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Brandon Barnes

KBO’s Hanwha Eagles Sign Brandon Barnes, Waive Jared Hoying

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The Hanwha Eagles of the Korea Baseball Organization have waived outfielder Jared Hoying and signed another former big leaguer, Brandon Barnes, to replace him on the roster, Jee-ho Yoo of South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency reports. The 34-year-old Barnes can earn up to $200K on his midseason deal, though only have that sum is guaranteed (with the rest available via incentives).

Barnes last popped up in the Majors back in 2018, when he hit well in a late-season cup of coffee with the Indians (.261/.333/.421 in 21 plate appearances). However, he hasn’t been a mainstay on a big league roster since his 2012-16 run between the Astros and Rockies. The former sixth-round pick (Astros, 2005) is a career .242/.290/.357 hitter in nearly 1300 Major League plate appearances and a .264/.329/.444 hitter in his Triple-A career. He split last season between the Triple-A affiliates for the Indians and Twins, connecting on 30 homers while adding 30 doubles and 11 steals. He’s capable of playing any of the three outfield slots.

Hoying, 31, was in his third season with the Eagles. He briefly saw MLB action with the 2016-17 Rangers but received only 126 plate appearances. He took the KBO by storm in 2017, erupting with a .306/.369/.573 slash, 30 home runs, 47 doubles, two triples and 23 stolen bases in his debut campaign. That easily earned him another contract with the Eagles, but Hoying hasn’t reached those height since. He still logged a solid .284/.340/.460 line last season, but he’s off to a dismal .194/.254/.323 start through 134 plate appearances this season.

Barnes isn’t expected to join the roster until July, Yoo details. He’ll complete a physical and go through a 14-day quarantine process before being added to the active roster. He’ll hope to help turn the tide for a last-place Eagles club that has slumped to a disastrous 10-32 record to begin the season.

Twins Acquire Brandon Barnes

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The Twins have acquired outfielder Brandon Barnes from the Indians, per an announcement from the Indians’ Triple-A affiliate in Columbus. While the move will surely generate some confusion because it comes after the July 31 trade deadline, Barnes was still tradeable by virtue of the fact that he’s on a minor league deal and at no point had been on a 40-man roster this season. (We took a look at how these and other minor moves could still occur yesterday here at MLBTR.)

Cleveland didn’t specify a return, though it’s quite likely that the veteran Barnes was merely flipped to Minnesota for cash. The Twins have been looking for outfield depth in the minors — they signed Ramon Flores out of indie ball two days ago — and the Indians, conversely, have come into some newfound outfield depth. The trade of Trevor Bauer netted them both Franmil Reyes and Yasiel Puig, thus pushing Greg Allen and Jake Bauers to Triple-A Columbus and squeezing Barnes out of his everyday job there.

Barnes, 33, has posted a .271/.336/.529 batting line with 24 home runs, 25 doubles and nine steals in 420 plate appearances with Cleveland’s top affiliate in Columbus this season. He’s spent parts of six seasons at the Major League level, most recently appearing in 19 games with Cleveland just last season. Barnes is capable of playing all three outfield spots but carries an underwhelming .242/.290/.357 batting line through 1274 big league plate appearances. He’ll give the Twins some depth in Triple-A Rochester.

25-Man Roster Notes: Indians, Pirates

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Here’s the latest on some veteran players signed to minor league contracts are faring in their bids to make the Opening Day roster…

