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Brian Moran

Braves Re-Sign Brian Moran To Minor League Deal

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The Braves have signed left-hander Brian Moran to a minors contract earlier this month, as per Moran’s MLB.com profile page.  The southpaw elected to become a minor league free agent at the end of the season.

This is the third straight winter Moran has inked a minors pact with Atlanta, though this tenure has yet to result in any playing time at the MLB level.  Moran posted a 3.21 ERA, 28.3% strikeout rate, and 9.8% walk rate over 47 2/3 innings with Triple-A Gwinnett in 2023, but dropped back to a 5.91 ERA and 22.9K% in 45 2/3 innings last year, albeit with an improved 7.6% walk rate.  Looking at other advanced metrics, Moran benefited from an 84.8% strand rate in 2023 but had a .373 BABIP in 2024.

Now entering his age-36 season, Moran seems to be viewed by the Braves as a useful veteran depth arm, even if the club hasn’t been compelled to give him another look on the active roster.  Cracking the bullpen could again be difficult for Moran since Dylan Lee, Aaron Bummer, Angel Perdomo, and Dylan Dodd are all left-handers projected to be part of the relief corps, plus Atlanta recently brought another southpaw in Kolton Ingram into the fold on a minor league deal.

Moran last appeared in the majors in 2022, pitching just a third of an inning in cup-of-coffee fashion with the Angels.  Moran has a 7.94 ERA in 11 1/3 innings over 18 career games in the big leagues, primarily with the Marlins and Blue Jays during the 2019-20 seasons.  A seventh-round pick for the Mariners in the 2009 draft, Moran has bounced around the league to multiple organizations, including another stint in Atlanta’s minor league system back in 2016.

Braves Agree To Minor League Deals With Adeiny Hechavarria, Magneuris Sierra

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The Braves recently agreed to minor league contracts with a number of players, according to an announcement from Double-A broadcaster Chris Harris (Twitter link). Among those joining the organization: infielder Adeiny Hechavarria, outfielders Magneuris Sierra and Forrest Wall, and reliever Brian Moran. All four players will get non-roster invitations to Spring Training. Kiley McDaniel of ESPN first reported Wall’s signing yesterday.

Hechavarria, 33, has the most MLB experience of the group. An everyday shortstop early in his career with the Marlins, he settled into a utility role after being traded to the Rays midway through the 2017 campaign. He played for five different clubs between 2018-20, including 51 games for Atlanta over the latter two seasons that marked his most recent big league action.

The Cuban-born infielder has decent bat-to-ball skills but has primarily been a bottom-of-the-lineup hitter due to modest power and below-average walk rates. He’s compiled a .253/.291/.351 line in just under 3300 big league plate appearances over parts of nine seasons. Hechavarria posted plus defensive grades at shortstop during his time with the Fish but saw those marks drop off by 2019, when he started to see increased work at second and third base.

Hechavarria signed with the Chiba Lotte Marines of Nippon Professional Baseball during the 2020-21 offseason. He limped to a .213/.238/.307 line in 473 combined plate appearances at Japan’s highest level over two seasons. He split his NPB defensive work between shortstop and third base and offers some additional infield depth in Braves’ camp.

Atlanta has Ozzie Albies and Austin Riley cemented at second and third base, respectively, while Vaughn Grissom and Orlando Arcia are set to battle for the shortstop job. Arcia would assume a utility role if Grissom wins that job as most outside observers anticipate, while Braden Shewmake is also on the 40-man roster as a depth option. Hoy Park, Ehire Adrianza and Joe Dunand also figure to get non-roster camp invites.

Sierra, 26, has appeared at the MLB level in each of the last six years. The lefty-swinging outfielder was a highly-regarded prospect thanks to his speed and defensive acumen and was part of the package the Marlins received from the Cardinals in the Marcell Ozuna trade. He played parts of four years with the Fish but never hit enough to cement himself as a regular. A complete lack of power has kept Sierra from making an offensive impact, as he still has yet to collect a big league home run in 636 plate appearances.

