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Brady Lail

Blue Jays Sign Brady Lail To Minor League Contract

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The Blue Jays signed Brady Lail to a minor league deal, according to an announcement from the High Point Rockers of the independent Atlantic League. The right-hander is expected to report to Double-A New Hampshire.

Lail, a former Yankees draftee, pitched in the big leagues every year between 2019-21. He debuted with New York with a lone appearance during the 2019 campaign. Designated for assignment and quickly outrighted back off the 40-man roster, he elected minor league free agency at the end of that year. Lail hooked on with the White Sox and made one appearance with the South Siders in 2020 before being placed on waivers.

Claimed by the Mariners, he got the bulk of his big league experience to date with Seattle. The Utah native appeared in nine games with the M’s between 2020-21, then landed with the Phillies via waivers last May. The Phils outrighted Lail before he appeared in a major league game, and he spent the remainder of the season with Triple-A Lehigh Valley before hitting free agency after the season.

Over 21 career big league innings, Lail owns a 6.00 ERA. He’s posted strong numbers up through Double-A but generally struggled at the minors’ highest level. Lail has a 5.25 ERA in parts of six Triple-A campaigns, including a 6.08 mark over 40 frames with the IronPigs last year. Those struggles kept him from landing a deal with a major league team over the winter, but he worked his way back to the affiliated ranks with a few quality outings in indie ball.

Lail started three games for the Rockers, allowing five runs (two of them earned) in 19 innings. He punched out 19 hitters and issued just two free passes, impressing Jays’ evaluators enough in that limited time they’ll add him as organizational depth. Lail has worked almost exclusively in relief since 2018, but he’d been a starter during his early days in the New York system and worked 6 1/3 frames per outing this year with the Rockers.

Players Recently Electing Free Agency

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We’ve seen dozens of players elect minor league free agency over the past couple weeks, and that has continued to be the case in recent days. We’ll round up a few more players who are hitting the open market here, courtesy of the Triple-A transactions trackers.

Players can qualify for minor league free agency in a few ways. The most notable of these include: players with 3+ years of MLB service time who have been outrighted off their teams’ 40-man rosters this season, players who have been outrighted off a 40-man roster multiple times in their careers, and unsigned players not on a 40-man roster who have spent parts of at least seven seasons on a minor league roster or injured list.

Each of this group of players has hit the market within the past week and not yet been covered at MLBTR:

Phillies Outright Brady Lail

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The Phillies announced Thursday that right-hander Brady Lail has been assigned outright to Triple-A Lehigh Valley. That announcement indicates that he went unclaimed on waivers.

As MLB.com’s Todd Zolecki points out (via Twitter), the Phils need to make a 40-man move in order to open a spot for Adam Haseley’s reinstatement from the restricted list by Saturday. Haseley has been on the restricted list since April 14 after stepping away from the team due to undisclosed personal matters. He returned to the organization in mid-May and had a 30-day window to get up to speed in Triple-A.

Lail, 27, was claimed off waivers from the Mariners back on May 23 and has yet to appear in the big leagues. He tossed a scoreless frame in his organizational debut with Lehigh Valley’s IronPigs, but Lail was tagged for five runs his next time out and surrendered another two runs in his third outing with the Phillies’ top affiliate.

Lail has spent the bulk of his career with the Yankees organization but began to bounce around the league in journeyman fashion in 2019. He’s since been with the White Sox and Mariners, in addition to the Phillies. Lail has strong numbers up through the Double-A level in the minors but has been hit hard in Triple-A and in the big leagues. Through 21 MLB frames, he has an even 6.00 ERA and has surrendered seven home runs.

Phillies Claim Brady Lail, Designate Ramon Rosso

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The Phillies have claimed right-hander Brady Lail off waivers from the Mariners, both teams announced.  To create roster space for Lail, Philadelphia also designated right-hander Ramon Rosso for assignment.

Lail was designated himself earlier this week, and he also came to Seattle via waiver claim off the White Sox roster last August.  After tossing 15 innings for the Mariners last season, Lail had two innings pitched in two appearances this season, allowing three runs.

Lail has now appeared in each of the last three MLB seasons, with a 6.00 ERA over 21 career innings with the Yankees, White Sox, and Mariners.  Originally an 18th-round draft pick for the Yankees in 2012, Lail is likely a known commodity to Phillies manager (and former New York skipper) Joe Girardi, and the righty can provide the Phils with more bullpen depth.

Rosso made his Major League debut in 2020 and has posted a 5.73 ERA over 11 innings in the Show over the last two seasons.  After posting some solid numbers during his trip up Philadelphia’s minor league ladder, Rosso seemed to hit something of a wall at Triple-A, with only a 5.59 ERA over 77 1/3 innings at the top level of the minors.  He has a 26.74% strikeout rate over 330 2/3 career innings in the minors, but that number steadily declined as Rosso advanced to face tougher competition.

Rosso worked almost exclusively as a starter from 2017-19, though he has been deployed as a reliever over the last two years, so he wasn’t considered as a depth option even for a Phillies team that has been hurting for help in the back end of the rotation.  It’s possible another team might claim Rosso with an eye towards stretching him back out as a starter, or perhaps using him as a swingman.

