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Brooks Raley

Reds Acquire Brandon Bailey From Astros

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The Reds announced Friday that they’ve acquired righty Brandon Bailey from the Astros in exchange for cash. In a separate move, Cincinnati also acquired minor league right-hander Fredy Medina from Houston. Medina will serve as the player to be named later from the earlier trade that sent southpaw Brooks Raley to the Astros.

In addition to that pair of trades with Houston, the Reds announced that they’ve selected the contracts of right-hander Vladimir Gutierrez, Riley O’Brien and Jared Solomon. All are now on the 40-man roster and protected from selection in next month’s Rule 5 Draft. Cincinnati’s 40-man roster is now up to 36 players.

It’s been three years to the day since the 26-year-old Bailey was last traded, going from the Athletics to the Astros. Unfortunately for the ’Stros, that trade sent a minor league outfielder by the name of Ramon Laureano to Oakland. Houston apparently didn’t care to protect Laureano in advance of the Rule 5 Draft — a clear misstep that proved to be a godsend for one of their chief division rivals.

Bailey has clearly intrigued other clubs, however. The Orioles selected him in last year’s Rule 5 Draft, and the Astros gave him a look in the Majors this past year. Now, the Reds are keen on giving him a 40-man roster spot of their own. He’s allowed a pair of runs in 7 1/3 MLB innings and carries a 3.45 ERA with a 126-to-50 K/BB ratio in 117 1/3 innings at the Double-A level.

Medina, who turned 23 in April, is something of a long shot for the Reds, it would seem. He’s yet to play above the Rookie-level Gulf Coast League and has walked 51 hitters in 74 professional innings. Considering the fact that Raley turned out to be a nice 2020 piece to the Houston ’pen and is controlled through 2021, the ’Stros have to feel good about how that deal turned out.

Astros Exercise Brooks Raley’s Option

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Nov. 2: Raley’s club option called for a split contract in 2021, reports Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle (via Twitter). He’ll earn at a $2MM rate on the big league roster, but the contract calls for him to earn at a $250K rate in the minors. If Raley pitches like he did for Houston in 2020, he should make the roster and earn the entirety of that salary, but it’s a notable distinction that it’s not a straight, fully guaranteed $2MM salary.

Nov. 1: The Astros are picking up Brooks Raley’s $2MM club option for 2021, GM James Click informed reporters (including Brian McTaggart of MLB.com). The 32-year-old only has one-plus year of MLB service. Nevertheless, under the terms of the contract he signed last offseason, he’ll be eligible for free agency at the end of next season.

Raley parlayed a solid five-year run with the KBO’s Lotte Giants into a deal with the Reds. While he was let go by Cincinnati after just four appearances, he found a home in Houston. The Astros acquired Raley from the Reds for a player to be named later in August.

The southpaw went on toss 16 relief innings in the regular season. His 3.94 ERA doesn’t jump off the page, but Raley racked up 21 strikeouts against four walks in Houston, holding opposing hitters to a paltry .143/.213/.339 line.  He worked another 5.2 innings across eight appearances during Houston’s playoff run, allowing two earned runs with a 9:5 strikeout-to-walk ratio.

Astros Hold Club Option On Brooks Raley

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The Astros’ acquisition of Brooks Raley over the summer appeared to be a mostly straightforward trade bringing a journeyman lefty to a beleaguered bullpen in exchange for a player to be named later. The 32-year-old Raley had less than a year of service time in the Majors, so it seemed as though if he stuck with the club, he’d be an affordable, pre-arbitration player moving forward. That’s not quite the case, as The Athletic’s Jake Kaplan reports that the minor league contract Raley signed with the Reds over the winter actually contains a $2MM club option for the 2021 season and allows him to become a free agent thereafter.

Raley, 32, went seven years between big league appearances, pitching for the Cubs back in 2013 and then falling off the big league radar until he was selected to the Reds’ roster early this season. He split the 2014 season between the Triple-A affiliates for the Twins and Angels and did enough to attract some interest from the Lotte Giants of the Korea Baseball Organization. Raley capitalized on that first KBO opportunity, turning in 179 1/3 innings of 3.91 ERA ball in his first season — an effort which he parlayed into a successful five-year run in the KBO.

Raley didn’t impress Major League clubs enough to score the type of multi-year arrangement Josh Lindblom landed to return to the big leagues and instead took a non-guaranteed pact with the Reds. But while Cincinnati quickly moved on from Raley after just four innings, the Astros saw something they liked enough to part with a PTBNL in a seemingly minor swap. The lefty rewarded their show of faith with a 21-to-4 K/BB ratio and a 3.94 ERA over 16 frames out of the Houston bullpen. He went on to pitch in six postseason games, holding opponents to a pair of runs on four hits and five walks with nine punchouts in 5 2/3 innings.