Last season, Sierra got into 45 contests for the Angels as a depth outfielder. He hit .165/.200/.242 through 96 trips to the dish but had posted a roughly league average .297/.358/.437 showing in 76 games with their Triple-A affiliate in Salt Lake. Sierra’s just a .228/.273/.272 hitter as a big leaguer. He’s swiped 29 bases in 38 MLB attempts while playing above-average defense in center field.

Rookie of the Year Michael Harris II is obviously locked into center field on an everyday basis for Atlanta. Sierra joins fellow non-roster invitee Kevin Pillar in offering some upper level depth to compete for reps in Spring Training and potentially with Triple-A Gwinnett.

The 27-year-old Wall also steps into that mix, though he has yet to reach the highest level. Selected by the Rockies as a supplemental first-rounder in the 2014 draft, he drew some prospect attention for his contact skills and speed. Wall hit well through his first few minor league campaigns and was dealt to the Blue Jays in 2018 for reliever Seunghwan Oh. After a quality 2019 season in Double-A, the lefty-swinging outfielder saw his bat stall out at the top minor league level.

Wall played the 2022 season with the Mariners as a minor league free agent. He mustered just a .255/.333/.354 line with six home runs over 467 plate appearances in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League. That wasn’t enough to earn him a big league look, although he continued to demonstrate the athleticism that had made him an interesting prospect. Wall led all Triple-A players with 52 stolen bases, though he was also thrown out 12 times (the third-highest total at the level). He played mostly center field last year but could be a better fit in left thanks to a below-average throwing arm.

Moran, a sidearming left-hander, joined Sierra in the Angel organization in 2022. Like Hechavarria and Sierra, he’s also a former Marlin. The 34-year-old has pitched in 18 big league games over parts of three seasons, allowing ten runs with 17 strikeouts but nine walks in 11 1/3 innings. He made one MLB outing for the Halos last April, surrendering a couple runs while recording one out against the Rangers.

He had a solid season for Salt Lake, logging 48 2/3 innings of 4.07 ERA ball in the PCL. Moran punched out 24.6% of batters faced against a tiny 6.6% walk percentage. The UNC product was surprisingly hit hard by left-handed batters but limited righties to a putrid .286 on-base percentage in Triple-A. He’ll add some depth behind A.J. Minter, Dylan Lee and Lucas Luetge.

15 Players Elect Free Agency

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As the postseason rolls along, players hit minor league free agency daily. It’s customary each offseason for dozens of players to hit the open market, separate from the players who reach MLB free agency at the end of the World Series based on the expiration of their contracts while having six-plus years of MLB service time.

Any player who is not on his team’s 40-man roster at season’s end but has three-plus years of MLB service, multiple career outright assignments and/or seven-plus seasons in the minor leagues has the right to elect free agency. Everyone in today’s group falls under that umbrella. The majority will take minor league deals over the winter, although one or two could find a big league deal as a bench piece or middle-inning reliever.

MLBTR covered 34 players who qualified for minor league free agency last week. We’ll periodically provide updates as plenty more hit the open market, as reflected on the MiLB.com transactions log.

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Infielders

Outfielders

Angels Select Kenny Rosenberg, Outright Brian Moran

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Apr. 21: The Angels announced that Moran has cleared waivers and was outrighted to Triple-A Salt Lake.

Apr. 18: The Angels announced this evening they’ve selected left-hander Kenny Rosenberg onto the major league roster. Fellow southpaw Brian Moran has been designated for assignment in a corresponding move.

It’s the first major league call for the 26-year-old Rosenberg. Selected by the Rays in the eighth round of the 2016 draft out of Cal State Northridge, he spent five seasons in the Tampa Bay farm system. The 6’1″ hurler pitched his way as high as Triple-A Durham, where he tossed 30 2/3 innings across 14 relief appearances last season. Rosenberg posted a 2.35 ERA with an excellent 35% strikeout rate against the minors’ top hitters, but the Rays didn’t give him a big league look.

