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Minor MLB Transactions: 7/14/20

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A couple of minor MLB moves…

  • The Dodgers have added infield prospect Kody Hoese to their 60-man player pool, J.P. Hoornstra of the Southern California News Group reports. The 23-year-old went 25th overall to the Dodgers in the 2019 draft and is now considered one of their top 10 prospects (MLB.com places him seventh in LA’s system, Baseball America eighth, FanGraphs ninth). An elbow injury slowed Hoese to some extent during his first taste of Single-A ball last year, but he’s still seen as someone with the potential to emerge as a quality hitter in the majors down the line.
  • Left-hander Brian Flynn has elected free agency after the Rangers didn’t add him to their player pool, Steve Adams of MLBTR reports. Flynn joined the Rangers on a minor league contract in the offseason after appearing in the majors in each of the previous four years with the Royals. Thanks in part to a sprained UCL, Flynn could only muster 29 1/3 innings of 5.22 ERA pitching a season ago. To his credit, though, Flynn still managed a respectable overall mark of 3.76 during his 162 2/3-frame KC tenure.

Rangers Will Not Include Brian Flynn In 60-Man Player Pool

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The Rangers on Friday advised left-hander Brian Flynn that he will not land a spot on Texas’ 60-man player pool, MLBTR has learned. The former Royals southpaw had been in Spring Training on a minor league deal.

Flynn, 30, spent the 2016-19 seasons in Kansas City, working to a combined 3.76 ERA with 6.3 K/9, 4.1 BB/9, 0.66 HR/9 and a 49.4 percent ground-ball rate in 162 2/3 frames. He’s primarily worked as a reliever throughout his big league career, although he’s made six starts between the Royals and his earlier seasons in Miami.

The 2019 season was particularly rough for Flynn, as a UCL sprain early in the year limited him to 29 1/3 innings. He struggled to a 5.22 ERA upon returning from that injury, turning in a 22-to-17 K/BB ratio and a 42.4 percent grounder rate that was a ways off the 52 percent mark at which he’d sat during his best seasons.

Back during the initial version of Spring Training, Flynn had allowed one run on two hits and four walks with eight strikeouts in six innings of work.

*The original version of this post indicated that Flynn had been released. MLBTR has since learned that he will not be released from his contract but will not be part of the club’s 60-man player pool.

Rangers Sign Blake Swihart, Brian Flynn, 3 Others

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The Rangers announced a host of minor-league deals this afternoon. Catcher/outfielder Blake Swihart, southpaw Brian Flynn, and righties Tim Dillard and Arturo Reyes all received spring invites. Reliever Matt Bush inked a two-year minors deal that doesn’t promise participation in MLB camp.

Swihart, 27, has just not managed to turn the corner at the game’s highest level. But he remains an intriguing talent and could be an interesting potential final bench piece if he shows well in camp. The former top-100 prospect owns a .243/.301/.355 batting line in 696 career plate appearances at the game’s highest level.

It seems harder to imagine Flynn cracking the Rangers’ relief unit after another tough season. Through 187 2/3 frames in the big leagues, he carries a 4.41 ERA with 6.4 K/9, 4.4 BB/9, and a 42.4% groundball rate. The 29-year-old showed somewhat reduced velocity last year as well. But he has been able to keep the ball in the yard, which is something that couldn’t be said of quite a few fully established major leaguers in 2019.

Dillard, a former MLBTR contributor, will continue to function as a Triple-A pitching sage and bringer of merriment after a surprising return to the rotation in 2019. No small part of his role will be to help bring along players such as Reyes, a 27-year-old former Cardinals and Rays farmhand who has yet to crack the majors. Reyes owns a 4.96 ERA with 7.1 K/9 and 3.5 BB/9 in 330 career innings at Triple-A.

As for Bush, he’s going to miss a large portion of the coming season after undergoing Tommy John surgery in July. The Rangers obviously still see reason to hope that the 34-year-old can return to the form he showed in 2016-17, when he pitched to a 3.08 ERA over 114 innings.

Pitchers Recently Electing Free Agency

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Since the conclusion of the regular season, a number of players have elected free agency. That right accrues to certain players who are outrighted off of a 40-man roster during or after the season — namely, those that have at least three years of MLB service and/or have previously been outrighted. Such players that accepted outright assignments during the season have the right to elect free agency instead at season’s end, provided they aren’t added back to the 40-man in the meantime.

