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Cesar Jimenez

Career Notes: Dickey, Colon, Jimenez

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Several notable big leaguers have officially hung up the cleats this offseason, or given an indication (sort of) about when they might be retiring.  Here’s the latest from some more veterans about when they may or may not consider calling it a career…

  • R.A. Dickey is entering the last year of his contract with the Blue Jays and the 41-year-old tells VICE Sports’ John Lott that he’ll sit down with his family after the season to decide on his future.  Right now, “we’re all kind of undecided. We just like to stay in the moment,” Dickey said.  If he does return, it would be for a situation that suits his family and likely a one-year contract.  “I think I will be an attractive option for a lot of teams because I will not be requiring a multi-year deal, and I will probably be asking less than what my market value will be….And for me, it’s not necessarily about the money at this point.  It’s about the right fit, and how close to home I’d be, and are there direct flights, and what is the clubhouse policy for kids, all that stuff,” Dickey said.  Despite his age, the knuckleballer is as steady an innings-eater as any in baseball, averaging 219 frames per season since 2011.  Given the lack of starting pitching available in next winter’s free agent market, Dickey is probably correct in assuming he would get a lot of interest.
  • Speaking of ageless right-handers, Bartolo Colon tells Kristie Ackert of the New York Daily News that plans to pitch as long as he’s healthy.  “I take it year by year. We’ll see what happens for me,” Colon said.  The 42-year-old fan favorite is preparing for his 19th season in the bigs, returning to the Mets rotation until Zack Wheeler makes his midseason return from Tommy John rehab.
  • Left-hander Cesar Jimenez hasn’t arrived at the Brewers’ Spring Training camp, and while the team hasn’t heard anything official yet, Jimenez might be retiring, Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel tweets.  Jimenez appeared in 16 games with the Crew last season after he was selected off waivers from Philadelphia in August, and he signed a minor league deal to return to Milwaukee in January.  Jimenez, 31, has a 4.05 ERA over 104 1/3 career innings and parts of six big league seasons with the Brewers, Phillies and Mariners.

Brewers Sign Chris Capuano, Cesar Jimenez To Minor League Deals

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The Brewers announced on Monday that they have signed left-handers Chris Capuano and Cesar Jimenez to minor league contracts with invitations to big league Spring Training (Twitter link). Jimenez spent the latter portion of the 2015 campaign in Milwaukee, and Capuano, of course, spent seven years in the Brewers organization earlier in his career.

Capuano was originally drafted by the D-backs but was traded to Milwaukee in 2003 alongside the man who now writes out the lineup card on a daily basis: Craig Counsell. Capuano, Counsell, Lyle Overbay, Jorge De La Rosa, Junior Spivey and Chad Moeller all went to Milwaukee in a trade that netted the D-backs Richie Sexson and two others in a trade that now looks quite lopsided, especially considering the fact that injuries held Sexson to 23 games in his lone year with Arizona.

Capuano would go on to pitch 744 2/3 innings of 4.34 ERA ball with the Brewers over the next seven years — two of which were completely wiped out by injuries. For his career, Capuano has a similar 4.39 ERA in 1405 2/3 innings, the most recent of which came in 2015 as a member of the Yankees. Capuano became an unfortunate poster boy for the DFA process last summer when New York designated him for assignment on four different occasions over a one-month span. His collective efforts with the Yankees resulted in a 7.97 ERA in 40 2/3 innings — making last year the clear worst season of his career.

Jimenez on the other hand, was a nice success story after being claimed off waivers from the Phillies organization. In 19 2/3 innings with the Brewers, the 31-year-old recorded a 3.66 ERA with a 21-to-8 K/BB ratio. All told, Jimenez pitched 23 big league innings last season and struck out 25 hitters against eight walks with a 3.13 ERA. Opposing left-handers batted a mere .200/.273/.200 against Jimenez, and he also held righties to a weak .208/.276/.358 batting line. Jimenez hasn’t always held righties in check so well (.749 lifetime OPS against), but left-handers have hit him at just a .231/.303/.327 clip in his career. With three-plus years of service time under his belt, the Brewers could technically control Jimenez through the 2018 campaign if he makes the team and establishes himself in their bullpen.

Both pitchers figure to compete for bullpen spots, though Capuano would probably be more in line for a long relief role, whereas Jimenez will hope to be deployed in similar fashion to the way in which he was used last season. The Brewers currently project to have only Will Smith in the bullpen as a left-handed option, so there’s certainly an opportunity to grab a spot for either player.