Tampa Bay also declined to protect Rosenberg from the minor league phase of last winter’s Rule 5 draft. The Angels selected him with the eighth pick in that process, and he impressed the front office enough this spring to put himself on the radar for a quick big league call. He has made just one appearance with Triple-A Salt Lake this season, working four innings of one-run ball with five strikeouts and two walks.

Rosenberg worked as starting pitcher up through Double-A in 2019. He spent most of last season in the bullpen but started his aforementioned lone appearance with the Bees thus far in 2022. Presumably, he’ll step into a multi-inning relief role for manager Joe Maddon, pairing with offseason signee Aaron Loup as the left-handed options in the middle innings.

Moran occupied that second lefty relief spot last week, heading to the majors eight days ago when the Halos lost José Quijada to an oblique strain. The 33-year-old made just one appearance, though, allowing four of five Rangers’ hitters he faced to reach base on Thursday. That was his first MLB appearance since he came out of the bullpen seven times between the Marlins and Blue Jays in 2020. The Angels have a week to trade Moran or place him on waivers.

Angels Place Jose Quijada On 10-Day Injured List, Select Brian Moran, Designate Kyle Tyler

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The Angels announced a trio of corresponding roster moves, including the placement of left-hander Jose Quijada on the 10-day injured list due to a right oblique strain.  Quijada’s placement is retroactive to April 8.  Fellow southpaw Brian Moran will replace Quijada on the active roster after the Halos selected his contract, and right-hander Kyle Tyler was designated for assignment to create a 40-man roster spot.

It seems as though Quijada’s injury may have taken place last night, as Jeff Fletcher of The Southern California News Group (Twitter link) notes that Quijada was warming up in the bullpen, but then didn’t come into the game as expected to face a left-handed batter.  The southpaw might now face a lengthy absence given the nature of oblique injuries, and depending on the severity of the strain.

Quijada has spent three of his four MLB seasons with Los Angeles, amassing a 4.85 ERA over 29 2/3 relief innings.  Counting his rookie season with the Marlins in 2019, Quijada has a 5.31 ERA in 59 1/3 career innings, as his tenure has included a lot of missed bats (32% strikeout rate) but also a lot of wildness (15.6% walk rate).

Aaron Loup was the only other lefty in the Angels’ bullpen, necessitating the selection of Moran’s minor league contract.  After joining L.A. on that minors deal back in November, Moran is now lined up to make his first MLB appearance since 2020.  Moran is another former Marlin, with a 6.55 ERA over 11 career Major League innings with Miami and Toronto in 2019-20.

While that represents Moran’s big league resume, he has bounced around to several different organizations since the Mariners picked him in the seventh round of the 2009 draft.  This is actually Moran’s second stint with the Angels, as the Halos acquired him via a post-Rule 5 Draft trade in 2013, but Tommy John surgery sidelined Moran for all of 2014 and kept him from ever pitching for L.A.  Moran has a solid 3.05 ERA over 516 1/3 career innings in the minors.

Tyler has now been designated for assignment four times in under a month, and his first three trips to the DFA wire saw the righty switch teams.  Originally an Angel back on March 19, Tyler was designated and then claimed/designated by both the Red Sox and Padres before landing back in Anaheim on another waiver claim on Friday.  Tyler made his Major League debut last season, with a 2.92 ERA over 12 1/3 innings out of the Angels’ bullpen

Rays Add Four Pitchers On Minor League Deals

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The Rays are reported to be nearing a big league deal with veteran righty Collin McHugh, but they’ve also been active in minor league free agency this week. Tampa Bay has agreed to non-roster invitations with lefty Brian Moran and right-handers Joey Krehbiel and Louis Head, per Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. They’ve also signed righty Stetson Allie to a minor league deal and Spring Training invite, as announced by agent Gavin Kahn on Twitter.

