between 2018-19, as he’s tallied all of 45 plate appearances with St. Louis over the last two years. In 356 plate appearances, the right-handed hitting Dean owns a .225/.282/.391 slash with eleven home runs.

That’s below-average production, but Dean has hit extremely well at Triple-A. In parts of three seasons at the minors’ top level, the 28-year-old owns a .322/.394/.535 line. Assuming he sticks on the 40-man roster throughout the winter, he can factor into an uncertain Giants’ outfield, which manager Gabe Kapler has mixed and matched heavily based on the opposition in recent seasons.

Palumbo has been regarded as one of the more intriguing pitchers in the Texas farm system for years, but he’s battled injuries over the past couple seasons. His big league resume consists of 19 innings of 9.47 ERA ball between 2019-20, but Palumbo had posted very strong minor league numbers through 2019. Entering the 2021 campaign, Baseball America ranked the southpaw 26th among Rangers’ prospects, praising his low-mid 90s fastball and curveball but raising questions about his control and durability.

Cardinals Finalize Opening Day Roster

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The St. Louis Cardinals have set their roster for opening day, per MLB.com’s Jeff Jones, Derrick S. Goold of the St.Louis Post-Dispatch and others (Twitter links). John Nogowski, Austin Dean, Edmundo Sosa, and Jake Woodford will be on the roster, while Lane Thomas and Kodi Whitley become two of the final cuts. Goold lists the final opening day roster here.

Nogowski required a strong spring to make the roster, as the 28-year-old first baseman doesn’t bring a lot of utility to the roster. He did exactly that, however, slashing .379/.526/.586 in spring action. He’ll be the first right-handed bat off the bench. With Matt Carpenter on hand to serve as Paul Goldschmidt’s primary backup, it’s hard to imagine Nogowski seeing much action in the field.

The Thomas demotion might have the most impact, as without him, the Cardinals don’t have a true centerfielder on the roster. The Cards are all-in on rookie Dylan Carlson as their man in the middle until Harrison Bader returns from injury. Justin Williams and Austin Dean will be among the players replacing Carlson in right. Tommy Edman, who won the starting second base job, could also see time in right while Carpenter or Edmundo Sosa step in at the keystone. Starting left fielder Tyler O’Neill, meanwhile, is most likely to backup Carlson in center.

Woodford, 24, wins a spot in the bullpen on the strength of a 1.04 ERA this spring. Whitley, 26, heads to the minors to begin the season. Woodford can serve as a long man out of the pen, which may be important given the uncertainty in the back end of the rotation where Carlos Martinez, John Gant, and Daniel Ponce de Leon will take their turns until Miles Mikolas and/or Kwang Hyun Kim return. From the left side, Tyler Webb and Genesis Cabrera join Andrew Miller in the bullpen.

Harrison Bader Out Four To Six Weeks With Forearm Injury

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2:40pm: President of baseball operations John Mozeliak tells reporters that Bader will be down for four to six weeks (Twitter link via ESPN’s Marly Rivera).

9:30am: Cardinals center fielder Harrison Bader will begin the season on the injured list due to a “flare up” of a forearm injury that required a platelet-rich plasma injection, manager Mike Shildt announced to reporters Wednesday (Twitter link via Jeff Jones of the Belleville News). He’ll be sidelined for a “solid four weeks at minimum,” according to Shildt.

The injury to Bader lends some clarity to the Cardinals’ outfield mix. Tyler O’Neill and Dylan Carlson are locks at this point thanks to huge spring showings. Carlson can play center field early if needed or slide over to right field, where he’d been initially projected with a healthy Bader in play.

Justin Williams, Lane Thomas and Austin Dean are likely vying for the remaining starting job, and it’s possible that all three could make the roster (two as reserves). Dean does have some experience at first base, giving him a bit more utility in a bench role. Williams, meanwhile, is still awaiting ruling on whether he has a minor league option remaining or not. If he does not, then he’d be all but assured an Opening Day roster spot, as he wouldn’t be able to be sent to the minors without first clearing waivers.

Bader has become a polarizing figure among Cardinals fans due to his low batting average, but he’s among the game’s best defensive center fielders and has some power at the dish. Over the past three seasons, he’s posted a combined .234/.326/.401 batting line with 28 homers, 41 doubles and seven triples through 958 plate appearances — good for a 97 wRC+ (about three percent worse than league-average offense when weighted for home park and league). Some of Bader’s OBP is propped up by frequently batting eighth in front of the pitcher, however, and his 29.4 percent strikeout rate in that stretch is problematic for obvious reasons. Still, a player with his defensive aptitude and a solid .167 ISO (slugging minus batting average) needn’t be an offensive force to provide value.

That said, the Cards will now get a longer look at several outfield candidates who have quite a bit of offensive upside themselves, so it’ll be interesting to see if any of them run with the opportunity and challenge the 26-year-old Bader for playing time upon his eventual return. That four-week timeline from Shildt would take Bader out through at least April 21, though the absence could very well be longer in the likely event that he needs a tune-up at the team’s alternate site/in Triple-A once his forearm discomfort has cleared up.

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