  • The Indians reassigned outfielder Brandon Barnes, catcher Tim Federowicz, and infielder/outfielder Mike Freeman to their minor league camp, MLB.com’s Mandy Bell reports (Twitter link).  Catcher Dioner Navarro will remain with the Tribe’s MLB Spring Training camp for now, though he has also been informed that he won’t be on Cleveland’s Opening Day roster.  It isn’t yet known if any of this group will opt out of their minor league deals in order to pursue opportunities elsewhere, though Bell hears that Federowicz will “check with his agent.”
  • Francisco Liriano can opt out of his minors deal with the Pirates on Wednesday, though The Athletic’s Rob Biertempfel (via Twitter) believes the veteran southpaw will break camp with the team.  Liriano hasn’t exactly excelled this spring, posting a 5.14 ERA over seven innings while allowing more walks (six) than strikeouts (five).  Still, Liriano has an advantage since Pittsburgh has just two left-handed pitchers (closer Felipe Vazquez and Steven Brault) on the 40-man roster, creating the need for more southpaw depth in the bullpen.  Should Liriano crack the big leagues, he’ll earn a guaranteed $1.8MM, with another $1.5MM available in potential incentives.

Minor MLB Transactions: 12/22/18

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We’ll use this post to track the minor moves from around the MLB today…

  • The Indians announced they are bringing back outfielder Brandon Barnes on a minor league deal with a non-roster invitation to spring training. Barnes, 32, received over 100 plate appearances in the big leagues in each of the five seasons from 2012 to 2016, topping out with a .240/.289/.346 mark over 445 PA with Houston in 2013. He saw only two starts with the Indians last season, being used mostly as a pinch-hitter and late-game replacement, collecting 5 hits in 19 at-bats with one home run. Barnes can play all three outfield positions, and he even covered second for two innings last year, but it would be a surprise if he broke camp with the big league club. Still, he’ll be given a chance to earn a roster spot in the spring for a Cleveland organization that is still actualizing their 2019 outfield.
  • The Cleveland Indians also invited right-hander Brooks Pounders to major league camp after inking the former Rockie to a minor league contract, per a team announcement (via Twitter). Pounders, 28, posted great strikeout (9.98 K/9) and walk rates (1.17 BB/9) over 14 appearances in Colorado, but he struggled overall in run prevention at the big league level with a 7.63 ERA. Advanced metrics paint a rosier picture for the 6’5″ Pounders (4.27 FIP, 3.67 xFIP, 3.15 SIERRA), who has also had cups of coffee with the Angels (in 2017) and Royals (in 2016). Clearly, there is enough talent for teams to continue to give Pounders a look, but he will need to produce consistently to emerge from a robust spring competition with a spot in the Cleveland bullpen. Like with Barnes in the outfield, there is an open path to playing time as of today, but lots is expected to change between now and Opening Day.

Indians Outright Brandon Barnes

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The Indians announced this morning that outfielder Brandon Barnes cleared outright waivers and elected free agency. Cleveland also reinstated Tyler Naquin, Cody Anderson, Nick Goody, James Hoyt, Danny Salazar and Leonys Martin from the 60-day disabled list in a series of procedural moves.

Barnes, 32, went 5-for-19 with a homer in a brief September appearance with Cleveland — his first big league action since the 2016 season. The former Rockies/Astros outfielder is a career .242/.290/.357 hitter in 1274 big league plate appearances and enjoyed a solid season with the Indians’ Triple-A affiliate in 2018 (.273/.347/.447, 14 homers, 19 steals in 132 games).

The right-handed-hitting Barnes has traditionally been a bit more effective against left-handed pitching, as one might expect, and he’s logged considerable experience at all three outfield slots over the course of 14 professional seasons. He’ll likely find a minor league deal in free agency and head to Major League Spring Training as a non-roster invitee in 2019.

Indians Select Brandon Barnes, Adam Rosales

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The Indians announced that they’ve selected the contracts of outfielder Brandon Barnes and infielder Adam Rosales from Triple-A Columbus. To open roster space for the pair of veterans, outfielder Tyler Naquin and right-hander James Hoyt were placed on the 60-day DL. (Hoyt was first recalled from Triple-A before that move to the big league DL.)

Barnes, 32, hasn’t been in the Majors since a 2016 run with the Rockies but has enjoyed a very nice season in Triple-A, making the International League All-Star team and hitting .273/.347/.444 with 14 homers and 19 steals through 566 plate appearances.