Each of Moran and Krehbiel have some big league experience under their belts. Moran, the older brother of Pirates first baseman Colin Moran, has pitched 11 innings between the Marlins and Blue Jays over the past two seasons. He’s surrendered eight runs in that time and displayed some problematic control (14.5 percent walk rate, three hit batters, three wild pitches), but Moran has also whiffed 31 percent of opponents. The 32-year-old has pitched in parts of five Triple-A seasons with a 3.67 ERA and 30.2 percent strikeout rate.

The 28-year-old Krehbiel tossed three scoreless frames for the 2018 D-backs but hasn’t made it back to the Majors since that time. Like Moran, Krehbiel has some bat-missing ability (25 percent strikeout rate in Triple-A) but problematic control that has held him back (12.5 percent walk rate in Triple-A).

Allie may be a familiar name to some due to his status as a once-touted pitching prospect. The 2010 second-rounder was considered one of the top high school arms in the draft and landed on a few Top 100 lists before injuries stalled his career. Allie pivoted and tried to make it as a first baseman/outfielder for several years before returning to the mound on a full-time basis in 2018. He’s spent time with the Pirates, who drafted him, and the Dodgers. He’s yet to make it to the big leagues, but the Rays will hope to coax another level out of the now-29-year-old righty, whose fastball has in the past reached triple digits.

Head, a longtime Indians farmhand who spent 2019 with the Dodgers organization as well, is a career reliever who posted strong numbers through Double-A but hasn’t yet matched that success in Triple-A. He has a 5.46 ERA in 90 2/3 frames of Triple-A ball while striking out just shy of a quarter of opponents against an 11.5 percent walk rate he’ll need to reduce.

Marlins Outright 3 Pitchers

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The Marlins have reinstated three pitchers – Drew Steckenrider, Brian Moran and Brandon Leibrandt – from the 60-day injured list and outrighted them, the team announced. Steckenrider and Moran have elected free agency.

Now 29 years old, the right-handed Steckenreider was a very promising part of the Marlins’ bullpen from 2017-18. However, he limped to a 6.28 ERA/7.96 FIP during the next season and hasn’t pitched since May 6, 2019, owing to arm problems.

Meanwhile, lefties Moran and Liebrandt have had minor roles with the Marlins. The 32-year-old Moran has thrown just 11 innings (10 with the Marlins, one with the Blue Jays) since making his major league debut in 2019. He has given up eight earned runs at the game’s top level. Liebrandt, the son of former MLB pitcher Charlie Liebrandt, yielded just two earned runs in nine frames with the Marlins in 2020, but he also posted seven walks against three strikeouts in the process.

Marlins Announce Series Of Roster Moves

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The Marlins announced a series of roster moves Tuesday, including the contract selections of right-hander Brett Eibner and lefty Brandon Leibrandt. They also optioned righties Jordan Yamamoto and Justin Shafer and infielder Lewin Diaz to their alternate training site; moved righty Mike Morin to the 45-day injured list; placed lefty Brian Moran on the 10-day IL with right knee patella tendonitis; recalled righty Humberto Mejia from their training site; and reinstated outfielder Corey Dickerson from the paternity list.

Eibner, a former Royals and Dodgers outfielder, last appeared in the majors in 2017. He switched to a two-way role thereafter and performed well enough as a pitcher in independent ball for the Marlins to recently purchase his contract from the Eastern Reyes del Tigre of the Constellation Energy League.

Leibrandt also isn’t far removed from joining the Marlins, who inked the ex-Phillies farmhand to a minors pact earlier this month. Most recently a member of the independent Somerset Patriots, the 27-year-old has never pitched in the bigs. He did enjoy a productive season in Triple-A ball in 2018, though, before succumbing to Tommy John surgery.