Mariners Claim Jacob Nottingham, Designate Jose Marmolejos

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The Mariners announced a series of roster moves this afternoon. Seattle claimed catcher Jacob Nottingham off waivers from the Brewers and selected the contract of fellow backstop José Godoy. To create 40-man roster space, first baseman/corner outfielder José Marmolejos and reliever Brady Lail have been designated for assignment. Incumbent backup catcher Luis Torrens was optioned to Triple-A Tacoma.

It’s familiar territory for Nottingham. He played for Milwaukee from 2018-21, but the Brewers designated him for assignment last month. Seattle claimed Nottingham off waivers but designated him for assignment themselves just four days later without giving him an opportunity to get into a game. In the interim, the Brewers lost starting catcher Omar Narváez to injury, so Milwaukee quickly acquired Nottingham back for cash considerations. Now, with Narváez healthy, Nottingham found himself squeezed off the roster yet again.

Having acquired Nottingham twice in less than a month, the Seattle front office clearly has some affinity for the 26-year-old. The right-handed hitter was a decently-regarded prospect on the strength of his raw power, and he’s shown flashes of it over his first 99 MLB plate appearances, hitting .205/.293/.477 with seven homers. However, he comes with some question marks about his receiving aptitude and has struck out quite a bit at nearly every level of his pro career, including at a 38.4% clip in his brief major league time.

Nottingham is out of minor league option years, which has surely driven his recent roster shuffle. The Mariners must keep him on the MLB roster this time around or again risk losing him to another club. Optioning Torrens could suggest Seattle’s prepared to give Nottingham some run.

Acquired from the Padres as part of last summer’s Austin Nola trade, Torrens showed some offensive promise down the stretch last season. He’s gotten off to a terrible start to 2021, though, hitting .178/.219/.300 over 96 plate appearances. Torrens has also had a rough go defensively. He’s thrown out just two of 21 attempted base stealers, rated as a below-average pitch framer (per Statcast) and been behind the plate for a lofty 14 wild pitches in just 190 2/3 innings (although, to his credit, he hasn’t been charged with a passed ball). The Mariners surely hope Torrens can regain his footing on both sides of the ball in Tacoma.

Godoy began his pro career with the Cardinals organization. He spent the 2012-20 seasons in the St. Louis system, topping out at Triple-A. Godoy was at the Cards alternate training site last summer and elected minor league free agency at the end of the year. He signed a minors pact with Seattle over the winter and earned his first big league promotion with a strong start for Tacoma. All told, the 26-year-old carries a .315/.370/.481 line in 119 career Triple-A plate appearances and has hit .255/.339/.391 in parts of three seasons at Double-A.

Like Godoy, Marmolejos joined the Mariners via minor league free agency, doing so during the 2019-20 offseason. He’s picked up 209 MLB plate appearances over the past two seasons, although he didn’t do much at the plate. Marmolejos has hit just .177/.263/.355 and struck out in an alarming 30.6% of his plate appearances. Lail signed a minors pact over the winter and was selected to the MLB roster three days ago. He’s since pitched a pair of innings out of the bullpen, allowing three runs on four hits.

Mariners Select Brady Lail, Designate Domingo Tapia

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The Mariners announced that they have selected the contract of right-hander Brady Lail and designated righty Domingo Tapia for assignment. The club also optioned infielder Jack Mayfield to Triple-A Tacoma.

Lail was an 18th-round draft pick of the Yankees in 2012 who pitched with them, the White Sox and Mariners during the previous two seasons. He picked up just 19 innings in those years and registered a 5.21 ERA with a 17.3 percent strikeout rate against a 9.9 percent walk rate. The 27-year-old owns a similar 5.15 ERA in 327 Triple-A frames.

Tapia, 29, went to Seattle when it claimed him from Boston last offseason. He threw two scoreless innings with the Mariners before they designated him, giving him 6 1/3 frames of one-run ball in the majors. Tapia has notched a 4.21 ERA in 141 Triple-A frames.

Mariners Reassign Jarred Kelenic

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The Mariners announced several roster moves Friday, including reassigning star outfield prospect Jarred Kelenic to minor league camp. The decision means he won’t make the Mariners’ Opening Day roster. The team also reassigned fellow outfielder Julio Rodriguez and righties Brady Lail and Paul Sewald. Additionally, righty Ljay Newsome, lefty Aaron Fletcher and outfielder Braden Bishop were optioned.

This move is particularly notable in the wake of comments made by former Mariners CEO Kevin Mather, who resigned in February after suggesting the team would manipulate Kelenic’s service time. Mather made it clear that the Mariners would keep him out of the majors for the first month of the season in order to gain an extra year of team control.

“Probably Triple-A Tacoma for a month, and then he will likely be in left field at T-Mobile Park for the next six or seven years,” he said.