Barnes has never hit much in the Majors but, at his best, was capable of providing significant value at all three outfield spots and on the basepaths. He’ll add another name to the Indians’ piecemeal approach to patching over an injury-ravaged outfield mix that also features Melky Cabrera, Greg Allen, Rajai Davis, Brandon Guyer and Michael Brantley (with Jason Kipnis potentially headed there as well once Josh Donaldson is healthy).

Rosales, 35, has now appeared in the Majors in each season since 2008, though he’s never topped last season’s total of 312 plate appearances. He’s a career .227/.292/.365 hitter who has played all four infield positions and both outfield corners. Like Barnes, he’s a right-handed bat, and while he’s had more success against lefties throughout his career, Rosales’ year-to-year results have been highly inconsistent. He batted .239/.313/.445 with 18 homers and roughly even platoon splits in 428 Triple-A plate appearances this season.

Indians Agree To Minor League Deals With Neil Ramirez, Evan Marshall

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The Indians announced today that they’ve signed right-handed relievers Neil Ramirez and Evan Marshall to minor league contracts with invitations to Major League Spring Training. Cleveland also confirmed its previously reported signing of veteran outfielder Brandon Barnes to the same type of contract.

Ramirez, 29 in May, split the 2017 seasons between the Giants and Mets, totaling 31 1/3 innings at the big league level. The former Rangers/Cubs prospect has long showed the ability to miss bats at the big league level and did so once again in 2017 (12.6 K/9), but he’s also been an extreme fly-ball pitcher with control issues and a susceptibility to home runs. Ramirez finished up the 2017 campaign with a 7.18 ERA and six homers allowed in those 31 1/3 frames. In 113 total innings at the MLB level, he’s worked to a 4.22 ERA but also averaged 4.9 walks per nine innings pitched.

Marshall looked like a long-term cog in the D-backs’ bullpen with a brilliant 2014 debut, tossing 49 1/3 innings with a 2.74 ERA with 9.9 K/9, 3.1 BB/9 and a 60.7 percent ground-ball rate with a fastball that averaged 93.9 mph. However, Marshall spent much of the 2015 season in Triple-A and suffered a frightening skull fracture when he was hit by a comebacker in September shortly after returning to the Majors.

His 2016-17 seasons produced middling results, and he’s posted an overall 7.93 ERA in 36 1/3 innings with a 20-to-18 K/BB ratio. Marshall spent the 2017 campaign with the Mariners but was limited to 7 2/3 innings, partially due to a hamstring injury, before being outrighted off the 40-man roster and electing minor league free agency at season’s end.

Minor MLB Transactions: 11/27/17

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Here are Monday’s minor moves from around the league…

  • The Padres have signed right-hander Jonathan Aro to a minor league contract, per Aro’s agent, Gene Mato (Twitter link). The 27-year-old Aro, who was traded from the Red Sox to the Mariners as part of the Wade Miley/Carson Smith deal, has recorded excellent numbers at the Triple-A level but has yet to receive an extended look in the Majors. That Aro received a 50-game suspension earlier this season for a violation of MLB’s joint drug agreement didn’t help his case in that regard. Still, Aro owns a lifetime 2.96 ERA with 8.7 K/9 against 2.1 BB/9 in 130 2/3 innings at the Triple-A level. He’s a pronounced fly-ball pitcher, though that’s less of an issue at San Diego’s Petco Park than it would be in some settings.
  • Outfielder Brandon Barnes is joining the Indians on a minor league contract, tweets SB Nation’s Chris Cotillo. The PSI Sports Management client hit .276/.331/.420 with Miami’s Triple-A affiliate last season but didn’t appear in the Majors — his first season without big league action since splitting the 2011 season between Double-A and Triple-A. The 31-year-old Barnes has drawn considerably above-average reviews for his work in the outfield, per Defensive Runs Saved and Ultimate Zone Rating, but he’s a career .242/.289/.356 hitter. Barnes can play all three outfield spots and could conceivably fill a role similar to the one Austin Jackson held in Cleveland last year, but although he’s a right-handed bat, he lacks Jackson’s track record against left-handed pitching.
  • The Giants announced that infielder/outfielder Orlando Calixte has been outrighted to Triple-A Sacramento after clearing waivers. The 25-year-old batted .143/.185/.163 in 55 MLB plate appearances in San Francisco and hit .243/.283/.421 in 401 Triple-A plate appearances last season. Calixte has seen brief action with the Giants and Royals over the past two seasons and is a career .247/.300/.382 hitter in parts of eight minor league seasons. He was designated for assignment last week when San Francisco was setting its roster prior to the Rule 5 Draft.