Minor MLB Transactions: 11/10/15

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There’s plenty of trade speculation in the air at the GM Meetings, though we probably won’t see a significant uptick in major moves just yet. There are still some notable transactions happening around the league, however. Here’s today’s rundown of minor moves…

  • The Astros announced (on Twitter) that they’ve outrighted Sam Deduno off the 40-man roster. The right-hander can opt for free agency based on his service time, which seems to be the likeliest outcome. The 32-year-old Deduno struggled to a 6.86 ERA in 21 innings this year in a season that was cut short by a back strain. Deduno logged a more respectable 4.26 ERA in 279 innings across parts of three seasons with the Twins from 2012-14, though control has never been his strong suit.
  • Infielder Ryan Jackson was outrighted by the Angels yesterday and elected free agency as well, as MLB.com’s Alden Gonzalez tweeted. The 27-year-old has limited experience in the Majors, with just two hits in 39 plate appearances between the Cardinals and Halos. However, Jackson has had better success at the Triple-A level and can play shortstop, second base and third base, so he’ll probably latch on with a club in need of infield depth.
  • Yesterday, Baseball America’s Matt Eddy published another round-up of minor league signings from around the league, with some of the notable moves including former first-round pick Chris Marrero re-signing with the Red Sox on a minor league deal, a trio of Reds electing free agency (Sam LeCure, Brennan Boesch, Collin Balester) and a series of Brewers moves (re-signing Hiram Burgos, Jaye Chapman and Ben Guez, plus lefty Cesar Jimenez electing free agency).

Outrighted: Schafer, Hellweg, Jimenez, Moreno, Santos

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Here are the day’s outright assignments:

  • As teams continue paring back their 40-man rosters in anticipation of a busy offseason, the Brewers were the latest to announce a group of outrights. Righty Johnny Hellweg, lefty Cesar Jimenez, catcher Juan Centeno, first baseman Matt Clark, and outfielder Logan Schafer all lost their roster spots. Hellweg hasn’t seen the big leagues since his first-ever MLB action back in 2013, and he struggled badly with his control in the minors this year. Jimenez, a late-season waiver claimee, was projected to earn $1MM in arbitration. He’s had solid results, and greatly improved his K:BB ratio this year, but will presumably look for another opportunity elsewhere. Centeno has received only spot duty in the majors over the last three seasons and is mostly a light-hitting depth piece. Clark has been quite productive in the upper minors in recent seasons, but did not get another trip to the show after a brief stint in 2014. As for the 29-year-old Schafer, he has produced a meager .212/.286/.319 batting line in 646 career plate appearances in Milwaukee, most of them coming over the last three years.
  • The Yankees announced that they’ve reinstated right-handers Sergio Santos and Diego Moreno from the 60-day disabled list and outrighted each. The veteran Santos has already elected free agency and will look to latch on with a new club this winter. The former White Sox/Blue Jays closer posted a 4.96 ERA with an 18-to-7 K/BB ratio in 16 1/3 innings between the Dodgers and Yankees this season. Moreno, meanwhile, acquired four years ago in the trade that initially sent A.J. Burnett to the Pirates, made his MLB debut in 2015 but yielded six runs in 10 1/3 innings. The 28-year-old has enough minor league service time to elect free agency as well.

NL Central Notes: Epstein, Morse, Jimenez, Brewers

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Even with salaries for top executives continuing to rise, Theo Epstein is still a long-term fit for the Cubs, Bruce Levine of CBS Chicago writes. “I am committed to the Cubs and could not be happier,” says Epstein, who is signed through 2016. “As for an extension, there are a lot more important things going on right now in the organization. We just haven’t gotten around to it. I am sure we will at an appropriate time.” Epstein’s Cubs are in good position to win a Wild Card spot, and he’s in the penultimate year of a five-year, $18.5MM contract. That’s a lot for an executive, but perhaps not for one with Epstein’s track record. Andrew Friedman’s contract with the Dodgers, for example, is almost twice as large, at $35MM.