Kelenic went on to miss some time this spring with a Grade 2 knee strain, but he looked worthy of a major league roster spot upon his return. The 21-year-old came back to slash.333/.478/.778 with two home runs, albeit over just 18 at-bats. Kelenic has also been highly productive in the minors, where he most recently batted .253/.315/.542 with six homers during a 21-game, 92-PA Double-A debut in 2019. The former sixth overall pick – whom the Mariners acquired in the Robinson Cano/Edwin Diaz blockbuster with the Mets in December 2018 – currently ranks as a consensus top prospect, with MLB.com placing him fourth overall. Rodriguez ranks fifth, though he’s not quite as close to the bigs as Kelenic.

With Kelenic out of the Opening Day picture, the Mariners could begin with Taylor Trammell as the starting left fielder alongside center fielder and reigning AL Rookie of the Kyle Lewis and right fielder Mitch Haniger. Jake Fraley and Jose Marmolejos are also outfield options on the 40-man roster.

Mariners Re-Sign Matt Magill, Gerson Bautista, Brady Lail

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The Mariners have agreed to sign right-handers Matt Magill, Gerson Bautista, and Brady Lail to minor league contracts, The Athletic’s Corey Brock reports (Twitter link).  All three pitchers were outrighted off Seattle’s 40-man roster following the season.

Magill entered the season as a candidate to become the Mariners’ closer, following a solid performance (3.94 ERA, 10.1 K/9, 2.79 K/BB rate) over 107 1/3 innings for the Twins and Mariners in 2018-19.  As it happened, Magill’s only two save opportunities of 2020 resulted in blown saves, and the only two poor outings of his season — Magill tossed nine scoreless innings over nine of his appearances, and seven earned runs over 1 1/3 innings in those two blown saves, working out to a somewhat misleading 6.10 ERA for the season.

Shoulder surgery cut Magill’s season short in mid-September, and it’s quite possible that his injury played a role in those two blown saves, given that they both occurred within Magill’s final three games of 2020.  Magill is expected to be healthy and ready in time for the start of Spring Training.  He was eligible for arbitration for the first time this winter, projected to earn somewhere between $700-$800K depending on how arb salaries are calculated this offseason.

Bautista didn’t pitch at all in 2020 due to a flexor strain in his elbow, and he also missed significant time due to a pec injury in 2019.  The hard-throwing righty still has only 13 1/3 big league innings under his belt, all with the Mets and Mariners in 2018-19.  Bautista is best known for being one of the five players acquired by the Mariners in the huge blockbuster trade in December 2018 that sent Robinson Cano and Edwin Diaz to New York.

Claimed off waivers from the White Sox in August, Lail posted a 4.41 ERA, 1.71 K/BB rate, and 6.6 K/9 over 16 1/3 combined innings for Seattle and Chicago last season.  Originally an 18th-round pick for the Yankees in the 2012 draft, Lail’s eight seasons in New York’s farm system resulted in one MLB appearance before he was let go after the 2019 season.

Mariners Outright Four Players

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The Mariners announced the outrights of four players: right-handers Brady Lail and Seth Frankoff, and catchers Joe Hudson and Joseph Odom. Hudson and Lail have elected free agency, while Frankoff and Odom were assigned to the club’s Triple-A affiliate in Tacoma. Seattle’s 40-man roster is down to 34 players.

Lail was claimed off waivers from the White Sox in August. He allowed eight runs (including five homers) in 15 innings down the stretch, striking out eleven against seven walks. Frankoff signed a minor-league contract the day after Seattle claimed Lail. He was eventually selected to the roster but only pitched in two games, allowing five runs in 2.2 innings. A longtime KBO starter, Frankoff will be eligible for minor-league free agency this offseason.

Hudson and Odom each unexpectedly picked up some of the slack behind the plate this season. Presumptive starter Tom Murphy missed the entire season with a foot fracture but figures to return to action next spring. Luis Torrens, who came over from the Padres in the Austin Nola trade, hit fairly well down the stretch and looks to have staked a claim to the backup job. Like Frankoff, Odom can elect minor-league free agency this winter.

Mariners Claim Brady Lail, Designate Patrick Wisdom

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The Mariners announced Monday that they’ve claimed right-hander Brady Lail off waivers from the White Sox and designated infielder Patrick Wisdom for assignment.

Lail, 27, made his big league debut with the Yankees in 2019 but pitched just 2 2/3 innings in his lone appearance with the club. It was a similar tale with the ChiSox, who got Lail into one game for 1 1/3 innings of work prior to designating the right-hander for assignment. He’s struggled in the upper minors as a starter, but he moved to the bullpen full-time a couple years back and has since enjoyed much better results. In 49 1/3 frames between Double-A and Triple-A in 2019, Lail pitched to a 3.83 ERA with 12.2 K/9 and 2.7 BB/9.

Wisdom, 28, hasn’t appeared in the Majors with Seattle since signing with them over the winter. He’s a career .224/.306/.408 hitter in 86 MLB plate appearances and a .252/.328/.478 hitter in parts of four Triple-A seasons. Wisdom struggled quite a bit in his first run through Triple-A, but he’s slugged 77 homers in three seasons since that time while oscillating between the Majors and Minors. He has experience at all four corner positions.

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