All told, Raley pitched 21 2/3 innings with the ’Stros between the regular season and the playoffs. In that time he worked to a 3.74 ERA with 30 strikeouts against nine walks. As Kaplan notes in his column, Raley’s performance makes the club’s decision on that $2MM option a pretty simple “yes” — particularly when looking at the glut of unproven rookies on which they were forced to rely in 2020.

Looking ahead, if Raley can maintain his strong showing over the course of a full season in 2021, he’d position himself for a much more lucrative free-agent deal in the 2021-22 offseason. He’d be heading into his age-34 campaign, so a multi-year pact is plenty feasible. At present, there’s a pretty thin class of lefty relievers projected to reach the open market that offseason, headlined by Andrew Miller (who’ll be heading into his age-37 season) and also including Alex Claudio and Adam Morgan. There will surely be some one-year deals this winter that add to that group, and some names could take unorthodox paths to reaching the market, as we’re currently seeing with Raley.

Astros Acquire Brooks Raley From Reds

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The Houston Astros acquired Brooks Raley from the Reds for a player to be named later, the Reds announced. Raley was designated for assignment on Thursday.

In a corresponding move, the Astros transferred closer Roberto Osuna to the 45-day injured list, per Mark Berman of Fox 26. Osuna is likely to undergo season-ending Tommy John surgery.

Raley made four appearances for the Reds this season, giving up four earned runs in four innings. The 32-year-old appeared in the major leagues for the first time since his initial appearances with the Cubs in 2012 and 2013. The southpaw has been a reliable rotation arm in the KBO for the past five seasons, however. Raley made 30 or 31 starts in each season from 2015 to 2019 for the Lotte Giants, totalling a 48-53 record with a 4.13 ERA across 910 2/3 innings. That’s an average season of more than 182 innings per season.

The Astros have struggled to fill out their rotation after an early injury to Justin Verlander. Raley will likely jump into the Houston bullpen if he’s added to the active roster, though his ability to start or pitch multiple innings is certainly a plus for a team looking for length.

Reds Designate Brooks Raley For Assignment

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The Reds announced Thursday that they’ve designated left-hander Brooks Raley for assignment and recalled righty Jose De Leon from their alternate training site. Cincinnati also optioned second baseman Josh VanMeter and righty Tejay Antone in order to drop down to the requisite 28-player limit that went into effect today.

Raley, 32, was selected to the Reds’ big league roster last month when the club designated Scott Schebler for assignment. He pitched in four games with Cincinnati but yielded four runs on five hits and a couple of walks through four innings. Raley punched out six hitters but also plunked an alarming three batters in his brief time with the Reds’ bullpen.

That quick stint marked Raley’s first MLB action since way back in 2013 with the Cubs. He spent the 2015-19 seasons pitching for the Lotte Giants of the Korea Baseball Organization, for whom he compiled 910 2/3 frames of 4.13 ERA ball with averages of 7.5 strikeouts, 2.7 walks and 0.9 home runs per nine innings pitched. Because of that lengthy run overseas, Raley still has just 42 1/3 Major League frames under his belt. The Reds will have a week to trade him, release him or place him on outright waivers.

Reds Designate Scott Schebler For Assignment, Add Brooks Raley To 40-Man Roster

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The Reds have added left-handed pitcher Brooks Raley to the 40-man roster and have designated outfielder Scott Schebler for assignment, as reported by Bobby Nightengale of the Cincinnati Enquirer.

Schebler, a mainstay on Reds teams of 2017 and 2018, has seen himself swiftly fall out of favor with the club as it collects a new crop of young outfielders. Jesse Winker, Phil Ervin, Nick Senzel, and Aristides Aquino have overtaken Schebler for playing time, and new arrivals Nicholas Castellanos and Shogo Akiyama only further cut into Schebler’s role.

Last year was a disaster for the 29-year-old Schebler, who limped to a .123/.253/.222 batting line, albeit in just 95 plate appearances. In the two years prior, however, Schebler was a different player, even reaching the 30-homer benchmark in 2017. From 2017-2018, he notched a .785 OPS while playing all three outfield positions on a consistent basis. That’s a player who can provide some value for a team, and teams with a thin outfield mix should have some interest in Schebler, who must either be traded or exposed to the other 29 teams via waivers in the next 7 days. Should he pass through waivers, he may then be released or assigned outright to the minors. That’s not a given, though, and he may be worth a claim as a depth outfielder.

Raley, meanwhile, is a particularly interesting case: the 32-year-old southpaw hasn’t appeared in a Major League game since 2013, when he was with the Cubs. After a stint in the Angels’ and Twins’ minor league systems, he commuted to South Korea, where he’s played in the KBO since 2015.