Here’s more from the NL Central:

  • Michael Morse headed from the Marlins to the Dodgers and then on to Pittsburgh in an unusual series of transactions last month, but he’s happy to be with the Pirates, Alex Pavlovic of CSNBayArea.com writes. “The Dodgers did me a great favor. They told me they had to designate me, but they said they would find a good place for me,” says Morse. “I’m happy to get an opportunity with a team headed in the right direction.” The Dodgers designated Morse for assignment after taking on his contract in the Mat Latos – Alex Wood – Hector Olivera trade, then shipped him to Pittsburgh in exchange for Jose Tabata. Morse is off to a good start with the Bucs, reaching base in 11 of his first 24 plate appearances.
  • The Brewers view the trade of Neal Cotts to the Twins as an indirect swap for Cesar Jimenez, tweets Tom Haudricourt of MLB.com. Milwaukee claimed Jimenez from the Phillies about half a day before dealing Cotts to Minnesota. GM Doug Melvin pointed to pointed out that Jimenez, 30, has two additional years of club control. The Brewers will at least receive cash from the Twins if not a player (tweet). The two players are actually reasonably comparable in all ways except major league experience. In 429 and 2/3 innings, Cotts has a 3.96 ERA, 8.63 K/9, and 3.96 BB/9. Jimenez isn’t too far off those rates with a 4.15 ERA, 6.27 K/9, and 3.93 BB/9 in 84 and 2/3 innings.
  • Melvin also discussed the possibility of additional waiver trades, writes Adam McCalvy of MLB.com. “My gut feeling is it’s probably tough,” says Melvin of further trading. Milwaukee has put about 20 players through waivers. In most cases, the claiming team doesn’t even engage in a trade discussion – they’re just blocking a deal to another club.

Brewers Claim Cesar Jimenez

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12:59pm: Philadelphia has announced that the Brewers have claimed Jimenez.

12:43pm: The Brewers have claimed left-handed reliever Cesar Jimenez off outright waivers from the Phillies, MLBTR has learned (Twitter link). Jimenez was designated for assignment by Philadelphia last night.

The waiver claim of Jimenez may indicate that Milwaukee feels confident that it can work out a trade of fellow southpaw reliever Neal Cotts, who has reportedly been claimed on revocable trade waivers by an unknown club.  Or, Milwaukee may simply want to add some depth in the event that Cotts is dealt elsewhere. If assigned to Triple-A, Jimenez could join the big league club in short order, as rosters are set to expand on Sept. 1. In announcing the claim, the Brewers did note that Jimenez’s assignment is still TBD.

Jimenez, 30, has been up and down with the Phillies over the past three seasons despite solid bottom line results. Though he does have some control issues, he’s delivered a 2.48 ERA with 5.7 K/9 and 4.2 BB/9 in 36 1/3 innings with Philadelphia dating back to 2013. In particular, he’s been tough on lefties in that span, holding them to a .148/.233/.231 line (over a span of 60 plate appearances).

Jimenez has three years of big league service already under his belt, so if he joins the big league roster now or in September, he’ll have some time to audition for the 2016 roster and convince Milwaukee that they want to go through the arbitration process with him his offseason.

Phillies Designate Cesar Jimenez For Assignment

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The Phillies announced after tonight’s loss that they have designated left-hander Cesar Jimenez for assignment in order to clear a spot on the active roster for right-hander Jerad Eickhoff, who will make his big league debut this weekend.

The DFA is probably particularly difficult news for Jimenez, who just tossed 2 1/3 innings of scoreless, one-hit relief with three strikeouts. He’d previously appeared in just two games with the Phils this season and tossed a scoreless inning.

The 30-year-old Jimenez has been up and down with the Phillies over the past three seasons despite strong bottom-line results. Including tonight’s scoreless appearance, he’s worked to a 2.48 ERA with 23 strikeouts in 36 1/3 innings, although his 17 walks in that time are a bit troublesome. Jimenez has been designated for assignment in the past and accepted multiple outright assignments, so the Phillies will hope that he does the same in order to remain with the organization. However, he will of course have the option of declining an outright assignment in favor of free agency if he once again clears waivers.

Eickhoff, 25, was acquired by the Phillies in the Cole Hamels trade with the Rangers. In three Triple-A starts since joining the organization, he’s notched a 2.49 ERA with a 19-to-3 K/BB ratio in 21 2/3 innings. Overall, Eickhoff, who will make his Major League debut this weekend, has a 3.85 ERA with 8.5 K/9 against 2.6 BB/9 in 133 1/3 innings at the Triple-A level this season.