Marlins’ Roster Moves: Bleier, Venditte, Mejia, Moran

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The Miami Marlins placed recent acquisition Richard Bleier on the injured list with a “mild strain in his elbow in his elbow bicep”, per MLB Network contributor Craig Mish (via Twitter). In corresponding moves, the Marlins selected the contract of Pat Venditte, the switch-pitcher recently brought to camp. Humberto Mejia has been optioned to the alternate site. Lefty Brian Moran has been put back on the active roster, per Mish.

Bleier made three appearances with the Fish since coming over via trade from the Orioles. He allowed 1 run on 1 hit in 1 1/3 innings. The 33-year-old southpaw didn’t make his big league debut until 2016 as a 29-year-old. In the 4+ seasons since, he has mustered a respectable 3.02 ERA/3.73 FIP across 169 appearances (179 innings) for the Yankees, Orioles, and Marlins.

Venditte got into a game for the first time in 2020 tonight, but he previously appeared in parts of four seasons for the A’s, Blue Jays, Mariners, Dodgers, and Giants. Venditte’s gimmick is well-known throughout baseball as an ambidextrous pitcher, but he’s struggled on the whole as a major leaguer. In 58 appearances, Venditte owns a 5.03 ERA/5.04 FIP, though the 35-year-old continues to see opportunities. To his credit, he also continues to post solid numbers in Triple-A, including a 2.85 ERA across 47 1/3 innings with the Giants’ Triple-A affiliate in 2019.

Mejia, 23, will no doubt find his way back to the majors after a fine debut. The Panamanian right-hander started one game as an extended opener, going 2 1/3 innings and allowing just one earned run while striking out six. In a year of unprecedented roster moves, it’s a safe bet that Mejia will find his way back to the show at some point in 2020.

Last but not least, Moran, 31, made his major-league debut as a 30-year-old with the Marlins last season. He appeared in 10 games going 6 1/3 innings with a 4.26 ERA/4.00 FIP. The lefty hurler notably made MLB history by striking out his younger brother Colin Moran in the first-ever brother-brother showdown. He signed with the Blue Jays this offseason after the Marlins made him a free agent, only to be claimed off waivers last week.

Marlins Announce Numerous Roster Moves

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As they prepare to resume play, the Marlins have announced a flurry of additions to the active roster (as covered on Twitter by reporters including Jordan MacPherson of the Miami Herald). Just who’ll move to the COVID-19 injured list remains to be seen.

Most of these players were picked up in the last week or so as the organization’s coronavirus outbreak unfolded. The Fish will select the contracts of righties Nick Vincent and Josh A. Smith, infielders Logan Forsythe and Eddy Alvarez, and catcher Ryan Lavarnway.

Also coming up are a host of other fill-ins that had already gone onto the 40-man roster. Outfielders Matt Joyce and Lewis Brinson are coming off of the injured list. Righties Justin Shafer, James Hoyt, and Mike Morin will join lefties Josh D. Smith, Richard Bleier, and Brian Moran in the bullpen.

Most notably, perhaps, are the additions of youngsters Jordan Yamamoto, Monte Harrison, and Jorge Guzman. Yamamoto had 15 solid starts in 2019 and will be looking to lock down a job for the foreseeable future. As for Harrison, a former top-100 prospect, it’ll be his first taste of the bigs. Guzman is a live-armed young hurler who’ll get his first look.

In other news from Miami, both president Derek Jeter and manager Don Mattingly pushed back on the prevailing narrative surrounding the team’s coronavirus issues. While the leaders acknowledged that some players may have let their guard down, they rejected any rumors that players had recklessly engaged in risky activities away from the ballpark.

Jeter also rejected the notion that the Marlins’ players had made their own decision to take the field against the Phillies after several players tested positive. He says the organization simply played a scheduled game and noted that the league and opposing team had full knowledge of the testing results.

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