He’s getting a chance with the Reds this year as a non-roster invitee, and now he’s parlayed that into a spot on the 40-man roster. Nothing is certain, but there’s a decent chance he cracks Cincinnati’s Opening Day 30, joining a bullpen that will be key to the Reds’ performance this year. There’s no question that the rotation can be up there with the best in the National League, but the bullpen will need to collectively improve if they’re to compete in the Central division.

In five seasons with the KBO’s Lotte Giants, Raley threw 910 2/3 innings, making at least 30 starts every year. He struck out a total of 755 batters and posted a 4.13 ERA. Last year was his best in terms of home run prevention, but he also surrendered more walks than ever.

Minor MLB Transactions: 1/9/20

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The latest minor league moves from around baseball….

  • The Reds signed southpaw Brooks Raley to a minor league deal with a Spring Training invitation, Bobby Nightengale of the Cincinnati Enquirer reports (via Twitter).  After posting a 7.04 ERA over 38 1/3 innings for the Cubs in 2012-13 and then spending 2014 back in the minors, Raley headed for the Lotte Giants of the KBO League.  Raley posted a 4.13 ERA, 2.79 K/BB rate, and 7.5 K/9 over 910 2/3 innings in Korea, starting all but one of his 152 outings.  If the 31-year-old Raley can carry over some measure of that form from the KBO League, he’ll provide the Reds with some veteran rotation depth at the Triple-A level, putting him in line for another crack at the majors in the event of an injury to Cincinnati’s starting five.
  • The Orioles have outrighted right-hander Marcos Diplan to Triple-A Norfolk, the team announced.  Diplan cleared waivers after being designated for assignment last week to create roster space for the newly-signed Kohl Stewart.  Diplan has a 3.88 ERA, 9.1 K/9, and 1.85 K/BB rate over 540 2/3 career minor league innings, working mostly as a reliever (starting seven of 38 total appearances) in 2019, pitching for the Double-A affiliates of the Twins and Brewers.  It has been a busy transactional stretch for Diplan, who was claimed off Minnesota’s waiver wire by the Tigers in September, and then claimed again by the Orioles in December.

KBO Notes: Kelly, Wilson, Raley

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Though it seemed for awhile like Casey Kelly was drawing enough interest to warrant a return to the states, the right-hander has instead re-upped for another season in the KBO. Kelly signed back with the LG Twins for $1.5MM, which includes $300K in incentives, per Dan Kurtz of MyKBO.net. Kelly is most famous for his time as a prospect in the Red Sox system. He was eventually dealt to San Diego in a 2011 blockbuster which also featured Adrian Gonzalez and Anthony Rizzo. Kelly never broke out with the Padres, thanks in part to 2013 Tommy John surgery, which kept him off the hill for the entire season. Kelly ended up accruing a mere 40 1/3 innings with the Padres in parts of two seasons (2012 and ’15), and later combined for another 45 1/3 between the Braves (2016) and Giants (2018). The 30-year-old Kelly has done rather well for himself overseas, going 14-12 last season with a 2.55 ERA across 180 1/3 innings as a starter for the LG Twins.

  • Tyler Wilson will also return to the KBO’s Twins for another season, per Kurtz. 2020 will mark Wilson’s third season with the Twins, for whom he put together solid back-to-back seasons. Coming off a 14-7 year with a 2.92 ERA in 185 innings, Wilson has signed for $1.6MM, including $200K in incentives. The 30-year-old Virginian appeared with the Orioles for parts of three seasons from 2015 to 2017.
  • Coming the other way, southpaw Brooks Raley could be on his way back after five seasons with the Lotte Giants in Korea, tweets Jon Morosi of Fox Sports. Raley was once a Cubs farmhand who broke into the majors for five starts in 2012. He also saw limited action for Chicago the following season, though totaling just 38 1/3 innings and a 7.04 ERA across those two seasons. The Cubs made Raley a 6th round draft choice in 2009 out of Texas A&M. The Minnesota Twins claimed him off waivers, but the Angels claimed him not long after. Raley never appeared at the big league level for either squad. Morosi notes that the 31-year-old Texan is drawing interest from big league clubs now, though which teams were not specified.

Former Big Leaguers Playing Abroad: KBO Pitcher Roundup

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It’s always fun to keep an eye on familiar players who’ve taken their talents across the pond. Now that the 2019 season is in the books, it seemed an opportune time to check in. Numerous former big leaguers are playing abroad, many of them thriving in Asia’s top leagues.

We’ve seen foreign stints help spur big league revivals from quite a few players. Eric Thames, Miles Mikolas, and Chris Martin are among those that played significant roles in the 2019 MLB campaign. Whether any of the players covered below will do so remains to be seen, but there’s certainly a path.

We started by looking at position players in the Korea Baseball Organization, the top league in South Korea. Remember, teams in the KBO and other leagues face limits on the number of non-native players they can employ. That creates a lot of pressure to secure big production from those roster spots, and often spurs mid-season change.