East Notes: Red Sox, Yankees, Osuna, Marlins

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With the likes of Mookie Betts, Jackie Bradley, Xander Bogaerts and Andrew Benintendi all controlled for at least another three seasons, the Red Sox are positioned to have an excellent core of young position players for the next several years. Team president Sam Kennedy spoke recently on the CSNNE Baseball podcast about his club’s desire to keep that core intact, and CSN’s Evan Drellich provides a number of highlights from that talk. Kennedy stated that extensions for that collection of young players is “something that we talk about a lot,” though he neglected to elaborate on any specifics. Kennedy further explained the various voices that weigh in on such matters, noting that CFO Tim Zue plays an integral part in evaluating the long-term financial ramifications for the team. Kennedy called Zue the Red Sox’ “Godfather of business analytics,” and Drellich adds that Zue works closely with the Red Sox’ baseball analytics head, Zack Scott, with regularity.

More from the game’s Eastern divisions…

  • Yankees GM Brian Cashman tells Travis Sawchik of Fangraphs that he and Cubs president of baseball ops Theo Epstein agreed to the framework of last summer’s Aroldis Chapman trade about three days before the trade actually went through. According to Cashman, he had to wait 72 hours for ownership approval from Hal Steinbrenner as he mulled the situation over with his family and other key Yankees staffers. Cashman reveals to Sawchik that this past summer was not the first time he’s strongly recommended employing a rebuilding approach — within the column he suggests that the Yankees should have traded Robinson Cano before he hit free agency — but the 2016 campaign marked the first time in which ownership conceded. Cashman adds that he doesn’t fault Steinbrenner for not green-lighting past rebuilding efforts, telling Sawchik: “[Steinbrenner] says, ‘Cash, you’re the director of baseball operations, you get to look at things at 5,000 feet. But as a pilot, I’m in charge of network ratings, ticket sales, advertising commitments to our sponsors, a whole host of things.’ So he had to look at things at 30,000 feet. Sometimes those decisions don’t match up with what I’d recommend, and I understand and respect that. Being an owner is not easy.” The entire interview is well worth a full read for Yankee fans or any readers that are interested in the baseball operations/ownership dynamic.
  • The Blue Jays aren’t expecting Roberto Osuna’s stay on the disabled list to be lengthy in nature, tweets MLB.com’s Gregor Chisholm. Per general manager Ross Atkins, the Blue Jays don’t think Osuna will require more than the minimum 10-day stay that is provided by the new disabled list this season. That’s excellent news for a Jays team that, on paper, carries plenty of question marks surrounding its relief corps. In Osuna’s absence, veteran Jason Grilli and sophomore reliever Joe Biagini will handle whatever save opportunities arise.
  • Clark Spencer of the Miami Herald reports that veteran outfielders Brandon Barnes and Matt den Dekker did not exercise the opt-out provisions in their minor league deals with the Marlins at the end of Spring Training (Twitter link). As such, both figure to head to Triple-A New Orleans, where they’ll serve as depth options that could surface in the Majors should the Fish incur an injury or look to add some versatility to the bench down the line. Barnes, a career .242/.289/.356 hitter, posted just a .426 OPS in Spring Training but was solid in Triple-A last season. Meanwhile, den Dekker hit .281/.306/.596 in Spring Training and is a lifetime .236/.318/.359 hitter in the bigs. Both can play all three outfield positions.