Minor MLB Transactions: 8/12/15

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Here are today’s minor moves, with the newest transactions at the top of the post…

  • The Pirates have outrighted right-hander Wilfredo Boscan to Triple-A.  According to MLB Trade Rumors’ Zach Links (via Twitter), Boscan can choose to reject this assignment since this is the second time he has been outrighted, and the Bucs are awaiting his decision.  Boscan, a nine-year minor league veteran, is still waiting to make his Major League debut despite three stints on Pittsburgh’s roster in 2015.  He was designated for assignment last week.
  • The Phillies selected the contract of left-hander Cesar Jimenez from Triple-A, the team announced.  Righty David Buchanan was optioned to Triple-A in a corresponding move.  Jimenez has been designated for assignment and outrighted three times in three seasons by Philadelphia, most recently in April.  He has a 2.67 ERA and 20 strikeouts over 33 2/3 IP with the Phillies since 2013, including two-thirds of an inning this season.
  • The Padres outrighted catcher Tim Federowicz to Triple-A, the team announced.  Federowicz was designated for assignment on August 1 following his reinstatement from the 60-day DL.  The veteran backstop suffered a meniscus tear during Spring Training and has been limited to just 18 minor league games in 2015.
  • Six players still remain in ’DFA limbo,’ which you can see for yourself via the MLB Trade Rumors DFA Tracker.

Minor Moves: Jimenez, Tuiasosopo, Schlereth, Jones

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Matt Eddy of Baseball America has released the latest installment of his Minor League Transactions roundup, which contains several yet-unreported moves, as usual. All transactions in today’s Minor Moves post are via Eddy, unless otherwise noted…

  • The Phillies have announced that left-hander Cesar Jimenez has cleared outright waivers and accepted an assignment to Triple-A Lehigh Valley. Jimenez was outrighted over the weekend to clear a roster spot for right-hander Sean O’Sullivan, but he’ll accept a third outright assignment from the Phillies and hope to get another look in the big league bullpen soon. Jimenez did have the option to reject the outright in search of other employment, but he elected to remain with the organization.

Earlier Moves

  • The White Sox have added utility man Matt Tuiasosopo on a Minor League deal after he was released by the Orioles earlier this month. The 28-year-old infielder/outfielder hasn’t appeared in the Majors since posting a solid .244/.351/.415 batting line in 191 plate appearances with the Tigers. Those numbers are significantly better than Tuiasosopo’s career numbers in the bigs, and he batted a less convincing .240/.357/.379 in 487 PAs between the Triple-A affiliates of the White Sox and Blue Jays in 2014.
  • Daniel Schlereth’s name is among a slew of farmhands released by the Tigers. Detroit inked Schlereth to a Minors deal back in January (without a camp invite), but he didn’t pitch in a game in Detroit’s system before being released. Schlereth was a useful member of Detroit’s bullpen back in 2010-11 after being included in the Max Scherzer/Ian Kennedy/Curtis Granderson three-team blockbuster, but shoulder injuries have derailed his career.
  • The Orioles have re-signed right-hander Devin Jones on a Minor League pact, which is of particular note due to the fact that Jones was the pitcher traded to the Padres in exchange for righty Brad Brach. The 24-year-old Jones made 25 starts between the Class-A Advanced and Double-A levels of Baltimore’s system in 2013, but he pitched just 37 1/3 innings with the Friars’ Double-A affiliate last year, working to a 7.23 ERA with an unsightly 20-to-12 K/BB ratio.

Phillies Designate Cesar Jimenez For Assignment

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The Phillies announced that they’ve designated left-hander Cesar Jimenez for assignment and selected the contract of right-hander Sean O’Sullivan, who will start today’s game against the Nationals.

The 30-year-old Jimenez pitched just two-third of an inning in the early stages of the 2015 season but has been up and down with the Phillies in each of the past two seasons. Jimenez has worked to a very strong 2.67 ERA in 33 2/3 innings dating back to 2013, though his ratios of 5.3 K/9 and 4.5 BB/9 and 4.27 FIP tell a less favorable story than his bottom-line results. Jimenez has been more effective against lefties than righties, but he hasn’t exactly dominated same-handed hitters; lefties have batted .238/.310/.357 against him in 143 big league plate appearances.

Jimenez was the only lefty in the bullpen behind setup man Jake Diekman, and the loss of Mario Hollands to Tommy John surgery removed another option for Philadelphia. They’ll likely hope that Jimenez can clear waivers and remain in the organization — an outcome that has already happened twice in the past calendar year.

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