Now, we’ll check in on KBO’s hurlers. (Statistics courtesy of the always excellent MyKBO.)

  • The LG Twins made out like bandits with Tyler Wilson and Casey Kelly. The former, who once had a three-season run with the Orioles, spun 185 frames of 2.92 ERA ball in his second strong KBO effort. The latter, a former first-round pick and veteran of four MLB campaigns, was even more effective, with a 2.55 ERA in his 180 1/3 innings despite a less-than-impressive 126:41 K/BB ratio.
  • But neither of those hurlers took the foreign hurler ERA crown. That went to Josh Lindblom of the Doosan Bears, who has carved out a prominent career in Korea and was at his finest in 2019. Over 194 2/3 frames, he worked to a 2.50 ERA with 189 strikeouts against just 29 free passes. Doosan’s other out-of-town pitcher, Seth Frankoff (a one-appearance MLB veteran), spun 117 1/3 frames of 3.61 ERA ball.
  • Righty Angel Sanchez pitched great for the SK Wyverns in his second season with the club. The former Pirates hurler sported a 2.62 ERA in 165 innings. Teammate Henry Sosa, a former Astro turned KBO stalwart, threw 94 1/3 frames of 3.82 ERA ball. Another strong combination was formed by the Kiwoom (formerly Nexen) Heroes. Eric Jokisch posted a 3.13 ERA in thirty starts while Jake Brigham went for a 2.96 mark in 28 outings.
  • The Hanwha Eagles also got a nice 1-2 effort from a pair of former (Detroit) Tigers hurlers. Righty Warwick Saupold went for 192 1/3 innings of 3.51 ERA pitching, while southpaw Chad Bell notched a 3.50 ERA in his 177 1/3 frames of work. Another duo — Athletics alum Raul Alcantara and former Red Sox/Tigers hurler William Cuevas — was solid but unexceptional with the KT Wiz. The former worked to a 4.01 ERA while the latter checked in at 3.62 earned per nine.
  • The NC Dinos received strong output from right-hander Drew Rucinski, who was pitching his first season in the KBO after jumping around with several MLB organizations in recent years. He logged 177 1/3 innings of 3.05 ERA ball. Eddie Butler lost his spot with the Dinos after 13 marginal outings, with the club replacing him with fellow former Rockies hurler Christian Friedrich. The new southpaw proved a better fit, working to a 2.75 ERA over 72 frames over a dozen starts after being plucked from the indy ball ranks.
  • The Samsung Lions parted ways with Justin Haley and Deck McGuire after watching them combine for forty starts with more than five earned per nine. Fellow righty Ben Lively was better after he came over, throwing 57 innings with a 3.95 ERA and 58 strikeouts.
  • The KIA Tigers struggled to get consistent results from their foreign hurlers. Former MLB righties Jacob Turner (5.46 ERA in 153 1/3 innings) and Joe Wieland (4.75 ERA in 165 innings) both disappointed.
  • Likewise, Jake Thompson failed to make good on his chance with the Lotte Giants, providing them 62 2/3 innings of 4.74 ERA ball before he was cut loose. Lotte received better work from Brooks Raley (181 innings, 3.88 ERA) and Brock Dykxhoorn (149 1/3 innings, 4.34 ERA).

Minor MLB Transactions: 12/13/18

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The latest minor moves from around the baseball world…

  • The Red Sox re-signed infielder Tony Renda to a new minor league deal, Baseball America’s Matt Eddy reports.  After playing in 32 games for the Reds as a rookie in 2016, Renda didn’t make it back to the majors until this season, when he appeared in a single game for Boston.  The lone appearance was a notable one, as Renda entered the game as a pinch-runner in the 10th inning and scored the winning run in a 5-4 win over the Yankees on August 5.  (Renda even received a World Series ring for his modest contribution to Boston’s championship season.)  After hitting a combined .318/.373/.453 over 292 PA at the Double-A and Triple-A levels in 2018, Renda will return to the organization after being outrighted after the season.
  • The Lotte Giants of the KBO League have announced new contracts for left-hander Brooks Raley and right-hander Jake Thompson for the 2019 season. (Hat tip to MyKBO.net’s Dan Kurtz for passing on the news.)  Raley will receive $1.17MM for his fifth season in South Korea, where he has been a solid rotation piece for the Giants.  A former Cubs draft pick, Raley tossed 38 1/3 innings for Chicago in 2012-13 and hasn’t since been back in the big leagues.  Thompson will head to the KBO after being designated for assignment off the Brewers roster last summer and ultimately let go into free agency.  Formerly a well-regarded prospect for the Phillies, Thompson never found much consistency at the MLB level, posting a 4.87 ERA over 116 1/3 frames for Philadelphia from 2016-18.  Thompson will receive $760K in guaranteed salary, with another $140K available in incentive bonuses.
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