We already rounded up the position players. Now, here are the pitchers that have recently taken to the open market, along with their now-former teams (via the International League and PCL transactions pages):

Post-Deadline Outrights: Flynn, De La Cruz, Guerra, Blazek

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In the immediate aftermath of the trade deadline, a handful of clubs cleared 40-man roster space with a series of designations. Many of those players have since cleared waivers, and we’ll round up those minor moves here…

Latest Moves

  • The Royals announced that southpaw Brian Flynn was outrighted to Triple-A after clearing waivers.  Flynn has a 5.22 ERA over 29 1/3 innings for K.C. this season, a disappointing result for a reliever who posted solid numbers out of the Royals’ bullpen in both 2016 and 2018.

Earlier Today

  • Cubs minor-league right-hander Oscar de la Cruz has cleared waivers. The 24 year-old has seen his once-lofty prospect status deteriorate due to a combination of injuries, command woes, and a suspension for a masking agent. He’ll remain with the club’s AA affiliate in the Southern League.
  • Nationals right-handers Javy Guerra and Michael Blazek each cleared waivers and were outrighted to Triple-A Fresno. Because each veteran has previously been outrighted, they may elect free agency, but the shaky Washington bullpen could plausibly offer them the best opportunity to return to the big leagues in short order.
  • Giants right-handed reliever Dan Winkler was outrighted. San Francisco acquired him as a salary offset in the Mark Melancon trade but never had any interest in letting him see the field amidst a disappointing 2019 season. Winkler can elect free agency because he has over three years of MLB service.
  • Rockies left-handed relief arm Harrison Musgrave will remain on hand at Triple-A Albuquerque after clearing. The 27 year-old has had little success in 45 MLB games in Colorado over the past two seasons.
  • Diamondbacks right-hander Joey Krehbiel will remain on-hand at Triple-A Reno. Fangraphs’ Eric Longenhagen and Kiley McDaniel named the 26 year-old reliever a prospect to watch thanks to a plus changeup preseason, but he’s had a nightmarish season in the Pacific Coast League.
  • Veteran catcher Tim Federowicz has cleared. The backstop had been playing for the Rangers, but he may elect to catch on elsewhere on a minor-league deal.
  • Phillies corner infielder Mitch Walding has also cleared waivers. He’ll remain in Triple-A Lehigh Valley, where he’s struggled to make contact in 2019.
  • Eric Stamets, the Indians’ Opening Day shortstop, has cleared as well. The 27 year-old has put up anemic offensive numbers with Triple-A Columbus, where he’ll continue to try to right the ship, over the past two seasons.

Royals Designate Brian Flynn

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The Royals announced today that they have designated southpaw Brian Flynn for assignment. His roster spot was needed for a variety of other pitching moves.

Also departing the active roster is righty Jake Newberry, who was optioned. The Kansas City org has activated starter Jakob Junis and recalled southpaw Richard Lovelady.

Flynn, 29, has appeared at the major-league level with the Royals in each of the past four seasons. He was a multi-inning mainstay in the pen last year but has scuffled in 2019. Through 29 1/3 innings over ten relief appearances and one start, Flynn carries a 5.22 ERA with 6.8 K/9 and 5.2 BB/9.

Players Avoiding Arbitration: Thursday

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With the non-tender deadline looming tomorrow, there figure to be several players agreeing to pre-tender deals to avoid arbitration today. Many players who agree to terms prior to the deadline will be fringe non-tender candidates and, as such, are likelier to sign for less than they’d been projected in order to avoid a non-tender. We’ll keep track of today’s players who are avoiding arbitration in this post (with all referenced projections coming courtesy of MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz)…

  • The Royals announced that they’ve agreed to one-year deals with both Cheslor Cuthbert and Jesse Hahn. Jeffrey Flanagan of MLB.com reports (via Twitter) that Cuthbert will earn $850K, while Hahn’s deal contains an $800K base salary. Both were definitive non-tender candidates, as Cuthbert batted just .194/.282/.301 in 117 plate appearances this past season. Hahn, meanwhile, didn’t pitch in 2018 due to a sprained ulnar collateral ligament that ultimately required “primary repair” surgery — a similar, but less invasive alternative to Tommy John surgery that is perhaps familiar to Royals fans after Seth Maness previously underwent the procedure.

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