Minor MLB Transactions: 12/16/16

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Here are the latest minor moves from around the league:

  • The Rays added catcher Michael McKenry on a minor-league contract, Jon Heyman of Fan Rag tweets. Heyman further adds that McKenry will receive $900K if he’s in the Majors, plus a possible $475K in incentives. He has opt-outs on March 30 and June 1. With Wilson Ramos not expected to be ready to take over behind the plate for at least the first month or two of the year, there’s a need for depth. McKenry will presumably battle with pre-existing options Luke Maile and Curt Casali for a roster spot to open the season.
  • Outfielder Brandon Barnes is headed to the Marlins on a minors pact, Chris Cotillo of SB Nation tweets. The deal includes a Spring Training invite. Barnes, 30, figures to function as a depth piece after seeing time in the majors over parts of the last five seasons. He struggled to a .220/.250/.320 batting line in just 109 MLB plate appearances last year.
  • Lefty Jeff Beliveau is headed to the Blue Jays on a minors deal with a spring invite, per a club announcement. The 29-year-old has thrown 45 MLB frames spread over four years, with an even 4.00 ERA and 9.4 K/9 against 4.2 BB/9. Last year, he didn’t pitch above the Double-A level in the Orioles system, but provided 49 2/3 innings of 2.54 ERA pitching with a dozen K/9 to go with a sub-optimal 5.3 BB/9.
  • Righty Erik Johnson is back with the Padres on a minor-league arrangement, Heyman tweets. Johnson will continue to work back from Tommy John surgery with San Diego, which had recently non-tendered him.
  • The Orioles announced a series of minors signings. Among those not previously covered at MLBTR, the club will bring back outfielder Chris Dickerson and take a shot on Tomo Ohka. Dickerson joined Beliveau at Double-A in the Baltimore organization last year, hitting well in brief action there, but hasn’t seen the bigs since 2014. Ohka, 40, is a much more speculative addition; he’s trying to return to the majors for the first time since 2009 by turning himself into a knuckleballer.
  • Anther pitcher seeking to make it back after a long run away from the majors is lefty Andy Oliver, who’ll try things out with the Brewers, per Heyman (via Twitter). Heyman adds that can opt out of his deal on June 15 if he’s not on the big-league roster, and Oliver also receives a foreign team inquiry clause. Oliver blitzed through the Tigers system after being taken in the 2nd round of the 2009 draft. He cracked the bigs briefly in 2010-11, but has plied his trade at Triple-A ever since. Oliver moved back to the rotation for half of his appearances last year with the Orioles’ top affiliate, which may have helped as he finally quelled some of his control issues. Oliver ended 2016 with a 3.43 ERA over 86 2/3 frames and 8.7 K/9 against 3.7 BB/9 (his lowest walk rate since his debut year in full-season professional ball).
  • The Tigers added third baseman Zack Cox on a minor-league arrangement, the indy ball Wichita Wingnuts announced. Once a highly regarded prospect, Cox never earned a major league call-up during his time in the Cardinals and Marlins systems, but hit .290/.348/.452 last year in 460 plate appearances for Wichita.
  • Five players are returning to the Rangers organization on minor-league pacts, per Stefan Stevenson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram (Twitter links). Utilityman Alex Burg will join right-handed hurlers Dario Beltre, Austin Bibens-Dirkx, Anthony Carter, and David Perez in returning to Texas. There’s a new farmhand coming in, too, as the Rangers added righty James Dykstra from the White Sox in a cash deal. Dykstra, 26, reached Double-A last year, throwing 102 1/3 innings of 4.93 ERA ball with 5.8 K/9 against 3.4 BB/9.
  • Two previously designated players — catcher Justin O’Conner (Rays) and lefty Williams Jerez (Red Sox) — have been outrighted by their organizations, per club announcements.
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